B2
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Saturday, January 5, 2019
Hermiston: Plays at Kamiakin today
Continued from Page B1
Bombers, who improved to 7-0 in
league play and 9-2 overall.
“They played exactly how we
thought they would,” Richland coach
Earl Streufert said of the Bulldogs.
“They had the intensity in the first
quarter. We struggled defensively to
start, but the end of the first and start
of the second, we played tough.”
The Bulldogs came out and took
control in the first quarter as Jordan
Ramirez scored nine of his 13 points
to give the Bulldogs a 19-15 lead.
Hermiston led 14-4 with 3:50 left in
the first, but five points from Northrop
helped close the gap.
With 41 seconds to play in the quar-
ter, Northrop scored again to make
it 16-13, but Cesar Ortiz drilled a
3-pointer from the left wing for a 19-13
lead.
Ryan Kriskovich scored with two
seconds left for a four-point ball game.
The Bulldogs extended their lead to
21-15 with a bucket by Ryne Andrea-
son to open the second quarter, but
those would be he only points Hermis-
ton would scored until Ortiz hit a shot
with 39 seconds left.
In the middle, the Bombers went on
a scoring spree. Northrop had 10 points
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Sergio Madrigal, of Hermiston, takes
aim from the corner during Friday’s
game against the Richland Bombers at
the Dawg House.
and Garrett Streufert four, as the Bomb-
ers took a 35-23 lead at the half.
“I thought we dug in in the sec-
ond and things got better offensively,”
coach Streufert said.
The Bulldogs (8-2, 4-2) fared no
better in the third quarter, where the
Bombers went on a 31-16 run, fueled
by 13 points from Dhaunye Guice,
including three 3-pointers.
“You have to be able to with-
stand Richland’s runs,” Arstein said.
“When they went on those two runs,
we couldn’t match them. The sec-
ond quarter killed us, and giving up
31 in the third. You are not going to
beat teams in this league giving up 86
points.”
The teams played an even fourth
quarter, but it was too late for the
Bulldogs.
“I wasn’t disappointed in the guys’
effort, but you can’t let them have
extra baskets,” Arstein said.
Ortiz also had 13 points for Herm-
iston, while Andreason and Adrian
Mendez each added 10.
Guice added 20 points for the
Bombers, while Cody Sanderson
chipped in 17.
“No. 3 (Guice) makes them work,”
Arstein said. “He has some great team-
mates around him.”
Hermiston will play Saturday at
Kamiakin, while Richland hosts Pasco.
Dawgs: There were four
ties in the fourth quarter
Continued from Page B1
defense caused havoc. Our
inexperience showed.”
Richland, which never
took the lead for good until
the final 20 seconds of the
game, went out front 52-50
midway through the fourth
quarter, its first lead since
4-3.
“I think the big thing,
is after the half we came
out with confidence and
hit some shots,” Richland
coach Hayley Middleton
said. “We have some good
talent, it’s getting them to
use it.”
There were four ties in
the fourth quarter, the last
being at 61-61 after Herm-
iston’s Jazlyn Romero hit a
pair of free throws.
From there, Richland’s
Emily Garza hit a shot
with 20 seconds to play,
and Jayda Clark hit a pair
of free throws to finish off
the game.
Romero had 10 of her
game-high 21 points in the
first half for the Bulldogs
(4-6 overall, 2-4 MCC),
including seven in the sec-
ond quarter.
Hermiston led by as
many as 17 points in sec-
ond, but a 3-pointer by Jor-
dyn Clark with seconds to
play before the half made
the score 33-19.
In the the third, Hermis-
ton led 40-29 with 4:20 to
play, but the Bombers went
on an 14-7 run to finish out
the quarter and pull within
47-43.
“In the first half, we let
them hang around when
they weren’t playing well,
instead of blowing the
game open,” Rodriguez
said. “In the second half,
we weren’t rebounding and
getting the 50-50 balls.”
Jordan Thomas added
15 points for Hermiston,
while Jayden Ray added
eight.
Jayda Clark led the
Bombers (6-5, 3-4) with 15
points, while Garza added
15 and Gracie Pierce 12.
Nixyaawii: ‘We’ve made great PREP ROUNDUP
Stanfield girls turn away
progress since the preseason’
Weston-McEwen for
second league victory
Continued from Page B1
Nixyaawii led by just
six points in the third quar-
ter before Burns took mat-
ters into his own hands, scor-
ing 11 points in under two
minutes. He sunk five more
in under a minute before the
buzzer ended the quarter, giv-
ing the Golden Eagles a 65-41
lead — their game’s greatest
advantage.
“We talk about this all
the time: if someone’s got it
going, you best give ‘em the
ball,” Rivera said of Burns’
hot second half. “He was con-
fident in himself, and so was
his team. He knows he has the
skills to bring it. It’s his turn.”
Burns would drop one
more in from outside the paint
in the fourth quarter before
Rivera sent his bench in to
finish off the game.
Nixyaawii (1-0, 11-1)
hosts Wallowa on Saturday
for their second Old Oregon
League matchup. They took
the top spot in the league last
season, and Rivera hopes to
do it again.
“I like our chances going
into the league,” he said. “Our
reputation is being one of the
best in the OOL. Everyone
is going to give us their best
game. We’re a contender, for
sure.”
Girls
The Nixyaawii girls came
close, but couldn’t match
Powder Valley’s intensity.
The Badgers sent them
away with a 38-30 loss to
open Old Oregon League
play on Friday night.
“Powder Valley is a top-
five team in the state,” said
Nixyaawii coach Jeremy
Maddern. “So, I thought we
played really well. We han-
dled their press great for as
young as we are, and we were
physical with them.”
After trailing 16-6 at the
half, Golden Eagles junior
guard Lark Moses hit two
straight 3’s, and senior post
Ermia Butler scored a bucket
to pull within two points of
the Badgers.
But Powder Valley out-
scored them 16-13 in the
fourth quarter to hold them
off for good.
“We have a lot of funda-
mental work to do,” Maddern
said. “We have a lot of kids
playing without varsity expe-
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Nixyaawii’s Deven Barkley drives on Powder Valley’s Reece
Dixon in the Golden Eagles’ 83-52 win against the Badgers on
Friday in Mission.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Nixyaawii’s McKenzie Kiona drives past Powder Valley’s Logan
Nedrow in the Golden Eagles’ 40-32 loss to the Badgers on Friday
in Mission.
rience. This will do us some
good. We’ve made great
progress since the preseason.”
Butler led Nixyaawii (0-1,
7-5) with 14 points. They’ll
host Wallowa on Saturday.
Kendra Hart posted 26
points to help Stanfield to
their second league win. The
Tigers topped Weston-McE-
wen at home, 66-61.
Nyah Tejada followed
Hart in scoring with 15
points.
“It was a close one,” said
Weston-McEwen
coach
Mike Giusti. “We missed
some shots and turned
over the ball too much.
We weren’t very efficient
offensively.”
Katie Vescio and Jordyn
Lambert scored 22 points
each to lead the TigerScots.
Stanfield (2-1, 7-6) trav-
els to Knappa on Saturday
for a nonleague matchup.
Weston-McEwen (0-2, 6-8)
will host Heppner.
Girls hoops
JOSEPH 53, HELIX
21 — Helix opened Old
Oregon League play with
a home loss to Joseph on
Friday.
The Eagles tore away
early with a 15-2 lead in
the first quarter and never
looked back.
Arianna Krol led with
nine points for the Grizzlies
(0-1, 3-8). They’ll hit the
road to Elgin on Saturday.
NYSSA 38, RIVER-
SIDE 14 — Riverside
opened Eastern Oregon
League play with a road loss
on Friday.
Faith Rosen led the
Pirates with six points for
the night.
Riverside (0-1, 7-6) trav-
els to Irrigon on Thursday.
UNION 39, PILOT
ROCK 27 — The Rockets
took an early lead, but Union
soon got away from them to
hand Pilot Rock their third
league loss on the road on
Friday.
Bre Baleztena posted 11
points to lead Pilot Rock
(0-3, 6-6). They’ll host
Enterprise on Saturday.
PORTLAND ADVEN-
TIST ACAD. 45, UMA-
TILLA 32 — Umatilla
dropped day two of Salem’s
Crusader Classic New Year’s
Invitational on Friday.
The Vikings (2-10) fin-
ish the Invitational on Sat-
urday before returning home
to tip off Eastern Oregon
League play against Irrigon
on Tuesday.
IONE 51, CONDON/
WHEELER 24 — The
Cardinals improved to 3-0
in the Big Sky League with
a resounding home win over
Condon/Wheeler on Friday.
Ione (3-0, 8-2) will travel
to Echo on Saturday. Con-
don/Wheeler (1-2, 3-8) wel-
comes Arlington.
ECHO 51, MITCH-
ELL/SPRAY 10 — The
Cougars dominated Mitch-
ell/Spray’s court for their
third Big Sky League win
on Friday.
Echo (3-0, 5-6) hosts
Ione on Saturday.
VALE 57, IRRIGON 29
— Irrigon dropped their sea-
son’s first league game on
the road to Vale on Friday.
The Knights (0-1, 9-4)
hit the road to Umatilla on
Tuesday.
Boys hoops
JOSEPH 45, HELIX 35
— Elijah Sprenger scored
20 of Helix’s 35 points, but it
wasn’t enough to save their
season’s first league game.
“It was a close one,” said
Grizzlies coach Zach Orem.
“It was back-and-forth
pretty much the entire time.”
Helix (0-1, 4-7) will
travel to Elgin on Satur-
day to continue Old Oregon
League play.
CONDON/WHEELER
66, IONE 43 — Ione fell to
0-4 in the Big Sky League
as Condon/Wheeler handed
them a home loss on Friday.
Cooper Johnson fired
off 45 points to lead the
Knights. JR Roque scored
12 points for the Cardinals.
Condon/Wheeler (2-2,
7-4) hosts Arlington on Sat-
urday. Ione (0-4, 1-10) trav-
els to Echo.
WESTON-MCEWEN
62, STANFIELD 47 —
Blair Rudolph scored a
game-high 26 points to lead
the TigerScots to their sec-
ond league victory.
Hugo Hernandez led
Stanfield with 16 points.
“It was a low-effort
game from us. We came out
extremely
unmotivated,”
said Stanfield coach Devin
Bailey. “I don’t know if it
was the winter break blues,
but Weston deserved the
win.”
Weston-McEwen (2-0,
4-9) hosts Heppner in Blue
Mountain Conference play
on Saturday. Stanfield (1-2,
4-9) travels to Knappa for a
nonleague game.
NYSSA 54, RIVER-
SIDE 29 — The Pirates
opened the Eastern Oregon
League with a road loss.
Francisco Barajas scored
seven points to lead the
team.
Riverside (0-1, 5-9)
resumes league play on
Thursday on the road against
Irrigon.
UNION 64, PILOT
ROCK 31 — Union sent
the Rockets home with a
rough league loss on Friday.
“It was a terrible shoot-
ing night,” said Pilot Rock
coach Eric Smidt. “There
wasn’t a lot of effort, or a
good flow to the game.”
The Rockets (0-3, 1-11)
host Enterprise on Saturday.
WESTERN CHRIS-
TIAN 77, UMATILLA 38
— Umatilla’s nine-game
streak came to a halt on Fri-
day when they fell to West-
ern Christian at Salem’s Cru-
sader Classic New Year’s
Invitational.
Uriel Garcia had 14
points to lead the Vikings
(10-2), who will finish the
Invitational against Amity
on Saturday.
MITCHELL/SPRAY
61, ECHO 52 — Echo
remains in search of their
first league win after fall-
ing on the road to Mitchell/
Spray on Friday night.
The Cougars (0-4, 1-11)
host Ione in Big Sky League
play on Saturday.
VALE 60, IRRIGON
46 — The Knights opened
Eastern Oregon League play
with a road loss to Vale on
Friday.
Irrigon (0-1, 6-8) will
continue league play at
Umatilla on Tuesday.
Rodeo: With a YouTube assist, a young rider eyes bull market in NYC
Continued from Page B1
continue to play football and
run track. I was pretty good
at a lot of things. My mother
wasn’t really behind the idea.
She limited what I could do.
She didn’t ever tell me ‘No,’
but she thought I might grow
out of it after a little while.”
Mitchell moved from
YouTube to practicing on
a homemade drop barrel. A
neighbor later helped him
weld a mechanical bull with
a car suspension. Within
two years Mitchell got on
his first bull. Once he turned
18, and was a qualifier for
the Texas High School State
Finals, he took control of his
career.
“I just moved out and
never went back,” said
Mitchell, who proved to his
family he was on the right
path. “They love it now.
Everybody is 100 percent
behind me now.”
Mitchell is one of the
many success stories PBR
is touting as it kicks off in
New York City for the 13th
season with aspirations to
build on its growth the last
several seasons.
PBR, which last year set
more than 20 local event
attendance records, expands
this season to Los Angeles
with its inaugural event at
Staples Center in February.
The series will be in Chi-
cago, Los Angeles and New
York this season.
PBR CEO Sean Gleason
said Friday the expansion
into the Los Angeles market
will be aided by the circuit’s
longtime presence in nearby
Anaheim, California, and
promotion from the sports
talent agency that purchased
the series in 2015. Endeavor,
formerly the William Mor-
ris Agency/IMG, will try to
bring exposure to the sport
on the same weekend as the
Oscars.
“We expect that to be a
great party,” Gleason said.
The PBR Global Cup, a
five-nation team bull rid-
ing tournament, will be
held next month at AT&T
Stadium in Dallas and
has expanded this year to
include a team of Native
American riders.
“We’re
coming
off
record-setting year after
record-setting year and
there’s a lot of excitement
around the series,” Gleason
said. “We just opened the
New York Stock Exchange
and we are hoping we kicked
off a bull run for everyone.”