District 2: From the Columbia River to Wine Country - Part 1

Like District 1 to the east, District 2 traveled a wide swath in Oregon. It started with rural schools in the Upper Columbia River region of Oregon and made its way to the mid-Valley region in late 40’s into the 60’s. Once the scholastic association created the “B” classification in 1974, the district moved to Southern Oregon in the 70’s-90’s. Now, District 2 resides in the north Willamette Valley where a hodgepodge of old standby’s like St. Paul and Perrydale compete with newer private schools like C.S. Lewis and Country Christian.



District 2 started in the upper Columbia River region of north Central Oregon. Also like district 1, it had its share of small school success stories, notably Heppner, Athena and Pilot Rock.

If District 2 had a small school to rally around, it would most certainly be Athena. Led by head coach Pike Miller, Athena won three district championships from 1923-1933. They also finished as runners-up twice.

Heppner over came a horrific tragedy just after the turn of the century and won the upper Columbia league in 1921 with an enrollment of 87 students.

Pilot Rock notched another victory for the small schools when they won four games in the district tournament, including hometown favorite Pendleton in semi-finals to capture the district 2 crown. In addition, the tall Pilot Rock quintet knocked off McLoughlin 23-20 in the second round. To advance to the state tournament, Pilot Rock squeezed past Athena, the small school heroes, 19-17.

Any victories over McLoughlin and Pendleton were significant for the small schools. Mac-Hi and Pendleton were the two largest schools in the district and took home many district championship flags. Pendleton won four titles from 1920 to 1929, while McLoughlin captured three.

Twice, little Helix high school came up just short in their quest for a district title. First, a 12 point loss at the hands of Pendleton in 1927 and then a four-point loss to McLoughlin at McLoughlin in 1928. Helix, with an enrollment of 59 in 1928 compared to just over 300 for McLoughlin. Pendleton boasted just under than 400 at that time.

After the 1931 season, the state association expanded the state tournament to 16 teams and tweaked the districts slightly. For three years, District 2 became a district comprised of teams in Central Oregon. The Upper Columbia schools spent the next three years in District 3.

Bend high school captured the first two district titles under District 2, the first in 1932 after defeating Crane, Dayville and Prairie City. They emerged victorious again in 1933 after breezing to the finals of the double elimination event. They defeated Fossil to put them one victory away from the state berth. Fossil rebounded and defeated Prairie City 17-16 in the losers bracket to earn a rematch with Burns.
To earn the berth, Fossil would have to defeat Burns twice. With a victory over Burns late Saturday night, Fossil could force a penultimate championship game the following Monday. Fossil did indeed win the first game, 30-26 to earn the third and final game.

Sadly, the Monday night game was anti-climactic, as the experienced lads from Burns routed Fossil 36-9 to earn their repeat trip to Salem for the state tournament.

Burns was poised in 1934 to make it three in a row and indeed quickly made it back to the catbird’s seat. Wins over Mitchell, Crane and Prairie City meant Burns had two chances to win one game for the trip to Salem.

The double elimination event meant that one loss would not eliminate a team from contention. Mitchell made good use of the format, cruising through the losers bracket with victories over Fossil, Crane and a narrow win over Prairie City for a showdown with Burns. Mitchell had to beat Burns twice to gain the berth. After two four point wins, Mitchell, with an enrollment of just 27 students, earned the trip to the state tournament.

By the mid-30’s, there was growing sentiment to add a “B” classification for the small schools. For some reason, small schools out east were frequently very competitive with the bigger schools. However, some districts, like District 4 of Southern Oregon, never sent a small school to the state tournament.

After the state association created 16 districts for the 1935 season, District 2 was once again centered in the Upper Columbia Region. All the small schools now competed in District 13 which meant the era of the late-30’s was characterized by district championships won by The Dalles, McLoughlin and Pendleton.