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About Columbia Gorge news. (The Dalles, OR) 2020-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 2021)
14 Wednesday, June 23, 2021 Columbia Gorge News www.columbiagorgenews.com SPORTS Dufur boys finish first in Big Sky, advance to state playoffs Weber ■ By For Mike Columbia Gorge News balanced scoring, which is what I prefer to see, because Utilizing their No. 2 ranked that makes us more difficult to defend. That’s kind of the offense, the Big Sky League way we’ve played all season, Champion Dufur Rangers are hoping that this will help which makes it kind of nice. Nixyaawii is considered as them achieve their goal of one of the favorites to win it winning the Oregon Class too. Their kids play basketball 1A boys basketball state all the time on the reserva- championship. The Rangers (7-1 Big Sky, tion, so they’re pretty strong.” 8-2 overall) average 63 points Dufur played a first-round per game, second only to game June 21 against North the Nixyaawii Golden Eagles Clackamas Christian, quar- (11-1) at 71 points per game. terfinals followed June 22 Dufur is one of 16 teams (results came after the print- competing in the state play- ed edition deadline), with semifinals on Wednesday. offs this week at Baker High Dufur came into the play- School and at Powder Valley High School. offs with momentum from The Rangers, guided by winning its final two games Coach Hollie Darden, have of the short 10-game spring won three straight and are in season. The Rangers won the playoffs for a fifth straight 69-56 over the Ione/Arlington year. The No. 4-seeded Cardinals (6-2) in their final Rangers are hoping their win league matchup June 14 at streak will continue as they Ione High School. seek to advance to Thursday’s “Cooper Bales, Josh Taylor, championship game. Last Jacob Peters and Caleb Olson year, Dufur advanced to the have all stepped up and second round of state before played really well, along with losing 78-64 to the Crosshill everyone else on our team, Christian Eagles on Feb. 29, because they’re all doing a 2020. nice job for us,” said Darden. “We’re excited about this The Rangers jumped in tournament, and we feel like front 20-4 after one quarter, we have a chance to win the before the Cardinals came championship and that’s back trimming the margin our goal,” said Darden. “The to 32-26 at halftime. The kids are doing some good Rangers then regained the things and we’ve had pretty momentum in the third, Bales. Sophomore Josh Taylor and senior Caleb Olson both had 13 points. Senior Jacob Peters and freshman Henry Begay each scored 10 and senior Alex Barrett added eight points. A day later, Dufur added a 63-47 nonleague win over the visiting Trinity Lutheran Saints (8-4) of Bend. After falling behind 17-15 after the first quarter, the Rangers dis- played their highly prolific of- fense in the second, utilizing rock solid defense, as well. Dufur outscored Trinity Lutheran 16-5 in the second to grab a 31-22 halftime advantage. The Rangers’ momentum continued in the second half as they outscored the Saints 16-11 in the third and 16-14 in the fourth. Peters led Dufur with 18 points, Olson had 16 and Bales scored 13. A total of eight Rangers scored in the contest. The South Wasco County High Redsides boys basket- ball team finished in second place to Dufur in the league Dufur senior Cooper Bales (23) takes a shot as senior Jacob Peters standings and also qualified follows him into the key during action earlier this season in Dufur. for the state playoffs for a sec- Mark B. Gibson photo ond straight year. Last year the Redsides reached the outscoring the Cardinals 24- balanced offense with five second round of the playoffs 11 to take a 56-37 advantage players scoring in double fig- before losing 43-40 to the after three. Joseph High Eagles on Feb. ures, including a team-high The Rangers had a 29, 2020. 14 points by senior Cooper Gorge Sports Schedule South Wasco girls qualify for state playoffs Weber ■ By For Mike Columbia Gorge News The South Wasco County High girls basketball team ad- vanced to the 16-team, 1A state playoffs this week at Baker High School. The Redsides played the North Douglas High Warriors (7-0) in a first-round playoff game Monday at Powder Valley High School (results came after the printed edition deadline). ••• Monday’s winner advances to Tuesday’s quarterfinals; the semifinals are Wednesday, and the championship game is scheduled for Thursday. It marks the fifth straight season that South Wasco has qualified for the state playoffs. The Lady Redsides conclud- ed the short 10-game spring season with a 61-40 loss to the Valley 10 League Champion Country Christian Cougars (12- 1) June 14 at Country Christian High in Molalla. That contest was a rematch of a first-round playoff game from last year, which the Cougars won 69-52 on Feb. 25, 2020 in Molalla. Sophomore Kylie Iverson led the Redsides in scoring with 18 points, senior Jade McCoy had 17 and senior post Destiny Mora-Lopez added eight. The Lady Redsides, guided by the husband/wife coaching duo of Carly and Codey Johnson, took fourth place in the 10-team Big Sky League with 4-2 league mark and 5-3 overall record. Trout Lake (6-0 Big Sky, 9-0 overall) won the league title, followed by Dufur (5-3 Big Sky, 6-4) and Ione (4-0 Big Sky, 4-2). Ione also is competing in the state tournament. “It’s an honor always to be able to go to the state tourna- ment and play against the best teams in Oregon,” said Codey Johnson. “I believe our girls are going to try their best and I think they’re going to continue to get better, and they realize that this is an opportunity to enjoy a successful conclusion to the season. We have a young team with only two seniors, so this will be a great experience for our team.” Led by the trio of Mora- Lopez, McCoy and Iverson, the Redsides have a highly profi- cient and No. 3 ranked Class 1A offense, averaging 47 points per game. McCoy’s sister, Sadie, freshman Julie Hull and junior Holly Miles are also capable of making key contributions to the Redside offensive attack. “Destiny can really lock down the middle for us and she is re- ally a big force for us offensively and defensively,” said Codey Johnson. “Carly and I started coaching this team four years ago when Destiny and Jade were freshmen. So, to be able to help these girls reach the state tournament is really a blessing and it’s always a goal as a coach to get a team to this tourna- ment. The fact that we were able to reach the tournament and have our team playing here is really all that I can ask for as a coach and we’re very proud of them.” Dufur concluded its sea- son with a split of its final two For Moms, Dads, Grads! GIVE THE GIFT OF LOCAL NEWS A NEW subscription to Columbia Gorge News and GET $ 10 OFF Offer Ends 7/01/21 Print and on-line wrapped up at one yearly deal. Columbia Gorge News South Wasco senior Destiny Mora-Lopez (32) steels the ball from Sherman senior Haiden Perez during a game in Maupin earlier this sea- son. Mark B. Gibson photo games. The Lady Rangers lost on the road 42-40 at Ione June 14. Dufur won its last game of the season 49-38 over the Trinity Lutheran Saints June 15 at Dufur High School. The Rangers decided that they wouldn’t compete in the state South Wasco, guided by Coach Jim Hull, won its final home game 62-54 over the Country Christian Cougars (6-8) in a nonleague matchup June 14 and then lost 57-55 to Ione in its final Big Sky contest Friday at Dufur High School. “We led for a majority of the game (versus Ione) and we had a nine-point lead at the end of the first quarter, so it really was a very disap- pointing and tough loss,” said Hull. “We had too many turn- overs (14) and in order for us to win, we have to have fewer than 10, especially in a big game like this against a good team. You can survive having 15-20 turnovers against bad teams, but you can’t do that against good teams. We also shot poorly from the free throw line (11-for-23), which really hurt us too down the stretch, when we missed some key free throws late in the game.” South Wasco played a first- round state playoff game June 21 versus Trinity Lutheran. Quarterfinals, semifinals, and the final were scheduled June 22-24. tournament. Trout Lake also elected to forego the tourna- ment even though they won the Big Sky League with an undefeated record. June 22 – June 30 American Legion baseball Friday, June 25: Columbia Gorge Hustlers at Pendleton Tournament Saturday, June 26: Columbia Gorge Hustlers at Pendleton Tournament Sunday, June 27: Columbia Gorge Hustlers at Pendleton Tournament Tuesday, June 28: Columbia Gorge Hustlers at Yakima Wednesday, June 28: Columbia Gorge Hustlers at Yakima Little League baseball Friday-Friday, June 18-25: District 5 Little League baseball tournaments, Umatilla Sports Complex, Redmond Boys basketball Tuesday-Thursday, June 21-24: Class 1A state basketball tournament, Baker City, North Powder Wednesday, June 23: IMC district playoff semifinals: Monday’s No. 3 Hood River vs. No. 6 Pendleton winner at No. 2 Redmond; Monday’s No. 4 The Dalles vs. No. 5 Ridgeview winner at No. 1 Crook County Friday, June 25: IMC district championship, Wednesday winners play at site of higher seeded team Girls basketball Tuesday-Thursday, June 21-24: Class 1A state basketball tournament, Baker City, North Powder Wednesday, June 23: IMC district playoff semifinals: Monday’s No. 5 Hood River at No. 4 Redmond winner at IMC No. 1 seed Friday, June 25: IMC district championship, Wednesday winners play at site of higher seeded team Boys Wrestling Friday, June 25, Saturday, June 26: Class 5A boys state tournament, Cottage Grove High School Girls wrestling Thursday, June 24: State tournament, Cottage Grove High School TRASH TALK Q. We need help with event recycling. QA Any ideas? Heather, Hood River A. Heather, our program does offer free basic assistance to event managers to help them plan for event waste reduction and recycling. We also lend Clearstream event recycling receptacles for diverting redeemable bottles and cans. And for very small functions (15-30 people), we lend out “party buckets” with durable cups, plateware and cutlery. questions to: HOOD RIVER | THE DALLES | WHITE SALMON Subscribe@gorgenews.com Or call Shania at 541-296-2141 ext. 112 (541)-506-2636 www.tricountyrecycle.com