Freshman Chaz Jenkins throws up an incredible shot against Palmer in the Wolves Den

Lets first talk about the snow.  Friday it snowed all day, but around 12 noon, the snow was falling at about 3″ per hour.  Roads were horrible, you could not see more than 10 feet in front of you.  ASD was canceling events left and right, but not the basketball game.  C-Team was to start at 4:30 pm, and Palmer did not show up until about 10 or 15 minutes before the game.  Come on ASD, get your act together.  When the roads are dangerous, cancel everything!  Not even the school parking lot had been plowed.  It was crazy.

There was not a lot of good things to talk about from the Varsity game against Palmer.  A lot of turnovers, no crashing the boards, and it looked like the Wolves were playing more one on one ball than running plays.  It should have been an easy victory for Eagle River.  Palmer showed up with 5 Varsity players, and 3 JV players who played most of the early game, so should have already been tired.  Eagle River should have been able to wear out the Moose and taken them to town.

Freshman Chaz Jenkins heads to the rack for a lay up against Palmer

One positive thing from the game was the play of Freshman Chaz Jenkins.  Jenkins, when he was on the floor, seemed to be everywhere.  Crashing the boards, cutting through the lane, and some spectacular shots.  Not all of them that missed were the best looks at scoring attempts, but when he connected, those shots were some incredible attempts.

Thomas Jones puts up a shot over the Palmer defense

The first half was close.  Three pointers from Thomas Jones, and Shaquan Rhoades, tough inside play from Kevin Waterman, and spectacular plays from Jenkins kept the Wolves close to Palmer in the first half, but come the 3rd period, the wheels started to fall off.  It seemed like everything Palmer through up fell.  The Wolves were not grabbing any defensive rebounds, and that all added up to Palmer taking a pretty big lead.

Junior Shaquan Rhoades puts up a three against Palmer Friday night

In the fourth quarter the Wolves started to come back, got close a couple times, but it was not enough.  Even a foul on Senior Chris Parker taking a deep three and other later free throw line trips were not enough to pull out a victory.

Senior Chris Parker is fouled on a deep three attempt late in the 4th quarter against Palmer

Going into the boys game, it was nothing but fast paced action.  The kind of basketball I love to watch.  Diamond (undefeated in CIC play going into the game) faced the new look Wolves (some of the players have dubbed this team Wolves 2.0, but in reality, it is Wolves 3.0).  The first period was wild.  Diamond would pull ahead of the Wolves, but thanks to threes by Senior Chris Parker and Shaquan Rhoades, and key shots by Kelechi Madubuko, plus great inside play by Kevin Waterman, the Wolves stayed with Diamond toe to toe, and even closed out the 1st quarter with a lead over the Lynx.

Senior Kelechi Madubuko goes for two in the first half against Diamond.

The second quarter was won by Diamond, but not by much.  The Wolves were really taking it to the boys from Diamond.  Diamond would start to pull away, but the Wolves would claw their way back.  The excitement in the Wolves den was incredible.  Eagle River was facing a giant and matching them blow for blow.  Even though the Wolves were trailing at halftime, they were in the game.  There was no doubt that the second half would be amazing.

Freshman Chaz Jenkins attempts a first half baseline layup against Diamond

Then the third quarter started.  And it was like the Wolves forgot to come out of the locker room.  If they could get the ball past the half court line, they could not buy a bucket.  Heading into the third quarter, the Lynx had a 4 point lead.  After out scoring the Wolves 16 to 5 in the 3rd, it was going to take a miracle 4th quarter for the Wolves to come back.

Junior Shaquan Rhoades lead the Wolves with 11 points against Diamond

In the 4th, the Wolves started to show some life, but it was too little to late, and they were really forcing shots up.  Beyond NBA 3 point attempts by Parker seemed rushed and a little too late, but you could see in Parker’s eyes, he could feel that he could bring Eagle River back, but he just could not find the zone he was trying so hard to shoot himself into.

Junior Shaquan Rhoades tries to draw a foul. Rhoades lead the Wolves with 11 points against Diamond

If Eagle River could have kept their 1st half composure and momentum into the second half, it would have been one hell of a game, but instead they ended up dropping the game to Diamond 44 to 69.

Senior Chris Parker tries to float a shot up in the Wolves loss to Diamond

On another note, tomorrow, February 2nd is Groundhog Day.  It is also my birthday (I will be 24 for the 16th time!).  It is also Senior Chris Parker’s birthday.  Happy Birthday fellow hoop playing groundhog!

I think they need to work on the intros a little though.  The Eagle River Boys come onto the flow to the Alan Parsons Project song “Sirius”.  This is the same song that the Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls did for their introductions.  You know, starting at forward, standing 6’7″ tall, from Central Arkansas, number 33, Scotty Pippen!…..and when they got to number 23, you could no longer hear the announcer, or the music, or anything but the crowd roaring.  I know, Eagle River is not the Bulls, and it is not the NBA, but for this Chugiak game, I was kind of hoping to hear the Wolves hit the flow to “Bring em Out” or pull some old school BBD with “Above the Rim”, then after the National Anthem, and the intros to the Mustangs, pull out some spotlights, turn off the gym lights, and crank up the audio so Mr. Patton can do the intros of the Eagle River boys, get the boys pumped, get the gym rocking, have some fun with it.  Just for one game, it would be cool.  But, even without my intro wishes, there was still an electric feeling in the air.  I think for everyone supporting Eagle River, they knew they already won the game, Chugiak just did not know that they were going to take the loss.  And that could have been a problem for Eagle River.

Junior Shaquan Rhoades pulls up for a jump shot against Chugiak

From the tip off, you could tell this was going to be hard fought game.  Winless in the CIC, Chugiak did not seem to realize that Eagle River had beat South by 30, came in second in the Cougar tip off tournament, or that they had a huge last second win over East in their last game.  No, they came to play.  And play rough.  Rough play was coming from both teams, and for the most part the refs let the boys play.  ASAA officials do not seem to want to call traveling either way, but it did make way for a fast pace game.

Michael Mothersell is fouled on a lay up attempt against Chugiak

The Wolves jumped out to an early lead, lead by Parker, Shaquan Rhoades, and Kelechi Madubuko.  Rhoades took control of the game early on, until Parker started to feel it.  At one point I got all excited because the Wolves had a fast break opportunity.  Freshman Chaz Jenkins was at half court with the ball coming to him.  No one between him and the hoop.  I have seen Chaz dunk the ball just standing under the hoop.  So I was expecting a rim rocking dunk, but Chugiak was able to break up the pass.

Senior Chris Parker led the Wolves with 22 points in the win over Chugiak

Chugiak took the lead at one point, but tonight was Eagle River’s night.  They just out played the Mustangs.  It was unfortunate that Madubuko got called for a intentional foul.  It was obvious to everyone in the gym that his foul was just a hard foul drawn brilliantly by Chugiak, but not intentional.  Later in the same half, an Eagle River player WAS intentionally fouled by a Mustang out of frustration, and again, obvious to everyone in the gym that it should have been 2 shots and the ball for Eagle River, but the refs just called it a foul.

Junior Hunter Hill goes up for two and the foul against Chugiak

The Surprise in the game for me was the play from Hunter Hill.  In the fourth quarter, Hill made some key rebounds and baskets that helped keep the lead in Eagle River’s hands the rest of the game.  A rebound, shot that resulted in a three point play for the Wolves by Hill got the Wolves Den rocking to the end of the game.

On another note, the Eagle River and Chugiak game marked a farewell for someone.  It was the last basketball game the the Eagle River Pep Band director, Mr. Chris Poole would be at.  Mr. Pool and his family are moving to Spokane, Washington and this was his last game as director.  Mr. Poole will be missed.  On the following Friday, January 20th, at the Eagle River Talent Show, the band presented Mr. Poole with a 16×20 poster taken at his last game.  The following picture is what the poster looked like…..  Safe travels Mr. Poole.

Mr. Poole directs the pep band at a Varsity Basketball game for the last time.

Before tip off there was a sense that Eagle River just might have a chance for once against the Mustangs.  But, as the game started, it was apparent that the Lady Wolves just were not ready for the Lady Mustangs.  The girls had a hard time getting the ball past half court, and the Mustangs brought on some impressive defense.  Full court pressure was just too much for the Lady Wolves to get past.

Freshman Lauren Frost gets hit going to the hoop.

While Freshman Lauren Frost has been a big addition to the Lady Wolves, helping to get their offense going finally, it took almost three quarters before the Wolves were able to get an offense going.  The few times that the Wolves did find a path to the hoop they were battered by the strong defense from the Mustangs.  Sometimes they drew fouls and headed to the line, but the whistle did not blow as often as it should have.  That did not really matter though since the foul shooting by Eagle River was off mark most of the time.

Junior Dana Panfil heads to the hoop against Chugiak.

When the Wolves were able to find a way past half court, the baskets may not have been falling, but standing baseline looking through the camera, I did see something that showed promise.  While it was hard for the girls to get any plays going, they were seeing the court better than previous years.  There were some well though shuffle pass attempts, and some backdoor cuts that could have made the game closer if they were executed better, but they just were not there against Chugiak….

Sam Coy releases a shot against Chugiak

The Wolves have another chance to take it to Chugiak this season in the Mustangs home gym.  A win this weekend at Skyview, their first win in 3 seasons, may be just what the Wolves need get the wins rolling in the CIC.  Congrats girls on the victory over Skyview.

The varsity boys have only 2 Varsity returners (three if you count Hunter Hill who spent most of last season with the JV team), in Kevin Waterman and Kelechi Madubuko.  Senior transfer Chris Parker is one exciting addition to the team.  A point guard standing at about 6’1″, Parker is a threat from the outside, hitting a couple big threes for Eagle River, and can quickly cut to the inside for easy layups.  He is a great floor leader, and this kid can play.  Unfortunately, during the South game, the Wolverines also learned how good Parker is and went at him hard.  A couple fouls could have been called intentional, and in the fourth quarter, Parker took a foul to the head, getting hit in the eye, which took him out of the rest of the game.

Senior Chris Parker shoots over the South defense Friday night

In this next picture, I messed up.  Shooting vertical for basketball is normal, but I should have shot horizontal.  Chris leg that is out of the picture is being held by a South player….

Senior Chris Parker gets fouled on a layup attempt against South

Another addition to the team is Shaquan Rhoades.  Shaquan is exciting to watch play.  More explosive than Parker, but his game is not quite as refined as Parker’s.  The combination of Rhoades and Parker is going to be fun to watch play this season.

Shaquan Rhoades splits the South defense for a layup Friday night

Rhoades slashes through defenses with ease and will end up at the free throw line quite a bit this year.  Both Parker and Rhoades, combined with Madubuko in the back court will be a force on both offense and defense, and they showed it against South.

Kelechi Madubuko heads to the hoop for two points

Junior Hunter Hill and Senior Kevin Waterman down low will be rebound machines, and coming off the bench, Senior Patrick Prior can bring some instant offense with his outside range, and along with sophomore Thomas Jones will be essential to give Rhoades, Parker and Madubuko a rest.

The Wolves came in second in the Service tournament, and got beat up last week by Service at Service, but Friday night in the Wolves Den, the new look Wolves downed the South Wolverines 72-53 lead by Parker’s 16 points and Waterman’s 9 rebounds.

This is going to be an exciting season.

This season is different though.  The girls first CIC game was Friday night against South.  I was expecting more of the same from the previous two years.  Boy was I wrong.  The girls on the floor this season came to play.  Yes, they still lost, but it was a game.  Eagle River was up by 14 points at one point.  It actually was loud in the gym while the girls were playing, where in previous years, you could hear a pin drop.

Freshman Lauren Frost shoots a jumper over the South defense.

The Lady Wolves were lead by freshman Lauren Frost.  The addition of Frost really showed the potential the other ladies have.  Returning players Dana Panfil and Meaghan Byman really benefitted from the ball handling of Frost, and in the South game, Frost would pull two defenders to her and was able to get the ball to open players for open looks at the hoop.

Panfil, who showed last year that she had some skills, was hampered with 3 fouls quickly in the first quarter, and fouled out 11 seconds into the 3rd quarter.  It was not her fault though.  (Here it comes David!)  The refs really were horrid during the girls game.  At least 2 of the fouls called on Dana were a joke, and when a girl (South player) catches a ball, dribbles it twice, picks it up, then dribbles again and scores, it does not count.  That is called a double dribble.  It is a violation, and the other team gets the ball.  When it happens right in front of you, you blow the whistle to stop the play.  The entire gym booing at you should have given you your first hint.

Senior Meaghan Byman runs a play against South

Another varsity returning player that continued her good play from last year was Sam Coy.  Sam crashed the boards, and attacked the hoop the whole game.  It looked like she has matured as a player too.  I expect good things from Sam this year.

Sam Coy heads to the basket for a lay up vs South

Panfil was not the only player to show range from the outside.  Frost also showed some outside range, and returning player Mikayla Douglas also showed she is a threat from outside the arc.

Mikayla Douglas fires a shot over the South defense

The Lady Wolves had this game.  But after a 5 point play by South (foul on a three point attempt and a technical foul for 6 Wolves on the floor) the momentum swung to the Wolverines.  Eagle River may have lost 65 to 55, but that 55 points was unexpected by me, and if the girls play like this all season, watch out Cook Inlet Conference.  The Eagle River Lady Wolves are no longer an automatic win….these girls are here to play!

Anyway, here is the page from this months issue.

A few people who have seen it have commented about how I got the shot.  This was with a Canon 1D mkII and a 24-70 2.8 lens on it.  I was standing in the middle of the road (Business Blvd.) on a little median in front of a street sign, because I knew that when the runners came around the corner they would split and go down each side.

Here is a Google Maps Street view of the runners perspective as they came around the corner.

It is really an ideal place.  The race started down by the old library in Eagle River.  That is about 3 or 4 blocks.  I started out by standing there with my Canon 7D and 120-300 2.8 lens on it shooting the runners head on from the start.  After they ran a couple blocks, I ran over to this position and switched to my other camera.  Luckily, we had decent light and colorful backgrounds with clouds and the position was perfect for the encompassing type of shot.  There were other shots I would have originally picked over this one, but after a while I started to see why this one was selected.

For the Bear Paw race, I was not shooting anything specific.  My sister and some other people I know were running in the race, so I thought I would go down and grab some shots of them.  Then after the race the Bear Paw Parade starts.  So wandering up and down the street taking pictures of the parade, talking to friends and clients and potential clients is always nice.  It is actually a event that I am on my feet for the whole time, that I really enjoy shooting.  And that is after a late night at the car show running a mile a minute to finish prepping the car, getting it to the show, and rushing out as the rain starts to fall and every car tries to leave at the same time.  So having Runner’s World contact me months after…like 10 months after, wanting one of the shots, just made my day…

After having the above scan from the magazine I found out that there is a small shot on the RWM website and around noon today I found that Carr’s finally got the issue on the newsstand.

2010 Bear Paw 5k Race and Parade in Eagle River, Alaska

I am really excited about the photo being in Runner’s World, mainly because I was not expecting it.  It is always nice to shoot something for myself (I know a few of the runners, one, not pictured, is my sister) and having a major publication want to run it, but it is also great for Eagle River being included in a premier running magazine.

Hey you Eagle River runners.  Watch out for the July issue of Runner’s World Magazine.  I had an image from the 2010 Bear Paw 5k picked up for a store that should be in that issue.  It is a shot of a group of runners turning the corner off of the Old Glenn onto Business Blvd right there at Taco Bell.  So you just might be in Runner’s World Magazine!

“Do you have any photos of Kelly Cobb?  We are working on a story and need images.”

Kelly who?  I have lived in Eagle River for 7 years and really do not know the soccer scene, but I do know the names of many of the Eagle River High School soccer players, mainly from other sports I shoot at the school, but Kelly Cobb?  No clue.  So my answer to MaxPreps was:

“I do not have any, but I can have some Thursday the 21st, will that work?”

Chugiak Mustang Senior Kelly Cobb (left) goofs around with a teammate prior to a game against Bartlett.

The emails went back and forth, and I learned a lot about Kelly.  Kelly is a senior at Chugiak High School and a soccer star.  She is headed to Duke this fall to play for the Lady Blue Devils and she is on the US U-20 National Team.  How did I not know we have a high school athlete like this in Eagle River?  MaxPreps is working on a story about Kelly, and their writer, who has been communicating with Kelly, her father and her coach, lets my photo editor know that Kelly has a big National Team thing coming up and so she probably will not play on Thursday.  Not going to play?  This wont work…not at all.  I shoot an email to Kelly’s father, hoping that maybe I can get about 10 minutes to shoot a sportrait session of Kelly, and he emails back saying that she is not going to play, but she will be there, in uniform, and will warm up with the team.  Ok…that is better than nothing.

Chugiak Mustang Senior Kelly Cobb (on left) with a teammate during warm ups prior to a game against Bartlett.

We have had a really nice spring.  Monday I headed out to a ERHS soccer game, just to get my soccer grove on before shooting Kelly, and it was warm (50 on the field!), sunny.  Just nice weather.  Tuesday and Wednesday, more of the same weather.  Thursday I head up to Chugiak High School and it felt like it was going to snow.  The weather turned very cold, wind was blowing, it was absolutely miserable out.  The Mustangs come out onto the field to warm up and they are all wearing sweatshirts, huddling together, not looking like a team at all…just a bunch of cold high schoolers.   And there is Kelly…not in a Chugiak sweatshirt.  Not a Duke one…not even a Team USA top.  A New England Patriots sweatshirt.

Chugiak Mustang Senior Kelly Cobb lets out a goofy war cry as she sets up for a shot on goal during pregame warm-ups.

Really?

So now, here I am…with a subject not looking like a soccer player, freezing, and not going to play….so, I do what I can.  I shoot Kelly goofing around with teammates, clowning around taking shots on goal, in a team huddle…well, games about to start, and my work is done here…looks like I will head over to Eagle River for the boys varsity game….

Wait…

What’s going on?

Kelly Cobb just took her sweatshirt off and is running out onto the field….

Yes…..she is going to play..

Chugiak Mustang Senior Kelly Cobb (4) handles the ball during a game against Bartlett.

Chugiak Mustang Senior Kelly Cobb (4) splits the defense on her way to a first half goal in a game against Bartlett.

Chugiak Mustang Senior Kelly Cobb (4) sets up for a shot on goal in a game against Bartlett.

So I shoot only 5 minutes.  I really only need about 15 shots of Kelly.  I do not have to focus on any other player, and in the first moments of the game it appears that she is going to be touching the ball a lot.  And I learned something about Kelly.  She is good.  Real good.  I think the best way to describe her talent would be to say, she made the Bartlett defenders look like a bunch of middle school basketball players trying to guard Michael Jordan.  She was just silly good.

Watch MaxPreps for their upcoming story.