Heppner Gazette- Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 25,2009 - FIVE
Mustangs take second place in district tournament
By J e n n ife r W ils o n
The Heppner Mus
tangs got one more chance
at the Union Bobcats af
ter splitting with them in
league. After a close game,
the Mustangs captured the
53-47 win to advance to
the championship game on
Saturday. “We’re one team,
we have one goal and if we
play together, that goal will
be met,” said Cody Orr.
The Bobcats were
up by seven to zero before
the Mustangs came together.
Led by the defensive effort
o f Chris Lien, the Mustangs
rallied around a five second
call in their favor and even
tually tied up the game 9-9.
At the end o f the first quarter
the Mustangs trailed by a
basket.
Brent Eckman start
ed the second quarter with a
three point bucket to put the
Mustangs up by one. With
the game tied at 22-22, Cody
Orr went to the free throw
line and was good for one
point and the lead.
The next two points
for the Mustangs came when
Brent Eckman tipped the
ball, dove on it to keep it
from going out o f bounds,
and then kicked it up the
court to K yle Fuchs for
the lay-in. Bryan Holland
checked in for Chris Lien
who got into some early foul
trouble.
The first half ended
tied 29-29 and the end o f
the third quarter was also
tied, 40-40.
With one more tie
halfway through the fourth
quarter, the Mustangs finally
Heppner Mustang Chris Lien keeps the action going as he
heads for the basket in the district championship game against
Pilot Rock. The Mustangs lost to the Rockets 55-51. Photo by
Sandy Matthews
took control o f the game
with a three point bucket
from Jared H u d d lesto n .
With the time ticking and
the Bobcats trailing, their
only option was to foul to
regain possession o f the ball
and stop the clock. How
ever, sending Chris Lien to
the line five times damaged
any hope for the Bobcats
as he was 100% from the
free throw line in the fourth
quarter.
“We played 32 min
utes o f tough, intense bas
ketball. This was a team
effort,” said Coach David
Norton.
In the championship
game, the Mustangs were up
against long time rivals, the
Pilot Rock Rockets. Players
and fans from various teams
in the league joined the Hep
pner cheering section and
donned the blue and gold in
hopes o f an upset.
The Mustangs came
w ithin four points, but time
ran out in the fourth quar
ter and they couldn’t quite
overcome the Rockets. The
Rockets took the 55-51 win.
The Mustangs did, however,
secure second place and a
state playoff game at home
this Friday.
Lady Mustangs take third place
at district tournament
By Jennifer Wilson
The Lady Mustangs
started out with a great first
h alf against the Stanfield
Tigers last Friday. The Mus
tangs had a com fortable
buffer at half time, leading
22-5. However, the Tigers
w eren’t going to give up
a chance to play for third
place on Saturday that eas
ily. The Tigers made a fourth
quarter surge and closed the
gap to just nine points. The
M ustangs defensive effort
held off the Tigers for the
47-38 win and moved the
M ustangs into a face-off
for third place against Pilot
Rock on Saturday.*
On S atu rd ay , the
Lady Mustangs started the
game out slow and allowed
the P ilot R ock R ockets
eights points before send
ing Erin Price to the line for
two free throws.
Bryn-
na R ust, Erin Price, and
Taighler D ougherty were
to only Mustangs to score
in the second quarter and
all three shots were three
pointers.
By the end o f the
third quarter, the Mustangs
w ere only dow n by one
point. The effort in the final
q u a rte r d eterm in ed who
continued on. The Mustangs
took a three point lead, but
Pilot Rock quickly tied the
score at 22-22. Pilot Rock
pressured the Mustangs to
see if they could get their
hands on a turnover but the
Mustangs stayed strong.
With the Mustangs
up by two. Pilot Rock scored
a three point bucket to put
them up by one. One last
attempt was put up by the
M ustangs and it was no
good, but Catherine McEl-
ligot was there for the weak
side rebound and the put
back just seconds before the
final buzzer rang. The Mus
tangs won the game 27-26
and will advance to a state
p layoff game. “ We came
Mustang wrestlers bring home two
district championships and one runner up
he M ustangs com
peted in the 10 team district
championships last weekend
in Halfway. Last year Hep
pner finished in eighth place
at the tournament.
This year the Mus
tangs took 16 competitors
that included nine fresh
man, two sophomores, three
ju n io rs and tw o seniors.
O f those 16 w restlers, 10
brought home medals and
the team finished third, just
three points behind second
place Joseph. Had Heppner
won one m ore m atch or
Joseph won one less match
along the 149 wrestled bouts
o f the tournament, Heppner
could have finished in sec
ond place.
The M ustangs’ to
tal o f 10 individual plac
ers was the second highest
behind district cham pion
C ran e’s 14. Seven o f the
10 Mustang district placers
are underclassmen. Joseph
only had seven placers, but
four o f those were district
champions, all o f whom are
seniors.
Three Mustangs ad
vanced to the tournament
championship finals. Sopho
more Jarreid Miller became
the first Heppner wrestler
ever to become a district
finalist when he scored a
reversal right at the final
w histle o f the sem ifinal
match to win 7-6 over the
num ber tw o seed at 130
pounds. M iller’s previous
match in the quarterfinals
was an eq u ally ex citin g
6-4 overtime win. “I like to
make my matches exciting
and give the crow d their
m oney’s w orth,” laughed
M iller after he squeaked
through the semifinals. He
eventually lost in the cham-
pionship bout to a senior
from Union and finished
second.
C hance Day, 152
p o unds, was the second
Heppner wrestler to qualify
for the championship finals,
facin g C lan cy W arnock
from Joseph. The score was
tied at 1-1 with six seconds
remaining when Day blasted
a double leg shot, lifted
Warnock o ff his feet and
dropped him to his back for
five points. With that Day
become the first Mustang to
stand on top of the podium
at a district tournament and
won an automatic birth to
the OSAA championships at
Memorial Coliseum.
The very next match
on the cham pionship mat
was Heppner’s Wacy Coil
versus Daniel Lode from
Adrian, ranked third in Or
egon at 160 pounds and the
district’s number one seed.
Coil had lost twice during
the season to Lode, both by
fall, including the champi
onship match at the Bank of
Eastern Oregon Invitational
in Heppner. This time Lode
was no match for Coil. Coil
dominated him for five and a
half minutes and was ahead
by 13 points before pin
ning him with 28 seconds
remaining in the bout. Coil
becam e the second ever
district champion and state
qualifier from Heppner.
H e p p n e r ’s n e x t
highest placer was Tyler
Robinson who finished third
and champion o f the con
solation bracket with a 3-1
record for the weekend. The
consolation championship
bout at 145 pounds featured
two M ustangs, Robinson
and Garrett Gibbs. Gibbs,
a freshman, became the un-
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predicted placer for Heppner
by winning the consolation
semifinals in a come from
behind pin with just 39 sec
onds left in the bout.
H e p p n e r ’s o th e r
medal winners were Cody
Nelson, 4th at 112 pounds,
G rant Sm ith, 5th at 119
pounds, John Nelson, 5th at
125 pounds, Conner Pappas,
6th at 140 pounds and Drew
Brannon, 5th at 160 pounds.
Other Mustang competitors
were Zach Yocom, Curtis
Martin, Andrew Bara, Dil
lon Lutcher, Alex Fuentes
and Zach Hintz.
C oach Troy M or
gan was pleased with his
Mustangs’ district show ing.
“We set four team goals at
the beginning o f the year—
win a dual, finish in the top
four at districts, have eight
d istrict placers and send
wrestlers to state. Since we
accomplished all four goals,
next year we are going to
have to set new ones. O f
our 10 district placers, nine
will be returning next year,
including all three finalists.
The fact that we can have
freshman step into varsity
roles and be com petitive
shows the value o f our ju
nior high and Colt wrestling
programs. We are going to
be a force to be reckoned
with in our district for years
to come.”
The state champion
ships for 2A I 1A through 6A
will be held in Memorial
Coliseum in Portland on
February 26-28. The 2A / 1A
w restlin g begins Friday
morning. Fans can see the
brackets online now and
can follow the tournament’s
progress during the competi
tion at www.osaa.org.
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Cardinals finish season with 12-4 league record
The lone Cardinals
bowed out o f post-season
play with two losses at the
Big Sky D istrict Tourna
ment last weekend, losing to
Dufur on Friday afternoon
and South Wasco on Satur
day. The Cards ended the
2008 campaign with a 12-4
league record and a 14-12
mark overall.
Dufur came out siz
zling in the Friday, February
20 match-up. With barely
one minute gone, the Rang
ers swished the first o f nine
three-pointers as the Car
dinals struggled from the
field. The Cardinals trailed
by nine after one and by 16
at the half 41-25.
Any hopes o f a sec
ond half rally were squelched
early on as Dufur opened the
third quarter with an 11-2
run. RJ Ramos provided a
spark for the Cards late in
the third to cut the Ranger
Erin Price goes for a lay-in during the district tournament in
Pendleton this past weekend. -Photo hy Autumn Morgan
lead back to 15 but Dufur
erased all doubt in the fourth
to the district tournam ent collaborative team quote
quarter, out-scoring lone 31 -
with nothing to lose and summed up the weekend for
13 to take the 89-54 win.
everything to gain," and that the Lady Mustangs.
Matt Hams led the
Cardinals in scoring with 19.
RJ Ramos and Zac Orem
each added seven and Clay
Morter had six. The Cards
had a cold night from the
field, shooting 29% while
the Rangers shot 43%, both
from inside and outside the
three point line.
“We didn’t show up
ready to play,” said Coach
Dennis Stefani. I was mostly
disappointed with our de
fensive effort. We never did
get our movement or ball
rotation going.”
The Friday loss set
up a do-or-die game against
South Wasco on Saturday.
Matt Hams, a senior at lone, made first team for the Big Sky
The w inner advanced to
C onference All Star Team this weekend during the haskethall
sub-state playoffs and the
district tournament this past weekend. Zac Orem, a junior
loser got an early start for
at lone, received an honorable mention. Photo hy Theresa
spring sports.
Crawford
M att H am s m ade
Ham s nam ed first team for
Big Sky C onference
RJ Ramos gets a shot ofT during district tournament action this
past weekend. -Photo by Theresa Crawford
eight of the Cardinals first
quarter points and the Cards
led 10-8 after one. The Car
dinals stuttered in the sec
ond, scoring just five points
and the Redsides led at the
half, 25-15.
The C ard s m ade
som e moves in the third
quarter, pulling to w ith
in eight points tw ice but
were not able to close the
gap. South Wasco built the
lead to 18 in the fourth and
went into their trademark
slowdown game. The Cards
chipped away at the lead but
ran out of time as the Red-
sides took the win, 57-47.
“I felt we played bet
ter than Friday night,” said
Coach Stefani. “However,
we still did not have the
intensity we had during the
season.”
Matt Hams led the
team in scoring w ith 18
points. Tanner Rietmann
added 10. The C ardinals
shot 37% from the floor and
had the same number of field
goals as the Redsides. South
Wasco had one more three
pointer than lone but the
Redsides went to the free
throw line 23 times, making
11 while lone made just tw o
o f eight.
Clay Morter led the
Cardinals in rebounds with
12, tallying rebound num
ber 300 for the season. Zac
Orem had five assists and
Cory Peterson added five
w hile M att Hams led in
steals with three.
Mustang Varsity Baseball Schedule
F o llo w in g is the
Heppner High School var
sity baseball schedule for
the 2009 season:
-March 17: Pendle
ton JV, 2 p.m.
-M arch 21 : at La
Grande, 12 p.m.
-March 24: Mac Hi/
Salem
-March 27-28: Col
fax Tourney.
-Apr. 4: B urns, 1
p.m.
-Apr. 7: at Baker, 2
p.m.
-Apr. 11: at Irrigon,
11 a.m.
-Apr. 14: Pilot Rock,
4:30 p.m.
-A pr. 18: W eston
McEwen, 11 a.m.
-Apr. 21 : at Stan
field, 11 a.m.