A12
SPORTS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 6, 2022
‘Reaching for the sky’
Bend High Unifi ed basketball team
wins state title, aims for nationals
By BRYCE DOLE
The Bulletin
BEND — When Jack Bailey stepped onto the
court for the Unifi ed sports state basketball title
game at Oregon State University’s Gill Coliseum in
Corvallis last month, the moment felt larger than life.
“It felt like game seven of the NBA fi nals,” he
said.
But Bailey, a forward on the Bend High School
team that combines students with and without intel-
lectual disabilities, wasn’t nervous.
“I thought to myself: What would Rocky Balboa
do?” said the 20-year-old Bailey, who has an intel-
lectual disability. “He wouldn’t give up. I didn’t give
up and I did my best.”
The title game March 12 came at the pinnacle of
the team’s three-month season, but there was more
than a championship at stake, more than a chance to
represent Oregon at the 2022 Special Olympics USA
Games at Disney World. Players on Unifi ed teams
need these games to develop social skills. Sports can
sweep away misconceptions and promote under-
standing. For nearly two years, though, the pandemic
put much of that on hold.
The Corvallis game was the fi rst time the team
had been back at the state tournament since winning
the title in 2019.
The team was poised to defend its title in March
2020, but the coronavirus pandemic locked down the
world on the Friday before the tournament weekend.
The team remained separated throughout the pan-
demic lockdown, a period that “felt like 20 years,”
Bailey said.
And the time away from the team placed a strain
on athletes and their families.
“It was extremely diffi cult,” Coach Robert Tad-
jiki, who has helped the program grow exponentially
over the years, said of the pandemic’s impact on his
athletes. “Students with disabilities need to be engag-
ing with other people and connecting with other peo-
ple … The fact that we can fi nally be together is just
wonderful.”
Tadjiki knew his team was ready to take its sec-
ond state title since it started about 14 years ago. The
energy in the Corvallis locker room was electric. His
40-person team was tight-knit and supportive of one
another.
They bonded over long practices, drills, three-
legged and wheelbarrow races, and other “goofy”
competitions, including who could tie their shoes
the fastest and run across the gym. One competition
involved athletes tossing their shoes from balconies,
aiming for mid-court, with the closest to a target win-
ning a Dutch Bros gift card, Tadjiki said.
In Corvallis, from her seat around midcourt, Kerri
Jackson cheered on her 19-year-old son Keifer, a for-
ward on the team who is on the autism spectrum.
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
Jack Bailey works on his shooting while practicing
with fellow Unifi ed basketball team members at
Bend High School.
Keifer joined the team roughly three years ago, and
Jackson immediately noticed her son’s confi dence
growing.
Then the pandemic arrived. With another son on
the Unifi ed team at Mountain View High School,
Jackson knew Keifer wasn’t the only one to strug-
gle at home.
“It was really hard on them,” she said.
The announcer gave the title game a big time feel,
calling out athletes as they scored, dragging out their
names. Jackson felt proud of her son, watching him
come into his own during the game.
“It was amazing watching him go from timid to
being more confi dent with people cheering him on,”
she said.
Cameron Walker, an 18-year-old on the team,
bobbed and weaved, draining shots that made him
feel like his basketball idol: Michael Jordan, from
the Chicago Bulls. Walker said being on the team
“helps grow my spirits, reaching for the sky.” Like
Jack Bailey and Keifer Jackson, Walker said he con-
siders Tadjiki to be a mentor.
“He’s nice, he’s gentle, his favorite cake is choc-
olate,” Walker said. “I love him.”
The scoreboard clock hit zero, showing a 40-20
win for the Bend Lava Bears over Forest Grove.
The team rushed the court, jumped up and down,
cheered. Walker turned to Tadjiki and asked, “Did
we win?” Tadjiki laughed.
“It was just raw and real,” Tadjiki said of the vic-
tory, adding: “Everybody’s looking for some kind of
purpose in life, and this was a big one for me, that I
get to enjoy these moments.”
The team’s trophy sits in a case in a Bend High
hallway. But there’s been little down time for the
Lava Bears as they prepare for the national competi-
tion coming up in Orlando.
They’re practicing twice a week for about an
hour-and-a-half at a time for something just as mean-
ingful as an NBA fi nal.
INSP/Submitted Photo
Buck Faust, 25, of Prineville, is one of 14 competitors on the reality TV series “Ulti-
mate Cowboy Showdown.”
Prineville cowboy
in TV competition
By JOE SIESS
The Bulletin
PRINEVILLE — A Prineville cow-
boy will put his skills to the test before a
national audience, competing with other
cowboys and cowgirls from around the
country on a cable television series set
to debut a new season next month.
Buck Faust, 25, was originally from
Waco, Texas, but moved to Central
Oregon with his wife in 2020. The cou-
ple got married last May and plans to
raise a family in the area.
Faust is a competitor in the “Ultimate
Cowboy Showdown,” a television show
produced by General Entertainment net-
work INSP. The show, hosted by country
music icon Trace Adkins, is in its third
season, which will start April 21.
Faust approached the show with
100% of his authentic self, he said.
“Pretty much anybody who knows
me, knows that me going on that show
was a good thing for me. But it is dang
sure going to be entertaining for the
general public,” Faust said. “Because I
don’t know if I maybe stayed in the hills
too long, but I have a pretty big per-
sonality. I like to be very personable.
I like to laugh, joke around, have a lot
of fun.”
Faust, along with 13 other contes-
tants from around the country, gath-
ered at Powderhorn Ranch in the rug-
ged hills of Wyoming to compete in a
number of cowboy related challenges to
test their skills. The winner, chosen by
judges, will be awarded a herd of cat-
tle worth $50,000 and a chance to start
a ranch, along with a belt buckle and
bragging rights.
Faust has worked with horses and
cattle all of his life. After graduating
high school, he decided to travel the
country as a cowboy. He spent time in
Montana, Idaho, California, Nebraska
and Oklahoma before meeting his wife,
moving to Central Oregon, and plant-
ing his roots.
SHOOTING THE BREEZE
If it’s spring, it must be time for turkey hunting
L
ooks like spring has
a lot of hunting time.
fi nally made an appear-
If you buy individual tags
ance. That means tur-
they cost $26.50 each, $10.50
key season is right around the
for youth. A turkey tag is
corner.
included in the sports pack.
I remember being
Around here the sea-
a college student when
son starts April 15.
we had the fi rst turkey
Youth get to go out
season around here.
April 9-10 to get a
I didn’t know squat
head start.
about hunting them,
If you have never
but gave it a try. I
given turkey hunting
snuck up on a squeaky
a try, don’t think it is
Rod
old pine tree, but never
going to be a cake-
Carpenter
laid eyes on a turkey.
walk just because you
Things have really
see them all over the
changed. The turkey popula-
place. It’s harder than it looks.
tion has exploded in our neck
First of all, only shotguns or
of the woods, and the tag sales archery equipment may be
show it. You can only buy one used to hunt turkeys, so you
tag at a time, but you can buy
have to get close.
up to three tags throughout the
Turkeys have great eye-
spring season. That can mean
sight. I have been busted
Sponsor:
Contributed Photo
Max and Tuck double down on turkeys.
many, many times trying
to sneak up on them. Also,
there are usually quite a few
together, so there are just that
many more eyes. You can
only shoot males (toms), who
like to hide behind the ladies
(hens).
The best way I have found
to be successful is to do a lit-
tle scouting to fi nd where
they roost at night. Toms will
“shock” gobble to a crow or
gobbler call. I guess it’s just
a refl ex. Anyway, in the eve-
ning travel likely areas and
call, listening for a response.
Then sneak in under darkness
the next morning and set up
close by in the brush. A decoy
isn’t required, but can up your
chances of success.
If that doesn’t work, travel
likely areas early in the morn-
ing, occasionally gobbling to
locate birds. Hen calls work
best to bring them in. Calling
isn’t that hard to pick up, and
there are hundreds of diff erent
kinds to try from. Watch a cou-
ple of how-to videos and you
will get the hang of it.
Turkeys are surprisingly
hard to kill. A body shot with
a shotgun probably wont do
the trick. The feathers are very
eff ective at blocking the pel-
lets. I like to aim for where the
neck joins the head with 3 inch
No. 4s.
There are specifi c turkey
chokes for shotguns to help
tighten the pattern for a longer
reach, but shots much past 30
yards are pushing it for most
setups. I have never tried tur-
keys with stick and string, so
you archers will have to talk to
somebody else.
Getting beat by a stupid bird
can be demoralizing, but when
it all comes together, it is a real
kick in the pants.
How do you like to hunt
turkeys? Let us know at shoo-
tingthebreezebme@gmail.com.
Rod Carpenter is a hus-
band, father and huntin’ fool.
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