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The Tulelake Honkers (12-3) traveled to Weed to take on the Cougars (4-8) on Monday night. On paper, it was a mismatch–a blow out waiting to happen. However, the laws of nature say that a honker is rarely safe around cougars, especially when there’s a “silver fox” involved. While, the Honkers escaped with a win, it didn’t come easy.

At 13-2, with less than three minutes to play in the opening quarter, it did look like Tulelake would cruise to a win. At the end of the first frame, the Honkers led 17-11. By halftime, it wasn’t likely that “easy” or “cruise” were words being used in the Honker locker room, as the Cougars had battled back to tie the game at 27-27, on a steal-n-score by Noah Traylor.

The Cougars came out of halftime and took a 33-27 lead on six straight points to open the third quarter. A 3-point play the hard way by Josh Rogers made it 30-27. Then, Rogers drained one from the football field, making it 33-27.  Two Honker hoops by Zac Idrogo sandwiched around an Adam Kandra put back tied the game at 33-33, with 4:20 to go in the quarter. A bucket by Max Crawford with 25 seconds to go in the third, gave Tulelake a 37-35 lead going into the final frame. (more…)

The Tulelake Lady Honkers and the Weed Lady Cougars matched up in each team’s final preseason game on Monday night, in Weed. The Lady Cougars came into the contest at 9-1, and riding a five game winning streak. Their only loss came to a then undefeated Biggs team. Tulelake suffered a lopsided defeat at St. Mary’s last week, and entered the game at 7-5. When the final horn sounded, the Lady Honkers had pulled off an upset, winning 42-38.

Weed went out to a 5-2 lead to start the game on a basket by Destinee Jones, and three free throws by Jennifer Marshall. The Lady Honkers tied it, when Cierra Gribble set up Maria Chavolla for what turned out to be a 3-point play the hard way. The Lady Honkers grabbed the lead, 7-5, on a hoop by Claudia Garcia and finished the first quarter up 10-8.

With the score tied, 13-13, in the second quarter, the Lady Cougars took temporary control. A pair of freebies by J. Marshall gave Weed the lead, 15-13. Two from the charity stripe by Karene Marshall made it 17-13. Jillian Neel hit a bucket, upping the Cougar advantage to six points, at 19-13. Madee Boyd connected for Tulelake, 19-15. Neel hit another shot with nine seconds left in the half, sending the teams to the locker room, with Weed ahead, 21-15.

The Lady Honkers came out and scored the first eight points of the second half to grab a 23-21 lead. A hoop by Garcia opened up the second half scoring, 21-17. A freebie and then a bucket from Rosario Jaime made it 21-20. Then Boyd nailed a shot from downtown to give Tulelake the lead 23-21. Weed regained the advantage on an old fashion 3-point play by J. Marshall, 24-23, with 1:12 left in the quarter. A put back by Chavolla gave the Lady Honkers a 25-24 lead going into the final frame. (more…)

The Tulelake Lady Honkers junior varsity basketball team defeated the JV Weed Lady Cougars, 38-33, in overtime on Monday night, in Weed. The momentum in the game went back and forth with both teams appearing ready to pull away at various times, only to have the opposing team battle back into the game. (more…)

The Tulelake Lady Honkers and the Lost River Lady Raiders went toe-to-toe for nearly two quarters on Monday night in Tulelake, before the Raiders took control of the contest.

Lost River jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the opening frame, but the Lady Honkers battled back to within a basket at 12-10. Cierra Gribble dished to Amanda Madden for a bucket to make the score 12-6. A put back by Maria Chavolla, and a hoop by Yvette Rascon, made it 12-10, with 59 seconds to play in the quarter. Lost River connected on a 3-point shot at the buzzer to go into the second frame up 15-10.

Tulelake drew back to within a hoop, 22-20, on two freebies by Madee Boyd and a put back by Rascon, with 2:53 to go in the half. However, a 3-point play the hard way by Lady Raider Danea Swartout started a 14-2 Lost River run over the last 2:35 of the half. The Lady Raiders led 34-22 at the intermission. The Lady Honkers were unable to mount any type of comeback in the second half, and Lost River went on to win 63-42. (more…)

The Tulelake girls and boys junior varsity teams swept Lost River on Monday night.

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The Tulelake Honker varsity boys won the championship at the Trinity Tournament last weekend, and were probably feeling pretty good coming into Monday night’s match up with the Lost River Raiders, in Tulelake. The Raiders didn’t appear to be all that impressed, at least not in the first quarter.

After Honker Danny Banderas opened the scoring with a freebie, Lost River put up the next six points on a hoop by Blake Ireland and back-to-back buckets from Connor Hickey, to lead 6-1. The Raiders led by as many as nine points twice in the opening frame, 13-4, on a steal-n-score by Luke Burch, and 15-6, on a basket by Zalin Airitola.

However, the Honkers came to life late in the first quarter and went on an 18-0 run that would last all the way until just 2:56 remained in the first half. A jumper by Max Crawford got things rolling for Tulelake. Two from the charity stripe by Adam Kandra closed out the first quarter, with the score 15-10 in favor of Lost River.

Kandra opened the second quarter scoring with another pair of freebies. A 3-ball from Zac Idrogo tied the game at 15-15, with 7:20 on the clock. Kandra stole the ball and went coast-to-coast to give the Honkers the lead 17-15, with 6:50 left in the half. Banderas hit from downtown, making the score 20-15. Back-to-back buckets by Kandra upped the Honker lead to 24-15. (more…)

For the fourth year, PremierWest Bank and SiskiyouYouth.com are sponsoring the Basketball Challenge for varsity basketball teams in Siskiyou County: Butte Valley, Dunsmuir, Etna, Happy Camp, Mt. Shasta, Tulelake, Weed, and Yreka. The winning team’s players and coaching staff will receive custom made “Team of the Year” T-shirts.

The winner of the challenge will be the girls or boys team that is most successful during the 2010/2011 season, which is defined as the team that advances the furthest in the North Section CIF playoffs. The challenge will end at the finish of the section playoffs and does not include any state playoff games because Division-VI teams (Butte Valley, Dunsmuir, and Happy Camp) are not eligible for state playoffs. Tiebreakers also do not include state playoff games. Games against JV teams do not count. (more…)

Opinion

I’ve been meaning to write this for years. Yes, literally “years.” Finally, I’ve had enough with the North Section CIF system for football playoff ranking. The North Section’s way of determining football playoff teams is seriously flawed. It rewards mediocrity and it often denies good teams a fair shot at making the playoffs or being ranked as high as they should be in playoff points. If you want to skip all the explanation and just get to my proposed formula, click “more” and scroll down.

For a concrete example of a team in this year’s playoffs that greatly benefited from this bogus system, we can look at Gridley (4-6) in Division-II.

What did Gridley, a team with a losing record, do to merit not just being a playoff team, but a 5-seed? Well, they went 0-2 against D-III teams. They were 2-3 against D-II teams. Of course they were 2-1 against D-I schools—D-I schools with a combined 8-22 (.364) record , including that 0-10 powerhouse Las Plumas. They did not beat a single team with a winning record.

On the other hand, there were two 5-5 teams left out, Central Valley and Yreka. Let’s compare.

Central Valley was 1-0 against D-III teams, 3-3 against D-II teams, and 1-2 against D-I teams. CV’s D-I opponents were a combined 17-13 (.567), including 8-2 Enterprise and 8-2 West Valley. While the Falcons didn’t beat a team with a winning record, they did beat Gridley, 32-15, in Gridley…that’s a pretty decisive road win.

So, how about Yreka. Hmm, Yreka was 1-1 against D-III opponents, 4-3 against D-II opponents, and 0-1 against D-I. Yreka’s D-I opponent was 8-2.They beat Central Valley, 21-6, in CV, during the Falcons’ homecoming none the less. Oh, and they had that win over some pretty good team. Now, who was that? Oh ya, number-1 ranked, 9-1 Orland—a team that beat Gridley 42-7! So, the team that handed the top team it’s only defeat, has a better winning percentage than Gridley, both overall and in division, doesn’t make the playoffs?

Can you maybe see why I refer to the North Sections’ playoff ranking formula as “flawed.” (more…)

The NSCIF has released the 2011 volleyball playoff seedings.

Divison-IV

Yreka is seeded 4th and gets a 1st round bye. The Lady Miners will host number-5 Orland on Tuesday, November 15.

Trinity is seeded 8th and hosts 9-seed Central Valley, on Tuesday November 8th.

Division-V

Mt. Shasta is seeded 5th and gets a 1st round bye. The Lady Bears will go to number-4 Portola on Tuesday, November 15.

Tulelake is seeded 9th and goes to 8-seed Modoc on Tuesday, November 8.

Weed and Etna did not qualify for playoffs.

Division-VI

Dunsmuir is the 8-seed and will host number-9 Redding Christian on Tuesday, November 8.

Happy Camp is the 11-seed and goes to 6-seed Redding Adventist on Tuesday, November 8.

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DUNSMUIR – Prior to the start of the Dunsmuir Lady Tigers volleyball match against the Tulelake Lady Honkers, Dunsmuir coach Lisa Kirch pointed to a banner on the gym wall.

“It’s been since 1982 since we’ve been league champions. I hope we can do it. Even a share of the championship would be great,” said Kirch.

Not since 1982…that’s 29 years for those of you counting your fingers and toes at home.

With the Lady Tigers’ 3-1 win over Tulelake on Thursday night, the drought is officially over. Dunsmuir is guaranteed at least a share of the Evergreen League crown this season. The Lady Tigers finished the league campaign with a record of 9-1, their only loss coming in Tulelake earlier in the season.

Tulelake dropped to 8-1 on the season with one match remaining. The Honkers host Big Valley (3-4) next Tuesday. A Lady Honker win means a co-championship with Dunsmuir. A loss means second place for the Honkers, and an outright championship for Dunsmuir.

As is fitting for what virtually amounted to the Evergreen League championship match, the first game was a nail-biter. Dunsmuir raced out to a 6-1 lead, behind strong serving by Clara Weld, and a pair of kills by Marki Stibi.

A kill by Ashley Lee got the Lady Honkers headed back in the right direction. Two aces from Sabrina Gribble, and it was 6-4. An ace by Madee Boyd tied the game at 11-11. A Dunsmuir error gave the Lady Honkers their first lead, 12-11. (more…)

Information and photos supplied by Tulelake HS students Cierra Gribble and Kendra Rupert. (more…)

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Each spring, SiskiyouYouth.com awards five $200 college scholarships to students from Siskiyou County high schools. Most of the recipients listed below were chosen by their high school to receive one of the scholarships. The basic requirements for eligibility were a 3.0 GPA or better, and participation in at least two extracurricular activities.

It’s important to note that these scholarships are only possible because of SiskiyouYouth.com’s advertisers and sponsors. Please show your support of SiskiyouYouth.com and our local student-athletes by supporting these advertisers and sponsors.

Scholarship recipients

Michell Rupert, Tulelake

Eric Sumner, Yreka

Tori Weatherford, Mt. Shasta

Jake West, Weed

Emma Winningham, Etna (more…)

COTTONWOOD – The NSCIF Track and Field Championships were held at West Valley High School on Friday. Yreka High School produced two section champions—senior Tyler Wolf in the Shot Put, and frosh Jena Turner in the 300m Hurdles.

Etna High School brought home three second place medals—sophomore John Whelan in the 3200m, and senior Emily Loogman in the 100m Hurdles and 300m Hurdles.

Austin Herrick was third in the Long Jump and John Holst was third in the Pole Vault for Mt. Shasta’s top finishes.

Siskiyou County medalists (top 5)

Yreka

Boys

Tyler Wolf: 1^st Shot Put (53-00.50), 3^rd Discus (149-09)

Dillon Dow: 2^nd 400m (50.27) , 2^nd Pole Vault (13-03.0)

Sarome Eng: 2^nd Triple Jump (43-06.00), 3^rd Long Jump (21-01.00), 3^rd 100m (11.29)

Timmy Williams: 2^nd 800m (1:58.47) (more…)