E AST O REGONIAN
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2019
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B1
Riverside Pirates clinch nonleague victories over Weston-McEwen
By BRETT KANE
East Oregonian
ATHENA — The Pirates may
have suffered a season-open-
ing loss to Columbia-Burbank
on Wednesday, but were quick to
rebound against Weston-McEwen
for their fi rst win on Thursday.
The Riverside girls basketball
paid the Weston-McEwen Tiger-
Scots a visit on Thursday evening,
and took over at the end of the
fi rst quarter before tying the score
twice and fi nally pulling away
in the fi nal eight minutes to take
home a narrow 24-21 nonleague
victory.
“We still aren’t shooting the
ball well,” Riverside head coach
Clair Costello said. “We’re very
young. We have a lot of girls with-
out much varsity experience. In
the end, we made some bad deci-
sions, but when you win a game,
it’s always good.”
Weston-McEwen senior guard
Ellie Scheibner, senior forward
Trinity Hearn, and freshman for-
ward Dalana Pickard combined for
an early 6-0 lead for the TigerScots
before the Pirates got to work.
At 3:06 in the fi rst quarter,
Pirates senior post Megan Hegar
knocked down a shot to put her
team on the board, and did the
same just over two minutes later to
bring the TigerScots within reach.
Junior guard Cinthya Diaz’s basket
at 0:20 helped Riverside clinch an
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Blane Peal, of Weston-McEwen,
goes up for a jump shot during
Thursday’s game against the River-
side Pirates.
8-7 advantage to end the quarter.
Hearn and sophomore guard
Charli King put together a six-
point streak to open the following
quarter that helped the TigerScots
regain the lead, but Riverside
senior guard Bianca Avalos put up
fi ve unanswered points in the fi nal
minute, including a 3-pointer, for a
13-13 tie at halftime.
“We started off strong,” said
Avalos, who stands at 5-feet,
6-inches. “We came out intimi-
dated at our fi rst game. We only
had two returning starters, and an
injured senior. A lot of our girls
felt pressure. Tonight, we handled
that pressure very well. I’m hop-
ing our team chemistry continues
to improve throughout the season.”
Scheibner broke the tie 26 sec-
onds into the second half, but
Pirates senior post Cesi Gar-
cia evened things out with a bas-
ket one minute later. Teammate
Jaylene Altamirano, a 5-5 junior
wing, broke the tie for the fi nal
time with 2:39 left in the quarter.
It would be the last of three bas-
kets for the quarter.
“Everyone seemed stressed at
every timeout,” Avalos said. “Our
shots weren’t going in. I told them,
‘The shots won’t go in if you don’t
take them.’ I told them to keep
shooting. We started rotating the
ball and using our teammates. Our
communication really brought us
back up.”
Riverside sophomore guard
See Pirates, Page B2
PREP ROUNDUP
Pilot Rock girls,
boys dominate
Mountaineers
By MIKE WEBER
For the East Oregonian
DAWGS
TAKE DOWN SUNS
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Hermiston junior Trevor Wagner wrestles Southridge’s Ryan Stayrook in the 170-pound match at Hermiston High School on Thursday
night. Wagner won the match 11-4.
Hermiston never trailed on the night
en route to a 41-24 MCC victory
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Hunter Dyer knew he
couldn’t afford to give up any points with his
team leading by just nine points with two
matches left.
The Hermiston sophomore did his part
with a fi rst-round pin of Arturo Cardoza at
132 pounds to put the match out of reach and
help the Bulldogs to a 41-24 victory Thurs-
day over the visiting Southridge Suns in the
Mid-Columbia Conference opener for both
teams.
“What I knew, is I had to come out as
strong as I could,” Dyer said. “I needed to
push the pace. Opening up with a win is a
better start than we had last year. We have
more talent than we’ve had the past couple
of years.”
Southridge coach Rich Cunningham said
he knew his Suns were in for a battle.
“I knew they were much improved,” he
said of the Bulldogs. “They are ranked fairly
high. We have so many young kids. I’m
proud of my guys.”
The Dawg House was rocking for the 170-
pound match between Hermiston’s Trevor
Wagner and Southridge’s Ryan Stayrook.
Wagner, who placed fourth at 160 pounds
at the 3A state tournament last year, jumped
out to 6-0 lead after the fi rst round, and led
8-2 after two. An escape and a takedown in
the third helped Wagner to an 11-4 victory.
“He is frickin’ ripped out of his mind,”
Wagner said of Stayrook. “I wrestled my
match and things turned out well. I didn’t
really look at the score too much. I knew he
was good and I wasn’t going to give up. It
feels good to get a team win under our belts
to start it off.”
Wagner said he wasn’t sure if he would
HERMISTON 41,
SOUTHRIDGE 29
106 — Eli Sepulveda (S) won by forfeit.
113 — Zayne Helfer (H) md. Soe Moe Lat,
10-0. 120 — Chris Cuevas (S) p. Gavin
Doherty, 3:33. 126 — Adrian Delgado (S)
p. Arturo Cardoza, 1:50. 132 — Hunter
Dyer (H) p. Caleb Walton, 3:09. 138 —
Xavier Ruiz (S) tf. Chris Lomeli, 17-2. *145
— Jordan Franklin (H) md. Ethan Sepul-
veda, 18-6. 152 — Emmanuel Carrilo (H)
d. Austin Gideon, 6-4. 160 — Gavin Tarvin
(H) d. Landon Davis, 7-3. 170 — Trevor
Wagner (H) d. Ryan Stayrook, 11-4. 182 —
Shawn Gegg (S) p. Daniel Faaeteete, 3:25.
195 — Coy Hudson (S) p. Blake Betz, 1:46.
220 — Sam Cadenas (H) p. Lucas Martin,
2:29. 285 — Dustyn Coughlin (H) p. Gavin
Johnson, 2:37.
drop back down to 160 this season, but
acknowledged that he could.
See Wrestling, Page B2
PILOT ROCK — The Pilot
Rock girls basketball team posted
a 63-point win over the Long
Creek/Ukiah Mountaineers in
the season opener on Thursday.
The Rockets defeated the Moun-
taineers 72-9 at Pilot Rock High
School.
The Mountaineers (0-1) only
had six players available for the
contest. Two players suffered
minor injuries during the non-
league game, which limited them
to only four players at various
times throughout the contest.
Rockets sophomore post Emily
Lambert had a double-double,
while scoring a career-high 21
points. She also led her team in
rebounds with 15. Three other
Rockets scored in double fi gures,
including junior guard Rylee Bray
with 11 points. Sophomore guard
Madyson Moffi t had 10 points and
six assists, while junior guard Lil-
lie Brewer contributed 10 points
and eight steals.
The Rockets (1-0) meet the
Imbler Panthers (0-1) on Friday at
3 p.m. at Joseph High School.
Boys hoops
PILOT ROCK 71, LONG
CREEK/UKIAH 55 — The Pilot
Rock Rockets won their season
opener at home against the Long
Creek/Ukiah Mountaineers on
Thursday.
Junior guard Jimmy Jones
scored a career-high 18 points to
lead the Rockets offense. Junior
Tel Thacker notched a dou-
ble-double with 17 points and a
team high 11 rebounds. Jones and
senior guard Austin Drake each
had six steals. Senior guard Logan
Weinke had four steals. Senior
James Kreamier scored 35 points
to lead Long Creek-Ukiah.
The Rockets meet the Imbler
Panthers (0-1) on Friday at
4:30 p.m. at Joseph High School.
Pendleton Round-Up named top large outdoor rodeo of the year
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
LAS VEGAS — Once was
good, twice is nice, but the Pend-
leton Round-Up is not one to settle
for anything but the best.
Pendleton was named the top
PRCA Large Outdoor Rodeo of the
Year for the seventh time — and
fi fth year in a row — on Wednes-
day night at the annual PRCA
Awards Banquet.
“Winning this award once again
is testimonial to the value contes-
tants, our fans and our commu-
nity place in celebrating our west-
ern heritage,” outgoing Pendleton
Round-Up President Dave O’Neill
said. “The Pendleton Round-Up
is a one-of-a-kind experience and
Staff photo by Kathy Aney, File
The Pendleton Round-Up was named the top PRCA Large Outdoor Rodeo
of the Year for the seventh time — and fi fth year in a row — on Wednesday
night at the annual PRCA Awards Banquet.
we’re extremely grateful to be rec-
ognized by members of the PRCA
as the best.”
The prestigious award is voted
on by members of the PRCA, which
is made up of cowboy contestants
and fellow rodeo committees.
Pendleton, which also won in
2003, 2010, and 2015-18, was one
of fi ve fi nalists, along with the
Caldwell Night Rodeo, Cheyenne
Frontier Days, Deadwood and
Dodge City.
“It is truly an honor to be rec-
ognized by your peers in the rodeo
industry,” said Randy Bracher,
who will take over for O’Neill
at the start of the new year. “We
have the greatest volunteers that
pour their heart and soul into ben-
efi tting the community, along with
some of the most talented contract
personnel, we bring together a
great team to entertain fans for the
most epic event that is 2019 Large
Outdoor Rodeo of the year for the
fi fth straight year.”
Not only did Pendleton bring
home the top prize, but three of
their contractors did, as well,
making it a great year for the
Round-Up.
Dusty Tuckness was named
the PRCA Bullfi ghter of the Year,
Justin Rumford was selected the
PRCA Clown of the Year, and Matt
Twitchell was voted the PRCA
Pick-Up Man of the Year.
The Pendleton Round-Up can
accommodate 17,000 fans per day.
The 2020 event is scheduled for
Sept. 16-19.