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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 2022)
EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, December 14 , 2022 Mustang boys start basketball season strong Mustang girls’ basketball off to a slow start The Heppner Mustang boys varsity team is off to a fast start this season with a 4-1 record. They are currently the number-five ranked team in the OSAA 2A boys basketball rank- ings. The Mustangs started their season off with a 71-44 victory over the Echo Cou- gars. A balanced scoring attack was led by Landon Mitchell with 19 points. David Cribbs followed with 14 and Caden George finished with 13. Tucker Ashbeck had 10, Trevor Nichols nine, Cameron Proudfoot five and Thomas Bales had one. Heppner hosted the McLoughlin Pioneers and won that game by the score of 57-21. Mitchell once again led the team in scor- ing with 21 points. Nichols followed with 11, Ashbeck had eight, and George and Cribbs each had seven. Proudfoot contributed two and Cooper Wight one. The following night the Mustangs hosted the Dufur Rangers and won by the score of 65-27—another outstanding defensive effort for the team to hold an op- ponent to under 30 points. Leading scorer for Hep- pner was George with 22. Ashbeck followed with 12, while Cribbs and Mitchell had eight each. Proudfoot scored four, and with three points each were Nichols, Wight and Jackson Coiner. Bales finished the game with two points for the Mustangs. The top ranked 1A team in the state, the Union Bob- cats, came to town and put the only blemish on the Heppner record when they beat the Mustangs 42-35. It was a tough defensive battle By Tylynn Cimmiyotti The Heppner Mustangs girls’ varsity basketball team opened its first week of non-league ball with three games. They were down two losses and one win by the end of the week. On Nov. 30, the Mus- tangs traveled to Echo for their first game and ulti- mately fell to the Cougars 21-49. On Dec. 2, the Mus- tangs hosted McLoughlin and lost 24-30. One Dec. 3, the Mustangs secured their first win when they hosted the Dufur Rangers, winning 47-30. During the Saturday game against Dufur, the game came to a screeching halt with 2:28 seconds left of the third quarter. Two op- posing players hustled after a rebound, and the Dufur girl lost her footing and fell head-first into the bleach- ers. Even those watching from home were on their feet as they watched and waited for the ambulance to arrive to transport the in- jured player to the hospital. It was later reported that she suffered a concussion, and all were relieved to hear that her injuries were not worse. On Tuesday, Dec. 6, the Heppner Mustangs hosted the Union Prospectors. The Mustangs fell to the Pros- pectors with a 12-34 loss. The Prospectors are ranked 17 th in 1A. Hadlie Nation and Hai- ley Wenberg led the Mus- tangs with four points each. Brook Wilson and Zaleta Masterson each contributed another two points as well. The team struggled with offensive rebounds and snagged only three defensive rebounds as a whole. On Saturday, Dec. 9, the Mustangs traveled to Dufur to play the Rangers Heppner JV undefeated in first five games by both teams, keeping the score close all game long. George led the team in scor- ing with 12 points. Cribbs had eight and Ashbeck five. Nichols and Proudfoot fol- lowed with four and Mitch- ell had two. This last Saturday the Mustangs travelled to Du- fur and beat the Rangers again by the score of 59-29. Ashbeck led the team with 18 hard-earned points in the paint. With 12 points each were Nichols and Mitchell. Cribbs followed with nine, Proudfoot with four, and with two each were George and Bales. This week is a big week for the Mustangs as they have four games. They are at home Tuesday against Echo and then they will travel on Thursday to Boardman to take on the Riverside Pirates. On Friday the team will host the Central Linn Cobras at 7:30 p.m. and then play the South Wasco County Redsides on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The Heppner junior varsity (JV) basketball team is also on fire, currently un- defeated with a 5-0 record for the season. The JV Mustangs trav- eled to Echo to play the Cougars for two quarters and came away with a 22- 15 victory. Caleb George led the team in scoring with eight and Cooper Wight was next with seven. Mason Orem finished with four and Joseph Albitre closed out the scoring with three. The team played the McLoughlin Pioneers at home and won that game by the score of 45-26. Thom- as Bales led the team in scoring with 14. With six points each were Orem, Jackson Coiner and Wight. Albitre had five points and Owen Cunningham finished with four. George and Lane Critchlow each had two points in the game. In a close and hard- fought game, the Mus- tangs beat the Dufur Rang- ers by the score of 49-44. The Mustangs made some key free throws down the stretch to help secure the win. A balanced scoring attack was led by Bales and Albitre with 10 each. Cunningham scored nine, and with eight points was Wight. Orem chipped in six points and with three each were Coiner and George. The JV Mustangs saw everyone on the team score in their victory over Union as they beat the Bobcats 51-32. Cunningham led the team in scoring as he poured in 15 points and Orem and Wight each had eight. Next were Bales and George scoring five points each. Coiner finished the game with four points and with two each were Albitre and Critchlow. The Mustangs beat the Dufur Rangers for a second time this season and every- one in the book scored once again. Bales scorched the nets for 16 points to lead the team. With nine points each were Orem and Cunning- ham. Critchlow had four and Albitre finished with three. Coiner and Wight each had two points in the game for the Mustangs. This week the JV Mustangs look to keep their winning record going as they take on the Echo Cougars on Tuesday and then travel to Boardman to play the Riverside Pirates on Thursday. (ranked 71, 1A) for the second time in two weeks. They were victorious and returned with a 49-31 win. Brook Wilson led the Mustangs with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and one personal foul. Hailey Wenberg added seven points, five rebounds and four personal fouls. Ava Gerry added seven points and four rebounds. Morgan Cutsforth, Lily Nichols and Katie Spivey each added six points to the board. Spivey claimed the team’s only assist and the top spot with four steals during the game. Keeley Nairns scored three points, and Kadie Henricks and Arianna Worden each scored two of the Mustangs’ 49 points. With an overall record of 2-3, the Heppner Mus- tang girls are currently ranked 28 th in 2A. They hosted Echo on Tuesday evening and will travel to play the Riverside Pirates at 6 p.m. on Thursday. They will host Central Linn Fri- day at 6 p.m. and then have another home game against the South Wasco County Redsides Saturday at 2 p.m. Boardman city council changes meeting date The Boardman City Council has changed its Jan. 3, 2023, meeting to Tuesday, Jan. 10. This meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Boardman City Hall council chambers and will also be available via the video-conferencing service. The meeting link is post- ed at the city’s website at www.cityofboardman.com. Wishing you warm, safe and Happy Holidays Local Investment. Jobs. Clean Energy.
