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Three Bulldogs earn MCC basketball honors
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
HerMIStON — Hermiston had fresh-
man Izzy Simmons and senior Katelyn
Heideman selected to the Mid-Columbia
Conference girls all-conference team that
was announced Wednesday, Feb. 16.
“I think it’s the first time Hermiston has
had two players on the all-league team since
we moved into the MCC,” bulldogs coach
Jay ego said.
Simmons was named to the second team,
while Heideman was selected to the honor-
able mention team.
Simmons, a 5-foot-7 point guard, who
was limited to 15 games because of an ankle
injury, averaged 19.6 points a game and was
the fourth leading scorer in the conference.
In MCC play, Simmons averaged 20.9
points, nine rebounds, five assists and 3.4
steals a game.
Heideman, a 5-5 shooting guard who has
signed to play at university of Providence,
averaged 13.7 points a game over 21 games.
In the MCC, she averaged 13.8 points, 1.6
rebounds, 1.6 assists and two steals a game.
MCC BOYS BASKETBALL
Heideman
Olsen
Simmons
Player of the Year: Kylee
Fox, jr., Richland.
Defensive Player of the
Year: Leanna Lepe, jr.,
Pasco.
Coach of the Year:
Aaron Barcot, Pasco.
Honorable mention
Ayden Knapik, sr., Ken-
newick; Grant Olsen, so.,
Hermiston; Tyler Matti-
oli-Butcher, sr., Kenne-
wick; Kaden Bradshaw, sr.,
Richland.
First team
Tyler Bilodeau, sr., Kami-
akin; Trey Arland, sr., Kami-
akin; Diego Jaques. sr.,
Walla Walla; Twazae Glad-
ney, sr., Richland; Josh
Woodward, so., Richland.
“She has learned to put the ball on the
floor and go to the basket,” Ego said.
The Bulldogs, who finished 8-8 in confer-
ence play, will lose five seniors, but will
return Simmons, fellow freshman ellie
Heideman, junior adrianna Coleman and
several others.
“We have a big core of girls coming back,”
ego said. “bailey (young) is a huge presence
for us inside. She has kind of taken over the
boards (12.8 rebound per game). She will be
hard to replace.”
richland junior Kylee Fox was named
conference MVP for the second year in a
row, while Leanna Lepe of Pasco was named
defensive Player of the year. aaron barcot
of Pasco was named Coach of the year by
his peers.
MCC GIRLS BASKETBALL
nor Mendez, sr., Chi-
awana; Nate Gray, sr.,
Kamiakin; Luke Wester-
field, so., Richland.
Player of the Year: Tyler
Bilodeau, sr., Kamiakin.
Defensive Player of the
Year: Tyler Bilodeau, sr.,
Kamiakin.
Coach of the Yea: Earl
Streufert, Richland.
First team
Kylee Fox, jr., Richland;
Mya Groce, sr., Pasco;
Malia Ruud, fr., Chiawana;
Iliana Moran, sr., Han-
ford; Nikole Thomas, jr.,
Kamiakin.
Defensive team
Tyler Bilodeau, sr., Kami-
akin; Twazae Gladney, sr.,
Richland; Trey Arland, sr.,
Kamiakin; Luke Wester-
field, so., Richland; Jase
Vopalensky, jr., Richland;
Bryce Cramer, sr., Hanford.
Second team
Cash Callaway, sr., Chi-
awana; Daniel Dickin-
son, sr., Kennewick; Kade
Smith, jr., Chiawana; Con-
MCC boys
Hermiston sophomore Grant Olsen was
named to the Mid-Columbia Conference honor-
able mention team by the conference coaches.
Olsen, a 6-4 forward, averaged 20.35 points
a game. He was third in the conference in scor-
ing behind Kamiakin’s Tyler Bilodeau (23.32)
and Walla Walla’s diego Jaques (22.20).
Olson also had six rebounds and two assists
Second team
Taija Mackey, sr., Pasco;
Izzy Simmons, fr., Herm-
iston; Macie Milum, so.,
Richland; Maddy Ran-
dall, jr., Kamiakin; A’niyaj
Heavens, sr., Chiawana;
Haylee Johnson, so.,
Kennewick.
Honorable mention
Katelyn Heideman, sr.,
Hermiston; Leanna Lepe,
jr., Pasco; Taleya Maiden,
sr., Pasco; Lynnea Moran,
so., Hanford; Dylyn Dress,
fr., Kennewick.
Defensive team
Leanna Lepe, jr., Pasco;
Nikole Thomas, jr., Kami-
akin; Mya Groce, sr.,
Pasco; Kylee Fox, jr., Rich-
land; Taija Mackey, sr.,
Pasco.
a game for the Bulldogs, who finished 4-12 in
MCC play.
Bilodeau, a 6-8 forward, has signed to play
at Oregon State university. He was named the
MCC Player of the year for the second year in
a row. He also was named the defensive Player
of the year.
richland’s earl Streufert was named Coach
of the year.
Yellow perch on ice Home again
Pendleton’s
davis transfers to
eOu to continue
football career
BRAD
TRUMBO
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
UPLAND PURSUITS
La GraNde — eastern
Oregon university football
coach tim Camp was disap-
pointed in the spring of 2019
when Pendleton High School
receiver blake davis chose
to play at Western Oregon
university.
the Mounties coach is
all smiles now. davis trans-
ferred from Western Oregon
university to eOu at the start
of winter quarter.
“He should have never
gone,” Camp said. “He is a
pretty special kid. I’ve been
watching him over the years
and he has been impres-
sive. It’s good for him to get
a clean slate. He has a good
work ethic, and we are build-
ing his strength levels. He is
not afraid of hard work. that
is the true sign of a Mountie.”
davis has three seasons of
eligibility to give the Mount-
ies, and he’s excited to get
started.
“I loved Western,” davis
H
eavy snow and
frigid temperatures
in late decem-
ber and early January
may have kept me from
traveling for a New year
vacation, but ice forming
thick on one of my favorite
yellow perch lakes was an
acceptable consolation.
My fishing friend Chas
lives about three hours
closer to the lake than I, so
it was no surprise to see he
was already set up when
I finally arrived in early
afternoon. We planned to
stay in a cabin nearby for a
couple nights to see if we
could dial in the perch, and
anything else that would
entertain the variety of
gear in our tackle boxes.
the sun was settling
behind the western ridges
as I donned my arctic
survival suit and hit the ice.
Chas had no luck where he
had started, so we moved
across the lake to an area
where a shallow “weed
bed” extended from the
foot of a dark timbered
ridge. I was hoping to
find an area between 8
and 15 feet deep on the
fringe of vegetation where
perch might linger, but
also something attractive
for cruising trout to keep
things interesting.
We played the exhaust-
ing game of drilling a
line of holes until we
felt out the depth range,
which left my desk-job
arms feeling a bit quiv-
ery. Sixteen inches of ice
drilling with a semi-dull
manual auger makes one
reconsider the gas-pow-
ered options. Finally dial-
ing in between 8 and 12
feet above the weeds, we
located a school of perch
and sunfish, but the fish
were picky and delicate.
Having started with a small
spoon, I switched out to a
bead-head fly tied with a
Brad Trumbo/Contributed Photo
A few stunning little yellow perch are a prized ice fishing catch.
Brad Trumbo/Contributed Photo
One of the beautiful bluegill sunfish that nabbed the fly.
red floss body and a few
straight feather filament
tail strands. an extremely
simplistic fly — small,
attractive and tipped with a
berkley maggot bait.
the mercury plum-
meted the last half-hour of
daylight, but the bite got
hot with yellow perch and
bluegill gently sucking
up the little baited fly and
finding their way through
the hole. I use an old-school
flasher that basically sends
a sound wave down and
reads the intensity in which
its reflected by surfaces and
objects. The fly appeared
as a thin yellow line. When
fish approached the fly,
they too appeared as a
thin yellow line, at first.
but as they closed in, the
line thickened and turned
green, then red outlined
in green and yellow when
they were right on top
of the fly. As I jigged the
little fly about a foot off the
bottom, green lines contin-
ually blipped beneath as
fish moved about the area.
they were small, but the
action was exceptional and
watching the lines on the
flasher appear and change
colors is just as thrilling
now as it was when I first
acquired the technology 20
years ago.
the next morning, we
found ourselves back at the
holes from the night before
and the bite was once again
on. the sun had barely laid
a peach glow across the
ridges to the south when
the first yellow perch gave
in to the little bead-head
fly. Chas was into them
as well and we bantered
across the 15 feet that sepa-
rated our holes, sharing tips
on baits and asking if the
other was seeing any fish
when the bite would wane.
Curiosity caused us to
move to other areas look-
ing for bigger fish which
proved fruitless, save for
a single tiger trout that
Chas lured in by jigging a
rattling crankbait. Luck-
ily, no one laid claim to
our original holes, and we
settled back onto them for
the evening bite.
rainbow trout were
cruising that evening and
taking the little flies tipped
with the maggot or a small
piece of nightcrawler to
add a little flavor. While the
perch and sunfish mostly
pecked at the fly, the cruis-
ing rainbows would snag
it on the go, leaving the
drag zinging on our jig
rods. red squirrels chat-
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ON THE SLATE
Schedule subject to change
SATURDAY, FEB. 19
Prep girls basketball
Big Sky League title game: Ione/Arling-
ton vs. Echo, site and time TBD
Blue Mountain Conference district play-
offs: Union vs. Stanfield/Enterprise,
Pendleton Convention Center, 7:45 p.m.
Prep boys basketball
Blue Mountain Conference district play-
offs: Heppner vs. Stanfield/Union, Pend-
leton Convention Center, 6 p.m.
19 . 99
$
College softball
Eastern Oregon at Lewis & Clark College
(2), noon
Prep boys wrestling
Irrigon, Riverside at 3A Special District 1
Tournament, Nyssa, TBD
Heppner/Ione, Echo/Stanfield at Spe-
cial District 4 Championships, Adrian,
10 a.m.
College men’s basketball
Blue Mountain at Yakima Valley,
7:30 p.m.
College baseball
Eastern Oregon at Western Oregon (2),
noon
ADD TO YOUR PACKAGE FOR ONLY
SUNDAY, FEB. 20
College baseball
Eastern Oregon at Western Oregon (2),
noon
College women’s lacrosse
Linfield at Eastern Oregon, 1 p.m.
College women’s basketball
Wenatchee Valley at Blue Mountain,
2 p.m.
Eastern Oregon at Warner Pacific, 3 p.m.
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College men’s wrestling
Eastern Oregon at Cascade Collegiate
Conference Championships, Havre,
Montana, TBA
College women’s lacrosse
Willamette at Eastern Oregon, 1 p.m.
Prep boys and girls wrestling
Hermiston at Mat Classic XXXIII, Tacoma,
10 a.m.
College men’s basketball
Wenatchee Valley at Blue Mountain,
4 p.m.
Eastern Oregon at Warner Pacific, 5 p.m.
See Perch, Page B2
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said. “It was a great place.
It made me a better football
player, and a smarter foot-
ball player. It prepared me for
what’s ahead, but I wanted to
maximize my playing career.
I like coach Camp and what
he has going on here. He is
a personable coach and he
cares for his players off the
field. They like what I can do.
I bought in and I’m ready to
go.”
When he was in high
school, davis was one of the
top wide receivers in Oregon.
at WOu, he played special
teams.
“It was only my first year
of eligibility, and I played
special teams and I loved it,”
davis said. “My best friend
andre Martinez (from Lake
Oswego) and I both played a
lot of special teams. We were
headed into another year of
being twos. We were ready
to find another place to ball
out.”
Martinez also has joined
the Mounties for the upcom-
ing season. He and davis
were part of Western’s 2019
GNaC championship team.
The 6-foot, 180-pound
davis is excited to get back
to his natural position.
MONDAY, FEB. 21
College women’s basketball
Blue Mountain at Yakima Valley,
5:30 p.m.
TUESDAY, FEB. 22
Prep boys basketball
Pendleton at Hood River Valley,
5:45 p.m.
Prep girls basketball
Pendleton at Hood River, 7:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 23
College men’s basketball
Walla Walla at Blue Mountain, 7:30 p.m.
College women’s basketball
Walla Walla at Blue Mountain, 5:30 p.m.
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