Opinion by Ray Wolf

Alright, it might be a bit much to label the Mt. Shasta Bears a soccer “dynasty,” but only a little bit.

Consider this: the Bears wrapped up the Shasta Cascade League post season tournament championship today with a 5-2 thumping of the Fall River Bulldogs. They also registered their third straight SCL regular season championship.

Want more? Okay, how about a 26-3-2 record in SCL play over the past three years. Make it the past four years and you get a record of 32-5-4, three championships, and a second place finish. Add in the two SCL tourney wins and it becomes 34-5-4.

Maybe they are a dynasty, at least in the SCL. I don’t think Fall River would argue.

The Bulldogs put up a good fight in the championship game, but the Bears simply overpowered the visitors.

The Bears narrowly missed scoring five minutes into the match, when Zack Morris bounced a shot off the crossbar. A minute later they were on the board, when Liam O’Hara blasted a shot through the Fall River keeper’s hands. The assist went to Morris. (more…)

WEED – The College of the Siskiyous Lady Eagles volleyball team now has something in common with Wiley Coyote—both came close, but neither could catch the Road Runner. The Butte College Road Runners (23-3) paid a visit to Weed and went home with a 3-1 win, despite furious comeback attempts by the Lady Eagles.

Set-one was all about Butte, as the Road Runners controlled from start to finish, beating an apparently stunned COS squad 25-13. It looked like it was going to be a short night.

Set-two began in similar fashion, with Butte going up 5-1. COS, however, managed to maintain contact. With a raucous crowd of Eagle football players dominating the cheering section, and trailing 19-14, the Lady Eagles made their move.

A kill by Katie Zauner made it 19-15. Another Zauner rocket cut it to 19-17. An ace by Heather Wicks brought COS to within a single point at 19-18. Butte pushed its lead back to three points at 23-20, but a Laura McMahon kill started a 4-0 run by the Lady Eagles. Next, Amber Franko notched an ace, 23-22. Wicks tied it with a kill, 23-23. And a block by McMahon gave COS its first lead of the match.

Butte regained the lead 25-24, but a pair of kills by Kinzy Towry, including the set-winner, sandwiched around a kill by Zauner gave the Lady Eagles the win 27-25. (more…)

Opinion by Ray Wolf

Sometimes, people define a team by its last game of the season. Sometimes, that does a great injustice to what the team has accomplished. To let the Weed Cougars’ 3-1 loss to the Fall River Bulldogs last night be the last word on their season would be an injustice. For the record, Fall River caught Weed’s future superstar goalkeeper away from the net twice for goals. The first coming a little under 20 minutes into the match, and the second with just eight minutes or so to play.

In between, Jose Luquin used a free kick to set up Salvador Avila for a header to tie the score at 1-1, less than two minutes after Fall River had scored its first goal. The final Bulldog goal came in the last minute of play on a breakaway, while the Cougars were in an all out effort to tie the match.

One of the significant positives to come out of the match was the high level of support from the community. The crowd may have been the biggest ever for an SCL game in Siskiyou County. It looked more like a football crowd than a soccer crowd. And, when you have a football guy in the announcer’s booth yelling “Goooooooal” when the Cougars’ scored, you know soccer has arrived in Weed. (more…)

MOUNT SHASTA – The Mt. Shasta Bears earned the top seed in the Shasta Cascade League’s post season tournament by winning the SCL regular season, with a record of 9-1. The Trinity Wolves won just enough SCL games (4-6) to make the tournament as the last seed at number-4. On paper it looked like a potential blow out, and easy advancement to the championship game for the Bears. It wasn’t.

The expected blow out seemed to be well on the way, Tuesday afternoon, when Bear John Holst passed across the Trinity net to Zack Morris, who headed it home for a 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the match.

With just under 20 minutes played, Holst intercepted a goal kick by Trinity, and launched a rocket past the Wolves’ keeper for a 2-0 lead.

The Wolves, however, didn’t run and cower. Instead, nine minutes later they responded with a goal of their own, cutting the Bears lead to 2-1. The score remained the same at halftime.

There were scoring opportunities by both teams in the second half, with perhaps the best coming with about five minutes left to play. Holst was in alone on the Trinity keeper, who came up with a fantastic point-blank save, to preserve The Wolves’ hopes of a comeback—a comeback that never materialized, as the Bears advanced to the championship game with a 2-1 win. (more…)

CORNING – The Northern Athletic League girls individual tennis championships were held last Friday and Saturday, and Yreka got a surprise performance from their number-6 player, Selena Sendejo.

Sendejo pulled an opening round upset of Anderson’s top player, Yui Gabrielle 9-8. She then took down Anderson’s number-4 in the second round (6-4, 6-1).

Sendejo lost to Corning’s top player, Sonya Scott, in the quarter finals  (2-6, 0-6), and finished the tournament with a loss to Corning’s number-4, Magali Hernandez in three sets (2-6, 6-4, 3-6).

Sendejo drew praise from coaches at the tournament, one

calling her the “Wild card of the championships.” Her own coach, Steve Pyles called her the, “Last Miner Standing.”

In doubles, the duo of Jessica Shuler and Kendall Taylor won their first round match against Anderson’s number-2 pair, Jennifer Haney and Melissa Chipley, 8-2. Shuler and Kendall were knocked out in the second round by Corning’s number-3 team of Baillie Eller and Samantha Monroe (3-6, 2-6).

YREKA, CA— It seems like this year’s fair just ended, but it is time for the 2009 Siskiyou Golden Fair theme contest.
The Siskiyou Golden Fair is extending an invitation to residents and organizations of Siskiyou County to enter the annual theme contest. The winner of this contest has the pleasure of knowing their theme will be used in the overall advertising campaign used to promote the 2009 fair, as well as winning a cash prize. (more…)

YREKA – The Yreka Miners varsity football team picked up a much needed win on Friday, defeating the Corning Cardinals 27-7. The win snapped a three-game losing streak, and brings the Miners record to 4-4 overall and 1-2 in the Northern Athletic League.

Yreka was first on the board, when Manny Barragan scored from five yards out in the first quarter. Barragan also scored a 2-point conversion. A 3-yard run by Brandon Larreau and a 58-yard punt return by Barragan accounted for a pair of Miner TDs in the second quarter, with Barragan adding a PAT after his TD. Corning (3-5, 0-3) picked up seven points in the second quarter, making the halftime score 21-7. (more…)

The North Section CIF announced the first volleyball playoff points rankings of the season on Monday.

Dunsmuir (9-8) is the Siskiyou County team in the best position within its division, ranked seventh in D-VI, ahead of Greenville (8-10) and behind Princeton (10-8). Other county D-VI teams are Butte Valley (5-5) in twelfth, Happy Camp (2-5) in fifteenth, and Tulelake (2-20) in eighteenth. (more…)

The North Section CIF released the first football playoff point rankings of the season over the weekend.

Etna (7-2) is currently in the best position among Siskiyou County teams, ranked fourth in Division-IV, just ahead of U-Prep (5-2) and right behind Portola (7-1). Weed (1-8) is ranked tenth in D-IV (more…)

By Rick Martin

DUNSMUIR - There’s no questioning the heart of the Dunsmuir Tigers, but when you keep losing body parts, the heart can only do so much.

Dunsmuir dropped its second straight game Friday night, falling to visiting Greenville 36-26. The Tigers started the game with leading rusher Cory Knowles on the sideline with an ankle injury, and fellow RB Colton Sordahl slowed by a sore hip. After the game started, they would lose both their quarterbacks, Nate Gonzales and LT Hisey.

And yet, they did everything they could to pull the game out, falling just short in the 4th quarter.

Things actually started well for the Tigers, as they took a 6-0 lead just five plays into the game. Gonzalez busted free on a QB keeper on 4th and 1, and raced 52 yards for the score.

But Greenville - dealing with some injuries of its own - didn’t waste much time answering. On their first series, freshman QB Chris Brown unloaded a 48-yard TD pass to Tyler Twaddle as the Indians drew even. Brown found out Friday morning that he was starting his first HS game after senior Joshua Neff was injured in a car accident. (Neff’s injuries were not life threatening and he is expected to make a full recovery.) (more…)