Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, December 15, 2021 -- SEVEN
2A preview provides exciting weekend
Heppner, along with seven other schools competed this weekend
By Blake Carter
In 2019 the 2A pre-
view began as it was held
in Pendleton, OR by Pilot
Rock High School. The
preview provided teams
from the west and east
sides of the state to play
in very valuable preseason
matchups. Oftentimes the
two sides of the state are
separated, until it comes
to playoff time. An oppor-
tunity to see many great
games played at the very
place the 2A state tourna-
ment is held, is one too
great to pass up. This last
Thursday night, four east
side teams had the chance
to host a visiting west side
team in their home gym
to get the preview going.
Each team would end up
playing three games on the
weekend, Heppner hosted
Toledo. Each team would
play both a girls and boys
varsity contest each night.
The Mustang girls team
opened the weekend with
a solid 30-22 victory over
the Toledo Boomers. The
two teams displayed great
defensive efforts as both
teams were able to keep
each other quiet.
The Mustang boys’ var-
sity team ended the night
with a bang as they grabbed
a nailbiter victory, 53-52
over the Boomers. A quick
18-4 start allowed the Mus-
tangs to get an early lead.
However, throughout the
game the Boomers con-
tinued to chip away at the
deficit. The Boomers were
able to tie the game late
in the fourth quarter at
52, with under one minute
remaining. David Cribbs
would draw a late foul
with three seconds left.
Cribbs would convert on
the first free throw, before
intentionally missing the
second, as to now allow the
Boomers to get across half
court without using time.
A missed halfcourt heave
would leave the Mustangs
victorious. Heppner was
able to grab the victory
despite a strong 26 points
from Boomer guard Gunner
Rothenberger. Tucker Ash-
beck led the team with 13
points while Cribbs wasn’t
far behind with 12.
Extended stats vs To-
ledo: Tucker Ashbeck, 13
points, four rebounds; Da-
vid Cribbs, 12 points, one
assist, three rebounds; Trev-
or Nichols, two points; Ca-
den George, six points, two
rebounds; Landon Mitchell,
four points, four rebounds,
two blocks; Kason Cim-
miyotti, one point, one re-
bound, one steal, one block;
Brock Hisler, seven points,
one assist, two rebounds,
one steal, one block; Joe
Sherman, eight points, five
assists, four rebounds, two
steals, one block.
Friday, all of the teams
had the opportunity to gath-
er at the Pendleton Conven-
tion Center. Games began at
eight o’clock in the morn-
ing, and the final games
concluded around 10 p.m.
at night. It was a full day of
great games.
The Bandon Tigers
girls’ team is coming off of
a fourth-place finish and re-
loaded offensively. A strong
shooting performance from
the Tigers sunk the Mus-
tangs in a 45-21 victory.
Hadlie Nation started the
game off with a 2-0 lead
for the Mustangs, but the
Tigers would take over and
hold the lead for the rest of
the contest.
Extended stats vs Ban-
don: Arianna Worden, two
points; Hannah Finch, six
points, eight rebounds,
two steals; Zandra Mas-
terson, four points, four
steals; Hadlie Nation, two
points, two rebounds, two
Landon Mitchell (5) and Brock Hisler (23) stop a Culver player
steals; Brook Wilson, one
rebound; ZaBrena Mas-
terson, five points, four
rebounds; Hallee Hisler,
two rebounds, one steal;
Morgan Cutsforth, two
points, one rebound; Hailey
Wenberg, one rebound, one
steal; Kadie Henrichs, two
rebounds, two steals.
The Mustang boys
showed no signs of slow-
ing down after their victory
the previous night, as they
defeated the Tigers 46-41.
This game was close all
night long; the Mustangs
created an early lead as
they led 16-10 at the end of
one quarter. The Mustangs
held on to the lead for most
of the game. Bandon was
within four as the first half
concluded with Heppner
leading 23-19. As the sec-
ond half progressed, the
two sides would trade leads,
all half long. Bandon even
held the lead at the end of
the third quarter at 34-33.
After a couple late misses
from three, Tucker Ash-
beck would grab a tough
defensive rebound, and be
promptly fouled, as the Ti-
gers were trailing by three
with less than ten seconds.
Ashbeck would calmly hit
two free throws to cap off
another impressive win
for the Stangs. Landon
Mitchell led the team with
11 points.
Extended Stats vs Ban-
don: Tucker Ashbeck, eight
points, one rebound; David
Cribbs, three points, two
assists, one rebound; Caden
George, six points, two as-
sists; Landon Mitchell, 11
points, one rebound, one
steal; Kason Cimmiyotti,
seven points, one rebound,
two steals; Brock Hisler,
three points, four assists,
two rebounds, three steals;
Joe Sherman, eight points,
two assists, two rebounds,
one steal, one block.
Saturday brought an
end to this amazing week-
end. With games once again
going all day, the Mustangs
had the opportunity to close
out the night, and the week-
end as they battled Culver.
The girls team plowed
their way to victory with
tough defense, allowing no
points through one quar-
ter, and only four points
at the half. This defensive
effort propelled them to a
31-10 victory. The Mus-
tangs would use an 11-0
first quarter, and 7-0 third
quarter to grab the advan-
tage and ultimately win the
game. ZaBrena Masterson
led the way for the Mus-
tangs with 10 points.
Extended stats vs Cul-
ver: Arianna Worden, one
steal; Hannah Finch, five
points, one assist, three re-
Joe Sherman lays in the ball on Saturday against Culver –
Photos by Susan Hisler
Hannah Finch defends a Culver guard
bounds, three steals; Zandra
Masterson, two points, one
rebound; Hadlie Nation,
two points, one steal; Brook
Wilson, five points, one re-
bound; ZaBrena Masterson,
10 points, one rebound;
Hallee Hisler, six points,
one rebound, one steal;
Morgan Cutsforth, one re-
bound; Katie Spivey, one
rebound; Hailey Wenberg,
one point, two rebounds;
Kadie Henrichs, three re-
bounds.
The boys’ team was
able to fight off a scrappy
Bulldogs team, as their
shooting woes wouldn’t
keep them from victory
as they won 51-37. The
Bulldogs used a late second
quarter surge, including a
buzzer beater to pull within
four at halftime. Howev-
er, in the second half the
Mustangs fast paced attack
would wear down the Bull-
dogs as they pulled away
for a 14-point win.
Heppner will look to
build off their strong per-
formance at the 2A preview
on Thursday December 16.
Heppner will host the River-
side Pirates and this contest
will feature the JV teams
beginning at 3 p.m. Friday,
Heppner will be hosting a
tournament as Irrigon, War-
renton and Weston-McEw-
en will come to compete.
Friday, Weston-McEwen
and Irrigon will get things Hailey Wenberg lines up a free throw
going with the girls contest
starting at 3 p.m. Starting
at 6 p.m. the Heppner and
Warrenton varsity teams
will play. On Saturday
games will start at 1 p.m.
with Weston and Warren-
ton. At 4 p.m. Heppner and
Irrigon will conclude the
tournament.
Brook Wilson shoots over a Culver defender
Here’s what’s
happening at the
CHRISTMAS LIGHT SHOW
Daily from dark to daylight
Until January 1
AWS THINK BIG SPACE
COMMUNITY GRAND OPENING
December 16 at 5 PM
MOVIE NIGHT: THE GRINCH WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS
December 17 at 6 PM
Admission includes popcorn and water
Hallee Hisler goes up strong against a Culver defender
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