Sophomore Ronnie Manley, 20, drives to the basket during the Bruins’ 58-20 victory over the Bandon Tigers. Manley had seven points on the night. The Pilot/Jef Hatch

The Brookings-Harbor High School boys basketball team schooled the Bandon Tigers, 58-20, in their first game of the Brookings Invitational Friday night, but had a decidedly lackluster performance, according to players and coaching staff.

“It felt like we played down to their level,” senior captain Fred Corpening said after the game. “We didn’t play with any intensity.”

When asked what the team would need to do to remedy the situation, Corpening responded, “Get fired up and come out ready to play.”

 Fishing report for 

December 2-8

The recreational crab season will open for most of Oregon on December 15 as planned. “Most,” of course is the operative word in this case because there is one tiny stretch of the southern Oregon coast from Knox Rock (42-degrees 26-minutes north latitude) south to the California border (42-degrees north latitude) that will not open until January 15 – and that includes the Port of Brookings Harbor.

I apologize. I should have asked you to sit down before I broke that bit of news to you. Now that you’ve regrouped, re-read paragraph 1.

The games took place in two different locations with four different teams, but the results were the same: losses.

The reactions from both coaches were nearly identical as well.

Senior running back Travis Wood, 22, breaks a tackle as he gains 13 of his 44 total yardage on Saturday night as the Gold Beach Panthers defeat the Loggers of Scio. The Pilot/Jef Hatch

“It’s the greatest feeling. I can’t even describe it,” senior running back Travis Wood said after the game. “We shut out the number one team in the state. We were expected to get beat by how much we beat them.”

The Panthers football team didn’t just beat the Loggers Saturday night, they demolished them: 30-0.

“Well, don’t question my kids’ heart,” Head Coach Kevin Swift said. “They work really hard for me. It’s not Xs and Os, it’s about convincing kids that it’s a toe-to-toe boxing match and you have to put your head in the meat grinder and get it kicked in for the good of the team.

Brookings-Harbor High School sophomore Adan Brambilla controls Illinois Valley’s Brady Ketchum during Thursday night’s JV match. Brambilla was being dominated through two rounds before he reversed Ketchum and pinned him with a head-and-arm hold. The Pilot/Jef Hatch

The Brookings-Harbor High School wrestling team looked like a moonless sky in the dead of winter with just a few twinkling stars shining through.

The team faced the Cougars of Illinois Valley in a pre-season matchup that doesn’t affect their Far West League standings.

The night began with Adan Brambilla facing Brady Ketchum in a JV matchup at 126 pounds that resembled a classic “underdog overcomes all” Disney movie.

“Some things stay the same every year,” girls’ basketball Head Coach Chris Schofield said. “Win the league title, make it to the playoffs.”

The Bruins girls basketball team is itching to make those goals reality and is preparing every day for victory.

“We’re going to have to work really hard to get back to Gill,” senior co-captain Brianna Juarez said. “Last year it was obvious how good our team was. This year, if we don’t work hard, we’re not going to get there.”

Fred Anderson (left) hoists a fresh chrome-bright 25-pound Chinook he caught on Monday while back-trolling a sardine-wrapped banana plug. Jim Thom of Brookings and best friend, Bella joined in the photo. The Pilot/Larry Ellis

Fishing report for 

Nov. 25 - Dec. 1

No outdoor writer worth his salt feels threatened by getting a quote or from being quoted by a fellow colleague. It’s actually a very small world when it comes to the fishing and hunting biz, especially if you’ve been lucky enough to have been published in some of the more prestigious publications such as Northwest Sportsman, Salmon Trout Steelheader and Fishing & Hunting News.

At one time the latter publication, now out of business, had one of the best editors in existence at the helm, so whenever the opportunity arises to speak with Pat Hoglund, it is literally a columnist’s paradise.

The Brookings-Harbor High School boys and girls basketball teams took to the wood Monday night to iron out any ruffles before beginning their preseason schedule this weekend.

The Bruins’ coach staff threw a couple of wrinkles into what is usually a junior varsity versus varsity game during the BHHS Blue and Gold game Monday night.