Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 1, 2023 -- SEVEN Mustangs strengthen Mustang girls split Heppner wrestlers league record with weekend league play make good showing two conference wins at BEO Invitational Heppner senior Trevor Nichols tries to sink the ball while Tucker Ashbeck blocks and the Grant Union players hope for a rebound. -Photo by Tylynn Cimmiyotti The Heppner Mustang who beat the Mustangs by boys basketball team con- two points on a last-second tinued its winning ways shot earlier in the year, by picking up two more saw a packed house in the Blue Mountain Conference Stanfield gym for the game. games this past week. The It was another close contest Mustangs, who have a 15-4 at the start as the Mustangs overall record and are 5-2 in held a slim 14-12 at the conference play, defeated end of the first quarter. The the Grant Union Prospec- Mustangs then went on a tors 62-30 and then bested 29-17 scoring spree in the the Stanfield Tigers by the second quarter for a 43-29 score of 65-53. lead at the half. Each team Against the Prospec- scored eight points in the tors, the Mustangs’ aggres- third quarter and Heppner sive defense held Grant led 51-37. Stanfield made Union to only seven points several runs in the fourth in the first quarter while quarter, but the Mustangs running out for 18 of their fought each of the those own. The second quarter challenges off and held on was much of the same and to their lead. Heppner pre- the Mustangs led at half- vailed in the game and won time 32-17. A big third by the score of 65-53. quarter saw Heppner out- Ashbeck had the big score the Prospectors 22-3 night for the Mustangs and push the lead to 55-20. with 30 points and 12 re- The benches cleared for bounds. A trio of Mus- both teams in the fourth tangs, Nichols, Mitchell quarter and the Mustangs and George, each scored cruised to a 62-30 win. nine points in the game. Tucker Ashbeck and Mitchell also had eight Landon Mitchell both rebounds and five assists. scored 19 points to lead the Cribbs scored six points and Mustangs in scoring. Ash- had five rebounds for the beck also hauled down 14 Mustangs, while Proudfoot rebounds in the game. Ca- provided valuable minutes den George was next with in the game and scored two 10 points and also recorded points. four assists. Thomas Bales This week the Mus- finished the game with six tangs continue BMC play points and Trevor Nichols as they host the Enterprise had four. With two points Outlaws on Friday night each were David Cribbs and and then travel to Irrigon Cameron Proudfoot. on Saturday to play the A big rematch game Knights. with the Stanfield Tigers, Colt wrestling ends successful season Kadie Henrichs looks to pass the ball against de- fenders. - Photo by Tylynn Cimmiyotti By Tylynn Cimmiyotti The Heppner Mustangs girls basketball team won one and lost one during their Blue Mountain Con- ference play this past week. Their OSAA ranking stayed the same at the 22 spot, while their conference re- cord stands at 2-5, 7-12 overall. On Thursday the Mustangs hosted the Grant Union Prospectors and took the win, 45-14. Friday, the team travelled to Stanfield and fell to the Tigers 31-56. Thursday’s game was the second time that Hep- pner has met the Prospector during league play, and the only team that the Mustangs have been able to hold down thus far. Grant Union came out strong, winning the jump, but it wasn’t long before Heppner took the ball back and scored the game’s first two points. Grant Union was a rough and tumble team, hustling after the ball and doing everything they could to keep the Mustangs from scoring, but that proved in vain when the Mus- tangs took and kept the lead throughout the game. Heppner girls played their game, kept their heads up and pushed forward. At the end of the first quarter Heppner led Grant Union 10-2, and 24-5 at the half. The Mustangs continued to outscore the Prospectors for the rest of the game. Hallee Hisler led the Mustangs with 12 points, and Zandra Masterson was right behind her with 11 more. Stats: Zandra Master- son: points: 11, turnover: 1; H. Hisler: points: 12, rebound: 1, fouls: 2, turn- over: 1, fouled: 1; H. Na- tion: points: 4, rebound: 1, fouls: 3; A. Gerry: points: 3, rebound: 1, fouls: 2; M. Cutsforth: points: 3. L. Nichols: point: 1; K. Spiv- ey: points: 4, rebound: 1, Lily Nichols goes up to for shot against Grant Union. - Photo by Tylynn Cimmiyotti turnover: 1; H. Wenberg: points: 5, rebounds: 8, foul: 1; K. Henrichs: rebound: 1, fouls: 2. Friday the team took the short trip to Stanfield to take on the top-ranked Blue Mountain Conference team, the Stanfield Tigers. Heppner showed up and shut down the key. Their de- fense worked hard to keep the Tigers from bringing the ball into the key for easy points. The Tigers were forced to take their shots from the three-point line, and just were not hitting them in the first half. The Mustangs held the other team to six points in the first, then matched them, ending the quarter tied. Heppner fell behind in the second and trailed behind Stanfield 14-20 at the half. Heppner was not able to catch up in the second half, being outscored by nine points in the third and 10 points in the fourth, sealing the Tigers’ win over the Mustangs, 31-56. Hallee Hisler led the Mustangs again with 10 points, and Ava Gerry fol- lowed with six more points for the team. Stats: Zandra Master- son: points: 5, rebound: 1, foul: 1; H. Hisler: points: 10, rebounds: 4, turnovers: 2; H. Nation: points: 4, rebounds: 2 fouls: 2, turn- over: 1; A. Gerry: points: 6, rebound: 1, turnover: 1; M. Cutsforth: turnover: 1; K. Spivey: rebound: 1, foul: 1, turnover: 1; H. Wenberg: points: 4, rebound: 1, fouls: 4; K. Henrichs: points: 2, foul: 1, turnover: 1. This week the Mustangs will meet Enterprise and Ir- rigon for league games. The first will be home on Friday, games starting at 3 p.m. For the second game, the Mus- tangs will be traveling to Irrigon on Saturday, games starting at 1 p.m. Currin named to MSU president’s list This year’s Colt Wrestling program can be consid- ered a success on many fronts, especially if numbers of excited children are any indication. About 75 Colt wrestlers signed up for the short season. They were mentored and coached by the junior high and high school wrestlers and their coaches. All in all, about 116 kids are wrestling in Heppner among the three age levels. Heppner High School wrestling is guid- ed by head coach Zac Brown and assistant coaches Tyler Robinson and Mark and Alaina Lemmon. -Photo by Tylynn Cimmiyotti President’s List for fall semester 2022 at Montana State University. Currin, a senior at MSU, earned her spot with a 4.0 GPA last semester. Currin also participates in MSU rodeo in goat tying, breakaway roping, barrel racing and team roping. She was a 2022 College Nation- Jacee Currin al Finals Rodeo qualifier for Jacee Currin of Hep- MSU Bobcat rodeo. pner was named to the Heppner JV boys lose hard-fought games The Heppner High School boys junior varsity lost their last three games to bring their overall record to 8-7 on the season. The JV Mustangs lost to the Ione Cardinals 38-26, the Grant Union Prospectors 59-57 and the Stanfield Tigers 64-35. A slow start in their game with Ione set the tone for the whole evening for the Mustangs. Heppner trailed 11-2 after one and 23-11 at the half. Each team scored 15 points in the sec- ond half, but the Mustangs could get no closer and lost by the score of 38-26. Owen Cunningham led the team in scoring with nine points. Thomas Bales had eight, and with three points each were Cooper Wight and Caleb George. Joseph Albitre finished with two points and Mason Orem one. A conference matchup with Grant Union saw a close game throughout. Heppner led 16-13 after the first quarter and then trailed 37-35 at halftime. The Mustangs outscored the Prospectors 12-6 in the third to lead 47-43 but then gave up the lead in the fourth quarter as they were outscored 16-10. The last minute of the game was back and forth, and the Mustangs had a chance to tie the game at the very end, but a shot rolled off of the rim to give Grant Union the close 59-57 win. Orem led the team with 15 points. With nine points each were Albitre, George and Cunningham. Bales was next with eight, and with four points was Lane Critchlow. Finishing off the scoring for the Mustangs was Wight with three. Heppner traveled to Stanfield to play the best JV team in the conference. The Mustangs trailed 17-11 at the end of the first quarter and 27-13 at halftime. It was 49-22 at the end of the third quarter, and the final score was 64-35. Orem led the team again in scoring with 24 points. Wight was next with seven, Critchlow had three and Albitre finished with one. This week the Mus- tangs will play the En- terprise Outlaws and the Irrigon Knights. The JV Mustangs then have an added game with the Irri- gon Knights at home on Tuesday, Feb. 7, at 6 p.m. Wrestling seniors were honored last Saturday at the Bank of Eastern Oregon Invitational in Heppner. Pictured L-R are wrestlers and parents Rosa and Saul Lopez, Doug and Ty Boor, Chace and Ann Jones, Brenda Collins, Kylie Holden, and Toby Boatwright. -Photo by Tylynn Cimmiyotti Kylie Holden in the final round. - Photo by Tylynn Cimmiyotti Ty Boor trying to pin oppenent. - Photo by Tylynn Cimmiyotti Chance Jones makes his move. - Photo by Tylynn Cimmiyotti Heppner hosted the 138/ Saul Lopez (20-9) Bank of Eastern Oregon placed 2 nd and scored 22.0 Invitational wrestling tour- team points. nament last Saturday. Four- 145/ Zach Brown (22- teen schools participat- 10) placed 2 nd and scored ed; Burns, Crane, Culver, 20.0 team points. Echo, Elgin, Grant Union, 145/ Hayden McMa- Imbler, Irrigon, Joseph, hon (7-10) placed 5 th . McLoughlin, Pine Eagle, 152/ Owen Guerra (2- Riverside and Umatilla at- 15) placed 6 th . tended along with Heppner. 152/ Tyler Boor (5-6) The home team placed placed 5 th and scored 11.0 third with a strong showing team points. in the final matches, with 160/ Taylor Moore (4- seven wrestlers making it 15) placed 6 th and scored onto the podium. Cad Cun- 3.0 team points. ningham took top honors in 170/ Landon McMa- his bracket. hon (10-10) placed 3 rd and The senior wrestlers scored 9.0 team points. and their parents were 195/ Jaime Cavan (13- honored during the break 11) placed 2 nd and scored between brackets. Senior 22.0 team points. wrestlers are Chace Jones, 220/ Cade Cunningham Saul Lopez, Kylie Holden (20-7) placed 1 st and scored and Ty Boor. 28.0 team points. Heppner wrestlers and 110 & 115 Girls/ Loren their results were: Trujillo (2-5) placed 2 nd and 120/ Chase Jones (6- scored 4.0 team points. 13) placed 5 th and scored 145 & 155 Girls/ Kylie 11.0 team points. Holden (3-4) placed 3 rd and scored 9.0 team points. Valby Lutheran Church Valby Road Ione Oregon. 97843 Church Services 1st & 3rd Sundays 10:00 AM Available for: Weddings • Funerals Family Events 541-422-7300 Old Country Church All Are Welcome