SPORTS
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2018
1B
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HEPPNER
Prep volleyball
Dawgs stay
alive with
regional win
NEW GROUND
The Mustangs head to their first state meet
Hermiston beats North
Central, loses to Southridge
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
The Hermiston volleyball team still is try-
ing to navigate the waters of the Mid-Colum-
bia Conference. Thursday, they got a taste
of the regional tournament and the Greater
Spokane League, with mixed results.
The Bulldogs beat North Central in their
first match, then got swept by host South-
ridge to drop into the consolation bracket.
“They came into it with a ton of confi-
dence,” Hermiston coach Amy Dyck said.
“It’s tough playing back-to-back. You have
to be tough mentally and physically. I’m
excited for us to get back in the gym next
week.”
Hermiston will host Shadle Park at 6 p.m.
Nov. 8 in a loser out match. The winner will
play again on Saturday for a trip to the state
tournament.
After Hermiston beat NC 25-15, 18-25,
25-20, 25-23, they advanced to the semifi-
nals against top seed Southridge.
The Suns, who took both MCC matches
from the Bulldogs during the regular season,
had to rally in the first and second sets, but
left no doubt in the third, posting a 25-18,
25-23, 25-15 victory.
“One good thing about this team, is we
fight,” Suns coach Emily Otto said. “They
don’t like being down. We are pretty pumped
about playing for the regional title.”
Southridge will host Mt. Spokane at 6
p.m. Nov. 8. The winner will advance to
state, while the loser will drop into the con-
solation bracket to battle for the No. 2 seed
to state Nov. 10.
The Bulldogs opened the first set against
the Suns by taking a 10-4 lead. They had a
13-7 lead, only to see Southridge pull within
13-11 behind a string of points by Bobbie
Newton.
Hermiston last led 14-13. From there,
Jordan Missett reeled off four points for
a 17-14 lead. The Bulldogs would get as
close as 18-16 down the stretch, only to face
Sophia Sumner at the service line.
Sumner, who led the Suns with 18 kills
for the match, served five consecutive points
for a 23-16 lead, and a net serve by the Bull-
dogs on set point sealed the win.
The second set was a battle.
Southridge led 8-5 early on, and Herm-
iston had a 20-14 lead before the Suns ral-
lied back.
The Bulldogs would hang on to a small
lead until the Suns tied the set at 23-23. Two
unforced errors by the Bulldogs gave South-
ridge the win.
Sumner had seven of her kills in the sec-
ond set.
“Sometimes, the nerves get the best of
us,” Otto said. “As long as we can stay men-
tally strong, we will be fine.”
The third set was all Southridge. After
a 4-4 tie, the Suns took off. Sumner served
five consecutive points for a 12-6 lead, and
Southridge never looked back.
Sophia Streeter had eight kills for the
Bulldogs, while Ireland McDonough had
10 digs and four aces, Halee Stubbs 12 digs,
Kendall Dowdy 12 assists, and Courtnee
West 11 assists.
“I don’t think people expected us to get
past the first match,” Dyck said. “I like being
a little unknown.”
Sumner added 13 digs in the match, while
Ashlyn Dupuis had 12 kills, Shayla Hood 13
digs, and Kennedy Conrad and Missett 16
assists each.
In the match against North Central,
Streeter had 10 kills and two blocks, while
McDonough had eight kills, nine digs
and five aces. Stubbs had 39 digs, Emma
Combes five kills and eight digs, Scout Rea-
gan five kills and nine digs, and Dowdy 22
assists and 11 digs.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
The Heppner cross-country team, left, runs at the start of the Special District 3 cross-country meet on Oct. 26 in Pendleton.
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
C
ross-country is a relatively new
sport at Heppner High School. The
program is in its fourth season, but
Hunter Nichols already has the Mustangs
on the map.
The Heppner senior will be making
his third appearance at the 2A/1A state
cross-country meet Saturday, and for
the first time, he will be joined by his
teammates.
“We ran really good at district,” said
Nichols, whose team finished second
behind Union. “We all had the right
mindset. If we go into state like we did
last week, we will be fine.”
Nichols finished third at the Special
District 3 race in a time of 16 minutes,
57.30 seconds.
It was not a stellar time for Nichols,
but the entire field was a bit slow, he said.
Nichols, who placed 15th at state
as a sophomore, and eighth last year,
is excited to make another trip to Lane
Community College in Eugene. He’s just
as excited to take his teammates with
him.
“I really wanted to get the team there,”
Nichols said. “I figured if I finished in the
top three, they would do the rest.”
And they did.
The seven Heppner runners all finished
in the top 18 at district. Joining Nichols
at state will be Hayden Qualls (9th), Colt
Parker (10th), Trevor Antonucci (11th),
Leo Waite (12th), Tyson Vawser (14th)
and Christian Dubry (18th).
Nichols’ personal best this fall is
15:52.30, which he ran Oct. 18 at the
Kyle Burnside Wildhorse Invite. He will
have to run close to that on Saturday to
stay with the top pack at state.
Union’s Tim Stevens (2nd at state
last year) and Jack Silveira (15th) have
been the top two runners in the district
all season. At state, they will be chal-
lenged by Isaac Whitney of Oakridge,
who was sixth last year, Isaac Cutler of
Bandon (7th), Cam McChesney of Ver-
itas (10th) and Robert Pina-Morton of
Knappa (20th).
A new challenge
Nichols grew up playing football
in Heppner, and like all boys, hoped to
one day wear the blue and gold of the
Mustangs.
But being a smaller guy, Nichols
wasn’t sure high school football was for
him.
“My freshman year was the first year
we had cross-country,” Nichols said. “I
kinda started the team. It means so much
to me to be able to take a team to state. I
have worked so hard to make that hap-
pen. It’s special, and I’m excited.”
His parents Russ and Toni supported
his choice. They serve as co-coaches for
the cross-country team.
For those of you think cross-country is
easy, Nichols assures it is not.
“You have to have the right mindset,”
he said. “You have to be mentally strong.
It’s almost harder than being physically
strong.”
Nichols, who would like to major in
medicine, hopes to continue running in
college. He’s still weighing his options.
Pacific University and Linfield are
enticing.
“I have been in contact with the
coaches,” he said.
Once state is over, Nichols will rise
early Sunday morning with his dad to
head off on another adventure.
“I have a bull tag for elk,” he said.
Lillard helps Blazers beat Pelicans
AP Photo/Steve Dykes
New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday, center left, passes the ball as
Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic, left, forward Al-Farouq Aminu,
center right, and guard CJ McCollum, right, defend on Thursday night.
PORTLAND (AP) —
Damian Lillard scored 26
points to help Portland beat
New Orleans 132-119 on
Thursday night in the first
meeting between the teams
since the Pelicans swept
the Trail Blazers in the
first round of last season’s
playoffs.
Jusuf Nurkic added 20
points and nine rebounds
for the Blazers, who made
18 3-pointers in their third
straight win.
New Orleans dropped its
fourth consecutive game.
The Pelicans were the sixth
seed last season when they
upset the third-seeded Blaz-
ers in the playoffs.
NBA
Blazers
Pelicans
132
119
Julius Randle scored 29
points, but Pelicans star
Anthony Davis was side-
lined by a right elbow
sprain. Davis had returned
from the injury Wednes-
day night against Golden
State, when he collected
17 points, 12 rebounds and
seven assists in a 131-121
loss to the Warriors.
Sports shorts
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
Timberwolves unveil Prince-inspired uniform
AP Photo/Jim Mone
The new City Edition
Minnesota Timberwolves
uniform, honoring the legacy
of the late rock star Prince.
CHANHASSEN, Minn. (AP) — The
Minnesota Timberwolves are paying trib-
ute to Prince with a purple-highlighted
uniform.
The team Thursday unveiled Prince-in-
spired City Edition uniforms. The new look
uniforms were created in collaboration
between the Timberwolves, Nike and the
Prince estate.
Prince family members say the “Purple
Rain” superstar enjoyed basketball from a
young age, both as a player and fan.
The new jersey includes a paisley leaf in
tribute to Prince’s Paisley Park studio, the
letters “MPLS” recognizing the Minneapo-
lis Sound and purple touches.
The Timberwolves also plan to recog-
nize and donate to nonprofits that advance
causes that were important to Prince.
Minnesota will debut the new uniform
on Nov. 16 when the Timberwolves face
the Portland Trail Blazers at Target Center.
The Wolves will wear the uniforms eight
times during the regular season.
1958 — Chicago and Los Ange-
les establish an NFL attendance
record when 90,833 filled the L.A.
Coliseum to see the Rams beat the
Bears 41-35.
2016 — The Chicago Cubs win
their first World Series champion-
ship since 1908 when Ben Zobrist
hits a go-ahead double in the 10th
inning, beating the Cleveland Indi-
ans 8-7 in a thrilling Game 7 delayed
by rain early. Chicago is the first
club to overcome a 3-1 Series deficit
since the 1985 Kansas City Royals.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com