EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 23, 2022
Mustangs crowned district champs
Lady Stangs also finish fourth
in Pendleton
Kason Cimmiyotti, Tucker Ashbeck, Brock Hisler and Joe
Sherman with their all-league honors. –Photo by Tylynn Cim-
miyotti
Joe Sherman pushes the ball down the floor. –Photo by Susan
Hisler
Back row: David Cribbs, Landon Mitchell, Brock Hisler, Derrick Smith, Tucker Ashbeck, Kason Cimmiyotti, Blake Carter,
Trevor Nichols, Caden George and Coach Jeremy Rosenbalm. Front row: Coach Adam Doherty, Cameron Proudfoot, Brian
Lindsay, Joe Sherman and Cody Fletcher. –Photo by Tylynn Cimmiyotti
ZaBrena Masterson shoots over Tiger defender. –Photo by
Susan Hisler
By Blake Carter
The Mustang boys were
a bit of an unknown heading
into the season. Last season
Heppner finished second in
league after a condensed
COVID basketball season
last year. Heppner also de-
parted four seniors, which
included two starters, and
were a first round exit in
the state tournament last
season. Out of the gates,
Heppner looked strong, a
strong infusion of senior
leadership with raw young
talent created a perfect
recipe for the team. The
state began to pay close
attention to these Mustangs
after defeating two solid
teams from the east side of
the state at the 2A preview,
and from that point on the
Mustangs rolled. Heppner
lost three games in the year,
one league contest, and
two games to 3A schools.
An 11-1 league record so-
lidified Heppner a spot in
the 2A state play in games.
However, this team was still
hungry, Saturday marked a
chance to bring the district
title back to Heppner for the
first time since the 2018-19
season. The current seniors
were just freshmen on that
team and hadn’t truly tasted
that victory since.
Saturday, Heppner took
the court with the whole
state paying close attention
to the outcome. Heppner
was focused on themselves
though and knew the other
team very well. Stanfield
remained one of just three
teams to defeat the Mus-
tangs, and the only 2A team
to do so. In an incredibly
passionate and fast paced
game, the Mustangs routed
the Tigers 72-37 to reclaim
the Blue Mountain Confer-
ence title for the first time
since 2019.
The contest started off
neck and neck, as a last
second bucket from the
Tigers in the first quarter
tied the ballgame at 12.
The second quarter wasn’t
so close, the lead quickly
grew to 15 as the Mustangs
grabbed control of the game
at 30-15. Heppner took a
16 point lead into halftime
as they led 34-18. Stanfield
didn’t let the lead grow in
the third quarter, the Tigers
only cut the lead by two
points, but looked to carry
momentum into the fourth
quarter. Stanfield continued
to hang around until about
six minutes remaining in
the contest. At this point,
the Mustangs held a 43-
33 lead, Heppner then put
Stanfield into the ground
as they ran the Tigers right
out of the gym. A 29-4 run
closed out the game, and
helped the Mustangs claim
the district title. Heppner
scored 31 points in the
fourth quarter alone as they
completed the 72-37 beat
down of the Tigers.
The Mustangs landed
four players on all confer-
ence teams. Brock Hisler
and Tucker Ashbeck earned
honorable mentions as Ka-
son Cimmiyotti and Joe
Sherman earned first team
all-conference.
2021-22 was a big
question mark for the Lady
Mustangs. Heppner depart-
ed six seniors last year, and
only a couple of players
had experience on a varsity
team. However, this young
team wouldn’t be fazed by
the lack of experience and
went toe to toe with many
of the teams this year. Hep-
pner went 3-3 in the final
six games to grab a final
league spot and wanted
to grab third place in the
league before they sent their
two seniors off.
Heppner was able to
buy themselves another
game after grabbing a 12
point win over the Grant
Union Prospectors, 46-34.
The contest remained close
for the first two quarters of
play, as Heppner only took
a small lead into the half.
The Mustangs broke the
game open in the third quar-
ter as they used a hot start
and maintained the lead
until the end of the game.
After Enterprise upset
Stanfield the previous night,
Heppner was tasked with a
tough third place game. Un-
fortunately, the Mustangs
saw their season end in de-
feat as the Tigers took them
down 53-33. Heppner kept
the game close for the first
quarter, until Stanfield went
on a little run to extend the
lead out to 18-9. Stanfield
would extend the lead in the
Zandra Masterson, ZaBrena Masterson and Hallee Hisler with
their all-league honors. -Photo by Tylynn Cimmiyotti
second quarter. In the third
quarter Stanfield grew the
lead to 20, this lead stuck
for the rest of the half and
ended the Mustangs season.
The girls landed three
players on all league teams,
freshman Hallee Hisler and
sophomore Zandra Mas-
terson earned honorable
mentions. Senior ZaBrena
Masterson earned a first
team all-league honor as
well.
The Mustang boys’ var-
sity team earned themselves
a home playoff game with
their district championship
win. Heppner will face
a familiar foe in the first
round, the second place
finisher out of the 2A-4
Sunset Conference, Bandon
Tigers will travel to eastern
Oregon once again. Early
in the season Heppner and
Bandon faced off at the 2A
preview in Pendleton. In
a closely contested game,
Heppner pulled out the 46-
41 victory. However, it’s
playoff time and everything
is thrown out the window.
The two teams will battle
on Friday, February 25 at
6 p.m. at Heppner High
School. The winner will
advance to the state tour-
nament in Pendleton next
weekend.