Diamond Rain

Any location north of the 45th parallel, it's tough to be a baseball or softball player. As spring training attracts the diamond fans to the Southwest Desert or the Gulf Coast, in locations such as Oregon, the opening of the baseball and softball seasons in March can seem to be an exercise in futility. Most of the action in the early season is not on the diamond, it's in the scheduler's office juggling games around rainouts. Nike, Wilson and Rawling warm-ups give way to gear from North Face and Columbia Sportswear.

In between the raindrops and despite chilling temperatures over the past couple of weeks, the high school boys and girls of Spring in Oregon braved the elements and kicked off the 2006 season. With a little luck, with daylight savings time will also come sunnier days and warmer weather that is more conducive to baseball and softball. Last year...the first day of high school baseball season was greeted with 70 degree temperatures and sunny skies. Sure...it was a bit of a fluke...but is sure was a nice way to kick off the season.

It Doesn't Get a Whole Lot Better Than This!

Are you lacking a little excitement in your life? If so, then book the second week of March 2007 to spend some time at the OSAA Boys Basketball Championships. This year's tournament served up some thrilling down to the buzzer classics, including the championship final where the Lake Oswego Lakers survived a last second shot attempt by the South Medford Panthers to win the school's first basketball state championship 59-57.

If Jesuit makes another appearance in next year's tournament...secure yourself a ticket. In 2005, Jesuit claimed the state title in a miraculous come from behind, final seconds victory over Lake Oswego. This year, each of the Crusader's games were end-to-end excitement with victory teetering on the tipping point down to the final seconds. J-High ended up claiming the third place trophy...their sixth third place or better finish in eight years at the tournament. After loosing their star talent, Seth Tarver, to graduation, Jesuit may find it a bit difficult to extend this feat to a ninth year. But if they are in the tournament, you may want to be sure you're in the house when they're on the court.

OSAA Girls 4A Basketball Championships

A beginning of a new dynasty? The jury is still out. However, the Southridge Girls Basketball Team has stepped up to the elite level. The ladies proved to the Oregon basketball world that they are for real. In a classic thriller, the Skyhawks defeated the former queens of the court, Oregon City High School, to win the Oregon 4A High School Championship for the second year in a row. Can the Skyhawks repeat next year? That will be the big question as Southridge loose a few key players to graduation, but a core of talented underclassmen will be returning...and the ladies are disciplined, they play with passion and they are a very unified team. It will be an interesting season in 2007.

Unfortunately for me, I was not able to shoot the girls final as I had an assignment to cover a 4A Boys playoff for the Valley Times and the Oregon City News between Jesuit and Oregon City. I was able to shoot a handful of games leading up to the final and shot some feature photos for the Ashland Daily Tidings. Below are some shots from sub-round play.

Love & Basketball

No...we are not talking about the 2000 sports-romance movie starring Omar Epps and Sanaa Lathan. We're talking...Kevin Love. The 6-foot-10 junior center out of Lake Oswego, Oregon that is attracting a larger audience these days than that romance story pulled into multi-plexes around the nation. Kevin Love is a hot prospect being courted by the largest colleagic basketball factories in the USA. Love's celebrity status is drawing a lot of attention. So much so, that ESPN U television network recently taped Lake Oswego's home game against Three Rivers League challenger Oregon City High School. Although the game may not have been impressive to a national TV audience, Love sure was. He kicked in 37 points, captured 22 rebounds and basically owned the key on defense as the Lakers rolled to a 68-48 victory. Love and basketball...coming to a television network near you...and get ready for the fall of 2007 premier at a college campus, yet to be named.


Kevin Love towering over the Oregon City defense.


Good luck trying to stop a 6-foot-10 center when he wants to head to the hoop.


The standard "impromptu" cheerleader shot.


Close up, it may look like the crowd is going wild, but look behind "the crowd."


Love is getting as comfortable with the post game interviews as he is at the freethrow line.

January Hoops

Back in my high school days, when I was the Photo Editor of the Jesuit Crusader, I loved shooting basketball. My arsenal...a Nikon F, a Vivitar 285 strobe and good old Tri-X. It's been decades since then, and I find myself walking into the same gyms that I shot over 30 years ago...sitting in the same location. The memories come back to me as clearly as watching a Beta-Max recording of the same era.

Here are a few captures from the first few weeks of January. My Oregon Sports Photos site has a couple pages of January Hoops...stop by and take a look.

Time to Catch Up - Les Schwab Invitational

The holidays were busy, and after the first of the year, things haven't slowed down. So it's time to do some updates. Let's start with the Les Schwab Invitational High School Basketball Tournament held at Liberty High School in Hillsboro, Oregon during the holiday break. It is a great showcase of basketball talent from some of the top high school programs in Oregon mixed with some nationally ranked teams from 5 locations throughout the United States. With a number premier players participating, the tournament draws college recruiters like bees to honey.

Out-of-state teams continued the dominant influence of the tournament as Reserve Christian of Reserve, Louisiana was the seventh team outside of Oregon to win the championship title in the tournament's ten year history. Top local finisher was Lake Oswego High School from Lake Oswego, Oregon featuring junior Kevin Love, who is one of the hottest college prospects in the nation.

For more photos of the 2005 Les Schwab Invitational, visit my Oregon Sports Photos web site.

OSAA Championship Football Weekend

Oregon's 2005 high school football season wrapped up during the second weekend in December at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon with championship finals for the 1A through 4A schools. Autzen presents a magical stage for the athletes. It's a premier facility and provides an aura of "big time" football with its rich history of being the home field of the University of Oregon Ducks. Ask the kids involved in the games and it is likely every one of them savored the memories of playing at Autzen...even those that came up on the short end of the score.

Friday night's championship games were held under cold, clear skies featuring the 1A and 2A schools. First up was South Wasco County from Maupin against Mohawk of Marcola in the 1A Eight Man Football Championship. The Indians of Mohawk racked up 487 yards on offense, 414 of those rushing led by Tyson Ludwig with 224 yards. In the end, it was Mohawk that lifted the championship trophy by defeating South Wasco 44-18.

The 2A matchup pitted Vale High School against Nyssa High School. These two teams are from the extreme eastern edge of Oregon, only about 25 miles apart. On any given day, it's about a 30 minute drive between these local rivals. However, this was not just any given day. To compete for the 2A crown, these teams traveled about 350 miles, or 7 hours, to play each other on the championship stage under the lights of Autzen. Nyssa put together a strong running game led by Paul Jones with 218 yards to defeat Vale 19-2. The two points accumulated by Vale were perhaps the most unique 2 points in high school football history. Oregon is the only state in the nation currently experimenting with a new rule that limits the number of points a defensive team can score during the offence's post-touchdown conversion attempt. With 1:05 left in the third quarter Jason Noland of Vale intercepted Nyssa's two point conversion pass attempt in the endzone and ran 100 yards for the score, which made Jason's run likely the longest run ever for the least number of points...all it got his team was 2 points.

Saturday's first afternoon game matched up the 2003 3A champion, Marist High School of Salem, against Sherwood High School, which lost to Wilsonville in the 2004 3A championship. Sherwood's hopes of capturing their first state championship were dashed as Marist turned up the power in the fourth quarter to come from behind and edging out Sherwood with a 17-13 victory. The game was very balanced as Marist combined with 136 yards passing and 98 yards rushing for 234 yards and Sherwood tallied 130 passing yards along with 118 yards rushing for 248 yards total.

The final game of the championship series highlighted the Lincoln Cardinals of Portland against the Jesuit Crusaders of Beaverton. Lincoln fought their way to Autzen topping off a Cinderella season to bring the Cardinals to their first championship appearance in the school's 136 year history. The dream was nearly realized until Lincoln had a punt blocked with 2:53 left in the fourth quarter that Jesuit recovered on the Lincoln 3 yard line. It was a cake walk into the endzone by Jesuit quarterback Austin Pearce that turned Lincoln's carriage into a pumpkin, ending the Cinderella story as Jesuit claimed the 4A championship in thrilling style with a 14-10 victory.

More OSAA High School Football Championship photos can be found in the Oregon Sports Photos archive.

1A Championship: Mohawk 44 - South Wasco County 18



2A Championship: Nyssa 19 - Vale 2



3A Championship: Marist 17 - Sherwood 13



4A Championship: Jesuit 14 - Lincoln 10

Always Smiling...Well, Almost Always

Imagine...the quarterback drops back into the pocket...he looks left...nothing. Then he looks right...he spots one of his trusted receivers slipping behind the secondary. He draws the ball back...ready to spring. As the camera zooms in tight, we see a big flashy smile. Reality? Of course not...he's focused...eyes fixed on his intended target...this is no time to be smiling.

As the athletes on the field maintain their disciplined composure...thier "game face" is stalwart...composed...focused. In contrast, the game face of the athletes on the sideline includes a perpetual smile during every one of their "plays"...during pressure situations, through the toughest of elements and even when the score looks hopeless. These are the cheerleaders. While we wouldn't expect football players to be smiling as a part of their athletic routine...it's a major element of the cheer team's game.

With championship titles, scholarships and prestige on the line, it is no secret that cheerleading is no longer strictly about rhythmic chants, but is heavily swayed towards athleticism. And throughout every routine, no matter if it's 40 degrees and raining or the team is performing a routine with a high degree of difficulty, the smile is present. It's required...it's expected...it's a trademark.

During the OSAA State Football Playoffs and Championships, a wide variety of cheer teams supported their teams. Mohawk High, from the small Western Oregon town of Marcola had three cheer team members...while 4A Lincoln High School of Portland sported a squad of about 20. No matter what the size of the squad or the level of skill, the common denominator is an ever-present smile...through every routine...without regard of the elements.

Of course, the smiles often give way to tears when a playoff loss shatters the dream of a championship. But it's only a brief interruption, as pride of an accomplished season soon has the team thinking about getting ready for the next season to follow.

250 Miles, 18 Wins, 127 Goals, 1 State Title

Living on the eastern side of the Cascade Range in Oregon has many benefits that the urban centers on the western side of the state struggle to compete with....strong community bonds, a beautiful environment and a more manageable pace of life are just a few of the treasures of Eastern Oregon living. However, for high school athletes there are a few challenges. One of the most grueling is that athletes spend a lot of time on buses traveling to and from competitions. It is not uncommon for a school to have to travel over 100 miles for a normally scheduled game. So when McLaughlin Union High School from the north-eastern Oregon town of Milton-Freewater packed their undefeated soccer team, along with over 200 fans, on buses and traveled 250 miles to the Portland metro area for the OSAA 3A Soccer State Championship, it was not just another bus ride.

McLaughlin dominated their opponents during season play, with 14 wins and 114 goals...a majority of those goals were scored by Marcos Betancourt and Victor Corona. After including their playoff matches, the Pioneers tallied 18 wins with 127 goals-for and only 9 goals-against. During McLaughlin's state final match, the dangerous duo struck for a goal each as the Pioneers shocked LaSalle High School, located in the Portland area, to win the state title in an exciting 2-1 victory. Betancourt converted a first-half penalty and Corona struck a sizzling 25 yard free kick with the outside of his right foot which beat LaSalle keeper Clarke Henarie in the upper-right corner.

The 250 mile bus ride back to the open range country of Eastern Oregon was likely the most pleasurable 7 hour trip the McLaughlin Pioneers ever experienced, for this was the school's first state soccer title. The Pioneers no longer have to live in the shadow of the more prominent 3A schools on the western side of Oregon. In fact, as the new soccer dawn rises from the East, it's the urban schools that are now in McLaughlin's shadow.

Oregon 1A Football Playoffs at the Rodeo Grounds

It’s a small western Oregon farming community of 360 people…a high school with an enrollment of only 72 students. Yet every year the town of St. Paul, Oregon shows its support of the St. Paul High School 8-man football team by providing a newly planted field in the town’s center stage, the St. Paul Rodeo Grounds.

Home to one of Oregon’s largest rodeo events held each 4th of July, the St. Paul Rodeo grounds is also the home field for the St. Paul Buckaroos 8-man football team. Shortly after the last bronco has bucked off the last rodeo contestant, a small troop of volunteers begin work building a football field in the middle of the rodeo grounds in preparation of the upcoming fall football games for St. Paul High using donated seed from the local Oregon grass seed farmers. The 10,000 seat arena provides more than ample seating and is perhaps the most unique home field for an 8-man football team anywhere in the nation.

After the fall football season, the troop of volunteers moves in and tear up the arena grounds in preparation of the biggest hoedown in Western Oregon. Year-after-year, the cycle has continued…plant a field…play football…then tear it up and host the rodeo. It is a great show of community support appreciated by present and past student athletes of St. Paul High School.

These photos are of St. Paul’s second round OSAA 1A 8-man football playoff game against Joseph High School from Northeastern Oregon. St. Paul’s pristine field holds up most the season, but as playoffs roll around in mid-November, the Oregon rains weaken the temporary turf and a good ol’ fashion mud bowl creates a challenge for both teams. Joseph’s 250 mile trek back to Eastern Oregon was a lot more bearable as their 32-6 victory spoiled the home team’s hopes of advancing to round three of the playoffs.