FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Mustangs open basketball season with
win over Bulldogs
In the fourth quarter,
Heppner controlled the
pace of the game and made
some critical free throws
down the stretch. Nyssa
outscored the Mustangs 17-
16 in the quarter, but it was
not enough as the Mustangs
won the game 59-54.
Logan Grieb led the
team in scoring with 24.
He also had seven rebounds
and four assists in the game.
Patrick Collins started a
string of double-doubles
with 18 points and 12 re-
bounds on the night. CJ
Kindle followed with seven
points, four rebounds and
three assists. Weston Put-
man chipped in ive points
and four rebounds for the
Mustangs. Kevin Murray
stepped in and scored three
points and pulled down four
rebounds. Caden Hedman
had two points, one rebound
and two assists for the team.
Jake Lindsay, Kolby Currin
and Kaden Clark all played
signiicant minutes in the
game and pulled down one
rebound each.
Heppner shot 49 per-
cent from the field over-
all and was 17-32 from
the free-throw line for 53
percent. The Mustangs
dominated the boards as
they out-rebounded Nyssa
36-22.
The next action for the
team is this Tuesday when
they travel to Arlington
to face the Honkers. They
will then host the Hep-
pner Kick-Off Classic on
Friday and Saturday, Dec.
11-12. Heppner will play
the Knappa Loggers on
Friday night and then face
the Crane Mustangs on
Saturday afternoon.
Heppner’s Caden Hedman outruns a Bulldog in the Mustangs’
irst game of the season. The ‘Stangs won the season opener
by 59-54. –Photo by Sandra Putman
The Heppner Mustang
basketball team won their
first game of the season
by defeating the Nyssa
Bulldogs 59-54. The team
has had only four days of
practice so far this season
because every member of
the team played in the State
Championship football
game last Saturday.
The Mustangs started
the game fast and moved
the ball well. They raced
out to a 17-12 lead after
the first quarter. Things
slowed down a little bit in
the second quarter and Hep-
pner could manage only six
points as Nyssa scored 13.
The halftime score was 25-
23 in favor of Nyssa.
A big third quarter saw
the Mustangs outscore the
Bulldogs 20-12. Heppner
shot the ball well and at-
tacked the basket with pas-
sion. The score at the end of
three quarters had Heppner Kevin Murray blocks a Nyssa player during Saturday’s game.
in the lead 43-37.
–Photo by Sandra Putman
Mustang wrestling
rules the mat in
opening tournament
The Heppner Mustang
wrestlers kicked off the sea-
son Saturday in a ive-way
dual tournament in Irrigon.
The teams present were
Grant Union, Hermiston JV,
Irrigon, Echo/Stanield and
Heppner.
Heppner won two out
of four duals as a team, de-
feating Echo/Stanield and
Hermiston JV.
Despite a short one-
week of practice due to the
success of the football team,
every Mustang won a match
during the tournament or in
exhibition rounds.
Cord Flynn led the
Mustangs with five wins
by pin. Flynn covered the
220 and 285 weight classes
in the duals, matching up to
the opponents’ best wres-
tler in either weight class.
Weighing in at around 210
pounds, he was disadvan-
taged by up to 80 pounds
in some matches.
Heppner’s other two
returning wrestlers also
had successful showings
to start the season. Senior
Will Lutcher had a winning
record for the day, winning
two and losing one close
decision. Junior Tim Jaca
went 2-2 with two wins
by pin.
The Mustangs had ive
freshmen debut their high
school careers at the tour-
nament. All ive managed
a win during the day. Jacob
Wallace, wrestling in his
irst-ever matches with only
one week of practice, came
away with two wins by fall.
Trevor Chamberlin earned
two wins, both by deci-
sions. Leo Waite, Carson
Brosnan and Zach Bredield
also each claimed their irst
high-school wins.
The Mustangs will get
tested next weekend as they
compete at the Muilenburg
tournament in La Grande.
The Muilenburg is a two-
day tournament featuring
more than 20 teams from
Oregon, Washington and
Idaho ranging in size from
1A to 6A.
Heppner girls open
basketball season
Heppner JV loses tough game by narrow
margins
Heppner’s Jessica Kempken tips off against Nyssa in last Sat-
urday’s game. The Mustang girls lost the non-league opener
16-47. –Photo by Sandra Putman
Above left: Jackson Lehman (10) shows that Mustangs don’t go down easily as he battles a Nyssa player under the net. Above
right: Mustang Cason Mitchell (11) watches for the rebound during a tough JV game last week. –Photos by Sandra Putman
The Heppner Mustang
junior varsity basketball
team lost a tough game with
the Nyssa Bulldogs by a
score of 43-40.
With injuries to mem-
bers of this team from foot-
ball season, several fresh-
men were forced into their
first high school action
against a 3A-level JV team.
They did very well and even
had a couple of shots at the
end of the game to tie the
score.
The game was close
from the very beginning
and the irst quarter ended
in a 9-9 tie. Nyssa outscored
Heppner 10-7 in the second
to lead at halftime 19-16.
In the third quarter,
Kolby Currin had the hot
hand and he scored 14
points to help the team
blitz the Bulldogs 16-4 in
the quarter. Heppner led
32-23 at the end of the third
quarter.
The fourth quarter saw
the Mustangs cool off as
they could only manage to
score eight points. Nyssa
rallied to score 20 in the
quarter and get the win by
the score of 43-40.
Currin led the team in
scoring with 19 on the night.
Wyatt Steagall, Dakota and
Derek Howard each scored
four points in the game
and all three pulled down
many big rebounds. Trent
Smith added three points
for the Mustangs, and with
two points each were Coby
Dougherty, Hunter Nichols
and Gibson McCurry. Jake
Lindsay pushed the ball up
the loor all game long and
recorded numerous assists
to his teammates.
The next action for the
JV team will be on Tuesday
at Arlington. They will then
be off until Dec. 18, when
they travel to Imbler to take
on the Panthers.
Irrigon moves to 3A
Irrigon will move from 2A to 3A in OSAA classi-
ications starting in the 2016-17 sports season. Irrigon
and Burns will both move to the 3A Eastern Oregon
League, joining current members Vale, Nyssa, Umatilla
and Riverside.
Irrigon leaves behind in the 2A Columbia Basin
Conference Heppner, Stanield, Pilot-Rock, Culver and
Weston-McEwen.
Heppner Gazette Times
541-676-9228
david@rapidserve.net
Order Your
Christmas
Wreaths
Today!
Custom Designed
to Fit Any Décor
Dress Your Holiday Party Table
With a Centerpieces from Country Rose
The Country Rose
Flowers with a Personal Touch
217 N. Main St., Heppner
541-676-9426