Team banquet Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Coach Peeler addresses the girls and their families at the Cardinals' team banquet Mar. 18 at The Old Spaghetti Factory in Portland.

Like most teams, the Lincoln High School's basketball season ends with a banquet. The Cardinals—varsity, JV and freshmen—and their families gathered Tuesday night at The Old Spaghetti Factory for a pasta dinner. Between coaches, athletes, parents and siblings there must have been about 70 people there.

As you might imagine—and I should have anticipated—lighting in the restaurant was less than ideal for photography. Fortunately, I had a pair of speedlights and a set of pocketwizards on hand. Nevertheless, it was a challenge to light the oddly-shaped, dark wood-paneled room with two different ceiling heights (both dark wood), a couple of mirrors, a window, and no center of focus (e.g. a stage or podium).

The aftermath.

I ended up just putting the lights on some serving tables on two sides of the room near the table the varsity team was sitting at, pointed them straight up, and tried to hide them behind someone's head. Most of the time it worked out well enough.

After dinner, Nancy Palmer, the de facto treasurer for the team, counts contributions toward a bill which approached $1000.

War Protest V Monday, March 17, 2008

Nothing to do with basketball Saturday, March 15, 2008

... Fifteen centimetres of snow fell overnight in the region, but the major pummelling of up to 35 cm began Saturday afternoon and lasted into the evening. Wednesday's storm unleashed 28 cm of white powder on the Ottawa area. ... (CBC report, Mar. 10)

... Like a swaggering house guest that refuses to leave, winter unleashed a vicious late-season storm upon Eastern Canada over the weekend, stranding thousands of March break travellers and testing the limits of a weather-weary nation's endurance. ... (The Globe & Mail, Mar. 10)

... Ottawa has already registered this winter as the second snowiest one on record, said Environment Canada severe weather meteorologist Rob Kuhn.

Their total so far at the end of this last storm is 410.7 centimetres, and the record for the slowiest [sic] is 444.1 in 1970-1971," said Kuhn. ... (Canadian Press, Mar. 8)

Hoops & Hopes Friday, March 14, 2008

I can't exactly say that the Lincoln basketball story is "done," but the season is over, and it (well, some of it) was published today. If you live in Portland, pick up a copy of the Tribune, otherwise check out their website.

The story you see there is a bit more about me than I would have liked, but that's the feel that the editor wanted. It got a full page (not quite as much as we had hoped), in b&w (shame); they ran five good photos.

(I've been using the working title "Nothing but net," but that always seemed lame. They called it "The Lincoln Log," which is a bit corny for my taste, but whatever. I came up with "Hoops & Hopes" this morning, long after the issue went to press.)

And when you're done with that, if you have 12-1/2 minutes to spare, check out the season in review, which I just published on the Trillium Media Services website (here). Broadband connection highly recommended. (Links to the other related stories I've done are also on that page. Those are shorter.)

I have a couple other stories I'd like to put together with this material, but we'll see ... it might be a while.

Jefferson vs. Willamette Monday, March 10, 2008

[left] Willamette's Alyxe Bruns gets a hand on the ball before Janita Badon can take her shot Mar. 7 in the 5A semifinal. The referee called a jump ball on the play. [below] Janita Badon disputes a call in the second quarter. The senior will play at the University of Utah next year.











[left] Alyxe Bruns of Willamette goes for a layup against Jefferson's Tyrisha Blake Mar. 7 late in the third quarter of the Lady Demos' 55-44 win over the Wolverines.

Although Jefferson won the game, you have to give props to Willamette, who hung with the Demos better than any team I'd seen before. Particularly impressive were Alyxe Bruns, Katie Collins, and Ashley Smith, who played the full game for the Wolverines. Alyssa Garner played all but two minutes.

With help from an overtime game against Ashland, those four players played more than any others in the tournament.

The Shoni Schimmel Show Sunday, March 09, 2008

Probably the one girl that everybody at last week's state basketball tournament was at least a little curious about was Hermiston's Shoni Schimmel.

Schimmel shone as a freshman at the tournament last year, and didn't disappoint this year. She scored 61 points in her three games, including 31 against Wilsonville Friday. She also added 23 rebounds, 21 assists, and 14 steals over the course of the tournament. Naturally, she was a unanimous selection to the 5A First All-Tournament team.

Unfortunately, her efforts weren't enough to win a state title for Hermiston. But she does have two more years to try.

Lincoln bounces back Friday, March 07, 2008

Tresa Palmer drives in on North Medford's McKenzie Smith in the first quarter of the Cardinals' 47-40 win Mar. 7.

Lincoln bounced back from yesterday's loss in the quarterfinals to beat North Medford 47-40 in the consolation round. With the win, the Cardinals put themselves into Saturday's 4th place/6th place match against South Eugene.

The Cardinals started off flat, shooting only 3-20 in the first half. At the break, they were down 23-17.

They came back strong with a 15-6 third quarter, and held tough in the fourth to secure the win.

Knowing that it would be her last game if they lost, Palmer said she wanted to "leave it all on the court." She played one of her most aggressive games of the season. She only scored two points, but led the Cardinals defensively with five boards and four steals.

Iris Lerch also played much better than yesterday, scoring eight points and grabbing three boards and two steals of her own.

Sunset knocks off Lincoln, 33-31 Thursday, March 06, 2008

Aliyah Green chases Sunset's Laura Stanulis after a turnover in the fourth quarter of the Cardinals' 33-31 loss Mar. 6 in the 6A quarterfinal at the Chiles Center. Stanulis collected 14 rebounds for the Apollos, who will play Oregon City in Friday's semifinal. Lincoln will face North Medford in the consolation round Friday morning.

This was a painful game to watch ... no flow, little scoring and no flow.

With the score tied at 31 with about 3 seconds left on the clock, the refs called a foul on Aliyah Green--her fifth. Anna Johnson made both her free throws to give the win to Sunset and send the Cardinals to the consolation round.

Tresa Palmer gets a hug from her parents, John and Nancy, after the game.

Lincoln faces North Medford Friday morning in the consolation round. The winner of that game will play Saturday for fourth place.

Girls State Basketball Tournament Wednesday, March 05, 2008

The Chiles Center at the University of Portland is playing host to the top 5A and 6A girls basketball teams in the state this week. The tournament started Wednesday with the 5A quarterfinal round.

[right] Melinda Ingalls leads Wilsonville to a 66-52 win over Crater Mar. 5 at the 5A state basketball tournament in Portland. Ingalls had 23 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists and 10 steals for the Wildcats, who will play Hermiston in the semifinals Friday.

[left] Hermiston sophomore Shoni Schimmel flies out of control after a collision with Corvallis's Gabe Johnson in the second quarter of the Bulldogs 51-46 win. Schimmel was hurt on the play and sat out the rest of the second period, but returned to play after halftime. She led the Bulldogs with 14 points before fouling out late in the game.

[right] Gabe Johnson of Corvallis drives past Hermiston's Michelle Coombs. Johnson led the Spartans with 19 points and added 8 rebounds.

The 6A teams play their quarterfinal matches Thursday. You can find all the latest results and listen to the games on the OSAA website.

Keeping Portland Weird Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Back to the Chiles Center Saturday, March 01, 2008

It's all smiles for the Cardinals as they beat Reynolds 46-37 Mar. 1 in the second round of the OSAA 6A girls basketball playoffs. Playing in front of legions of Raiders fans bused to Portland for the game, Lincoln came out strong with a 15-6 first quarter and held on from there.

The Cardinals will play Sunset in the first round of the state championship tournament next Thursday at the Chiles Center. Sunset beat Lincoln 50-48 on Dec. 4.

[right] Kelsey Goodell squeezes between Kelsey O'Neil (left) and Rachel Scarpelli Mar. 1 in the first quarter of the Cardinals' 46-37 win over Reynolds.

Portland Urban Iditarod

Hundreds of "dogs" mushed their way around downtown Portland today in the seventh running of the Urban Iditarod.

More to follow ...

Reynolds 50, Lake Oswego 40 Thursday, February 28, 2008

Lake Oswego's Shannon Reader (no. 50) tips an offensive rebound away from Kelsey O'Neil and Becky Luetjen Feb. 27 in the third quarter of the Lakers' 50-40 loss to Reynolds in the first round of the 6A state playoffs.

The Reynolds Raiders ended up on the right side of a back-and-forth game against Lake Oswego Wednesday night in the first round of the 6A girls state basketball playoffs. The Lakers held a two-point lead coming into the final frame, but Reynolds came back to win 50-40.

The Raiders will play at Lincoln Saturday. The winner of that game will advance to the state championship tournament.

Breann Miller, 5, dances with Reynolds cheerleader Amanda Green Feb. 27 as fans celebrate on the court after the Raiders' playoff win.

Getting ready for the playoffs Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The Lady Cardinals scrimmage against the freshmen boys' team as they prepare for the state playoffs. Lincoln will play the winner of tonight's Lake Oswego/Reynolds game on Saturday. (below) Erin Toothaker gets fouled as she goes inside.

Jefferson spoils seniors' night for Lincoln Friday, February 22, 2008

Tresa Palmer poses with her grandparents as her dad takes a picture after the game Feb. 21. It was seniors' night for the Cardinals, on their last regular season home game of the year.

Lincoln's six seniors honored their parents Thursday night with flowers and balloons at the last regular season home game of their high school careers.

Then the PIL(6A) champions took on their undefeated 5A counterparts, Jefferson, in the unofficial city championship for girls basketball.

(right) Jefferson's Arquisha Jackson intercepts Makenzie Blythe's pass to the wing in the third quarter.

Lincoln came out strong against undefeated Demos, leading by four at the end of the first quarter. But Jefferson, who beat Lincoln 65-50 in January, came back with strong play in the second and third quarter, going on to win 62-50.

Kelsey Goodell led the Cardinals with 14 points. Dequise Hammick scored 16 for the Demos.

Both teams have a bye in the first round of their respective playoffs. Lincoln will play the winner of Reynolds vs. Lake Oswego on Mar. 1 in the 6A playoffs. On the 5A side, Jefferson will take on the winner of Pendleton at Silverton on Feb. 29.

(left) Aliyah Green squeezes between Jefferson's Hollisha Watson (left) and Dequise Hammick in the first quarter. Green scored five for the Cardinals.

Website revamped Thursday, February 21, 2008

Just a quick note to say that I've just launched a completely revised version of the Trillium website. My regular viewers have probably seen most of the photos before, but there are some that I dug out of the archives that even I had forgotten about—particularly in the Proyecto Las Tolas section.

There are a couple of known bugs—the "back" buttons don't seem to work on a couple of pages, and if you use FireFox, the map isn't showing up in the Proyecto Las Tolas section for some reason. I haven't tested it with Safari.

Please feel free to let me know what you think, and especially if you find a bug!

The end of a perfect (league) season Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Tresa Palmer flies in front of Benson's Diamond Bolden Feb. 19 in the second quarter of the Cardinals' 62-38 win over the Techsters. The win capped a perfect 12-0 PIL(6A) season for the Cardinals. They play Jefferson Thursday, and have a bye in the first round of the playoffs.

I brought my lights over to Lincoln tonight for the final game of the Cardinals' league season. They have two small balconies at one end of the gymnasium which provided the perfect place to mount the lights. They don't have power outlets there, though, so I had to run extension cords to a utility closet across the hallway. And the railings on the balcony are quite large—my superclamps barely fit on them. But I'm pleased with the results, especially tight in on the baseline like these first two shots.

Kelsey Goodell bursts past Benson's Jayonna McKinley for a layup in the second quarter. Goodell scored seven for the Cardinals tonight.

Bouncing the lights off the ceiling, I could shoot at f/4 (ISO400) on the close end, and f/2.8 at the far end of the court. Even shooting from the other end into the light was alright as long as you weren't too wide. Kind of makes a nice rim light effect.

(below) Makenzie Blythe brings the ball upcourt Feb. 19 against Benson.

Lincoln hosts Jefferson (the top 5A team) Thursday. They open the playoffs at home March 1 against the winner of Reynolds vs. Three Rivers League #4.

Wrestling finals Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Randy Larson of Hermiston gets ready to take down Eagle Point's Robby Mannenbach Saturday night in the 171-pound final at the 5A state wrestling tournament in Portland. Larson scored a technical fall in the third round to win his first state title.








Daryl Watkins of Corvallis celebrates after beating Crook County's Micah Perry Feb. 16 in the 5A, 160-pound final at the state wrestling tournament in Portland. The second-seeded senior edged out his opponent 6-5 to take the title.

I wasn't shooting this match, but it was so close that you knew there would be some good jubilation at the end of it so I grabbed my camera and moved closer to the mat. I just wish I'd shot it vertical ...




Hillsboro's David Noah is consoled by coach Adam Reese Feb. 16 after losing the 103-pound final 5-0 to Hermiston's Ben Jorgensen at the 5A state wrestling tournament in Portland. Jorgensen, the defending state champion, beat Noah in the 2007 semifinals by the same score.


You can read more about the Hermiston winners here. Click the related links at the bottom for more stories and photos.

OSAA State Swimming Championships—girls

Ontario's Kaitlin Spokas is the first into the water in the girls 500 yard freestyle final at the 4A/3A/2A/1A state swimming championships Feb. 16 in Gresham. The senior finished fifth with a time of 5:55.28.









Crystal Kibby of Cascade dominated the girls 200 yard IM at the 4A/3A/2A/1A state swim meet Saturday, winning the race in a meet record time of 2:07.99. She also won the girls 100 yard breaststroke, and was part of the third place team in the 400 yard freestyle relay.








Astoria's Clara Weidman (left) and Bridget Nurding perform a poolside chicken dance during an audience stretch break Feb. 16. Right after the dance, the pair swam the 200 yard freestyle relay with teammates Meredith Barnes and Hannah Whisler. They finished sixth with a time of 1:48.72.

OSAA State Swimming Championships—boys Sunday, February 17, 2008

Pendleton junior Lucas Hill swims in a 500 yard freestyle preliminary heat Feb. 15 at the state championships in Gresham. Hill's time of 5:00.75 made him the first reserve swimmer for Saturday's final.

If I shot swimming more often, I'd probably get better at it, but to be honest, it's ... well, let's say tough. You have to respect the guys that do it well. At least this venue had plenty of light.



Ashland's Dash King celebrates after winning his 50 yard freestyle at the state swimming championships Feb. 15 in Gresham with a time of 22.18 seconds. King won the 5A final Saturday with a time of 22.05. He also won the 100 yard freestyle, and anchored Ashland's 5th place 400 yard free relay team.







Pendleton junior Lucas Hill crouches on the start block Feb. 15 before a boys 200 yard freestyle preliminary heat at the state swimming championships in Gresham. Hill's time of 1:51.53 was 8th in the preliminaries. The top six qualify for the finals.

Another night, another win. Thursday, February 14, 2008

A mess of Cardinals and Trojans scramble for a rebound Feb. 14 in Lincoln's 53-42 win over Wilson.

Lincoln started tonight a little flat. To be fair, they have several sick players right now. But they did fall behind in the first quarter by as many as seven points to Wilson, and didn't catch the Trojans until just before the end of the second quarter.

Leading by three at halftime, they pulled away with a 23-6 third quarter. In the fourth period Wilson scored as many as they did in the previous three. It was, however, too little, too late. The Cardinals hung on for a 53-42 win to stay unbeaten in conference play with just one game remaining.

Kelsey Goodell has started every game for the Cardinals so far, and is normally one of their top three scorers. However, I've found that it's not easy to get a good picture of her in action. The first photo here, is a pretty typical example—one of the taller girls on the team, Kelsey usually plays on the post, bumping and grinding among a pack of knees and elbows.

Tonight, my goal was to get a good picture of her, doing what she does best. The opportunity came in the third quarter (below).

Kelsey Goodell scored 5 points for the Cardinals Feb. 14 against Wilson.

Makenzie Blythe led the Cardinals with 15 points. For the second time this season, all but one of the players made it onto the scoreboard. Free throw shooting for Lincoln was pretty weak tonight—7 for 15 overall.

OSAA State Wrestling Championships

Lebanon's Amy Bloom tries to get Marshall's Huyen B Hoang off her back Feb. 14 at the 5A state wrestling tournament in Portland. The 112-pound junior may be the only girl among more than 1,100 wrestlers competing at the tournament.

The state wrestling tournament started this morning at Memorial Coliseum in Portland. It continues through Saturday evening. You can find the latest information on the OSAA's website.


(left) Lebanon's Amy Bloom gives a tearful handshake to the opposing coach after losing her first-round match 6-4 to Huyen B Hoang of Marshall. The coach told her that she had nothing to be ashamed of.

Lincoln clinches PIL title with win over Grant Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Tresa Palmer shoots a free throw in the second quarter of Lincoln's 56-51 victory Feb. 12 over Grant. With the win, the Cardinals clinched the PIL title for the second year in a row.

Tonight, Lincoln's girls earned a bye in the first round of playoffs with a 56-51 win over Grant. With the victory, the Cardinals improved their league record to 10-0 (17-5 overall) and clinched first place in the PIL(6A) conference.

Lincoln has two league matches left in the season. The Lady Cards play their final road game at Wilson on Thursday before playing Benson at home Feb. 19. They finish the regular season Feb. 21 with a non-conference match against Jefferson.

Retro 70s night at Cardinal Coliseum Sunday, February 10, 2008

Friday night was Retro 70s night for the Cardinals as they took on the Franklin Quakers. The team donned vintage 1970s uniforms they dug out of the closet for the occasion, and Coach Peeler found a tacky tweed jacket and salmon shirt at Goodwill.

I think the girls, who are used to the baggy styles and long shorts of today's uniforms, were a bit uncomfortable in the old-school kit, but they had fun with it.

Not surprisingly, they beat the Quakers 66-23. Alexis Gleason had 16 and Makenzie Blythe added another 14 for the Cardinals.

The surprise star of the night, though, was Mackenzie Lamson. She netted seven points and at least one steal in about seven minutes of "Lamson time" in the fourth quarter.

With the win, Lincoln improved their league record to 9-0 (16-5 overall). They can clinch the PIL(6A) title with a win Tuesday over Grant.

New year, new tools Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Lincoln's Makenzie Blythe jumps for a bucket in the second quarter of the Cardinals' 72-19 win over Cleveland Tuesday night. For the first three or four minutes, the Warriors hung with Lincoln. But the Cardinals finished the first quarter ahead 23-10, and never looked back in the non-conference game.

OK, this post is mostly about my new toy tool: today, I bought a new Nikon D300. One of my D200's is at the shop getting cleaned up for sale. (Want to buy one? Email me!)

Of course the folks at Nikon have been working to improve the camera since I bought the D200 two years ago, and I expected to be impressed. But putting it to the test tonight ... well, I'm impressed. Really impressed.

(right) D200 at ISO3200, 1/400, F/2.8, 200mm

First, for reference, here is a shot from tonight's game between the Lady Cards and Cleveland. This is a 100% crop of the file as it came out of the camera. Without lights, 1/400 at ISO3200 (actually called "HI1.0" on the D200) is as fast as you can shoot at Lincoln. Most of the basketball shots you've seen on my blog from Lincoln's home games were shot at that setting.

Compare that to what the D300 can do at ISO3200 (below, same exposure).

Then, the D300 can go up to its own "HI1.0," equivalent to ISO6400. Below is an image from the D300 at ISO6400, 1/640, f/3.2. Certainly more grain than at ISO3200, but less than the D200, and at twice the shutter speed. So I'm happy on that account. And with 12-megapixel images (compared to 10-MP on the D200), the new camera's images will get compressed more before viewing, which tends to reduce the apparent grain.

And then there's the matter of focusing. Two years ago the D200 seemed pretty impressive with 11 focus points. The D300 blows that away with 51 points to choose from. The points are smaller (therefore more precise), and allegedly the AF software is better too.

One night of shooting isn't much of a test, but the focusing seemed much improved to me, which was my biggest reason for upgrading.

There are a few other benefits with the new camera, like a bigger LCD screen, brighter display through the eyepiece, and an optional "live view" mode that will put the live image onto the LCD like most P&S cameras. I haven't tried it yet, but that will be useful for shooting in awkward situations like right on the floor or perhaps overhead, to give me a better idea of what I'm aiming at.

The D300 can also shoot more frames per second than the D200. That feature, like the higher resolution, is both good and bad—on the one hand the motor drive is more likely to capture the ideal moment. On the other hand, that will mean more, larger files to manage/store on my computer, and fewer pictures on my CF cards. The unprocessed JPEGs are about 6-7 MB.

Now I just have to read the manual to figure out how to use all these new features ... and put up with the D200 as the #2 camera for another year or so.