THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2015
SPORTS
7A
Heppner scores post-season win over Loggers, again
By ERIK SKOPIL
EO Media Group
PENDLETON — With the
game hanging the balance,
Patrick Collins let his football
instincts kick in.
Leading by a deuce with
less than two ticks remaining
on the clock, Heppner’s two-
sport star snared Knappa’s
baseline inbounds pass out of
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heave was possible. Collins’
interception sealed the deal for
the No. 3 Mustangs, earned
them a 56-54 overtime state
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Knappa and advanced the
school further into the state
basketball tournament than
ever before.
“I saw the end zone,” he
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ready to score. I read that and I
knew game over.”
Heppner (19-5) has never
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basketball contest. Tonight
that will change. They’ll face
off with No. 2 Toledo at 8:15
p.m. at the Pendleton Con-
vention Center with a berth
in the state championship on
the line.
“This was our goal from the
beginning of the season to get
to this moment,” sophomore
guard Logan Grieb said. “I’m
just really happy.”
The historic victory was
far from a cakewalk. The
Loggers (22-6) are fueled by
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er. In his last two outings, se-
nior guard Tyson Burnard had
scored a combined 82 points
— including a 50-point out-
pouring versus Vernonia in a
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nal win.
Burnard was no less im-
pressive Thursday in Pendle-
ton. He had 16 points by the
half and his 13 third quarter
points vaulted Knappa to a 43-
40 lead entering the fourth. He
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With their season on the
line, the Mustangs turned de-
fensive in the fourth. Burnard
scored just two points, the
Loggers four total and Hep-
pner was able to piece together
enough baskets to force over-
time.
The Loggers mighty mite
made things interesting at the
regulation buzzer, howev-
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reached the rim, and almost
ended it there, but was just a
hair too strong.
Collins, who scored 12
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pner, reasserted himself in the
overtime. An outside jumper
opened the extra time scoring
and a layup on a feed from CJ
Kindle gave Heppner the lead
for good.
“Part way through overtime
E.J. HARRIS — EO Media Group
Knappa’s Dakota Sever-
son makes an off-balanced
rebound in the Loggers’
56-54 loss to Heppner on
Thursday in Pendleton.
I said ‘Go to work big man’,
and he said ‘Feed me the bas-
ketball. Just give it to me’,”
Heppner coach Jeremy Rosen-
balm said of Collins.
“My team needed me,”
Collins said. “It took us a few
extra minutes than normal but
we got it done.”
After Burnard missed a
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two free throws to give the
Mustangs a four-point edge
with 12.7 seconds remaining.
Burnard wasted little time,
hurrying down the court to
drain a three-pointer to make
it a one-point game. CJ Kin-
dle made one-of-two free
throws next to push it back to
two and then Collins jumped
in front of Knappa’s Dale
Takalo’s inbounds pass to ce-
ment the win.
The nail-biting, heart-pound-
ing variety of victory is nothing
new for the Mustangs. Heppner
has won four games this year
decided by two points or less,
including the state playoff berth
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weeks ago.
“I’m not very old, but
they’re aging me,” Rosen-
balm said. “I don’t know if
some of my kids have ice wa-
ter in their veins or what it is,
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make the play when it really
matters.”
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high 18 points and 10 re-
bounds. Grieb added 14 and
Weston Putman chipped in
with 12.
No Logger besides Bur-
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goals, but Just Dragoo blocked
nine shots.
“It’s a huge deal,” Collins
said. “I know that the city of
Heppner is so proud of us. I’m
just happy to say that I’m a
part of it and I’ve got my best
friends beside me.”
Toledo ended Heppner’s
perfect 10-game start earlier
E.J. HARRIS — EO Media Group
this season with a 62-36 win at
the Central Linn Holiday Tour- Knappa’s Tyson Burnard shoots the ball guarded by Heppner’s C.J. Kindle in the Mustangs’ 56-54 win against the
Loggers on Thursday in Pendleton.
nament.
Seaside hosts Klamath Union Saturday
SCOREBOARD
PREP SCHEDULE
BASKETBALL
TODAY
Boys Basketball — 4A State Play-
off: Seaside at North Valley, 7 p.m.;
2A State Tournament: Knappa vs.
TBA.
SATURDAY
Girls Basketball — 4A State Play-
off: Klamath Union at Seaside, 6 p.m.
Boys Basketball — 2A State Tour-
nament: Knappa vs. TBA
HIGH SCHOOLS
Class 2A Boys Quarterfinal
at Pendleton
Heppner 56, Knappa 54
KNA (54): Tyson Burnard 36, Da-
kota Severson 6, Dale Takalo 4, Jus-
tin Dragoo 4, Jason Miller 2, Chase
Rusinovich 2, Andy Miller, Colton
Weirup, James Hendrickson.
HEP (56): Patrick Collins 18, Logan
Grieb 14, Weston Putman 12, Ross
Cutsforth 6, C.J. Kindle 3, Jesse
Corbin 3, Caden Hedman, Kevin
Murray.
Knappa
12 11 20 4 7—54
Heppner
10 16 14 7 9—56
Field goals: Knappa 22-59; Hep-
pner 21-49. 3-Point Goals: Knappa
6-17 (Burnard 5, Takalo); Heppner
5-10 (Putman 2, Grieb 2, Corbin).
Free throws: Knappa 4-7; Heppner
9-12. Fouls: Knappa 14, Heppner
13. Turnovers: Knappa 9, Heppner
16. Rebounds: Knappa 28 (Dragoo
10); Heppner 40 (Collins 10). Blocks:
Knappa 9 (Dragoo 9); Heppner 2
(Collins, Cutsforth). Assists: Knappa
5 (Burnard 2); Heppner 12 (Kindle
6). Steals: Knappa 7 (Burnard 2,
Dragoo 2, Severson 2); Heppner 4
(Collins 2). Fouled out: None.
Players of the Game: Tyson Bur-
nard, Knappa; Logan Grieb, Hep-
pner.
The Seaside girls basketball team will host the Klamath Union
Pelicans at 6 p.m. Saturday at Seaside High School in the Sweet
16 of the Class 4A OSAA state playoffs.
Doors open to spectators at 5 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults
and $4 for students. Accepted passes include the OSAA Gold
Card, OSAA VIP pass, OSAA Media pass, OSAA Basketball
Discount ticket and OSAA Basketball Media pass, with photo
ID.
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will not be accepted.
Baby orca, other discoveries made by tracking team
SEATTLE (AP) — A new
baby orca wasn’t the only in-
teresting discovery research-
ers made while tracking en-
dangered killer whales.
Researchers aboard a Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmo-
spheric Administration vessel
returned to Oregon earlier this
week with a wealth of new
data about the whales and
their ocean environment.
The information was
gained after NOAA Fisheries
researchers followed the gi-
ant marine mammals for 21
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go during the winter, what
they eat, and what risks they
encounter.
The data and other research
will help determine what crit-
ical areas offshore need to be
protected for the whales, re-
searchers said during a brief-
ing Thursday.
The study came as the Na-
tional Marine Fisheries Ser-
vice is considering whether
to expand protections for the
orcas to include offshore areas
from Cape Flattery, Washing-
NOAA photo
This orca was photographed near the mouth of the Columbia River on Feb. 24 by re-
searchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. North Head
Lighthouse and Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center can be seen in the background.
ton, to Point Reyes, California.
The agency has already
designated inland waters of
Washington as critical to orca
conservation.
Using satellite tags, the
team tracked the orcas as they
swam about 100 miles or so,
mostly along the Washington
coast and as far south as cen-
tral Oregon.
The trip that began Feb. 11
provided a unique opportuni-
ty to spend up to 24 hours at
a time observing the whales,
listening to their sounds and
collecting samples of what
they eat and expel.
Orcas were listed as en-
dangered in 2005. Local and
regional efforts began in the
2000s to save them.
The satellite tagging proj-
ect, research cruises and other
efforts are helping scientists
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travels and diet.
Among the highlights was
the discovery of the new baby
orca off the coast of Washing-
ton in late February, the third
such baby documented this
winter.
“I never expected to see
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said Brad Hanson, wildlife bi-
ologist with NOAA’s North-
west Fisheries Science Center
in Seattle.
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ers also observed groups of
whales reuniting offshore, he
said. The orcas were also seen
farther from the coast than be-
fore — about 15 miles from
Washington and 10 miles
from Oregon.
Researchers were also sur-
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point foraging in relatively
shallow waters, with a depth
of about 26 feet (or 8 meters),
near Willapa Bay in south-
west Washington.
The scientists were able to
get out on a smaller boat to
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scales to study what the orcas
eat and even which stock of
Chinook salmon they prefer.
They also gathered in-
formation about the ecosys-
tem where the whales spent
their time. While at sea, the
scientists collected data on
sea surface temperatures,
observed the abundance of
seabirds in the area, and re-
corded the sounds the orcas
made through a series of hy-
drophones, or underwater mi-
crophones.
“This is such an exciting
cruise with so much great
data,” said Lynne Barre,
branch chief for protected re-
sources, West Coast region.
Hanson said there’s still
more to learn, including
whether the movements of the
orcas change from one year to
the next.