SPORTS
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3B
Prep Basketball
Pendleton girls top Southridge for season’s first win
East Oregonian
For the second straight
game, the Pendleton girls
basketball team came out
of the gates playing slow
and faced a 14-point deficit
at
halftime.
However,
after Saturday’s comeback
attempt fell just short, the
Buckaroos put together
a better comeback in the
second half on Tuesday and
earned a 56-48 victory over
Southridge (WA) in Kenne-
wick.
Pendleton trailed South-
ridge 30-16 at halftime and
was challenged by coach
Kevin Porter to come out
in the second half and play
a better brand of basketball,
which they did. Jaiden
Lemberger scored all of
her game-high 15 points in
the second half and added
13 rebounds for a double-
double to pace the Buckaroos
(1-2). Rylee Gentner and
Maureen Davies contributed
11 points apiece to help
the Buckaroos’ second half
surge, where they outscored
the Suns (1-3) 40-18.
“They took it up on them-
selves and played hard and
clawed back in it,” Porter
said. “There is never any
quit in these girls and that’s
good to see.”
Pendleton next plays at
Walla Walla (WA) on Friday
night at 7 p.m.
————
PHS
7 9 20 20 — 56
SHS
15 15
8 10 — 48
PENDLETON — J. Lemberger 15, R.
Gentner 11, M. Davies 11, S. Spriet 8, H.
Kiele 8, N. Nevue 2, H. Porter 1.
SOUTHRIDGE — E. Ball 10, B. Brisbois
9, A. Griffith 8, B. Ball 6, A. Mendez 5, S.
Sanders 5, P. Santos 4, C. Chavez 1.
3-pointers — PHS 2, SHS 3. Free throws
— PHS 13-24, SHS 9-21. Fouls — PHS 21
(Gentner), SHS 23 (Ball, Brisbois).
IRRIGON
48,
WESTON-MCEWEN 40
— At Irrigon, Ana Zacarias
and Jada Burns helped their
Knights defeat the Weston-
McEwen TigerScots for the
second time in four days,
this time by a 48-40 score on
Tuesday evening.
Zacarias and Burns both
scored game-high 14 points
for the Knights (4-0) and
Alyia Munoz pitched in eight
points. Chelsea Quaempts
led the TigerScots (1-3) with
13 points, while Katie Vescio
and Alyssa Finifrock each
had eight.
Irrigon next plays Imbler
in the Heppner Tournament
on Friday at 3 p.m.. Weston-
McEwen plays King’s Way
Christian Friday at 6 p.m. in
the Kennedy Tournament in
Mt. Angel.
————
W-M
7 12 13
8 — 40
IHS
8 13 16 11 — 48
WESTON-MCEWEN — C. Quaempts 13,
K. Vescio 8, A. Finifrock 8, A. Coffman 6,
J. Lambert 2, Hear 2, T. Burke, McIntyre,
Davis, Moses.
IRRIGON — A. Zacarias 14, J. Burns 14,
A. Munoz 8, K. Wyant 5, N. Romero 3, O.
Luna 2, T. Davis 2, B. Rice.
3-pointers — W-M 0, IHS 2. Free throws
— W-M 10-13, IHS 8-15.
PILOT ROCK 49,
HELIX 33 — At Pilot Rock,
six players scored at least
five points for Pilot Rock as
it defeated Helix on Tuesday
evening to stay unbeaten on
the season.
“We played a very
balanced game,” Pilot Rock
coach Dan Deist said. “All
girls were very in-tune and it
was all around a good game.”
Kayla Deist and Lilie
Brewer led the Rockets
(3-0) with nine points, while
Grace Austin had eight, Sara
Weinke seven, Rhyanne
Oates six and Kaitelyn
Evans five. Annie Wood
led the Grizzles (1-3) with
nine points and Charmayne
Bennett had eight.
Pilot Rock next plays
Riverside at 2 p.m. on
Thursday in Umatilla. Helix
plays at Enterprise on Friday
at 6 p.m.
————
GHS
6 8 11
8 — 33
PR
13 11 14 11 — 49
HELIX — A. Wood 9, C. Bennett 8, S.
Wilson 5, A. Krol 4, E. Fehrenbacker 3, H.
Christman 2, K. Harper 2.
PILOT ROCK — K. Deist 9, L. Brewer 9,
G. Austin 8, S. Weinke 7, R. Oates 6, K.
Evans 5, B. Howland 3, B. Baleztina 2.
3-pointers — GHS 4, PR 4. Free throws
— GHS 3-7, PR 3-13. Fouls — GHS 10,
PR 12.
WAITSBURG
(WA)
38, MAC-HI 35 — At
Waitsburg,
Washington,
the Mac-Hi Pioneers were
outscored 18-7 in the fourth
quarter as Waitsburg stole a
three-point win on Tuesday
night.
“It was back-and-forth
the whole game, both teams
were pretty evenly matched,”
Mac-Hi
coach
Brooke
Garton said. “It wasn’t the
prettiest game we’ve played,
we had a lot of turnovers, but
we hung in there.”
Brianna Hernandez led
the Pioneers (0-3) with 11
points and Kayla Casillas
added seven. Chloe Pearson
led Waitsburg with 11.
Mac-Hi (0-3) next plays
Stanfield on Thursday in
Umatilla at 3:30 p.m.
————
MHS
8 7 13
7 — 35
WHS
9 8
3 18 — 38
MAC-HI — B. Hernandez 11, K. Casillas
7, M. Yensen 5, S. Earls 4, B. Jones 3, M.
Martinez 2, H. Hair 2, A. Castillo 1.
WAITSBURG — C. Pearson 11, A. Sandau
8, D. Williams 7, T. Jones 6, K. Miller 6, T.
Larsen 1.
3-pointers — MHS 1, WHS 1. Free throws
— MHS 12-26, WHS 12-22. Fouls — MHS
20 (Hernandez, Yensen fouled out), WHS 18
(Pearson fouled out).
BOYS BASKETBALL
IRRIGON
72,
WESTON-MCEWEN
33 — At Irrigon, Johnny
Phillips scored a game-high
20 points to help Irrigon
defeat Weston-McEwen for
the second time in four days
on Tuesday evening.
Behind Phillips, Eric
Carillo finished with 11
points and Keith Fleming
finished with 10 to lead the
Knights (4-0). Brett Speed
and Parker Munck led the
TigerScots (1-3) with 10
points apiece.
Irrigon next plays Imbler
on Friday at 4:30 p.m. in
Heppner. Weston-McEwen
plays
Salem Academy
on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at
Kennedy High School in Mt.
Angel.
————
W-M
7 12
8
6 — 33
IHS
20 21 23
8 — 72
WESTON-MCEWEN — B. Speed 10,
P. Munck 10, G. Smith 8, D. Cain 3, J.
Speed 2.
IRRIGON — J. Phillips 20, E. Carillo 11, K.
Fleming 10, L. Carillo 8, D. Vera 7, A. Roa 7,
L. Covarrubia 3, J. Sandoval 3, A. Gomez 2,
P. Holcomb, D. Telles, P. Bevington.
3-pointers — W-M 2, IHS 6. Free throws
— W-M 9-17, IHS 6-8. Fouls — W-M 10,
IHS 17.
PILOT ROCK 63,
HELIX 19 — At Pilot Rock,
Bryson Pierce continued his
fast start to the season as his
22 points helped Pilot Rock
beat Helix in non-league
action on Tuesday.
Pierce has now scored at
least 20 points in all three
games to start the season
for the Rockets (3-0). Levi
Thieme, Chris Weinke and
Bodie Key all scored eight
points to help boost the
Rockets as well. Eli Sprenger
led the Grizzlies (0-3) with
10 points.
Pilot Rock next plays
Riverside on Thursday at
3:30 p.m. in Umatilla. Helix
plays at Enterprise on Friday
at 7:30 p.m.
————
GHS
2 6
6
5 — 19
PR
26 17 12
8 — 63
HELIX — E. Sprenger 10, P. Brower 3, L.
Davis 2, M. McBee 2, B. Fairchild 2.
PILOT ROCK — B. Pierce 22, L. Thieme
8, C. Weinke 8, B. Key 8, R. Lankford 7, A.
Drake 4, C. Munkers 4, L. Weinke 2.
3-pointers — GHS 1, PR 2. Free throws
— GHS 2-6, PR 5-13. Fouls — GHS 13,
PR 11.
BAKER 92, STAN-
FIELD 41 — At Baker City,
the young Stanfield Tigers
were sent home with a tough
loss on Tuesday night, falling
to the Baker Bulldogs in
non-league action.
Eduardo Nunez scored 16
points to lead the Tigers (1-4)
and Brody Woods added 13.
Stanfield next plays
Arlington on Thursday at 2
p.m. in Umatilla.
————
SHS
5 11 15 10 — 41
BHS
21 18 30 23 — 92
STANFIELD — E. Nunez 16, B. Woods 13.
BAKER — K. Sand 20, C. Osborn 14, D.
Story 13.
3-pointers — SHS 2, BHS 6. Free throws
— SHS 7-16, BHS 14-22. Fouls — SHS 18,
BHS 16.
BULLDOGS: Andreason scores 24, Ortiz nets 23 to lead Hermiston boys
Herm-
iston’s
Jordan
Ramirez
shoots
the ball
between
Han-
ford’s
Blake
Vander-
Top (44)
and Dan
Izquier-
do in the
Bull-
dogs’ 69-
60 win
against
the Fal-
cons on
Tuesday
in Herm-
iston.
Continued from 1B
most for the Bulldogs, and
helped the young team gain
confidence once shots started
falling.
“She’s just experience,”
Rodriguez said. “Obviously
she’s a good shooter when
she’s confident but not only
that, she gives us depth.”
Something that hurt the
Bulldogs over the weekend
was Rodriguez had to dig
deep into his bench and start
girls with little playing time
in order to rest the starters.
With Thompson back, he
was able to rotate in players
like junior Sydney Stefani
— who started in the place
of Thompson.
“It kind of changes the
strategy quite a bit,” Rodri-
guez added.
The Bulldogs’ up tempo
play against the Falcons
(2-2) caught them off guard,
and it also opened up room
for mistake on Hermiston’s
end. Luckily, Hanford was
unable to capitalize on those
mistakes.
After a number of
Bulldog turnovers in the
first half, the Falcons left
points on the board from
missed shots and a strong
defensive effort.
“Defensively, I thought
we were solid for most
of the game,” Rodriguez
said, “and then we just
have lapses and (Hanford)
couldn’t capitalize and
that’s the conversation we
had, that (we) needed to
clean some of those things
up.”
Sophomore
Jazlyn
Romero
had
another
standout night, as she led
all scorers with 15 points.
She was near perfect from
the charity strike, missing
only one of six free throw
attempts. Romero was also
the driving force in Herm-
iston’s 17-point second and
third quarter.
The Bulldogs were able
to hit the locker room at
the half with a 31-17 lead
after Thompson sank to
3-pointers to cap off a 12-7
run. Hanford was forced to
call a timeout after Romero
layed the ball in to extend
Hermiston’s lead to 31-12.
Staff photo by
E.J. Harris
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Hermiston’s Ryne Andreason shoots the jumper over
Hanford’s Connoer Milliken in the Bulldogs’ 69-60 win
against the Falcons on Tuesday in Hermiston.
The Falcons chipped
away at the lead and cut
their deficit down to 31-17
before halftime.
“(The message was) not
to settle,” Rodriguez said of
the talk at the break.
And the Bulldogs didn’t.
Hermiston kept its lead to 14
or more points throughout
the entire second half with
senior Maddy Juul and
Romero leading the charge.
Juul matched Thompson’s
nine points after 32 minutes
of play.
The win gives the
Bulldogs much needed
momentum against a tough
Chiawana team. The next
OSAA-WIAA match up will
bring the 2-1 Riverhawks to
town for a 5:45 tipoff on
Friday.
BOYS BASKETBALL
The boys will have also
have a hard time against the
Chiwana Riverhawks on
Friday but with another win
under their belt, it will make
preparation a little sweeter.
The Bulldogs (2-2)
played their first game
in front of a home crowd
Tuesday night, and they did
not disappoint.
Sophomore
Ryne
Andreason and junior Cesar
Ortiz led Hermiston on its
way to a 69-60 win scoring
24 and 23 points, respec-
tively.
Ortiz got things going in
the first half after making
four of the Bulldogs’ five
3-pointers. Andreason took
his chances from beyond the
arc in the second half where
his first three shots where all
3’s.
Their combined efforts
on offense made the
defensive match up against
the previously undefeated
Falcons (1-3) a little easier.
“On the defensive end
and everything seems better
— it’s easier to play defense
when you’re hitting shots on
TAGGART: Departure angered recruits
Continued from 1B
back winning seasons.
When Taggart was hired
by Oregon, he said he had
three basic tenets: “Make no
excuses, blame no one, do
something.”
“Do Something” became
his tagline for his first season
with the Ducks.
One of his first moves
was to convince running
back Royce Freeman to stay
for his senior year.
Freeman went on to have
a record-setting season,
including a new Pac-12
career milestone for rushing
Herm-
iston’s
Jordan
Thomas
drives
past
Han-
ford’s
Sarah
Ellis in
the Bull-
dogs’
55-38
win
against
the Fal-
cons on
Tuesday
in Herm-
iston.
touchdowns with 60. The
sturdy senior also set school
records for career rushing
yards (5,621), total touch-
downs (64) and 100-yard
rushing games (31).
But the season itself was
erratic, partly because of a
key injury.
Oregon started 4-1 and
even briefly popped into the
AP rankings, but starting
quarterback Justin Herbert
broke his collarbone and the
Ducks floundered, going 1-4
without him.
Herbert returned for
the final two games of the
season, both wins that got
the Ducks into a bowl game
in Taggart’s lone season.
Meanwhile,
some
recruits were grumbling
about how the move was
handled.
Tigard
High
School’s Bradan Lenzy
decommitted.
Eli’Jah Winston, a senior
outside
lineman
from
Portland’s Central Catholic,
posted to Twitter: “I didn’t
know it would’ve been
handled so ugly. Respect the
decision 100% but leaving
us clueless was messed up.”
Mullins said Oregon
has launched a nationwide
search for a new head coach.
Staff photo
by E.J. Harris
Arstein said. “It’s fixable.”
The Bulldogs opened the
game commanding an 11-0
lead before Hanford was
final able to get points on
the board halfway through
the first quarter. A couple
of Falcon turnovers moved
Hermiston’s lead to 18-6
before Hanford began to
find its rhythm.
The Falcons never took
the lead, but were able to
tie things up in the second
quarter after a 8-0 run
finished off with a 3-pointer
from junior Connor Wood-
ward. He was the top scorer
for Hanford and was its only
player to finish in double-
digits with 18 points.
Woodward, with the
help of fellow junior Jard
DeVine, were the most
threaten in the final eight
minutes when Hanford was
able to cut Hermiston’s
16-point lead down to only
a nine point loss.
“I would have like to play
a little bit better there in the
fourth quarter,” Arstein said.
“I was a little frustrated — a
little frustrated with myself,
a little frustrated with our
rebounding but that’s going
to happen. We’re only on
game four, so we’ve got a
long ways.”
Arstein and company
have a little more time to
prepare for Chiawana and
will use the next two days
to clean up some of the little
things before taking on the
0-4 Riverhawks.
Tipoff is scheduled for
7:30 p.m.
————
GIRLS
HERM
14 17 17
7 — 55
HAN
5 12 11 10 — 38
HERMISTON — J. Romero 15, J. Thomas
9, H. Thompson, M. Juul 9, R. Meyers 5,
M. Wilson 5, A. Green 3.
HANFORD — M. Mars 9, T. Kison 8, H.
Coleman 7, J. Burt 4, T. Sijgers 4, J. Snow 3,
E. Beattie 2, S. Ellis 1.
3-pointers — HAN. 3, HERM. 7. Free
throws — HAN. 9-10, HERM. 6-12. Fouls —
HAN. 12, HERM. 13.
offense or getting out and
running, you know defense
creating offense,” head
coach Casey Arstein said.
But in the same breath, he
also stressed the importance
of playing good defense
and not depending on hot
shooters.
Over the weekend at
Wilsonville, Hermiston’s
breakdowns came in the
second half. On Tuesday,
the Bulldogs came out to
play a strong third quarter
but Hanford began to creep
up on them after Hermiston
defense relaxed a little too
much.
“It started with (Hanford)
getting some offensive
rebounds and us not stop-
ping the ball in transition,
stuff we need to work on,”
BOYS
HERM
19 17 17 16 - 69
HAN
14 12 16 18 - 60
HERMISTON — R. Andreason 24, C. Ortiz
23, J. Ramirez 6, A. Mendez 6, P. Wicks 5,
A. Earl 3, C. Smith 2
HANFORD — C. Woodward 18, B.
VanderTop 9, J. DeVine 9, L. Sutey 6, D.
Izquierdo 6, G. Horner 5, D. Gosney 5, C.
Milliken 2
3-pointers — HAN. 6, HERM. 9. Free
throws — HAN. 8-11, HERM. 10-23. Fouls
— HAN. 20, HERM. 14.
———
Contact Alexis at aman-
sanarez@eastoregonian.com
or 541-564-4542.
BLAZERS: Host Houston on Saturday
Continued from 1B
Portland, meanwhile,
had 13 turnovers at the
half.
Beal’s 20-foot jumper
gave the Wizards a 61-38
lead in the third quarter, but
the Blazers clawed back to
within 63-52 on Lillard’s
3-pointer and a free throw.
Lillard appeared to
tweak his left hip late in
the quarter, and at times he
grimaced — but he had 15
points in the period to help
keep the Blazers in it.
CJ McCollum’s layup
got Portland within 81-72,
but Beal answered with a
3-pointer that put him over
his previous career high.
Beal had 42 points against
Phoenix on Nov. 21 last
year.
Al-Farouq Aminu made
a 3-pointer that pulled
Portland within 99-90 with
1:28 left, but that was as
close as Portland would
come. Beal dunked with 24
seconds left to punctuate
his performance.
Portland coach Terry
Stotts tinkered a bit with his
lineup, starting Aminu and
Maurice Harkless, while
sending Pat Connaughton
and Noah Vonleh to the
bench.
The
Blazers
were
coming off a 123-116
loss to New Orleans on
Saturday.
TIP INS
Trail Blazers: Evan
Turner started the second
half for Harkless, who
stayed behind in the
Blazers’ locker room. The
team later said he had a left
quad contusion.
UP NEXT
The Wizards visit the
Suns on Thursday.
The Trail Blazers host
the Houston on Saturday.