Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, January 8, 2025 -- SEVEN
Mustang alumni game gathers Lady Mustangs make statement
in Pendleton tournament with
past players
three dominant wins
Heppner traveled to
the Pendleton Convention
Center Friday and Satur-
day, Dec. 27 and 28 to take
on Knappa and Vernonia
in the Christmas Holiday
Tournament.
Friday’s game with
Knappa was a huge test,
with both teams ranked
high in the 2A rankings.
The Lady Mustangs were
victorious behind Hallee
Hisler’s burning the nets for
a 26 season-high game. Lily
Nichols and Katie Spivey
both chipped in six apiece
to take the 53-42 win.
Heppner easily cruised
for the 57-34 win versus
Vernonia on Saturday. Hal-
lee Hisler scored 20 points
and Delaney Stefani poured
in 14 points. Teammates
CiCi Stefani, Healy Hisler
and Katie Spivey added
five apiece. These were
two big wins for the Lady
Mustangs.
On Dec. 30, Heppner
played Dufur with a deplet-
ed Mustang team, with three
players not suiting down
due to illness. Freshmen
CiCi Stefani and Isa Payne
caught fire and scored 13
and 17 respectively to lead
in taking the 60-22 non-
league win. Added depth
in scoring was Lily Nichols
with 11 points and Delaney
Stefani and Katie Henrichs
with seven each.
This proved to be a
confidence builder in get-
ting other scoring oppor-
tunities to team players at
home.
Heppner now looks
forward to league play.
Mustang JV dominates weekend play
Kneeling (L-R): Brian Rill, Lane Bailey and Caden George. Standing (L-R): Hunter
Nichols, Brock Hisler, Aaron Griffith, Patrick Collins, Trevor Nichols, Mason Lehman, Roy
Collins, Stephen Thompson, Rocky Turner and Tate Gentry. -Contributed photo
The 12 th annual Hep-
pner Mustang alumni game
was held on Dec. 22 at the
Heppner High School gym.
Many three-point shots
were attempted, and many
were even made.
The Blue team led the
game at halftime 44-40. The
game went back and forth in
the second half, with both
teams leading the game at
one time or another.
When the final buzzer
sounded to end the game,
the Blue team had defeated
the White team by the score
of 95-84.
Mustang boys split last weekend
of pre-season play
a 24-0 lead. The first quarter
ended with the Pirates lead-
ing by the score of 27-2.
Riverside kept up the
scoring barrage in the sec-
ond quarter and led at half-
time 50-9.
The Mustangs switched
up their defensive strategy
after halftime and won the
third quarter 11-8. That
made the score of the game
58-20 at the end of three
quarters.
The fourth quarter was
played with a running clock
and many of the reserves
for both teams got playing
time. The teams played
close in the final frame
and when the final buzzer
sounded it was a 69-28
victory for the Pirates.
The top scorer in the
game for the Mustangs was
Gage Heideman with 12
points. Gage also ripped
down six rebounds. Scoring
six points and recording one
rebound and one assist was
Sup
er
ch
The Heppner Mustang
boys’ basketball team split
its final two non-confer-
ence games of the pre-sea-
son. They hosted the Dufur
Rangers and defeated them
by the score of 35-30 and
then traveled to Boardman
and were beaten by the Riv-
erside Pirates 69-28.
The Mustangs avenged
a loss to the Rangers on
their home court earlier in
the season. The slow-paced
scoring game saw both
teams struggle to make a
basket early in the game.
The score was 8-5 in favor
of the Mustangs as the first
quarter ended.
A strong defensive bat-
tle continued in the second
quarter and saw the score
tied at halftime 13-13.
The Mustangs did
stretch the lead out in the
early third quarter to six
points when they led 21-15.
Dufur battled back to only
trail 21-20 as the quarter
ended.
The Rangers took a
quick lead in the game
when they hit a three-point-
er to open the scoring in
the fourth quarter. Heppner
then hit a three-pointer of
their own to grab the lead
right back. It was a lead that
they would never relinquish
for the rest of the game. Du-
fur did tie the game at 26-26
before Heppner opened up
the lead to 31-26 midway
through the quarter. The
Rangers couldn’t get any
closer and the Mustangs
sealed the win by the score
of 35-30.
Leading the way
for the Mustangs with a
double-double was Ma-
son Orem. Mason had 12
points and 10 rebounds in
the game to go along with
three assists. Gage Heide-
man followed with seven
points, seven rebounds and
one blocked shot for the
team. Scoring six points,
grabbing four rebounds and
blocking one shot was Jo-
seph Albitre, and next with
five points, four rebounds
and three assists was Caleb
George. Jackson Coiner
scored three points and had
one rebound and one assist.
Caylan Proudfoot scored
two points and hauled down
one rebound in the game.
Keaton Coiner had four big
rebounds and three assists
for the team, while Marty
Medina had one assist.
Playing on their own
home floor, the Riverside
Pirates came out of the
locker room on fire. They
were making long three-
point basket after basket
and quickly jumped out to
Caylan Proudfoot. With five
points and four rebounds
was Mason Orem. Keaton
Coiner scored three points
and had six rebounds for
the team, while Jace Wilson
scored two points and had
one assist. Jackson Coiner
contributed four rebounds
and one assist, Marty Me-
dina had three rebounds and
one assist and Alakae Ro-
driguez hauled down three
rebounds and had two as-
sists. Joseph Albitre secured
two rebounds and had two
assists in the game, Caleb
George had two rebounds
and Tripp Stewart had one
rebound and one assist for
the Mustangs.
The Mustangs start
Blue Mountain Conference
play on Tuesday night when
they travel to Irrigon to play
the Knights. On Friday, Jan.
10, they will host the Enter-
prise Outlaws. That day the
games will start at 3 p.m.
with the JV girls’ game.
The Heppner Mustang
JV boys’ basketball team
had a successful week as
it won both of its games.
The Mustangs defeated
the Dufur Rangers by the
score of 33-29 and then
travelled and beat the Riv-
erside Pirates 42-33. The JV
Mustangs are 4-1 so far this
season as conference play
begins this week.
The Mustangs avenged
a 10-point loss to the Rang-
ers when they played them
on their home court. Hep-
pner started the game out
slowly and struggled to
score in the first quarter.
The team could only man-
age to score four points, and
Jace Wilson accounted for
all of those. They trailed the
Rangers 13-4 as the buzzer
sounded to end the quarter.
Things picked up in
the second quarter for the
Mustangs as they scored
12 points and held Dufur to
only five. Gage Heideman
came in and had success in
the paint as his teammates
found him with some nice
passes that allowed him to
score. Gage had 10 points
in the quarter and Mason
Seitz had two.
The teams played a
close third quarter and the
Mustangs were led in scor-
ing by Tripp Stewart with
four points and Mason Hau-
gan with two. Heppner still
trailed 25-22 as the fourth
quarter started.
The final frame is
where the Mustangs took
control and finished the
game strong. Heppner got
five points from Alakae Ro-
driguez, three from Wilson,
two from Caylan Proudfoot
and one from Stewart for 11
points in the quarter. The
Mustangs held Dufur to
only four points to secure
the win by the score of
33-29.
Heideman finished
with 10 points and Wilson
had seven. With five points
each were Stewart and Ro-
driguez. Finishing with two
points each were Proudfoot,
Seitz and Haugan.
In the game against the
Pirates, Heppner trailed at
the end of the first quarter
13-7. Wilson had five of
those points, while Darby
Spivey recorded two.
The second quarter is
where the Mustangs took
control of the game. Hep-
pner outscored the Pirates
12-1 in the quarter. Heide-
man had eight big points in
the quarter and Rodriguez
had four. The Mustangs led
at halftime 19-14.
Both teams scored 10
points in the third quarter.
Spivey scored eight points
to lead the Heppner team
and Wilson contributed
two. The Mustangs’ lead
was 29-24 as the fourth
quarter started.
In the final frame,
Wilson and Proudfoot led
the team with four points
each. Rodriguez hit a clutch
three-pointer, and Spivey
had another two points.
Heppner outscored the Pi-
rates 13-9 to secure the win
by the score of 42-33.
For the game, Spivey
led the team with 12 points.
Wilson finished with 11,
and Heideman had 8. Ro-
driguez contributed seven
points and Proudfoot four.
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