Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, December 8, 2021 -- SEVEN
Mustang basketball is off and running
Mustangs compete in three contests this past weekend
to begin their 2022 season
By Blake Carter
Basketball season has
arrived once again, and
with that the Mustangs
are already facing tough
competition. Last season
the Mustangs qualified for
the COVID state tourna-
ment, held at neutral sites
throughout the state. Both
the girls and boys were able
to compete, and the girls
took one game, while the
boys battled a good Knappa
team before being bounced
from the tournament. With
the 2020-21 season in the
rearview mirror the Mus-
tangs began their campaign
this past Wednesday.
Due to unforeseen in-
jures on the Condon girls’
basketball team, the JV and
Varsity boys were the only
teams in action on Wednes-
day. The boys faced a young
Condon Blue Devils team,
however they got off to a
hot start enroute to a 60-34
win. The Mustangs defense
came to play early, after
conceding the opening four
points of the game, they rat-
tled off 13 to end the quarter
on top, 13-4. The Mustangs
would continue to dominate
the opening half, using their
quick players to fly up and
down the court for easy
buckets. Combine their fast
offense with their lockdown
defense, it creates a diffi-
cult team to compete with.
At the half the Mustangs
would remain on top 34-
17. In the third quarter the
Mustang offense sputtered,
only producing nine points,
however their defense was
able to hold strong and keep
the game out of reach as
they continued to lead 43-
29. Heppner would finish
off the game in complete
control as they outscored
the Blue Devils 17-5 in the
final period of play. Hep-
pner walked away with a
convincing 60-34 victory
against the Blue Devils.
Senior Blake Carter led
the way for the Mustangs,
scoring 13 points to go
along with three rebounds.
Brock Hisler, Joe Sherman
and David Cribbs scored
eight points each to fuel the
offense in the victory. As a
team, the Mustangs shot an
impressive 53 percent from
the field, Condon was led
by Eduardo Barrera who
scored 25 of the Blue Dev-
ils’ 34 points on the night.
The Mustang boys team
lost in a heartbreaker Friday
night, 59-54. Umatilla got
off to a fast start, gaining an
early advantage at 23-9 at
the end of the first quarter.
Umatilla was able to build
upon that lead in the second
quarter, as the Mustangs
found themselves down 18
points. Heppner was able to
find their feet as the second
quarter closed, going on a
little run to cut the lead back
down to 14 leading into
halftime. Early in the third
the two squads seemed to be
at a stalemate, both teams
traded buckets all quarter.
Heppner was able to cut
the lead down to 10 before
the Vikings nailed a three,
leading into the start of the
fourth quarter. Umatilla
opened with a 54-41 lead in
the fourth quarter. The Mus-
tangs suddenly started to
capitalize on mistakes and
score some points, quickly
the game tightened as the
Mustangs went on a 13-2
run cutting the lead down
to 56-54. Unfortunately for
the Mustangs, Umatilla hit
a late three pointer to seal
the win at 59-54. Uma-
tilla shot a total of 11-13
from behind the three-point
line, with senior Lincoln
McLeod leading the team
shooting a perfect 7-7 from
three, scoring 29 points. Joe
Tucker Ashbeck rises over a defender for an easy basket. –
Photos by Susan Hisler
Blake Carter shoots a jumper over closing Condon defender.
Sherman led the way for the
Mustangs with 22 points
and Tucker Ashbeck was
close behind with 14.
The Mustangs finished
off the weekend on a very
good note as they defeated
the Nixyaawii Golden Ea-
gles 81-45. Heppner was
looking to rebound after a
slow start in their previous
contest. The Mustangs did
just that as they jumped
on Nixyaawii early. After
the first quarter alone, the
Mustangs were quickly
out to a 26-12 lead. Qual-
ity defensive possessions
allowed the Mustangs to
get out in transition and
find easy buckets. This
fast-paced attack caused
many issues for the Gold-
en Eagles, as they found
themselves trailing 45-23
at halftime. Once again,
the Mustangs got out of the
gates quickly, however the
Golden Eagles were able
to hang tough, and not give
up too much ground. Un-
fortunately, the deficit was
too large for them. Heppner
would close out the game
with a strong fourth quar-
ter. Landon Mitchell and
Joe Sherman powered the
offense as Mitchell scored
18 with Sherman not far
behind at 16. The bench
players came on strong as
Cameron Proudfoot scored
12 off the bench.
Extended Stats vs Con-
don: Tucker Ashbeck, three
rebounds; David Cribbs
eight points, eight rebounds
and one steal; Trevor Nich-
ols seven points, two re-
bounds, one block, one
steal; Caden George two
points, three rebounds, one
steal; Landon Mitchell,
five points, two assists,
three rebounds; Cameron
Proudfoot two points, one
assist, four rebounds; Der-
rick Smith; two points, two
rebounds, one steal; Kason
Cimmiyotti two points, one
assist, six rebounds; Toby
Nation, one point, one as-
sist, two rebounds; Blake
Carter, 13 points, three re-
bounds; Brock Hisler eight
points, three rebounds;
Joe Sherman eight points,
four assists, four rebounds,
one block, one steal; Brian
Lindsay two points, one
rebound.
Extended Stats vs
Umatilla: Tucker Ashbeck
14 points, three assists,
three rebounds, three steals;
David Cribbs, three points,
one rebound, one block;
Hadlie Nation shoots a floater over Umatilla Defender.
Joe Sherman glides in for an easy two against Nixyaawii.
Irelynn Kollman looks to sneak a pass around Viking de-
fender.
Trevor Nichols, one re-
bound; Caden George, one
point; Landon Mitchell,
eight points, one assist,
two rebounds, one steal,
one block; Toby Nation,
one steal; Blake Carter, one
rebound; Brock Hisler, six
points, four assists, three
rebounds, one steal; Joe
Sherman, 22 points, one
assist, three rebounds, two
steals, one block.
Extended Stats vs
Nixyaawii: Tucker Ash-
beck eight points, three
rebounds; David Cribbs
one point, one rebound,
two blocks; Trevor Nichols
eight points, one assist, two
rebounds; Caden George,
five assists, one rebound;
Landon Mitchell 18 points,
eight rebounds, one steal,
one block; Cameron Proud-
foot 12 points, one rebound;
Derrick Smith two points,
one assist; Toby Nation
six points, one rebound,
one steal; Blake Carter
four points, three rebounds;
Brock Hisler six points,
five assists, three rebounds,
three steals; Joe Sherman
16 points, four rebounds,
one steal, two blocks; Brian
Lindsay one rebound, one
block.
Friday night all the
teams were in action as the
Mustangs hosted the Uma-
tilla Vikings, with a young
girls’ basketball team losing
a close game 34-26 against
Umatilla. After losing a
total of six seniors last year
the girls’ team is just get-
ting going. Led by seniors
Hannah Finch and Zabrena
Masterson, the Mustangs
are still working out some
kinks in their offense. For-
tunately for them, strong
guard play from younger
players such as Hadlie Na-
tion and Zandra Masterson
will help them get going.
However, the Mustangs
saw some of those bumps
in their first game with
Umatilla. A slow shooting
performance kept the Mus-
tangs from the win. Sat-
urday afternoon Heppner
welcomed the Nixyaawii
Golden Eagles; the girls
team fell to a strong Golden
Eagles squad 62-27. The
Mustangs hung in tough
for the first quarter, only
down 16-12. At the half,
the Eagles had distanced
themselves, up 30-16. Un-
fortunately, the Eagles be-
gan to make shots while the
Mustangs struggled as they
pulled away in the victory.
ZaBrena Masterson led the
way for Heppner with eight
points and five rebounds.
Next weekend the Mus-
tangs will be participating in
the 2A preview. This event
is hosted by Pilot Rock and
will bring some tough com-
petition from the west side
of the state to battle with
the east side. Heppner will
open the weekend at home
on Thursday, December 9
as they host Toledo, before
heading to Pendleton to
face Bandon on Friday,
December 10, and Culver
on Saturday, December 11.
Games on Thursday will
begin at 6 p.m. with the
varsity girls’ teams. Friday
and Saturday games will
be going all day long, with
there being a total of eight
games each day at the con-
vention center. Teams from
the west side will include
Bonanza, Bandon, Culver
and Toledo. Interconference
rivals such as Stanfield,
Weston-McEwen and Pi-
lot Rock will battle these
teams. Heppner girls’ var-
sity is set to begin at 3 p.m.
on Friday, with the boys to
follow at around 4:45 p.m.
Saturday the Mustangs will
cap off the event with the
girls playing at 6:15 and
the boys to follow at around
8 p.m.