 Golden State Warriors (1) vs. Los Angeles Clippers (8) The Warriors finished the season with a 57-25 record which was good, but slightly underwhelming considering the roster. Despite this, they maintained the best record in the Western Conference this year. The Clippers season record was 48-34, the Clippers won the first game between the season series of the two teams. Warriors won the second, third, and fourth game of the season series. So with this being said, the Clippers should be able to take a couple from the Warriors in the series. Prediction: Warriors take the series 4-2 San Antonio Spurs (7) vs. Denver Nuggets (2) This series is a seven seed vs a two seed in the first round of NBA playoffs. Denver has proved themselves as a two seed in the west with a 54-28 record which is the 4th best in the NBA. The Spurs have rounded out the season with a 48-34 record landing them in seventh place. The Spurs have been a historically great playoff team and are hard to beat with veteran coach Greg Popovich leading the way. Nikola Jokic (20.1 ppg, 10.8 rpg) and Jamal Murray (18.2 ppg, 4.8 apg) have been key for the Nuggets this season. On the other side, the Spurs are led by DeMar DeRozan (21.2 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 6.2 apg) in his first season with the squad. Prediction: Denver takes the series 4-3. Blazers (3) vs. Thunder (6) The Blazers went 53-29 in the Western Conference season while the Thunder went 49-33 in the Western Conference. Both teams where in the Western Conference but the Blazers placed third while the Thunder placed sixth. In the regular season Portland lost all four times against Oklahoma so chances of the Blazers winning in the playoff series are not very high. The key players from Portland would be Damian Lillard and Enes Kanter. Oklahoma City’s key players are Russell Westbrook and Paul George. Prediction: Thunder wins four out of the seven game series. Houston Rockets (4) vs. Utah Jazz (5) This season Houston went 53-29, and Utah went 50-32. Houston won the first game 122-90 of the series. I believe that houston is going to win in game 6. Houston top stars are, potential MVP James Harden, and point guard Chris Paul, and center Clint Capela. The top 3 players for Utah are, Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, and Joe Ingles. These two athletic teams are poised to have a back and forth, high scoring series, but it could come down to how well Utah can defend Rockets star player James Harden. Prediction: Rockets win the series 4-2. Milwaukee Bucks (1) Vs. Detroit Pistons (8) The Bucks are 60-22 in the regular season, and 1-0 in the playoffs so far. Some player to watch on the Bucks are Giannis Antetokounmpo, leading in points (27.7), rebounds (12.5) and assists (5.9) for his team. Eric Bledsoe leads the team in steals (1.5), and big man Brook Lopez leads the team in blocks (2.2). The Detroit Pistons are 41-41 in the regular season, and 0-1 in the Play-offs thus far. Luke Kennard leads the team in points in game one (21). Andre Drummond is the team’s big man, and needs to step up in the rest of the series if the Pistons are to compete with the Bucks. Prediction: Bucks win the series 4-1. Raptors(2) vs. Magic(7) The Raptors hold a solid record of 58-24 while their opponent the Orlando Magic are doing a less impressive 42-40. This is the first time in six years that the Magic have been in the playoffs and the first time Kawhi Leonard has played in the playoffs with the Raptors. The Magic have up and coming star from the famous song, Mo Bamba. This admittedly gave the team a lot of hype for this year. Earlier in this year when these teams have matched up they’ve went back and forth. A player to watch out for from the Raptors is Kawhi Leonard who averages 26 points per game and for the magic Nikola Vucevic averages almost 21 points per game. Prediction: Raptors win 4-2 with some good, close games. Nets (6) vs. Philadelphia (3) The Nets overtake the the Sixers in an upset over the third seed. The Nets first visit to playoffs in four years and they came out strong in the first game. The Sixers are supposed to be a Eastern Conference Finals team, but haven’t separated themselves from the Nets quite yet. They finally have showed that they can play with the sixth seed with an 145-123 win in game two. Watch for DeAngelo Russell for the Nets to score at will. The health of Joel Embiid’s knee could be a determining factor in the series. Prediction: Nets win the series in seven games. Boston Celtics (4) vs. Indiana Pacers (5) The Boston Celtics finished the season with a somewhat disappointing record of 49-33. For a team who went to the Eastern Conference Finals last year, and returned their entire core plus Gordon Hayward, expectations were high. The Pacers finished just a game behind the Celtics at 48-34 and were without star player Victor Oladipo for much of the season. The Celtics took the regular season series 3-1. A player to watch for Indiana is Bojan Bogdanovic, who averaged 18 points per game this season and shot 42% from behind the arc. Boston, however, counters with perennial all-star Kyrie Irving (23.8 ppg, 6.8 apg, 5.0 rpg). Prediction: Boston takes the series in a five game gentleman’s sweep, 4-1.  Eddyville track is back in action after a one-year hiatus last season. With a strong core of athletes, and a brand new coach, things are looking up. Here’s a preview of the season, which has began three weeks ago.
Coach: Abi Warren (1st year) Here at the little school of Eddyville Charter we have a new member to our athletics staff. Abi Warren hails from the small town of Triangle Lake which she stayed for her whole high school and middle school career. She has had a very successful track experience winning state her senior year in 400 meter and obtaining second in the 200 meter. She even holds 2nd place for the fastest Triangle lake girls 100 meter dash proving she has what it takes to be great. All of this success has led her to decide too take over the Eddyville track team that so far she has been doing a great job of. In addition to coaching the track team, she is also our 3rd grade teacher. Let’s hope all of her greatness encourages the team too an awesome season. Distance Runners Here at Eddyville Charter School we have two High School long distance runners. Their names are Itzel Arizmendi and Rhyan Turner. Both freshman have some experience. Itzel coming off a recent soccer season hoping to keep endurance in the 1500m and the 3000m. And Rhyan Turner coming off of a very strong cross country season and definitely prepared for her long distance runs. Itzel has been to two meets and Rhyan is hoping to compete for the first time. Rhyan has tons of track experience from middle school though, where she competed for Philomath. There is an upcoming meet Thursday April 4th in Saint Paul. Hopefully the girls do good in their distance events. Sprinters and Jumpers Isaac Kinion is one of the three sprinters on Eddyvilles High School track team. He runs in the high 12’s to 13’s for his 100m dash and his most recent 200m dash was a 27.49. Isaac last did track as a freshman. Unfortunately he didn't do the 100m his freshman year, but he did do the 200m dash. He clocked in at that with a 28.94 for his PR that year. His PR this year is a 27.49 for the 200m, and his PR for the 100m is 12.98. Isaac’s favorite events are triple jump and long jump. His first jumping event was long jump in 8th grade with a PR of 15’9. Moving onto his next track season is this current year, his junior year. Right now, his PR in triple jump is 36’ 5.5”, and his long jump PR is a 17’ 9”. The team still has five meets left on the season, not including the State Champions meet. Julianne Burkman is the only pure sprinter girl for the Eddyville Eagles. Her 100 meter time 15.80 seconds and her 200 time is 32.50. She’s improved a ton as the season has gone on so far, and is sure to drop her times even more with lots of practice and experience. She is new to track at our school as she just joined our school this year, right in time for track season. Keagan Spikes, a 5 foot 9 inch junior, is a big time sprinter and jumper for the Eddyville Eagles track team. Spikes is now in his fourth track season and the first since his freshman year. He broke the Eddyville Charter School record for the triple jump at the most recent meet, with a jump of 40’ 1”. This beat the previous best jump, 38’ 2.5”, which was also held by Keagan. The best 100 meter time and best long jump for the Eagles this year is also done by Keagan. His time for the 100 is 11.94 and his long jump is 18’ 6”. Throwers We have three throwers although one of them only does just one event in throwing. We have two boys and one girl. Our one female thrower only throws javelin and that is freshman Itzel Arizmendi. She has a PR of 38 ft. this season, which is her first season throwing the javelin. For the boys, we have Brier Rariden doing shotput and discus. His PR for shot put 31ft but he's shooting for 40 by the end of the season. His discus pr is 74 ft. Our second male is Payton Rockmore he throws discus and javelin but his record for discus is 77 ft and for javelin its 91 ft. With many of the throwers being new to the sport, there are few forms on how to throw a shot put and discus to choose from. Both Eddyville throwers use the “barnyard shuffle’. Coach Tom does want the thrower's to continue practicing the spin and the glide but the shuffle is for more inexperienced throwers and will work just fine for now. Schedule
Big 10 Conference Tournament Preview
There weren’t too many surprises this year in the Big 10. Outside of Indiana who was highly touted at the start of the year and ended up finishing 9th, the pre-season predictions were very close to how things ended up shaking out. In the first round this Wednesday, I’ve got a couple of small upsets in my bracket with 13-seed Nebraska beating 12-seed Rutgers, and #14 seed Northwestern over #11 Illinois. On day two, Indiana and Ohio State could be the tightest game of the day. Indiana has been hot lately with big wins over Michigan State and Wisconsin down the stretch. Penn State and Minnesota could be a solid game on the second day as well. On the third day of the tourney the big hitters join in. Michigan State should be poised to take care of Indiana and avenge their loss to them last weekend. As for the rest of the third round, I see #4-seed Wisconsin taking care of #5-seed Maryland, along with Purdue and Michigan easily advancing as well. The semi-finals are a top-4 seed showcase in my bracket. I have Wisconsin upsetting Michigan State, and Michigan taking down Purdue. These aren’t huge upsets, as all four of these top teams seem poised to finish strong. In the Michigan/Wisconsin final, the teams have split the season series. Michigan is fresh off a tough loss to MSU, but this shouldn’t diminish the terrific season they’ve had. 6’7” forward, Ignas Bradzekis, should be a tough matchup for Wisconsin on the perimeter (41.7% 3-point). The matchup to watch though, could be Michigan’s Jon Breske (2.2 bpg), and Wisconsin’s top scorer, Ethan Happ. Whichever player takes charge of that matchup could tilt the game in either team’s favor, but I’ve got Michigan capping off a great season with a Big 10 Conference Title. Pac-12 Tournament Preview On March 13th the Pac-12 men's basketball tournament takes place in Las Vegas. Some of the teams are obviously better then others, but the brackets are pretty evenly spread. I had a strong feeling about Washington being in the final, but Oregon St. has been playing pretty well lately, so they are going to take that game. They have the skill level to win this tournament, they just have to keep their mind set in the right place. On the other side of the bracket is also some more talented teams. Arizona St. is going to take it over Oregon. Arizona St. has been playing very well recently. So Ii think the championship game will be Arizona St. and Oregon St. with Oregon St. winning it all. This should end up getting the Pac-12 three teams in the NCAA tournament, which would be a nice finish to an otherwise disappointing season for the conference. ACC Tournament Preview I do believe that North Carolina is gonna take the ACC because they’ve played Duke twice and beat them both times. Even though Duke’s star player, Zion Williamson, is going to return I still believe that NC will pull out the win. Duke is currently ranked 3rd in the nation and NC is currently ranked 7th in the nation. This should be a highly anticipated semi-final. The top 3 players to watch out for on North Carolina are Cameron Johnson, Coby White, and Luke Maye. Top 3 players to watch out for on Duke Zion Williamson, Cam Reddish, and R.J. Barrett. On the other side of the bracket, the number 1 seed Virginia looks like they’re gonna be matching up against number 5 seed Virginia Tech. Both teams are ranked nationally and it should be a great match up. Number one seed Virginia’s only two losses are against number 2 seed Duke. UNC should take care of the Cavaliers in the final fresh off their big win against Duke in the semi-final. Big 12 Tournament Preview The Big 12 has been a three team race throughout the season, and as the season wraps up, it still appears to be the case. Kansas State had a very strong finish to the season to take the top seed in the tournament. The other two heavy-hitters in the conference are #2-seed Texas Tech and #3-seed Kansas. Kansas has struggled as of late, but they should be able to dispose of Texas in the first round. Baylor could pose a threat to Kansas State in the semi-final, with Baylor’s Makai Mason’s shooting ability leading the way. Kansas State should take care of them though. On the other side of the bracket, Texas Tech has been on a roll. They had a statement win two weeks ago against Kansas, with a 91-62 win. Kansas should come ready to play, but Texas Tech seems to have their number. In the final, it seems like this should carry over. Jarrett Culver has been on a roll and Kansas State doesn’t seem to have the athleticism to guard him effectively. Italian native, Davide Moretti, who is shooting 48.1% from 3-point range, could be an X-factor as well for TTU. SEC Tournament Preview On March 13th the SEC 2019 basketball tournament kicks off in Nashville, Tennessee. Kicking off the tournament we have a game of Missouri vs Georgia. We chose Missouri to win this first game simply. Because they blew Georgia out last time they played them. On the other side of the bracket we have TAMU matched up with the bottom seed Vanderbilt. As the tournament continues, we’ve got Auburn taking on LSU in one semi-final. LSU, despite not having head coach Will Wade, should be able to cruise past Bruce Pearl’s Auburn Tigers. On the other side, Tennessee taking on Kentucky is a match-up many will be looking forward to if both squads take care of business in the preliminary rounds. We have Tennessee, despite some recent struggles, moving on to the title game vs. LSU. In the title game, look for Tennessee’s Grant Williams to be the difference maker. LSU’s lack of a coach could also prove too tough to overcome in the final.  With no article last week, here's an update on the standings in our class' playoff prediction competition.
Jace: 1-5 (-109 point differential) Keagan: 3-3 (-67 point differential) Max: 4-2 (-82 point differential) Ulstad: 4-2 (-73 point differential) Isaac: 4-2 (-57 point differential) Isaac is in the spot to beat right now, but we'll see how things shake out after this weekend's big game. We've got three new members to the class who will be making their first predictions this week. Here's what we've come up with. -Keagan: I believe the rams are going to take this one against the Patriots this year. Although the Rams only have one ring and the Patriots have five, i believe the Rams have what it takes to make it number two. 34-32 Rams. -Jace: I think the rams will take the Super Bowl this year. The Rams may not have a lot of experience in the Super Bowl but they will still pull through with the win 34-27. -Isaac: The Patriots are the best play-off team as of late and they won’t stop now. Betting against the Patriots has always proved me wrong, so I will give them the benefit of the doubt. Jared Goff and the Rams are very inexperienced; Tom Brady and the Patriots are the best playoff/super bowl team in recent history. Tom Brady’s favorite targets are very good under pressure and will come in clutch throughout the game. The Patriots will win their sixth super bowl by the score of 34-31. -Brier: I believe that the patriots are going to win by 10 mostly because of the experience the Pats have. Pats win 24-14. -Korbyn: I think the Rams will win. I’m really getting a good feeling that the Patriots will be blown out, 38-12. -Max: I believe the Rams are gonna win with lots of receiving and rushing yards, the score is gonna be 27 to 34 with rams dub. -Ulstad: Picking the Rams for no other reason than needing to win this competition, and Isaac picking the Patriots. Also, there are three former Beavs on the roster. My dream scenario is Jared Goff needing to come out of the game, and Sean Mannion coming into the game and throwing the game winning TD to Brandin Cooks for the win (and maybe a Johnny Hekker fake punt toss on the in the second half as well). Lets go Rams. -Tucker: The Patriots are who I am going to go with, because Tom Brady’s Super Bowl record doesn't lie. 40 to 34 Patriots. After a crazy Wild Card weekend, the sports media class is here to share their NFL Divisional Round predictions.
Colts @ Chiefs 1/12/19 1:35 PM
Cowboys @ Rams 1/12/19 5:15 PM
Chargers @ Patriots 1/13/19 10:05 AM
Eagles @ Saints 1/13/19 1:25 PM
 This is the first time since 2015-16 that Eddyville has had a girls basketball team. So that means all the players coming up have never played high school basketball. We are happy to have a girls team this year and can't wait to see what they do on the court. Even with many inexperienced players, the team has some good athletes which will help them a lot in our league and hopefully lead to some wins.
The new girls team is accompanied by a new coach, Josh Russell. Josh Russell is an eddyville alumni who played basketball for the boys team in the 90’s. He’s a new coach for the lady eagles, but he has youth coaching experience. He will be surely working to set a good foundation right off the bat for this program as it continues to build this year and in future years. The Eddyville girls have the same schedule as the boys, they will share a bus to and from the game. Then having the boys JV game, then the boys varsity game, followed by the girls team. The girls will be starting off their season at a tournament in Gilchrist. Some of the tournaments they have are the Lowell Tournament; followed by the Monarch Invitational. The first league game is against Siletz at home. On our roster this season are Jillian Johnson, Maddie Roads, Hannah Smith, and Daisy Loomis. Sophomore, Lara Gullberg, and freshmen Hope Gassner, Jamie Demaris, Randi Turner, Rhyan Turner, and Micayla Flansberg. This is Jillian’s first time playing since middle school. Maddie Roads will provide some height for the team as she is the tallest player on the team. Hannah Smith is a great athlete who is sure to provide some excellent defense and leadership on the court. She, Maddie, Jillian, and Daisy Loomis will be the oldest members of the team, and counted on to provide good positive leadership and hard work. Hope, Jamie, Randi, Micayla and Rhyan all have played in the past at the middle school level so they have a good amount of experience. Jamie has played travel ball in the past and has played for Newport’s teams in middle school. Rhyan and Randi have played for Eddyville’s teams in the past. Since they are all just freshmen, they will be counted on to help build the program for years to come. Lara Gullberg used to play basketball for Eddyville in middle school and elementary, so she has some experience with the game. All in all, this is sure to be an exciting return season for the Eddyville girls. Having both teams travel to the games will provide some excellent school spirit and support for games on the road. Come on out and support these girls as they start their home slate on December 11th against Siletz!  Eddyville basketball is gearing up for a big season this year. With many returning players who have experience, along with many helpful newcomers, this season could be one to remember. Last year, the Eagles finished 13-10 and fourth place in their conference. With a chance to play for a state playoff spot in their last game, Eddyville fell short against a veteran Siletz squad.
Coach: Mike Ulstad (36-64, 6th season) Coach Ulstad is back for his 6th season at Eddyville. After helping re-start the program in the 2013-14 season, the Eagles have been on a steady upward trend ever since. The first two seasons were a struggle, with the team recording just 3 wins over those two years. Ever since, the Eagles have spread their wings and have had back to back seasons over .500 with a 14-9 record in 2016-17, and a 13-10 record last year. The team has recorded an overall 33-32 record over the past three seasons. The squad will start out there season against Yoncalla at the Gilchrist Tournament on November 30th. Another game the team is really looking forward to is against Siletz on December 11th, which is the 7th game of the season. Siletz and Eddyville have had many great battles over the last few years, and this year’s games are sure to be more of the same. Despite returning many guys, the Eddyville squad will be missing a few key players from last year’s team. Trent Kinion was a scoring guard averaging 12.2 points per game. He was a starter earning all league awards such as 2nd team all league and 3rd team league the past two seasons respectively. Trent graduated a year early, which is a major loss. Logan Rorie was a defensive threat and a sixth man coming off the bench. Logan provided a spark off the bench that will be missed. Also Cameron Davis, a starter last season, transferred for his final season. The Eddyville basketball team has a good amount of boys coming back. Everyone but the three mentioned above are returning and there are even more freshman coming up. We have four freshman coming from middle school to join us. Returning for the Eagles are senior Kurt Faxon, juniors Brier Rariden, Korbyn Byrd, Isaac Kinion, Chris Cross, and Keagan Spikes, and sophomores Carter Gassner and Logan Stafford. Here are some of the stats for some of our players returning. Isaac Kinion finished 2nd team all-league with 11.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.5 spg. Kurt Faxon is a 3 year starter and is a big rebounder for the team with 6 rpg last year. Keagan Spikes led the team in scoring with 14.2 ppg, to go along with 3.7 rpg, 3.9 spg. This was good for first team all-league last season. We have four freshmen, and two newcomers to the team who are joining this year. For the freshman, we have Jace Richards, Payton Rockmore, Max Kinion, Kyle Sanders and Wayne Nephew. We also have two newcomers, one has never played and one hasn’t played since middle school. The two players are Cheyden Gutierrez and Tucker Smith. Come out and support these boys as they have nine home games, and get to play a showcase game at the Moda Center on December 23rd against CS Lewis. |
