Brookings-Harbor High School 126-pounder Bubba Spencer looks for an arm bar while keeping pressure on South Umpqua’s Jake Gunn. Spencer would pin Gunn, giving the Bruins an early six-point edge over the Lancers. The Pilot/Jef Hatch

The Bruins faced the Lancers of South Umpqua in their first match and needed as many points from pins and technical falls as possible while giving up as few points as they could. 

The Brookings-Harbor High School boys and girls basketball teams headed into Friday nights games against the Bulldogs of North Bend looking for some clarification on their places within their respective leagues.

The girls team wanted to break free of their tie with Douglas and the boys wanted to be out a the four-way tie for second place on the plus side of the situation.

Kevin Lacy from Citrus Heights, California was fishing on the Chetco on Wednesday with Craig Sutton of Craig Sutton Guide Service when he caught this 17-pound steelhead while side-drifting Puff Balls-and-roe above Loeb State Park. The Pilot/Larry Ellis

It happens every February, just like clockwork. Sometime this month, Pacific herring will be entering Crescent City Harbor to spawn.

Nobody knows for sure exactly when the herring will arrive. They could creep into the harbor tomorrow, the day after tomorrow or one week from tomorrow, but if you’re not locked, loaded and ready to head to the harbor at a moment’s notice, your opportunity at loading the freezer with the best lingcod bait in the world will have come and gone.

It wasn’t simple, but the Brookings-Harbor High School boys and girls basketball teams claimed dual victories on the road at Douglas High School.

Members of the Brookings-Harbor High School wrestling team warm up prior to a team practice in the Gibney Center at the high school. The Pilot/Jef Hatch

“Ninety percent of wrestling is mental,” Brookings-Harbor High School senior C.J. Paxton explained. “If you don’t want it, you won’t win.”

Brookings-Harbor High School senior Johnny Feuerborn looks to “stack” his opponent in order to win by pin during a match against Springfield High School on Wednesday. The Pilot/Jef Hatch

“It was embarrassing,” Head Coach Dave Freeman said of the losses. “It looked like we’ve never wrestled before.” 

The first two quarters of the game told the story as the Brookings-Harbor Lady Bruins gave up 16 and 12 points in the first and second quarters respectively while only scoring six and five before losing the game 54-35.

The Lady Bruins started cold and were in early foul trouble as they faced the undefeated Lady Bulldogs of Sutherlin, and while they tried to climb back into contention in the third and fourth quarters, it was too little, too late and they fell.

Aut Strunk from Brookings tosses a crab ring into Crescent City Harbor from the B Street Pier. The Pilot/Larry Ellis

Last week, welcome rain produced by several weak cold fronts raised the Chetco River to 4,600 cubic feet per second (cfs) on Thursday, creating picture-perfect river conditions for steelheaders using a multitude of fishing methods.