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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 2016)
Page 2B 2A TOURNAMENT East Oregonian Tuesday, March 8, 2016 Boys Championship Vernonia caps incredible season with title By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian PENDLETON — For the ¿rst time since 1978, the state championship trophy is heading back to Vernonia. The Vernonia Loggers overcame a sluggish start with a strong ¿nish Basketball to put away the Regis Rams to Vernonia win the 2A state cham- pionship on Saturday in front of a rowdy Regis crowd at the Pendleton Convention Center. The title caps off an incredible 28-1 season for the Loggers, who dropped their ¿rst game of the season and went on to win 28-straight games to earn the ultimate prize. Head coach David Weller said that it’s an unbe- lievable feeling. “I don’t even know how to explain the feeling, it just doesn’t feel real,” he said. “You always want to be the guy who gets to play or coach in these games, and I was here last year and I made the comment to my wife when the (championship) game tipped off that I wanted to coach in this game so bad and it’s almost unreal now.” Robert Connor led the Loggers with 17 points, while Tristan Adams had 14. Arne Scheimann and Francesco Mian each had 10 points to round out the double-digit scorers. Vernonia had a bit of a slow start in the game, as the Loggers made just two of their ¿rst seven shots with Regis’ Andrew Schmitt tries to block a shot from Verno- nia’s Clay Sullivan in the Rams’ 57-49 loss to the Loggers on Satur- day in the 2A state basketball champion- ship game in Pendle- ton. 57 Photo by E.J. Harris 49 Photo by E.J. Harris The Vernonia’s High School boys basketball team celebrates after the Loggers’ 54- 49 win against Regis in the 2A state basketball championship game Saturday in Pendleton. Regis jumping out to a 10-4 lead with 3:25 left in the ¿rst quarter. That prompted Weller to call his ¿rst timeout to try and get his team to regroup. “I just said that they made their run so now it’s time to make ours,” he said. “They got out in transition on us and were playing with energy so we had to kind of take a breath and settle in and play our game. It’s not the start you’re looking for but I was con¿dent in the guys and I knew they would pick it up.” Vernonia was able to battle back out of the timeout and eventually tied the game at 14-14 by the 7:40 mark of the second quarter on a 3-pointer from Adams. Regis immediately answered on a baseline jumper from Andrew Schmitt to jump back in front 16-14, but the Loggers came right back to tie the game at 16-16 on a steal and breakaway that ended in a two-hand dunk from Connor, sending capacity crowd into a frenzy. The two teams traded baskets over the next several minutes before Vernonia took its ¿rst lead of the game with 2:35 left in the half on a lay-in from Scheimann. From that point on, the Loggers never trailed keeping a manageable cushion for the rest of the game. “I’m just proud of my guys,” Weller said. “From day one we made it a goal to be here and those guys came to practice every day and worked hard just to prepare ourselves for this point. The chemistry of this team came together so well and the end result couldn’t be better.” Bryce Piete led the Rams with 16 points on 6-20 shooting as the Loggers defense did not allow for Vernonia’s Brett El- liott looks the pass the ball guarded by Regis’ Gibson Brown (23) and Sam Nieslanik in the Rams’ 57-49 loss to the Loggers on Satur- day in the 2A state basketball champi- onship game in Pendle- ton. many open looks for the team. The Rams shot 18-51 (35 percent) and only 3-18 (16 percent) from 3-point range. The Loggers doorway to the state title game was nearly slammed shut in the quarter- ¿nals, as they were nearly upset by Burns and held on for a 44-42 win. Weller said that looking back, the way that game played out was a blessing for his team. “We got that win off of our backs and it settled us in,” he said. “After that were comfortable and were able to play our game the rest of the way.” ——— VHS (28-1) 11 16 12 18 — 57 RHS (25-4) 14 10 9 16 — 49 VERNONIA — R. Connor 17, T. Adams 14, A. Scheimann 10, F. Mian 10, B. Elliott 4, C. Sullivan 2, J. Medearis, B. Jones, L. McCallum. REGIS — Bryce Piete 16, T. Williams 9, Brandon Piete 8, A. Schmitt 5, B. Woodcock 4, S. Nieslanik 4, G. Brown 3. 3-pointers — VHS 3, RHS 3. Free throws — VHS 8-14, RHS 10-18. Fouls — VHS 18, RHS 14. Photo by E.J. Harris Girls Championship .enned\ wins state chaPpionship on ¿rst tr\ Burns had 17 turnovers in the game and 11 in the ¿rst half, which played a signif- PENDLETON — For the icant part in the outcome of ¿rst time in school history, the game. In that ¿rst half, the Kennedy Trojans are Burns mustered just nine shot attempts — state champions. making four of them The Trojans Basketball — while Kennedy defeated the Burns went on to shoot Hilanders 52-32 on 10-22 (45 percent) Saturday evening to Burns in the half. capture the coveted “Our girls came championship out from the start, trophy, doing so in they were focused, the schools’ ¿rst-ever they were ready to trip to the state cham- play defense and pionship as well. Kennedy they just let the “We’ve worked offense come,” so hard, blood, sweat, Hall said, “and tears, early morning that’s what we told practices, and it’s a dream come true,” Kennedy them through the whole co-head coach Kerry Hall tournament that you focus said. “I’m just so proud of on defense and play the best defense you’ve every played these senior girls.” The Trojans (24-4) and the rest will come and secured the title with one that’s exactly what they did of its best all-around games tonight.” Kennedy led 15-10 at the of the season, operating ef¿ciently on offense and end of the ¿rst quarter, but coming at the Hilanders with broke the game open when they outscored Burns 11-2 in a stiÀing defense. The Ken- nedy girls basket- ball team celebrates as time expires in their 52-32 win against Burns to win the 2A state cham- pionship on Saturday in Burns. By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian 32 Photo by E.J. Harris Photo by E.J. Harris 52 the second quarter to take a 26-12 lead into halftime. The Trojans were powered by the duo of Kenzie Ratliff and Lakin Susee on offense, as Ratliff had a game-high 25 points on 11-17 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds, while Susee netted 15 points and had a game-high seven assists. Ratliff was selected as the Moda Health Player of the Game for her perfor- mance. Burns (27-3) was missing a key player in Catherine Clemens on Saturday, as she sat out with a knee injury suffered in Friday’s win over Monroe. Lindsey Taylor was the leading scorer for the Hilanders with 12 points on 3-4 shooting and two made 3-pointers. The Hilanders ¿nished the game shooting 10-29 from the ¿eld (34 percent) and also 20 turnovers. Burns ¿nishes as the runner-up in the 2A tourna- ment for the second-straight year, after losing to Western Mennonite 43-38 in 2015. Kennedy’s Kenzie Ratliff shoots the ball between Burns’ Abby Nonnen- macher and Oakley West (42) on Saturday in Pend- leton. ——— BHS (27-3) 10 2 8 12 — 32 KHS (25-4) 15 11 9 17 — 52 BURNS — L. Taylor 12, C. Feist 8, O. West 4, M. Carson 4, A. Nonnenmacher 4, S. Shelman, L. Mace, E. Winn, G. John- ston, C. Patterson. KENNEDY — K. Ratliff 25, L. Susee 15, K. Cantu 5, M. Jaeger 2, K. Kleinschmidt 2, H. Arriotla 2, A. Frey 1, C. Traeger, Y. Gomez, K. Brown, M. Sanchez, T. Brown. 3-pointers — BHS 3, KHS 3. Free throws — BHS 9-15, KHS 9-11. Fouls — BHS 9, KHS 14. Western Mennonite boys and girls earn dual third-place trophies Imbler boys, Grant Union girls fourth East Oregonian PENDLETON — Western Mennonite didn’t get the trophy it was looking for, but came away with the best one available to it on Saturday by holding off Bandon 38-34 in the OSAA 2A boys basketball third- place game at Pendleton Convention Center. With the game tied for the second time in the fourth quarter at 30-all with 2:15 play, the Pioneers (20-9) went 6 for 6 at the free throw line over the next minute and a half to secure the win. After Bandon (23-5) knotted it with a pair of free throws from Trae Dyer, Simeon Hess put the Pioneers up for good when he was fouled with 1:39 to play. Niko O’Neill stole the ball on Bandon’s next possession, and Johnny Williams scored his only two points of the game at the charity stripe to make it 34-30 with 58 seconds to play. Zane Olive’s three-pointer wouldn’t fall for Bandon and Colby Williams pulled in the rebound, then went to the line for two more points with 26 ticks remaining. Bandon had a chance to narrow the gap with 20 seconds left but could only come away with one point on a possession that included three offensive rebounds. Hess rounded out Western Mennonite’s scoring with two freebies with 12 seconds left and Tristian Davidson sank a three-pointer with six seconds showing to give the game its ¿nal score. Williams led the Pioneers with 13 points and Olive paced Bandon with 14. Bandon, which placed ¿fth, held its ¿nal lead of the game with 1:08 left in the ¿rst quarter when Austin Smith hit a three-pointer to make it 8-7. ——— BHS (23-6) 8 5 10 11 — 34 WM (21-9) 7 9 12 10 — 38 BANDON — Z. Olive 14, A. Moore 7, A. Smith 6, T. Davidson 5, T. Dyer 2, M. Brown. (12-45) WESTERN MENNONITE — C. Williams 13, S. Hess 8, K. Hull 8, D. Domes 5, J. Williams 2, M. Hull 1, D. Berkey 1, N. O’Neill. (12-37) 3-pointers — BHS 6-21, WM 2-14. Free throws — BHS 4-8, WM 12-18. Fouls — BHS 15, WM 14. Fouled out — Z. Olive (BHS); J. Williams (WM). IMBLER 39, BURNS 34 — Brandon McGilvray’s three-pointer to close the third quarter gave the game its widest margin at 34-24 and the Panthers barely held off Wapiti League foe Burns the rest of the way in Saturday’s fourth-place game at Pend- leton Convention Center. The Hilanders trimmed the lead to 34-30 within the ¿rst three minutes of the fourth quarter, and trailed by just one point when Trace Tiller hit a runner in the paint to make it 35-34 with 1:23 left in the game. Burns extended its defense to pressure Imbler on its next possession, and McGilvray eventually took advantage of the extra space and weaved through a pair of defenders before ¿nding a wide open Hunter VanLeuven under the basket for short jumper to make it 37-34 with 38 seconds left. Burns missed its next shot, and VanLeuven grabbed the rebound and dished it quickly to McGilvray who was fouled. McGilvray missed his ¿rst free throw, but calmly sank the second to make ice the game with 14 seconds left. Burns needed the next eight ticks to get off a shot, and Zach McDonald’s three- pointer came up short. McGilvray led Imbler with 19 points and four assists, and Trace VanCleave added 11 points, three assists and three steals. Tiller was high-point for Burns, which placed sixth, with 18 and McDonald added seven points and seven rebounds. ——— BHS (22-7) 1 14 9 10 — 34 IHS (22-4) 7 12 15 5 — 39 BURNS — T. Tiller 18, Z. McDonald 7, T. Reid 5, S. Davies 3, T. Hueckman 1, T. Recanzone, B. Friedrichsen, J. Blackburn, A. Stewart-Graf. (11-33) IMBLER — B. McGilvray 19, T. VanCleave 11, H. VanLeuven 4, M. Whitaker 2, J. Teeter 2, T. Riggle 1, G. Ryan, A. Kanoho, I. Mowery, T. Bales, R. Patterson. (13-38) 3-pointers — BHS 6-18, IHS 5-9. Free throws — BHS 6-14, IHS 8-18. Fouls — BHS 17, IHS 13. Fouled out — S. Davies (BHS). Technical Fouls — T. Hueckman (BHS). Girls Basketball WESTERN MENNO- NITE 47, MONROE 40 — The Pioneers opened the second quarter on a 13-2 run to give them the cushion needed to hold off the Dragons the rest of the way in Saturday’s third-place game at Pendleton Conven- tion Center. Maddie Hull scored seven of her 11 points during the stretch and Maddie Hopper chipped in the other six to pad her game-high 18 points. Hopper added 11 rebounds, and Brittney Freeman also had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Hull ¿nished with nine rebounds and four steals. Western Mennonite (22-8) held a 25-14 lead at halftime, and Monroe (26-3) trimmed the lead to nine points twice in the third quarter but the Pioneers quickly responded each time to push the margin back to double digits. The Pioneers took their largest lead of the second half when Brittney Freeman’s layup made it 42-28 with 6:22 to play in the game. ——— WM (22-8) 12 13 12 10 — 47 MHS (26-3) 8 6 12 14 — 40 WESTERN MENNONITE — M. Hopper 18, B. Freeman 13, M. Hull 11, K. Louthan 3, A. Hess 2, L. Pack, S. Mansour, L. Foster, R. Seymour. (16-55) MONROE — M. Ballard 11, R. Gwillim 10, K. Martin 9, C. Knaggs 6, P. Greene 4, K. Martin, E .Stahl. (17-64) 3-pointers — WM 1-13, MHS 3-12. Free throws — WM 14-25, MHS 3-10. Fouls — WM 18, MHS 20. Fouled out — M. Hull (WM); K. Martin (MHS). GRANT UNION 41, IMBLER 30 — Lexee Robertson’s short jumper pulled the Imbler Panthers within 24-22 of the Grant Union Prospectors with 4:13 left in the third quarter, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the way in Satur- day’s fourth-place game at Pendleton Convention Center. Grant Union (21-7) led the entire game and capitalized on ¿ve Imbler (18-9) turnovers and four missed three-pointers to go on a 8-0 run to close the frame with a 32-22 lead. Kori Pentzer scored six of her game-high 21 points during that stretch and gave the Pros their largest lead of the game at 38-24 with a pair of free throws with 2:46 to play in the fourth quarter. ——— IHS (18-9) 10 6 6 8 — 30 GU (21-7) 12 10 10 9 — 41 IMBLER — K. Barry 14, L. Robertson 8, M. Hassan 5, W. Wilber 2, K. Smith 1, J. Rudd, H. Kilpatrick, M. Hoskin, A. Feik, K. Stirewalt, B. Hassan. (10-36) GRANT UNION — K. Pentzer 21, M. Moulton 11, H. Mosley 6, J. Rude 2, H. Wright 1, S. Brock, M. Wilson, M. Wright, M. McKrola, K. Wright, W. McClellan, T. Hutchinson. (14-47) 3-pointers — IHS 3-11, GU 3-7. Free throws — IHS 7-14, GU 10-12. Fouls — IHS 15, GU 13.
