SPORTS
Weekend, March 3-4, 2018
East Oregonian
Page 3B
Boys Class 2A State Tournament
No. 1 Western Mennonite cruises into championship game
By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ
East Oregonian
State Championship
PENDLETON — The No. 1
Western Mennonite boys basketball
team is sick of coming up short.
The last two years the Pioneers
have finished in third place at the 2A
state tournament, losing the semi-
final game by 20 or more points.
But this season it was Western
Mennonite that toppled its oppo-
nent, and with Friday’s 61-37 win
over No. 5 Oakland they punched a
ticket to the title game.
“It feels really good,” Payton
Richardson, Western Mennonite’s
top scorer, said. “But not good
enough yet.”
Richardson and the rest of the
Pioneer squad won’t be satisfied
until they get that trophy in their
hands, and behind them is an expe-
rienced staff that is well equipped to
handle the stakes.
Head coach Gary Hull will be
making his fourth trip to the cham-
pionship game, but this group of
boys is unlike any other he added.
“These guys have been with me
since fifth, sixth grade, these little
rascals we call them,” Hull said as
he cracked a smile. “This is one of
the closest groups we’ve had ever.
They just really really like each
other.”
That chemistry shows on the
court and translate to the team being
able to make the necessary adjust-
ments when a wrench is thrown
their way.
After coming out of halftime up
33-15, Western Mennonite banked
a few shots to increase its lead but
then the Oakers (25-4) went on a
10-0 run to pull within eight points
of the Pioneers (26-3).
“We just really focused and
#1 Western
#2 Columbia
Mennonite
Christian
(26-3)
(28-1)
• Saturday, 8:15 p.m.
• at Pendleton Convention Center
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Keaton Hull (20), of Western
Mennonite, tries to put up a shot
as Oakland’s Colton Brownson
(33) blocks during Friday’s state
semifinal game at the Pendle-
ton Convention Center.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Johnny Williams (11), of Western Mennonite, is fouled by Oak-
land’s Reese Carson (20) during Friday’s state semifinal game at
the Pendleton Convention Center.
made sure we played together.”
Richardson said of the team’s efforts
to build back its lead. “No one tried
to be the hero or anything. We just
kept playing like we’ve been all
season.”
The result was outscoring
Oakland 17-6 in the fourth quarter,
and cruising to its 24-point victory.
Leading the Pioneers was Rich-
ardson with 16 points, and was one
rebound shy of a double-double.
Helping Western Mennonite
down the stretch was Johnny
Williams, who finished with 11
points behind Alex Nicoli (13
points) and Keaton Hull (12 points).
For the Oakers, Sean Winn
netted a game-best 18 points.
Cameron Benzel’s efforts were felt
more on defense, where he grabbed
14 boards to lead to a whopping 17
total rebounds. He finished with
seven points on the night.
Oakland will face Vernonia in
the third-place game at 6:45, and
Western Mennonite will follow
with a matchup against Columbia
Christian for the 2A title.
COLUMBIA CHRISTIAN 67,
VERNONIA 48 — The first half
of Friday’s final game proved to be
worth the wait. The No. 11 Vernonia
Loggers were toe-to-toe No. 1
Columbia Christian.
The Knights held on to a narrow
18-17 lead after the first quarter, and
at the break were still up by only
one point after both teams scored 14
points in the second.
With a spot in the championship
on the line, Columbia Christian
came out of the break re-energized
and outscored Vernonia 18-2 in the
third quarter. The Knights’ efforts
put them well ahead of their compe-
tition, and they capped of the night
with a 67-48 victory.
In the opening quarter, there
were six lead changes and one tie.
With only 0.02 seconds on the clock
and the Knights (29-1) down 15-17,
Columbia Christian’s Ben Gregg
was fouled driving to the basket. His
layup was good — to tie the score at
17 points apiece — and so was his
shot from the free-throw line to give
the Knights the slight advantage
going into the second quarter.
Efforts from both teams
accounted for three ties and four
lead changes in the second, but
Columbia Christian managed to
hang on to its lead.
The Knights’ top scorer was
Gregg, who finished with 27 points
and 19 rebounds. Dominic Blake
followed with 18 points and Isiah
Mariscal recorded 11.
Gregg did the most damage in
the third quarter when the Knights
(29-1) secured the win.
The Loggers (20-9), however,
put up three solid quarter, and were
led by Clay Sullivan with 15 points.
Gaven Everett chipped in 11 of his
own and nine rebounds.
———
Contact Alexis at aman-
sanarez@eastoregonian.com
or
541-564-4542. Follow her on
Twitter @almansanarez.
Girls Class 2A State Tournament
Last two champions, Kennedy and Monroe, will meet for 2018 title
By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Two
years ago when the Kennedy
girls basketball team earned
the 2A state title after a 52-32
win over Burns, a cast of six
sophomores got the sweet
taste of victory.
But after graduatin four
seniors that year, these
underclassmen needed to
step into new roles.
Now, these leaders will
have a chance to hoist the
trophy one more time as
the No. 1 seeded Trojans
claimed a spot in the cham-
pionship game with a 52-42
victory over the Faith Bible
Falcons on Tuesday.
“It feels amazing for these
seniors girls, because I think
a lot of people doubted that
they could do this without
the bigger hitters we had,”
head coach Kerry Hall said.
“They have worked really
hard going out of their roles
as being role players to ‘I’m
in charge’ players.
“They have done a
fantastic job, and I couldn’t
be more proud of them —
I’m proud of (the entire
team), but the seniors girls,
this is huge for them.”
The Trojans (28-1) have
been dominate in their last
few outings — defeating
teams by a combined margin
of 77 points — and that
didn’t change in the semi-
final game at the Pendleton
Convention Center.
Kennedy got off to a fast
State Championship
#1 Kennedy #2 Monroe
Trojans
Dragons
(28-1)
(26-3)
• Saturday, 3:15 p.m.
• at Convention Center
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Sophia Carley (00), of Kennedy, fights to shoot as Ka-
tie Fajer, of Faith Bible, applies pressure during Friday’s
OSAA 2A girls state tournament semifinal in Pendleton.
start with a 13-7 lead over the
Falcons (26-3) after the first
quarter. Steady shooting,
and aggressiveness in the
paint gave the Trojans the
edge over No. 5 Faith Bible.
The Trojans beat the
Falcons under rim, grabbing
11 offensive rebounds in the
first half alone.
Out of the half, the
Trojans doubled the Falcons’
third-quarter output and
despite scoring a game-low
10 points in the fourth
quarter, were able to hold
off Faith Bible’s late efforts.
“It feels good because
two years ago, it was kind
of like the seniors domi-
nated but this year we’ve
got sophomores starting,
we have a junior, we have
seniors,” Hannah Arritola,
one of six seniors, said. “It’s
just a group effort.”
Leading the Trojans
was Sophia Carley, who
recorded a double-double
with 14 points and 12
rebounds. Kalysaa Klein-
schmit followed with 11
points and eight boards and
Molly Jaeger and Arritola
combined for 15 points.
“It feels good when
you’re playing like that,”
Kleinschmit said. “If you’re
not going your hardest it
isn’t as fun, and everybody
was playing fun and hard.”
For the Falcons, Katie
Fajer finished with a
game-high 18 points and
10 rebounds for a double-
double. She was the only
player on Faith Bible’s roster
to score in double digits.
Kennedy will face the
defending champions, No.
2 Monroe, in the title game
tomorrow at 3:15 p.m.
Faith Bible will be pitted
against No. 6 St. Paul in the
third-place game. Tipoff is
scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
NO. 2 MONROE 57,
NO. 6 ST. PAUL 42 — The
defending 2A champions
after headed back to the title
game after a 57-42 defeat
over St. Paul in the semifi-
nals.
The Dragons (25-3)
asserted their dominance
early, leading 19-9 after the
first eight minutes of play.
But that first quarter didn’t
set the tone until the second
half.
In the second quarter, St.
Paul held Monroe to only
nine points after the Dragons
committed two turnovers
and the Buckaroos (23-5)
had five second-chance
baskets.
St. Paul cut its deficit to
only seven points before
the break, as Monroe led
28-21, and out of halftime,
the Bucks remained steady
scoring 12 points in each the
second-fourth quarter.
They trailed the Dragons
by only one possession early
in the third quarter. Monroe
had some good looks at the
basket and a few second-
chance opportunities but
couldn’t get points on the
board.
Finally, Kailey Martin
layed the ball in to push
Monroe’s lead to five,
30-25, and the Dragons
went on a 10-3 run to boost
its advantage.
St. Paul threatened a
tie one more time in the
fourth quarter but another
run (13-5) in favor of the
Dragons led to the eventual
game-winning score of
57-42.
Leading Monroe was
Peyton Greene with a
game-best 19 points. Kailey
Martin followed with 16 and
Madison Ballard notched
14 of her own. Greene also
finished with afternoon with
a double-double by grabbing
11 rebounds.
For St. Paul, Isabelle
Wyss had 13 points and
Logan Robinson followed
with 12.
———
Contact Alexis at aman-
sanarez@eastoregonian.com
or 541-564-4542. Follow her
on Twitter @almansanarez.
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