HeppnerGazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February29,2012
-FIV E
Cardinals ousted in round two Lady Cards end season with
40-39 heartbreak
of state
By Anne Morter
The lone Cardinals
saw their season end in the
second round of' the sub
state playofTs last weekend,
falling to the team sitting at
the top o f the OSAA RIM.
County Christian, by a slim
eight-point margin. The
Cards finished the 2011-
12 campaign with a 15-11
record.
To get to the Sat
urday game, the Cardinals
had to survive a first-round
game on the road against
Damascus Christian, the
number-two seed from the
Valley 10 league, on Tues
day, Feb. 21. lone led 25-22
at halftime but Damascus
Christian outscored the
Cards 14-10 in the third to
lead 36-35 heading into the
fourth. The Cardinals put
the pedal to the metal in
the final period, outscoring
their hosts 18-4 to take the
53-40 win. It was a three-
point shootout with lone
hitting eight and Damascus
Christian tallying five in the
contest.
Adam Collin had
one of the best games of his
career, leading the team in
scoring with 15 points and
adding 10 rebounds. Ste
ven Holland had a double
double with 11 points and
10 boards. Zac Orem stayed
cool under the pressure of
the DCS defense, tallying
12 points.
The win propelled
the Cardinals to the second
Junior Evan Kietmann puts in a layup during round-two state
playoffs at Country Christian on Feb. 25. Photo by Paula
Emme l
round and booked them for
the second Portland road
trip in the week, sending
them to Country Christian
in M ollala on Saturday,
Feb. 25. The Cards led 15-
11 after one quarter but fell
behind slightly at the half,
30-26. and they trailed by a
seemingly insurmountable
13 points at the end of three,
51-38. But the determined
lone squad refused to go
away, pulling to within four
points with four minutes
left in the game, eventu
ally falling 69-61 although
outscoring Country 23-18
in the final quarter.
Zac Orem led the
team in scoring with 14
points. Luke Jobes and
Evan Rietmann each added
13 .
Bv Anne Morter
I he 2011-12 bas
ketball season ended in
heartbreak for the lone Lady
Cardinals as they went from
the high o f winning the
district championship to
the low of being eliminated
from the state playoffs in
less than a week. The Car
dinals fell to the Pine Eagle
Spartans by one agonizing
point in a second-round,
sub-state playoff game held
in lone on February 24,
dashing their dreams of a
state tournament run.
The lone gym was
packed and the atmosphere
electric prior to game time.
Pine Eagle, the number two
seed from the Old Oregon
League, was a team that
the Cards had defeated
51-35 in their first game
of the season at the lone
Basketball Bonanza. But
teams evolve and improve
over the course of the sea
son and, as the Cardinals
can now attest after déjà vu
happening all over again,
anything can happen come
playoff time.
Shadow Kendrick
tallied the first score of the
game when she knocked
down all three free throws
after being fouled on a
three-point attem pt but
the Spartans outscored the
Cards 12-9 in the first pe
riod. The opening quarter
also saw Makenna Ramos
collect her second foul two
and half minutes into the
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I
Top: Sophomore Emily Holland opens the women's round-two
state playofTs at lone, singing the national anthem in a packed
house. Bottom: Senior Mary Rietmann puts in a jumpshot
during round-two state playoffs during the lone v Pine Eagle
game on Feb. 24. Photos by Paula Emmel
game and Shadow Kend
rick notch two of her own.
The Lady Cards
outpaced the Spartans 11-7
in the second quarter and
took a slim 20-19 halftime
lead. Foul trouble continued
as Lacey Thompson had
three fouls by then.
With less than a
minute gone in the third.
Pine Eagle regained the
lead 24-21 before the cous
in duo of Shadow Kend
rick and Lacey Thompson
teamed up for an 11-2 run.
The scoring burst gave the
Lady Cardinals their big
gest lead of the day, 33-26,
and the Cardinal faithful
wondered if the home team
was finally going to shake
loose of the pesky Spartans.
Pine Eagle was having none
o f that, closing the third
quarter with a 7-2 run that
included a long three with
less than five seconds left,
and it was 35-33 heading
into the final frame. Also,
the Cardinal scorebook now
showed Shadow Kendrick
and JoAnna Patton with
three fouls each.
The S p ar t an s
smelled an upset as they
scored six unansw ered
points, taking a 39-35 lead
with 4:53 to play, and then
proceeded to go into a stall
to run time off the clock.
Makenna Ramos finally
broke the Cardinal scor
ing drought and made it
a two point game, 39-37,
with 2:23 remaining. Lacey
Thom pson’s fourth foul
sent the Spartans into the
bonus and to the line with
2:03 on the clock. They
hit the front end o f the
one-and-one to build their
precarious margin to three
points. Despite a couple
o f wide-open shots, the
Cardinals just could not
convince their shots to fall.
The Spartans got another
chance at the line with 1:20
showing but did not con
vert. With 16.6 seconds left,
M akenna Ramos tossed
back an offensive rebound
and it swished in, mak
ing the score 40-39. The
Cards put heavy defensive
pressure on Pine Eagle as
they were bringing the ball
down court, forcing a dou
ble-dribble turnover. lone
ended up inbounding the
ball with 3.5 seconds left,
hoping for the chance to
put up a winning shot. The
Spartans forced a jump ball
with .8 remaining and the
Cards had one last chance
to put up the winning score.
The ball came in and left
Lacey Thompson’s hands in
time but was just short and
the score stood Pine Eagle
40, lone 39.
“Cold shooting was
the difference in the game.
We had a statistical advan
tage in every other fourth
and lone was two of 17,”
said Coach Mike Garrett.
Shadow Kendrick
was the Cardinal’s leading
scorer with 12. JoAnna
Patton was held to eight
points. Lacey Thompson
had six and Mary Rietmann
added five. JoAnna Patton
had 14 rebounds and Mary
Rietmann had 11.
"Pine Eagle came
ready to play and 1 was
impressed with their de
fense and intensity. We just
couldn't get a shot to drop
and never really got into a
good rhythm. Like always,
I was very proud of my kids
for their work ethic and they
never gave up or got dis
couraged,” said Garrett.
“It was a very pain
ful end to our season and I
was really hoping that we
would have the opportunity
to play in Baker. The kids
worked really hard in the
off-season and it seemed
like we were just starting
to peak. Overall, they had
a season to be very proud
of and winning the Big Sky
Championship was great.
This was my fourth year
coaching the girls and I am
really going to miss this
senior class. We all started
together, and to see how
much they have improved
and the success that they
were able to have really
made this year special.”