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E AST O REGONIAN Tuesday, January 28, 2020 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS | FACEBOOK.COM/EOSPORTS B1 WIAA realignment shakes up MCC, moving Kamiakin and Wa-Hi Hermiston will remain in 3A division, which will have expanded state tournaments By ANNIE FOWLER East Oregonian HerMIsTOn — The Wash- ington Interscholastic activi- ties association (WIaa) released the classification numbers for the 2020-24 cycle Sunday, and while Hermiston will remain in the 3A classification, the Mid-Columbia Conference will have a different look come fall. Kamiakin will move up to 4A, while Walla Walla will move down to 3A. The realignment still gives the MCC four 3A schools — Hermiston, Kennewick, Southridge and Wa-Hi. The 4A schools are Kamiakin, Hanford, Richland, Pasco and Chi- awana, which is the largest high school in Washington with more than 2,100 students in grades 9-12. The MCC teams still will play a regular-season schedule, then split for the playoffs. The MCC is part of District 8 with the Spokane schools, where three 4a schools — Ferris, uni- versity and Mead — will drop to 3A and join Cheney, North Central (2A for football) and Mt. Spokane. Because of the large number of 3A schools (79), the amount of playoff berths a district receives will change, but those numbers have not been announced. “We don’t know about the allo- cations, but it could be at least one or more,” Hermiston athletic director Larry Usher said. What is known is that the 3A BMCC PREP BASKETBALL Pilot Rock clinches first league win East Oregonian PILOT ROCK — Weston-McE- wen and Pilot Rock were tied 13-13 at the half, and the Rockets trailed late in the game before rallying for a 33-22 Blue Mountain Conference win of the season Saturday. “Both teams played extremely hard,” Weston-McEwen head coach Jeff Griggs said of the tense con- test. “I was proud of our comeback effort.” W-M’s Trinity Hearn sank a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left in the game for a one-point advantage, but the Rockets were able to get their first BMC win of the season. Lillie Brewer led the Rockets (5-12, 1-6 BMC) with 11 points, including three treys. Emily Lam- bert followed with 10 points. The TigerScots were led by Ellie Scheibner with nine points, while Bailey Munck added seven and Charli King six. Pilot Rock travels to Hep- pner for a 6 p.m. game Thursday. Weston-McEwen (2-16, 0-7 BMC) visits Stanfield at 6 p.m. Friday. By BRETT KANE East Oregonian TANFIELD — Saturday’s bat- tle with Heppner was the kind of basketball game that Stanfield head coach Devin Bailey loves. In a Blue Mountain Conference matchup, Stanfield managed to escape the Mustangs 67-62 in a back-and-forth contest that finally saw Stanfield break away for good with a six-point run mid- way through the fourth quarter, putting some distance between them and the Mustangs, who had held the lead since quarter three. “These are the fun ones,” an exasper- ated Bailey said. “We’ve been in a lot of close games this year. That’s how most of this season has been. You learn how to respond, don’t overreact to anything, and weather their runs.” Heppner sophomore Brock Hisler hit two straight baskets in the final two min- utes that let the Mustangs take a 45-41 lead at the buzzer, but Stanfield got their six-point run going midway through quarter four that gave them a 55-51 lead. It was an advantage they would Staff photo by Kathy Aney See Tigers, Page B2 Jackson Lehman (11), of Heppner, grabs a rebound during Saturday’s Blue Mountain Conference matchup with Stanfield. S Girls basketball Los Angeles where they had once celebrated five NBA cham- pionships won by Bryant and the Lakers. This time, they were united in shock and sadness hours after Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others were killed in a heli- copter crash northwest of the city on Sunday. Like many Angelenos, Bryant was a transplant. Born in Philadel- phia, he spent some of his earliest years in Italy, where he learned the language while his father played pro basketball. He later returned AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker JOSEPH 52, NIXYAAWII 28 — The Golden Eagles defense’s inability to trap the Eagles’ offense led them to drop their fourth straight game. Sophie Benson led the Golden Eagles offense with a team-high eight points. Sabriana Albee finished with a game-high 21 points for the Eagles. Nixyaawii (6-10, 2-3 OOL) hits the road to Wallowa on Saturday for a 4 p.m. tip-off. POWDER VALLEY 41, HELIX 29 — The Grizzlies got off to a slow start with just three points in the first quarter, leading to a home loss to the Badgers. Kyleen Stahancyk led the Griz- zlies with six points. Autumn Davis of Powder Valley turned in a game-high 12 points. Helix (8-9, 0-6 OOL) will look to end its six-game losing streak Friday when it hosts Joseph at 6 p.m. IONE/ARLINGTON 53, CONDON/WHEELER 35 — The Cardinals used a dominant first half performance to beat the Blue Devils on the road. The Cardinals led 27-6 at the half before the Blue Devils ignited their offense in the second half. eva Martin led Ione/arlington with 16 points. Hailey Heideman grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. Abby Colby led the Blue Devils with 16 points. The Cardinals (9-7, 4-3 BSL) will play at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Echo. VALE 51, UMATILLA 37 — The Vikings got within five points late in the game, but were unable to close the gap as they dropped a home game to Vale. Taylor Durfey led Umatilla with a team-high 13 points. Umatilla (5-13, 1-3 EOL) will look to break its three-game losing streak when it travels to Riverside for a 6 p.m. game on Thursday. BURNS 39, RIVERSIDE 22 — Allie Hueckman had a game-high 11 points to lead the visiting Hilan- ders past the Pirates in Eastern Ore- gon League play. See Kobe Bryant, Page B3 People gather Sunday at a memorial near Staples Center in Los Angeles after the death of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. See Roundup, Page B2 STANFIELD SHUTS DOWN HEPPNER EARLY Mustangs’ top shooter Sydney Wilson held to just three points on the night By BRETT KANE East Oregonian STANFIELD — Before hitting the court to take on last year’s defending 2A state champions, the Stan- field girls knew they had to lock down Heppner’s Syn- dey Wilson if they were to have a chance. “We knew she was an excellent player,” Stanfield head coach Daniel Sharp said. “We were focused on making it as hard on her as possible. That was the key.” And the Tigers did just that. Wilson, a Heppner junior forward, was held to just one basket in the first quarter and three points on the night as Stanfield rolled to a massive 54-20 win over the Mustangs in Blue Moun- tain Conference play on Saturday evening. Wilson and ZaBrena Staff photo by Kathy Aney See Stanfield, Page B2 Heppner’s Marlee Mitchell brings the ball down the court Saturday against Stanfield’s Maggie Sharp (21). Los Angeles unites in grief for adopted son Kobe Bryant LOS ANGELES — The chants rose in the plaza across from Sta- ples Center. “Kobe!” and “MVP! MVP!” They came from hundreds of fans gathered to mourn the death of Kobe Bryant. Candles burned alongside hand-lettered messages scrawled on signs and the pavement. Bunches of flowers piled up, some with purple-and-gold balloons attached. Men, women and children of every ethnicity milled around, drawn to the heart of downtown See WIAA, Page B2 PREP ROUNDUP Stanfield pulls together a fourth-quarter comeback to escape Heppner in BMC action By BETH HARRIS Associated Press will move from 16-team state tournaments to 20 teams for foot- ball, volleyball, basketball, soccer, baseball and softball. “Not sure how all of that will work,” Usher said. “The (WIAA) committees will have to deal with that.” Changes also are expected for wrestling, swimming and track
