Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 11, 2020)
PAGE LABEL MyEagleNews.com Wednesday, March 11, 2020 A9 WEDNESDAY March 11, 2020 Panthers finish sixth in state Contributed photo The .22 Short, left, was intro- duced before the .22 Long Rifle, right. SHOOTING THE BREEZE Selling you short I n 1857, Smith and Wes- son developed a .22-cali- ber rimfire cartridge flinging a diminutive 29-grain bullet to the blistering speed of 1,000 feet per second using a 4-grain pinch of black powder. While origi- nally conceived as a pocket pis- tol self-defense round, the .22 Short as it came to be known was soon cham- bered in rifles. It quickly became a favorite for gal- lery guns at the county fair and a favorite for those needing an accu- Dale Valade rate, short-range small game round. In 1871, the .22 Long was introduced, followed by the .22 Long Rifle in 1884 and the .22 WMR in 1959. With con- stant improvements in power and range, one would think that the .22 Short is a waste of time at best, right? After all, a quick perusal of hardware store shelves shows just how much more prac- tical it is to shoot the Long Rifle or Magnum? That depends. There are situations, shall we say, where there can be too much of a good thing, even yes with the .22 Long Rifle. The glory of the .22 Short is that it’s a very short-range cartridge. There is no excess of power and very little risk of over penetration. In some states in the south, it is manda- tory to use a .22 Short when rac- coon hunting at night, being as these ring-tailed bandits are shot out of trees at night and what goes up, must come down. During the Great Depression, .22 Short ammunition was much cheaper than any other ammu- nition. Many country folks kept their family in meat and in turn their garden pest free with these economical gallery loads. These days the .22 Short ammo costs considerably more than anything .22 Long Rifle. But hardly is it useless, maybe only if your only .22 is gas operated; a .22 Short will not cycle autoloading guns. Most .22s with any sort of man- ually operated action will cycle and shoot these stubby rimfires. The .22 Short is a fun and accurate little cartridge even today. Years ago I lived over in the outskirts of Powell Butte and was working in Bend at the time. Being new to the area I had no idea of the exceedingly large amount of jack rabbits indigenous to the area known as the high des- ert. Our landlord was eager to thin them down yet worried that a high velocity .22 may ricochet into any of a number of nearby houses less than a quarter of a mile away. Not to worry, I purchased two boxes of .22 Short at a local gun store after work one night in Bend. For the next few weeks at dusk one could easily pick off between eight and 12 of the loping Lepus out in our back yard. We were care- ful of our back stop and shoot- ing a pump-action rifle with open sights, we kept our shots inside of 40 yards. The landlord was grate- ful, and the neighbors never suf- fered a single ricochet. Are we likely to see a resur- gence of popularity with the .22 Short? Although that’s about as likely as growing a third set of teeth, those who know what they have in the little .22 that started it all will keep the seasonal ammo runs continuing. Because this lit- tle cartridge, for what it is, works just right! Are you a fan of the .22 Short? Write to us at shootingthebree- zebme@gmail.com! Dale Valade is a local country gent with a deep love for hand- loading, hunting and shooting. Prairie City comeback cannot overcome 16-point Ione/ Arlington lead By Steven Mitchell Blue Mountain Eagle For the third time in three years, the Prairie City Panthers boys bas- ketball team came home from the 1A state basketball tournament in Baker City hoisting a trophy. This time around, the boys took sixth place, losing to fourth-place Ione/ Arlington 57-53 in the consolation finals Saturday. The Panthers, who at the end of the first period of play were down by 16 points, chipped away at the Cardinals’ lead and tied the game up at 45 apiece by the end of third quarter. Senior Lucas McKinley said, if the Panthers would have played like they did in third period throughout the entire game, they would have won by 30 points. McKinley said the team played at half-steam for the first two peri- ods of the game. McKinley said, after the team lost to the No. 3 seed Crosshill Christian 63-40 in the quarterfinal game Thursday, tak- ing the Panthers out of contention for first place, there was not much incentive for the team to play to win and take fourth place. “A lot of us had the mentality that we did not need to play too hard since we were only playing for fourth place,” McKinley said. McKinley said the team turned it around after a pep talk from head coach Bo Workman. He said that Workman reminded them that this was their last game of the season, and for the seniors this was the last time they would be playing together. Workman said the talk was short and to the point. “I told them that this is it, this is the last time you guys will all get to play together,” Workman said. “I told them they might as well make the best of it.” “We realized after that we had to play with a lot more intensity,” McKinley said. “And that is what we did, but we came up a little short.” In his last appearance as a Pan- ther, senior Cole Deiter, the team’s leading scorer all season, said the Panthers “could not go out like that.” Deiter said, while the season did not end the way he wanted it to, to come back from us as much as a 16- to 20-point deficit was in and of itself a victory. Deiter scored 22 points and added 12 rebounds and three blocks in the game. McKinley had 11 points with five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Falling in the quarterfinals Going into the state tournament, the Panthers, with a 9-0 league record and just one loss overall, could not overcome the No. 3 seed Crosshill Christian in the quarterfi- nals Thursday, losing 63-40. EO Media Group/Ronald Bond Cole Deiter (23) blocks Ione/Arlington’s Taylor Rollins’ shot Saturday during the fourth-place game at the 1A boys state basketball tournament at Baker City High School. The Cardinals beat the Panthers 57-53. Prairie City scored first on a bas- ket by Deiter, but Crosshill Chris- tian quickly tied it up. McKinley gave the Panthers the lead with a 3-point shot, but Crosshill Chris- tian answered to tie it at 5. Deiter again gave the Panthers a lead, 7-5, with a field goal with 4:13 remaining in the first quarter. But Crosshill Christian hit another 3-pointer and never gave up the lead after that. Crosshill Christian led 18-9 at the end of the first quarter. At the half, the score was 31-18. Prairie City scored 14 points in the third, but Crosshill Christian added 19. Crosshill Christian had three players score in double digits, led by Evan Dallum with 15. The team shot 46% from the field and hit 9-24 from 3-point range. Sophomore Marcus Judd said the Eagles played their best game of the season. The Panthers, on the other hand, shot for 29% from the field and were 5-23 beyond the arc. Deiter led the Panthers with 14 points, followed by McKinley with 12 points. Deiter also had six rebounds, a block and an assist. Judd had seven rebounds and three blocks, and Zweygardt had five rebounds. The team had 16 turnovers and five assists. Winning in triple overtime Deiter, who was named player of the game of all three games in the tournament and scored a total of 52 points in the tourney, said the team’s win over the Joseph Eagles in triple overtime in the first con- solation game Friday was great experience as well. Deiter said the Panthers, who lost their only game of the reg- ular season to the Eagles Dec. 6, had long wanted an opportunity to avenge the loss. McKinley said, while beat- ing the Eagles in such a dramatic fashion was exciting, it was, in his experience, the lowest-scor- ing triple overtime game in recent memory. “It had to be the most boring tri- EO Media Group/Ronald Bond Prairie City’s Jojari Field, center, and Cole Deiter, right, double up to get possession of a loose ball Saturday in the 1A boys state basketball tourney. The Panthers took sixth place in state after losing to the Cardinals 57-53. ple overtime game ever,” McKin- ley said. “We only scored 51 points.” Judd said that the early-morn- ing start played a role in the team not hitting their shots. “After the first quarter, we were not hitting our shots,” Judd said. When it counted, the Panthers stepped up and improved their accuracy. Prairie City shot 33% from the field overall and 39% in overtime, compared to 23% over- all for Joseph and 22% in over- time. The improvement in over- time made the difference in what was their only win in the tourney. “It was a great feeling to pull off a win like that,” Judd said. Judd said the fact that it was the team that dealt them their only loss in the regular season made it all the more satisfying. Prairie City Athletic Direc- tor Billy Colson said the Pan- thers have a lot to be proud of and should hold their heads high. “It is impressive that the boys team has been to state three years in a row and have won games,” Colson said. The future Workman said he expects eight players to return to varsity, but he is losing four. Along with Deiter and McKinley, Opie McDaniel Five deer hunts in Blue Mountains canceled because of disease outbreak in fall 2019 (Orchards), 655B1 and 655B2 (Walla Walla Valley No. 1 and No. 2). While The Oregon Department of Fish and some of the bag limits for these hunts Wildlife is cancelling five 600 Series allow an antlerless mule deer or white- deer hunts, meaning hunters will not be tail to be harvested, most of the harvest able to apply or draw is white-tailed deer in the tag for them for these hunts. the upcoming fall 2020 These hunts will no season. longer be available for The cancellations application through are in an area of the ODFW’s licens- ing system. ODFW Blue Mountains from License Sales Service Milton-Freewater to staff will be contact- Pilot Rock where an ing hunters who have outbreak of Epizootic already applied for hemorrhagic disease Contributed photo/ODFW these hunts and asking is estimated to have killed 2,000 white- Tests conducted by Oregon De- them to adjust their tailed deer late last partment of Fish and Wildlife application through year. The hunt cancel- veterinarians confirmed that Epi- their online account lations for these 227 zootic hemorrhagic disease is re- (applications can be tags are needed to pro- sponsible for the die-off of an es- edited online under tect does and allow the timated 2,000 white-tailed deer in Recreational Portfo- lio/Controlled Hunts; white-tailed deer popu- Eastern Oregon. lation to rebound. see how-to online). The hunts cancelled While EHD typi- are on private land, where antlerless cally does not have long-term impacts on deer hunting addresses damage to agri- white-tailed deer populations, cancella- culture. The hunt numbers are 649A tion of these hunts should help the pop- (N Ukiah), 654A (Rawhide), 655A ulation rebound faster. Blue Mountain Eagle and Carson McKay are graduating. Workman said he expects four players from junior varsity to move up to the varsity squad. “It all depends on how bad they want it and how much work they put in over the off season,” Work- man said. For his part, Judd said he plans to attend a basketball camp over the summer and work on his free throw shooting. “I just want to improve my skills,” Judd said. As for the seniors who are mov- ing on, the end of the season is bittersweet. “It has been a really fun expe- rience to play on a team that has gone to state two years in a row,” McKinley said. “Most people don’t get that experience even once. I got to do it twice.” Deiter, who transferred to Prai- rie City two years ago, said the basketball program allowed him to grow as a player. “I evolved and matured as a player, and I owe that to the coach- ing staff,” Deiter said. He said the commitment, cama- raderie and chemistry all contrib- uted to his growth. “I just want thank them (coach- ing staff),” Deiter said. “I am really going to miss playing with every- body. “ Madden signs to play softball for Columbia Basin Community College Contributed photo/Tanni Wenger Photography Prairie City senior Shaine Madden, center, signs a letter of intent to play softball for Columbia Basin Community Col- lege, flanked by Grant Union/Prairie City head coach Zach Williams, left, and assistant coach Mike Strong.
