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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 2020)
E AST O REGONIAN Wednesday, January 22, 2020 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS | FACEBOOK.COM/EOSPORTS A8 Bucks open conference action with victory over Eagles dakota sams posts 25 points to lead Pendleton to the win By BRETT KANE East Oregonian PendLeTOn — nearly two weeks ago, the Buckaroos suffered a frustrating loss in their final preseason game before entering conference play. Those 12 days off turned out to be exactly what they needed to recoup, rebound, and ring in their second year in the Intermountain Conference with victory. On Tuesday night, the Pendle- ton boys basketball squad jumped out early with a 13-point streak in the first quarter that gave them a permanent lead as they made their way to a 78-61 home win over Hood river Valley (6-6, 0-1 IMC) in their season’s first league contest. “We just flat out played hard,” Pendleton head coach Zach dong said. “That was the difference tonight. That makes up for a lot of mistakes. effort makes up for a lot.” although the eagles took a short lived 3-2 off a trey from senior wing noah Webster, the Bucks were quick to take over with a 13-point scoring run that lasted more than two and a half minutes while holding Hood river Valley away from the hoop for over three. Pendleton senior center red- mond O’Hanlon chipped in six points in the run, accounting for half of his points earned on the night. “There was a lot of focus tonight,” said O’Hanlon, who stands at 6 feet, 4 inches. “We had a lot of time to practice. We just pounded it in. We got a lot of reps.” When the Bucks took a 10-point lead at 13-3 with 4:47 left in the first quarter, the Eagles called a timeout and came out of the break to put up 11 more points before the buzzer. Pendleton still managed a 10-point lead at 24-14 by the quar- ter’s end. The eagles outscored the Bucks 17-12 in quarter two, pulling within four points at 26-22 off a trey from junior wing Ian searcy, and one point with 4:58 left in the half after Webster and junior forward Jack siekkinen strung together four unanswered points. See Bucks, Page A9 PREP ROUNDUP Staff photo by Kathy Aney Trent Pitney, of Hermiston, brings the ball downcourt during Tues- day’s game against Pasco at the Dawg House. Hermiston falls to Pasco in MCC play East Oregonian Staff photo by Kathy Aney Hermiston’s Kaylee Young (left) and Jazlyn Romero exult after winning Tuesday’s overtime game against the Pasco Bulldogs. ROMERO LEADS DAWGS PAST PASCO IN OT Senior guard poured in 34 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Hermiston PASCO 10 23 12 12 5 — 61 HERMISTON 12 13 11 20 16 — 72 PASCO — Lopez 5, Groce 12, Mackey 10, Nelson 10, Heavens 9, Maiden 15. HERMISTON — Romero 34, Dowdy 10, Heideman 9, K.Young 10, Ray 9. By ANNIE FOWLER East Oregonian H erMIsTOn — Jazlyn romero played every sec- ond of Tuesday’s Mid-Colum- bia Conference game against Pasco. The Hermiston senior guard made the most of her time on the court, scoring a career-high 34 points as the Bulldogs came away with a 72-61 overtime victory at the dawg House. “They took a game from us earlier,” said romero, who also had 10 rebounds. “We had to make sure to get that split.” romero’s 34 points is just four shy of the school record of 38, held by alissa edwards. “I don’t think I have ever been so proud of someone,” Hermiston coach Staff photo by Kathy Aney Hermiston’s Jayden Ray is fouled as she goes to the hoop during Tuesday’s game against Pasco at the Dawg House. Maloree Moss said. “she got beat up. she played every single second, but we had to have her and Jayden Ray on the floor for defense. Offensively, they couldn’t stop her.” Pasco (9-4, 6-4 MCC) led 55-54 with 24 seconds left in regulation. romero hit two free throws with 5 seconds remain- ing for a 56-55 lead. Mya Groce drove the lane in the final second, and was fouled, putting her at the line for two. Groce missed the first free throw, but made the second to tie the score and send the game into overtime. “I thought it was over when she went to the line,” romero said. “she missed the first one, and Kaylee (Young) said ‘We got this.’” romero drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to open overtime. Over the course of the 4-minute period, she went 7 See Dawgs, Page A9 HerMIsTOn — The third quarter has haunted the Hermis- ton boys basketball team all sea- son, and Tuesday night was no exception. The Bulldogs held a 16-12 lead after the first quarter, and led 39-26 at the half. It was a 17-4 run in the third quarter by Pasco that turned the tide and led to a 74-58 Mid-Columbia Conference loss for Hermiston. “Tonight was tough,” Hermis- ton coach drew Preuninger said. “The group of kids who are still around, I’m proud of them and the way they played early on. Our energy went down toward the end of the first half and carried over into the second.” Hermiston (2-11, 1-9 MCC) got 24 points from sophomore Chase elliott, nine from Trent Pitney and eight from Ivan rangel. “Chase is our guy offensively,” Preuninger said. “With the couple of guys who have removed them- selves from our team, we need somebody else to step up and score. For us to get some wins, aJ (ramos-Barron) and Ivan need to score for us.” Pasco’s ethan Legard led all scorers with 36 points. Hermiston will host southridge at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Boys basketball PILOT ROCK 47, UNION 45 — Tuesday’s narrow home win helped the rockets to a three- game Blue Mountain Conference See Roundup, Page A9 SPORTS SHORTS Oregon hires former Mississippi State coach Moorhead as OC Associated Press euGene — Former Mis- sissippi state coach Joe Moor- head is Oregon’s new offensive coordinator. Moorhead, 46, replaces Mar- cus arroyo, who left Oregon to become the head coach at unLV. Mississippi state dismissed Moorhead earlier this month after two seasons and hired Washington state coach Mike Leach to replace him. The Bulldogs went 6-7 this season, finishing with a loss to Louisville in the Music City Bowl. a highly regarded offensive coordinator for two seasons at Penn state, Moorhead was 14-12 in his tenure at Mississippi state. He led his team to bowl berths both years. “I’ve admired Joe’s offensive philosophy and ability as a play caller from afar, and after meet- ing with him I was even more impressed,” Oregon coach Mario Cristobal said in a statement Tues- day. “He is a great teacher and communicator, and instills confi- dence and belief in his players. His offenses have been explosive, bal- anced, multiple and creative.” Oregon went 12-2 this season, capped by a Pac-12 championship and a victory over Wisconsin in the rose Bowl. The ducks were ranked No. 5 in the final AP Top 25. In this Dec. 30, 2019, file photo, Mississippi State head coach Joe Moor- head watches as players warm up before the Music City Bowl NCAA college football game against Louisville, in Nashville, Tenn. AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File
