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
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