Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 23, 2005 - SEVEN
Ponies “B” team girls hold successful basketball season
The Heppner Ponies
“B” girls’ basketball team
finished their season with
strong team defense and a
balanced offense with solid
inside
sco rin g
T his
combination helped run the
team record to 9-3 (9-1
CBC) and a third place “B”
tournament finish The team
m em bers w ere B rittan y
B oothe, Lynelle B ow ie,
N ikki F ritz, M ercedes
G a rre tt, B randi H ong,
Jessica H ughes, Torri
L ovgren, B rynna R ust,
Kathryn Strouse and Emily
Thompson The Ponies were
coached by Keith Price and
Melissa Coiner
The Ponies started
the season with a victory
over the Umatilla Vikings,
21-18. The score was tied
through three quarters, but
the Ponies’ inside game with
G a rre tt,
B oothe
and
L ovgren to o k over and
sealed the win.
The P onies then
posted a victory over the
Irrigon Knights, 31-10 The
to u g h P onies d efense
allowed Irrigon only two
p o in ts in the first half.
H ughes led the scoring
attack with eight points
The g irls then
suffered their first loss to a
tough Mt Vernon team, 24-
18 Mt Vernon led by eight
points early in the third
q uarter, but the Ponies
defense, sparked by Hong’s
and Fritz’s rebounding from
the w ing, stiffen ed and
allowed the team to cut the
deficit to two points before
finally falling to Mt Vernon.
The Ponies followed
up the tough loss with a
strong effort on both ends of
the court with a 26-6 win
over Pilot Rock. The Ponies
scoring attack was led by
Hughes and Fritz. Hong
chipped in four key assists
Thompson led the team in
rebounding, helping to key
the Ponies defense that only
allowed two points in the
first half
The team kept up
their strong defensive play
w ith a 20-8 v ictory at
R iverside G arret led a
balanced scoring attack with
six points, with Boothe and
Rust chipping in four points
each
The Ponies moved
their record to 6-1 with
another solid defensive effort
by beating the Stanfield
Tigers 23-14. The Ponies
held the Tigers to just eight
p oints th ro u g h
th ree
qu arters. The P o n ie s’
offensive atta ck w as
balanced as eight different
players scored H ughes,
Rust and Lovgren chipped in
four points each to lead the
attack.
The P onies then
suffered their second loss of
the season, falling to Mt.
Vernon 41-26. The defense
kept the game within reach
as Mt Vernon’s lead had
been cut to four at the
HJHS “A” team finishes season on top
The HJHS “A” team- (Back Row L-R): Coach Melissa Coiner, Kristen Van Cleave, Maggie Armato,
Kassey Wilson, Sherilyn Peck, Melissa Robhins-West, Chelsey Hedman, Stephanie Cutsforth,
Kaylee Helfrecht; (Front Row L-R): Erin Price and Catherine McElligott.
The Heppner Junior
High girls’ “A” team capped
a su ccessfu l season by
winning their season ending
tournam ent on Saturday,
Feb. 12. The Ponies finished
the season with an 11-2
record
The girls began the
season on a winning note,
getting wins in their first
three games. The Ponies beat
Umatilla 31-28 Stephanie
Cutsforth led the Ponies with
11 poin ts, follow ed by
Sherilyn Peck with nine
In th e ir second
gam e, the Ponies beat
Irrigon 32-17. Eight Ponies
scored, led by Peck with 13
points. Catherine McElligott
led a strong effort on the
boards with 10 rebounds.
Erin Price added four assists
The girls faced tough
com petition in their third
game o f the season They
were up to the challenge
They beat the M ustangs
from Mt. Vernon 38-26.
Peck led the Ponies with 11
p o in ts,
follow ed
by
Cutsforth with nine Melissa
Robbins-West had a strong
game leading the Ponies in
assists w ith fo u r w hile
chipping in six points.
The P onies next
faced a tough Pilot Rock
team Turnovers hurt the
Ponies as they lost their first
game o f the season 24-15.
Peck led the scoring with
five points and Price added
four points in the effort
The Ponies returned
to their winning ways with a
dominating performance in
th eir next gam e against
Riverside They came out
running and won the game
38-20
The
P onies
dominated underneath with
M cE llig o tt grabbing 12
rebounds and putting up 11
points C utsforth led the
team with 15 points. Kaylee
Helfrecht and Kristen Van
Cleave led a strong defensive
effort with two steals apiece.
In their next game,
the Ponies came out flat
against Stanfield Despite a
great defensive effort by
Chelsey Hedman, the Ponies
could not pull the game out
in the end. They lost 16-14
Hedman led the team with
six points.
The P onies then
traveled to Mt Vernon and
dom inated the M ustangs
with a 33-18 win. McElligott
led a balanced Ponies attack
with 10 points. Peck added
seven points in the win
The P onies next
needed a stro n g fo urth
quarter to overcome a pesky
Umatilla team The Ponies
prevailed 21-15. Kassey
Wilson led the Ponies with
six points.
In their next game,
the Ponies avenged an earlier
loss to the Pilot Rock Pilots
with a 28-24 victory The
Ponies were led by Maggie
Armato with seven points
and McElligott with six.
The Ponies came out
strong against Irrigon in their
next game winning 44-12.
Peck led a balanced Ponies
attack with 12 points Price
had eight points to go along
with her five assists. Van
Cleave added six points
The Ponies had their
best offensive output o f the
season against the Athena-
Weston Panthers with a 54-
29 victory Armato led the
Ponies with six rebounds and
12 points Robbins-W est
collected six steals to go
along with her eight points
Peck had a great all around
game with eight points, six
assists and eight rebounds
In their final game of
the season, th e Ponies
defeated Riverside 25-12.
Eight Pqnies scored in the
game Peck led with five
while Cutsforth, Wilson and
Armato added four apiece.
The Ponies finished
their season in Riverside with
seven other teams in their
season ending tournament
The to u rn am en t gam es
consisted o f two 10-minute
running halves
The Ponies faced
Riverside in their first game
and cam e ou t w ith a
d o m in atin g
defensive
performance winning 18-3.
H edm an and H elfrech t
helped keep the strong
Riverside guards in check
In their next game,
the Ponies faced a strong
Helix team The Ponies and
G rizzlies tra d e d leads
throughout but the Ponies
prevailed 14-12. Van Cleave
helped shut dow n the
Grizzlies leading scorer in
the second half McElligott
led the team w ith eight
rebounds.
In the championship
game, the Ponies faced the
Pilot Rock Pilots yet again
The gam e w as close
throughout, but the Ponies
would not be denied. The
Ponies defense helped them
to a 14-12 victory. Peck led
the team with eight points
and Armato added four big
points in the second half
“I was pleased with
the way the girls improved
as the season progressed,”
said Coach Melissa Coiner
“ We had a very balanced
team and everyone had an
opportunity to contribute
O ur team stepped up
d efen siv ely
at
the
tournament and willed their
way to the championship It
w as a great end to a
successful season I was very
happy for the girls ”
».
begin n in g o f th e fo u rth
q u a rte r But tu rn o v ers
plagued the Ponies offense
and Mt Vernon sealed the
victory shooting 80 percent
from the free throw line
Garrett benefited from five
assists from Lovgren to lead
all scorers with 14 points.
Hughes chipped in 10 points
The girls m oved
back to their winning ways
with a 14-13 defensive brawl
at Umatilla The hard fought
game was tied 11-11 through
three quarters, but a key free
throw late in the game by
Strouse provided the margin
o f victory. Solid defensive
efforts by Bowie and Hong
helped to keep the Viking
offense in check
The Ponies used a
total team effort as they
pushed their season record
to 8-2 with hard fought, 20-
13 victory in Pilot Rock. The
Rockets jumped out to 7-0
lead early in the second
q u a rte r b efo re a Ponies
d efen siv e
ad ju stm en t
stopped the Rockets offense.
Rust shut down the Rocket’s
top scorer the rest o f the
game and was helped with
solid defensive efforts by
Bowie, Hong and Strouse
The scoring attack was led
by the Ponies interior o f
Garrett, Boothe, Lovgren
and Thompson with some
key assists from Hughes.
The girls then lost
their only league contest at
Irrigon, 20-19. The score
was tied at the start o f the
fourth quarter The Ponies
forged ahead and w ere
clinging to a one-point lead
when Irrigon scored with
less than 10 seconds
rem aining. F ritz led the
P onies atta ck w ith nine
points.
The team then
traveled to Athena-Weston
and posted a convincing 26-
11 win over the Huskies. The
P onies
defen se
was
spearheaded by Hong’s five
steals and Thompson, who
led the team in rebounding.
A balanced Ponies attack
pushed the lead to 20-4 at
the end o f the third quarter.
Seven d ifferen t P onies
scored with H ughes and
Rust each chipping in six
points, Garrett and Boothe
adding fo u r each and
Lovgren, Strouse and Bowie
adding two each.
The Ponies finished
the regular season at home
with a 25-13 victory over
R iverside. The v ic to ry
moved their regular season
record to 9-3 (9-1 CBC).
Heppner only led by five at
the h a lf b efo re th eir
trademark defense held their
opponents scoreless in the
third q u a rte r and only
allowed three points in the
fourth Hong and Bowie
helped key the defensive
stance, leading the team in
defensive rebounds from the
wings. The offensive attack
was b alan ced as seven
d ifferen t Ponies scored
Garrett led all scorers with
eight Boothe chipped in six,
Strouse added three and
Hughes, Rust, Thompson
and Fritz all had two each
The team finished
the season with a third place
finish at th e CBC “ B ”
tournament in Umatilla The
Ponies entered the “short
game” format tournament as
the #1 seed and posted a 14-
0 victory over Stanfield in
the opening round In the
second round, the team fell
to the #2 seed and eventual
to u rn am en t cham pion,
Irrigon K nights 17-10
D efense w as again the
foundation as key rebounds
by Thom pson and Bowie
helped pace another victory
over Stanfield, 14-8 The
Ponies then advanced to face
Lynelle Bowie and Jessica Hughes set a trap en route to a
14-0 victory over Stanfield at the “ B ” tournam ent.
Ponies Kathryn Strouse, Torri Lovgren, Lynelle Bowie and
Emily Thom pson secure a rebound versus Stanfield in the
“ B” tournament.
Lynelle Bowie and Brandi Hong hit the floor after a loose
ball at the “ B” tournament.
Pilot
Rock
in
the
C o n so latio n
B racket
Championship In that game,
the P onies fell behind
quickly, but then used a
solid, pesky defense to
spearhead a rally to tie the
sco re late in the gam e
S tro u se sank tw o free
throws with 12 seconds left
to secure the 10-8 victory
and the third place prize
O verall, the team
had an exceptional year
They set out to improve all
areas o f th e ir gam e,
especially defense where
they set a goal o f holding
their opponents to five points
per quarter or less The team
exceeded th at goal by
allowing less than four points
per quarter average The
girls also set out to improve
and play solid team offense,
trying to move the ball into
the interior Several games
had six or m ore players
scoring, w ith the inside
players leading the charge
T h eir im provem ent and
su ccess th ro u g h o u t this
season shows that the future
for the g irl’s b asketball
p ro g ram
in
H eppner
continues to be a bright one
The
team
appreciates the parents’ and
c o m m u n ity ’s
support
throughout the year That
strong support was very
im p o rtan t to the g irl’s
success Also helping the
team was Stephanie Rill and
Lacie Wagoner, who keep
B ry n n a R u st s to p s th e
Riverside advance en route to
a 2 5 -1 3
v ic to r y
over
Riverside.
Jessica Hughes pressures the
Pilot Rock ball handler as the
Ponies win 20-13.
the books Their efforts,
week in and week out, were
very much appreciated by
the team