B2
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Heppner’s Wilson,
W-M’s Hoffman
unanimous picks in Blue
Mountain Conference
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
Heppner
sopho-
more Sydney Wilson and
Weston-McEwen junior
Stockton Hoffman were
unanimous picks by the
coaches for the Blue Moun-
tain Conference teams.
Wilson and Grant
Union twins Hailie and
Kaylee Wright were unan-
imous picks on the girls
team, while sophomore
Keegan Glenn of Union
joined Hoffman on the
boys team.
Wilson, a forward,
averaged 22.5 points, 9.5
rebounds and 2.5 assists
per game for the Mustangs.
Hoffman, a 6-foot-1
guard, averaged 23 points,
9.5 rebounds and six
assists per game for the
TigerScots (4-19).
The Heppner boys (18-
7), who won the BMC reg-
ular-season title and the
district title, had seniors
Trent Smith and Tyler Car-
ter named to the first team.
The No. 8-ranked Mus-
tangs will host Kennedy
at 6 p.m. Friday in a first-
round state playoff game.
The
winner
will
advance to the state tour-
nament Feb. 28-March 2 at
the Pendleton Convention
Center and Pendleton High
School.
Also on the first team
were senior Elias Esquivel
of Stanfield, and junior
Tristan Morris of Grant
Union.
The Grant Union girls
won the BMC regular-sea-
son title with an 11-2
record, but Heppner (18-
8) won the district title
with a 62-57 win over the
Prospectors.
The No.6-ranked Mus-
BLUE
MOUNTAIN
CONFERENCE
SELECTIONS
Boys
First Team
Keegan Glenn, so., Union
(Unanimous); Stockton Hoff-
man, jr., Weston-McEwen
(Unanimous); Trent Smith, sr.,
Heppner; Elias Esquivel, sr.,
Stanfield; Tyler Carter, sr., Hep-
pner; Tristan Morris, jr., Grant
Union.
Second Team
Tanner Elliot, sr., Grant
Union; Devin Greer, jr., Enter-
prise; Jacob Vaughan, sr.,
Grant Union; Dylan Marr , sr.,
Enterprise; Theo White, fr.,
Weston-McEwen
Honorable Mention
Hugo Hernandez, sr., Stan-
field; Tate Lantis, sr., Union,
Riley Waggoner, so., Pilot Rock;
Hunter Nichols, sr., Heppner;
Justin McAninch, sr., Heppner.
Girls
First Team
Hailie Wright , sr., Grant Union
(Unanimous); Kaylee Wright,
sr., Grant Union (Unanimous);
Sydney Wilson, so., Heppner
(Unanimous); Shelby Moncrief,
sr., Enterprise; Katie Vescio, sr.,
Weston-McEwen; Jacee Currin,
sr., Heppner.
Second Team
Callie Glenn, sr., Union; Kendra
Hart, jr., Stanfield; Karli Bedard,
sr., Enterprise; Madi McKrola,
sr., Grant Union; Lexi Gassett,
sr., Enterprise; Nyah Tejeda, jr.,
Stanfield.
Honorable Mention
Kait Evans, sr., Pilot Rock; Grace
Austin, sr., Pilot Rock; Kylie Mar-
riott, so., Union.
tangs (18-8) will host San-
tiam at 2 p.m. Saturday in
a first-round state playoff
game.
The
winner
will
advance to the state tour-
nament Feb. 28-March 2 at
the Pendleton Convention
Center and and Pendleton
High School.
Rounding out the first
team were seniors Jacee
Currin of Heppner, Katie
Vescio of Weston-McE-
wen and Shelby Moncrief
of Enterprise.
Alex: ‘I have to show I’m one
of the best, or weed me out’
Continued from Page B1
170-pound district finals
to Nyssa’s Adam Simp-
son, is 39-2 going into the
3A state tournament.
But being a No. 2 seed
comes with challenges.
Miranda-Walls
will
open the state tournament
Friday against three-time
state champion Dax Ben-
nett of Harrisburg. Bennett,
who has won titles at 132,
152, and last year at 182,
dropped to 170 for the post-
season this year.
“I heard my draw, and
the coaches and I checked
him out a little bit,” Miran-
da-Walls said. “It’s tough
right off the bat. I get what I
get. It’s my destiny to go out
and win, or put up the best
fight he’s had all season.”
Should he get past Ben-
nett, Simpson, the defend-
ing state champion, is on
the other side of the bracket.
“That’s pretty much how
it is,” Miranda-Walls said.
“Everyone has credentials. I
have to show I’m one of the
best, or weed me out.”
Bring it on
Irrigon coach Jason
Dunten made sure he put
together a schedule this
season that would chal-
lenge his team, especially
Miranda-Walls.
“People have dodged
him all year,” said Dunten,
who is taking a school
record nine wrestlers to
state. “We have taken him
all over the state to find
someone worth wrestling.
That’s why I think Alex is
ready to take on everyone
in the state, including Dax
Bennett.”
Miranda-Walls
went
undefeated at the Ore-
gon Classic, and won the
Mac-Hi Christmas tourna-
ment, but there are a few
moments that stand out
more than others.
He started to get noticed
in late December after win-
ning the Winter Cup at
Hanford High School with
a 3-2 decision over Ozious
Harden of Reardan, who
went on to place third at the
1B/2B Washington state
tournament.
After the tournament, he
was 18-0, and the competi-
tion just kept getting better.
At the Farm City Invita-
tional in Hermiston, Miran-
da-Walls pinned his first
three opponents in the first
round before meeting up
with Chiawana’s Victor
Siva in the finals. Miran-
da-Walls beat Silva 7-0.
Silva went on to place
fourth at the 4A Washing-
ton state tournament.
At the Culver Invita-
tional, he beat Ridgeview’s
Cole Jackson 15-5 in the
182-pound championship
match. Jackson has quali-
fied for the 5A Oregon state
tournament.
Miranda-Walls
lost
his first match of the sea-
son Feb. 2 to Hon Rush of
Baker/Powder Valley, a
6-4 decision at the Bank of
Eastern Oregon Invitational
in Heppner.
All of which have pre-
pared him for state.
“This is my last hurrah
as a high school wrestler,”
Miranda-Walls said. “I’m
serious out on the mat, but
if I didn’t enjoy it, I wasted
four years. I get to compete
in a sport I love.”
Which makes his brother
happy.
“I’m excited to go watch
him at state,” Landeros
said. “To be honest, I have
never seen him wrestle. It’s
all still pretty new to me.”
What the future holds
Miranda-Walls had got-
ten serious interest from
NAIA wrestling power
Southern Oregon Univer-
sity, and has been in com-
munication with Raiders
coach Mike Ritchey.
With a dream of being
a wrestling coach, Miran-
da-Walls is leaning toward
a degree in education.
“The best coaches are
the ones involved in their
schools and community,”
he said.
Friday, February 22, 2019
Bucks: ‘When you break your
routine, it’ll affect you on the court’
Continued from Page B1
“This was a game we
knew we would probably
win,” said coach Kevin Por-
ter. “Those are the games
that are the hardest to pre-
pare yourself for.”
Senior
Sarah
Scott
opened the game with a
bucket to put Pendleton
out front, and 5 1/2 score-
less minutes ensued before
Eagles senior Haylee Baker
grabbed a turnover to even
things out. A basket with
0:05 left from freshman
Muriel Hoisington kept the
Bucks ahead 5-2.
“I wouldn’t just call it
a slow quarter — I’d call it
a slow game,” Porter said.
“I’m not sure if we were still
recovering from the hang-
over after Tuesday’s dou-
ble overtime (against Rid-
geview), but we were tired
tonight.”
Hoisington and soph-
omores Josie Wilson and
Natalie Neveau strung
together six- and eight-point
runs to give the Bucks a 21-7
lead at the half. The Eagles
scrounged up just five points,
including a trey from Baker.
“I feel good for our
defense, but bad for (Hood
River),” Porter said of his
team’s advantage. “They
don’t have very many shoot-
ers. It would have been easier
for us to get some rebounds
if they did.”
Both teams endured
a three-minute scoring
Pendleton
5 16 7 11 — 39
Hood River Valley 2 5 1 10 — 18
PENDLETON — Hoisington 10,
Bradt 6, Wilson 6, Scott 6, Neveau
6, Jenness 3, Spriet 2
HOOD RIVER VALLEY — Baker 14,
Baker 3, McNerney 1
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Natalie Neveau, left, and Katie Bradt, of Pendleton, and
Hood River’s Reese Leiblein and Molly Routson battle for a
rebound Thursday at Warberg Court.
drought in the third quarter
before freshman Daisy Jen-
ness got a point at the free
throw line to give Pendle-
ton a 20-point lead with 0:17
left. The Eagles’ sole point
came from junior Kaitlyn
McNerney’s free throw.
“We were on defense
for really long stretches of
time,” said senior post Katie
Bradt. “(Hood River) likes
to move the ball outside,
and we prefer to push it up
the floor. That hurt us. When
you break your routine, it’ll
affect you on the court.”
A 3-point play from
Baker early in the fourth
quarter put the Eagles in
double digits, but Bradt
responded with four straight
points for a 22-point Bucks
advantage. Baker ended
Hood River’s game with
back-to-back treys, and
Scott drained another bucket
with 0:21 seconds left.
“Hood River is a pretty
scrappy team,” Bradt said.
“We didn’t show up with our
best game tonight. We knew
we stood a good chance
against them, and with that
in the back of our minds,
it was hard to bring your-
self into the gym ready for a
dog fight, if there was going
to be one. They drove a lot,
but their shots weren’t fall-
ing — that helped us when
our defense was scrambling
a little bit.”
The Bucks (9-12, 4-2
IMC) got 10 points from
Hoisington, and six each
from Bradt, Neveau, Scott,
and Wilson. Baker posted a
game-high 14 points or the
Eagles.
With the win, Pendleton
now moves forward in the
winner’s bracket and trav-
els to Ridgeview on Satur-
day — a team they fell to in
double overtime earlier this
week.
“It’s going to be anyone’s
game,” Bradt said of Satur-
day’s matchup. “(Ridgeview
was) on fire on Tuesday.
They were hitting 3s left and
right. I want to see the same
energy that we brought on
Tuesday. If we play like that,
I think we have a shot.”
Nixyaawii’s Schimmel, Burns highlight OOL team
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
Nixyaawii’s
Mick
Schimmel and Tyasin Burns
were selected to the Old
Oregon League first team
by the league’s coaches.
The Golden Eagles (24-
2) won the OOL regu-
lar-season title with a 12-0
record. They beat Joseph
54-42 in the district cham-
pionship game, earning a
first-round bye in the state
playoffs.
Nixyaawii will host St.
Paul at 6 p.m. Friday in a
state playoff game. The
winner will advance to the
1A state tournament Feb.
OLD OREGON LEAGUE
Girls
First Team
Sabrina Albee, so., Joseph; Made-
lyn Nelson, jr., Joseph; Emma Hite, sr.,
Joseph; Megan Bingham, sr., Powder
Valley; Caysie McGinness, sr., Imbler;
Tymra Anderson, jr., Elgin.
Second Team
Haley Miller, sr., Joseph; Belle Blair,
so., Powder Valley; Logan Nedrow, sr.,
Powder Valley; Jocelyn Palmer, so.,
Elgin; Lark Moses, jr., Nixyaawii; Ermia
Butler, sr., Nixyaawii.
Honorable Mention
Camille Crenshaw, jr., Joseph;
Autumn Davis, jr., Powder Valley; Ari-
anna Krol, sr., Griswold; Riley Ferre,
sr., Wallowa; Jamie Johnston, jr., Wal-
lowa; Austin Kendall, jr., Cove; Mag-
gie Frisch, fr., Cove; Maddie Morgan,
27-March 2 at Baker High
School.
jr., Pine Eagle.
Boys
First Team
Christopher Nobles, sr., Wallowa;
Mick Schimmel, jr., Nixyaawii; Tyasin
Burns, so., Nixyaawii; Omar Benitez,
sr., Powder Valley; Tyler Homan, sr.,
Joseph; Mason Ferre, so., Joseph.
Second Team
Jayce Burnett, jr., Imbler; Kaden
McClure, so., Elgin; Tucker Gulick, sr.,
Pine Eagle; Deven Barkley, sr., Nixy-
aawii; Eli Sprenger, so., Griswold;
Moses Moses, so., Nixyaawii.
Honorable Mention
Quamah Picard, jr., Nixyaawii; Chase
Murray, so., Joseph; Roper Bingham,
fr., Powder Valley; Blake Witten, sr.,
Cove; Reese Dixon, fr., Powder Valley;
Gage McKay, so., Elgin.
Joining Schimmel and
Burns on the first team are
Omar Benitez of Powder
Valley, Tyler Homan and
Mason Ferre of Joseph, and
Christopher Nobles of Wal-
lowa, who was named OOL
MVP.
Eli Sprenger, of Gris-
wold, was selected to the
second team. Moses Moses
and Deven Barkley, both
of Nixyaawii, were also
selected to the second team.
For the girls, Joseph
sophomore Sabrina Albee
was named league MVP.
Ermia Butler and Lark
Moses, both of Nixyaawii,
were selected to the sec-
ond team. Arianna Krol, of
Griswold, was named to the
honorable mention team.
PREP ROUNDUP
Ione girls no match for Joseph in 1A state playoffs
East Oregonian
The 1A state playoff
matchup on Wednesday
wasn’t a pretty one for the
Ione girls.
The Cardinals ended their
season with a 62-24 defeat to
the 1A’s No. 2 team Joseph in
the tournament’s first round.
“They have a relentless
press,” coach Nathan Heide-
man said of Joseph. “They’re
really long and really quick.
We’re young {span}— we’re
mostly freshmen and soph-
omores. But I thought we
played as good as we could
have against a team like
that. The girls worked their
tails off all the way through,
and as a coach, I couldn’t be
more proud.”
Sophomore
Jessica
Medina poured in 10 points
for the Cardinals (18-5, 12-1
BSL), and freshman Hailey
Heideman added in eight.
Ione ended at No. 3 in
the Big Sky League stand-
ings, and No. 17 in the 1A
division.
“(Joseph’s) coach gave
me a really great compli-
ment after the game,” said
Heideman. “He said, ‘Next
year, you guys are going to
be the team to look out for.’
I couldn’t ask for anything
more from my team tonight.”
SCOREBOARD
Chicago
Cleveland
LOCAL SLATE
FRIDAY, FEB. 22
Boys Basketball
Umatilla at Sutherlin, 5:30 p.m.
Kennedy at Heppner, 6 p.m.
Nixyaawii vs. St. Paul (at Pendleton High
School), 6 p.m.
Men’s Basketball
Big Bend at Blue Mountain, 7:30 p.m.
Women’s Basketball
Big Bend at Blue Mountain, 5:30 p.m.
Boys Wrestling
Pendleton, Irrigon, Heppner/Ione, Echo/
Stanfield, Riverside at State Wrestling
(Portland), 9 a.m.
SATURDAY, FEB. 23
Boys Basketball
Pendleton vs. The Dalles (at BMCC), 4
p.m.
Girls Basketball
Santiam at Heppner, 2 p.m.
Pendleton at Ridgeview, 2:30 p.m.
Boys Wrestling
Pendleton, Irrigon, Heppner/Ione, Echo/
Stanfield, Riverside at State Wrestling
(Portland), 9 a.m.
NBA
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic
Toronto
Philadelphia
Boston
Brooklyn
New York
Southeast
Charlotte
Orlando
Miami
Washington
Atlanta
Central
Milwaukee
Indiana
Detroit
W
43
38
37
30
11
W
27
27
26
24
19
W
44
38
26
L
16
21
22
30
47
L
30
32
31
34
39
L
14
20
30
Pct
.729
.644
.627
.500
.190
Pct
.474
.458
.456
.414
.328
Pct
.759
.655
.464
GB
—
5
6
13½
31½
GB
—
1
1
3½
8½
GB
—
6
17
14
13
44
46
.241
.220
30
31½
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Southwest
W
L
Pct
Houston
33 24 .579
San Antonio
33 26 .559
Dallas
26 31 .456
New Orleans
26 33 .441
Memphis
23 36 .390
Northwest
W
L
Pct
Denver
39 18 .684
Oklahoma City 37 20 .649
Portland
35 23 .603
Utah
32 25 .561
Minnesota
27 30 .474
Pacific
W
L
Pct
Golden State
41 16 .719
L.A. Clippers
32 27 .542
Sacramento
30 27 .526
L.A. Lakers
28 29 .491
Phoenix
11 49 .183
———
Wednesday’s Games
No games scheduled.
Thursday’s Games
Cleveland 111, Phoenix 98
Philadelphia 106, Miami 102
Portland 113, Brooklyn 99
Milwaukee 98, Boston 97
Friday’s Games
Chicago at Orlando, 4 p.m.
New Orleans at Indiana, 4 p.m.
San Antonio at Toronto, 4 p.m.
Washington at Charlotte, 4 p.m.
Detroit at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m.
Minnesota at New York, 4:30 p.m.
L.A. Clippers at Memphis, 5 p.m.
Denver at Dallas, 5:30 p.m.
Utah at Oklahoma City, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday’s Games
Portland at Philadelphia, 10 a.m.
Brooklyn at Charlotte, 4 p.m.
Indiana at Washington, 4 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at New Orleans, 4 p.m.
Memphis at Cleveland, 4 p.m.
Phoenix at Atlanta, 4 p.m.
GB
—
1
7
8
11
GB
—
2
4½
7
12
GB
—
10
11
13
31½
Detroit at Miami, 4:30 p.m.
Boston at Chicago, 5 p.m.
Sacramento at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m.
Houston at Golden State, 5:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Milwaukee, 5:30 p.m.
Dallas at Utah, 7 p.m.
Sunday’s Games
Orlando at Toronto, 12:30 p.m.
L.A. Clippers at Denver, 2 p.m.
San Antonio at New York, 4:30 p.m.
NHL
Conference Glance
EASTERN
GP W
Tampa Bay
62 47
Boston
61 36
N.Y. Islanders 60 35
Toronto
60 36
Washington 61 34
Montreal
61 33
Pittsburgh
61 32
Carolina
61 32
Columbus
59 33
Buffalo
60 28
Philadelphia 61 28
Florida
59 26
N.Y. Rangers 60 26
New Jersey 61 24
Detroit
61 23
Ottawa
60 22
WESTERN GP W
Calgary
60 37
San Jose
61 36
Nashville
63 36
Winnipeg
60 36
St. Louis
60 32
Vegas
62 32
Dallas
60 30
Minnesota
61 28
Colorado
60 25
Chicago
61 26
Arizona
60 27
Vancouver
60 26
Anaheim
60 24
Edmonton
60 25
Los Angeles 60 23
L OT Pts GF GA
11 4 98 244 163
17 8 80 184 157
18 7 77 174 146
20 4 76 210 170
20 7 75 205 193
21 7 73 184 177
22 7 71 210 191
23 6 70 178 170
23 3 69 188 180
24 8 64 171 187
26 7 63 179 206
25 8 60 184 203
26 8 60 173 199
29 8 56 180 208
29 9 55 172 204
33 5 49 186 223
L OT Pts GF GA
16 7 81 221 178
17 8 80 223 190
22 5 77 193 164
20 4 76 203 178
23 5 69 179 169
25 5 69 182 175
25 5 65 153 156
27 6 62 168 181
24 11 61 196 193
26 9 61 205 227
28 5 59 157 174
27 7 59 170 188
27 9 57 137 187
29 6 56 169 201
31 6 52 144 184
NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for
overtime loss. Top three teams in each
division and two wild cards per confer-
ence advance to playoffs.
Wednesday’s Games
Chicago 5, Detroit 4, OT
Colorado 7, Winnipeg 1
Calgary 4, N.Y. Islanders 2
Boston 3, Vegas 2, SO
Thursday’s Games
Washington 3, Toronto 2
New Jersey 4, Ottawa 0
Carolina 4, Florida 3
San Jose 4, Pittsburgh 0
Minnesota 4, N.Y. Rangers 1
Tampa Bay 2, Buffalo 1, SO
Montreal 5, Philadelphia 1
Nashville 2, Los Angeles 1
Dallas 5, St. Louis 2
Edmonton 4, N.Y. Islanders 3, OT
Friday’s Games
Columbus at Ottawa, 4 p.m.
Minnesota at Detroit, 4:30 p.m.
Colorado at Chicago, 4:30 p.m.
Anaheim at Calgary, 6 p.m.
Winnipeg at Vegas, 7 p.m.
Saturday’s Games
New Jersey at N.Y. Rangers, 10 a.m.
Washington at Buffalo, 10 a.m.
Boston at St. Louis, 1 p.m.
Carolina at Dallas, 2 p.m.
Los Angeles at Florida, 2 p.m.
San Jose at Columbus, 2 p.m.
Colorado at Nashville, 2:30 p.m.
Montreal at Toronto, 4 p.m.
Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia at Philadel-
phia, Pa., 5 p.m.
N.Y. Islanders at Vancouver, 7 p.m.
Anaheim at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Sunday’s Games
N.Y. Rangers at Washington, 9:30 a.m.
San Jose at Detroit, 12 p.m.
Dallas at Chicago, 12 p.m.
St. Louis at Minnesota, 4 p.m.
Calgary at Ottawa, 4 p.m.
Winnipeg at Arizona, 6 p.m.