FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Mustang wrestling team takes fifth
place in G rant Union Tournament
Dillon l.utcher takes down his oponent during a match at River
side High School last Tuesday night. -Photo by Autumn Morgan
On S aturday, De-
cember 6, the Heppner Mus
tangs' wrestling team trav
eled to John Day to compete
in the 5,h annual Grant Union
Kick-off Tournament. The
teams that competed were
Bums, Crane, Grant Union,
H eppner, La P ine, Pine
Eagle and Ontario. Despite
missing three varsity team
m em bers, the M ustangs
finished fifth after holding
third place for most o f the
tournament.
H eppner had five
wrestlers earn silver medals,
including three freshm en
making their varsity debuts.
Freshman Seth Palmer start
ed it off at 112 pounds when
he advanced to the finals by
pinning his opponent from
Ontario. Curtis Martin, also
a freshman, won his way
to the championship round
at 130 pounds by beating
wrestlers from Ontario and
Crane. Conner Pappas was
the third freshman wrestler
to compete in the finals at
145 pounds. Also bringing
home second place medals
were senior Grant Smith at
119 and sophomore Jarreid
Miller at 135.
Wacy Coil finished
third at 171 pounds, argu
ably the toughest bracket in
the tournament with wres
tlers that included a state
placer, two state qualifiers
and four d istrict placers
from previous years.
The M ustangs’ next
highest placer was freshman
John Nelson who finished
2-2 on the day and won
fourth place while compet
ing as a non-team point
scorer at 130 pounds.
H eppner got sixth
place finishes from Busta
Al/ante, Andrew Bara, Tyler
Robinson and Drew Bran
non. Also competing for the
Mustangs was Zaeh Yocom,
Cody Nelson, Garrett Gibbs,
Alex Fuentes, Jonathan Von
and Zach Hintz.
Justin Yocom wres
tled in two exhibition match
es where he finished 1 -1. His
w in came in a high scoring
bout where the lead changed
several times. Yocom finally
prevailed with a fall late in
the third round.
Coach Troy Morgan
was pleased w ith his young
team ’s perform ance. “ We
came here w ith a lot o f kids
that had never wrestled in a
high school tournament. We
competed well w ith schools
that have long w restling
traditions. Everyone on our
team contributes. Even guys
that don’t win a match still
contribute team points by
helping th eir team m ates
get better in the practice
room. Nobody should hang
their head with the way we
w restled today. We were just
a few points from third place
and gave up some oppor
tunities because our wres
tlers were focused on just
w inning the match rather
than on adding team bonus
points. Later in the season
they’ll understand that bet
ter.”
The Mustangs’ wres
tling team travels next to La
Grande to compete in the
two day Mullenburg tour
nament on December 12,h
and 13Ih.
lone boys lose first two games of season
The lone boys’ var
sity kicked o ff their bas
ketball season at the lone
B asketball B onanza last
weekend, losing a close one
to Riverside on Friday night
and a not-so-close one to
Enterprise on Saturday.
F riday’s gam e did
not look like a first game of
the season for the Cardinals
as they came out looking
sharp. Matt Hams put up
13 points in the first quarter
and only a Riverside three
pointer at the buzzer kept
the Pirates in front 21-20.
Freshman, Zac Orem made
seven o f his game high 24
points in the second quarter
and the Cards trailed 34-37
at the half. The Cards kept
it close in the third quarter
but could never quite regain
the lead. They also lost Matt
Hams to a double technical
foul ejection when he and a
Riverside player exchanged
an elbow at the conclusion
o f a play. The C ardinals
could not get closer than
three points in the fourth as
fatigue started to affect shots
and the Pirates took the win
65-59.
“ R eb o u n d in g and
free throws were the dif
ference in the game,” noted
Coach Dennis Stefani. Riv
erside made 15 o f 24 free
throw attem pts w hile the
Cardinals were able to con
nect on just four o f their nine
attempts. Also the Pirates
had 39 rebounds to the Car
dinals’ 29. “We were mov
ing the ball in that game and
we shot fairly decent from
the field,” said Stefani. He
also commended Zac Orem
for his efforts as a freshman
starting his first high school
Top Photo: Clay Morter tips off at the lone versus Riverside
Game on Friday night, December S. Bottom Photo: Matt Hams
takes a shot during the lone versus Enterprise game on Saturday,
December 6, -Photos by Teresa Crawford
game. “Zac put together a
heck o f a ball game. He did
a good job asking for the ball
and went right at them.”
Zac O rem led all
scorers with 24 points. Matt
H am s ad d ed 15 and RJ
Ramos was also in double
figures with 12. Clay Morter
had 10 rebounds to lead that
eff ort and Cory Peterson had
six assists. Coach Stefani
also noted that although the
team had 19 turnovers in the
game, they only had five in
the second half.
S a t u r d a y n ig h t
looked more like a first game
for lone when they took on
Enterprise. Down 15-2 early,
the Cards looked tired from
the get-go while Enterprise
was red hot from the field
hitting five three pointers in
the first half. Zac Orem had
12 points in the first half
but it was not enough as the
Cards were down 38-22 at
the half. Things never re
ally improved in the second
half and lone lost the game
70-43.
Zac Orem again led
the team in scoring with
16 points. Matt Hams had
eight and C ory Peterson
added six. “ We were just
slow,” said Coach Dennis
Stefani. “It looked like we
were wearing cement shoes.
They w ere g ettin g w ide
open looks and we had a
heck o f a time getting back
on defense.”
Enterprise had a 38-
22 rebounding advantage.
The Cards were led by Matt
Hams w ith six and Clay
M orter with five. Gunner
Jessen had three assists and
Clay Morter had four steals
to lead those categories.
"We have got to play
to g eth er and we have to
have ball movement," said
Coach Dennis Stefani. “We
got behind early and the
wheels kind o f fell off.”
O v e ra ll, th o u g h ,
Stefani was pleased with the
first weekend o f play. “Our
perform ance Friday night
was incredible. Saturday
we had tired legs and tired
minds but we have to learn
to play through it.”
Lady Cards drop opening weekend games
The lone Lady Car
dinals dusted off their game
for the new season, losing
two games at the lone Bas
ketball Bonanza. The Cards
fell to Umatilla on Friday
32-51 and watched a close
one get away in the closing
minutes, falling to Riverside
on Saturday, 32-38.
Playing their first
game o f the season under the
direction o f first year head
coach, M ike G arrett, the
Lady Cardinals looked a tad
rusty. Umatilla’s squad in
cluded a 6 ’2 post player who
used her size advantage to
put up 12 points. The Cards
trailed 27-16 at the half,
Tyree Svetich takes a shot during the lone versus Riverside game
on Saturday December 6. Photo by Teresa Crawford
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keeping the game w ithin
reach but Umatilla pulled
away in the second half for
the final 51-32 margin.
Beth Morter led the
team in scoring with eight
p o in ts. T iana C am arillo
added six and Brianna Pe
terson and Brenna Rietmann
each had five. lone made six
o f 18 free throw attempts for
32% while Umatilla got 42
chances at the line, connect
ing on 19.
“ We are glad to get
our first game under our
b e lt,” com m ented Coach
Mike G arrett. “ We had a
significant mismatch in size
playing against a 6 ’2” girl
but 1 liked our intensity. It
was a good team effort.”
On S atu rd ay , the
Lady Cardinals faced Riv
erside. The Lady Pirates
took the early lead, jumping
out to a 10-4 first quarter
advantage. lone outscored
R iv ersid e in the second
quarter 13-9 to make the
game 19-17 in favor o f the
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visitors. After sticking close
in the third, the Lady Cards
had th eir chances in the
fourth, attempting 12 free
throws but converting just
three as Riverside pulled
away for the 38-32 win.
B renna R ietm ann
led the team in scoring with
nine points. Stefanie Archer
had eight and Beth Morter
added six. Rietmann also led
the rebounding effort with
nine boards.
“ It was a good de
fensive game for us," said
Coach Garrett. “Our shots
were just not dropping. Our
field goal and free throw'
p e rc e n ta g e is dow n but
that’s because o f the style
o f play and being early in
the season.”
S u m m i n g up the
w eekend. C oach G arrett
was pleased with the effort.
“The hard preseason sched
ule will benefit us when we
start league play. I’m proud
o f the way the girls played
this weekend for their open
ing games.”
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