WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2015
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
SPORTS
Jaguars nip Cougars in hard-fought battle
handily, 71-46. Echo head
coach JD Brazil said TCP
just didn’t play well that
The Echo girls basketball night, and it could have giv-
WHDP KDV VXVWDLQHG LWV ¿UVW en his squad a “false sense of
losing streak of the season, security” Saturday.
albeit a small one.
“I’m not gonna say we
The Tri-Cities Prep Jag- took ’em lightly because
uars knocked off the Cou- we didn’t,” he said after the
gars 66-55 in Echo Saturday game. “We had our game
behind 29 points from Devin plan. We followed it. Some
Hirsch and 13 points and of those things worked ex-
14 rebounds from Corinne actly like I thought they were
Barnett. For Echo, Elizabeth gonna work, but you can’t
McCarty had 20 points and plan for us shooting our-
11 rebounds in the loss, and selves in the foot.”
Kelsey Ranger tacked on an-
Mistakes plagued the
other 18 points.
Cougars all evening. For
“We didn’t necessarily long stretches, they couldn’t
play bad,” McCarty said. get a layup to fall. They
“We just didn’t play our best. committed 22 turnovers and
We just gotta go back to the shot just 4 of 9 from the free-
drawing board and take a throw line.
break and see where things
With all those negatives,
went wrong. We’re gonna however, the Cougars were
EH¿QH:H¶UHJRQQDEH¿QH still in the game until midway
We’re not worried.”
into the fourth quarter when
Echo has now lost two TCP took a 16-point lead that
VWUDLJKW LWV ¿UVW WZR ORVVHV Echo couldn’t shrink.
of the season, and has a re-
Despite what Brazil
cord of 10-2. Tri-Cities Prep FDOOHG D ³ÀDW´ ¿UVW TXDUWHU
is 7-3.
the Cougars took an early
Echo drove up to Pas- 7-2 lead on baskets from Mc-
co, Washington, on Friday Carty, her sister, Hannah, and
to watch the Jaguars play a free throw by Erika Parks,
Connell, a 1A Washington but TCP came roaring back
school, and Connell won with six unanswered points
BY SAM BARBEE
HERMISTON HERALD
behind four from Hirsch. Echo up 16-12, and the Cou-
7KH¿UVWTXDUWHUHQGHGZLWK gars forced four turnovers in
SAM BARBEE PHOTO
Echo’s Elizabeth McCarty (center) and Tri-Cities Prep’s Emma
Slahtasky (left) battle for a rebound as Jaguar Bela Ghirado
(5) watches during the second half of TCP’s 66-55 win over the
Cougars on Saturday in Echo.
the period. TCP was held to 5
of 21 shooting in that period,
but the Jaguars wouldn’t stay
down for long.
TCP started to take con-
trol in the second quarter.
The Jags made four of their
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3-ball from Hirsch, and took
a 21-18 lead two minutes into
the quarter before a timeout.
Echo was in a zone then, and
TCP shot the Cougars out
of it. The next possession,
Maddie Hill hit another 3 for
TCP, and Brazil took another
timeout.
Out of the timeout, Echo
turned it over on three-
straight possessions, giving
TCP four points and a 28-
18 advantage. With 2:31 re-
maining in the half, McCarty
converted on a 3-point play
WR FXW 7&3¶V OHDG WR ¿YH DW
28-23, but an Emma Sla-
htasky 3-ball minutes later
took that momentum right
away. Ranger scored the last
three points of the half to
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WLPHGH¿FLWDW
The beginning of the third
quarter was Echo’s turn to
shoot well. The Cougars
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shots that period, and Rang-
er’s layup tied it at 32 with
5:37 left. TCP then went on
a 12-2 run to take a dou-
ble-digit advantage and the
lead for good. Echo again
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47-42.
The wheels came off the
Echo wagon in the fourth
quarter, however.
Down three with 5:28 re-
maining, the Cougars, again,
started well, but, again,
three-straight turnovers led
to seven Jaguar points and
a nine-point lead for TCP.
Echo never got any closer.
“We’ve got a short mem-
ory,” Brazil said. “Our girls
are gonna be angry at how
they played. I went into the
locker room (after the game),
and in years past I would’ve
said, ‘Look, this was the
issue. This was the issue,’
And these girls are in there
in the locker room saying,
‘We need to do better at this,
this and this. This is where it
EURNHGRZQ¶:H¶UH¿QH´
Echo begins its league
play in earnest with a 6 p.m.
matchup Friday against the
visiting Joseph Eagles.
WEEKEND RECAP
EO MEDIA GROUP STAFF
GIRLS BASKETBALL
HERMISTON 85,
KENNEWICK 56
Sidney Webb led all scorers with 11
points. Courtney Dohman and Iri Cam-
pos each chipped in with 10.
The normally adept Nixyaawii perim-
eter shooters were held without a 3-point
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Golden Eagles dropped their third con-
secutive game after starting the season
with seven wins.
Hermiston led by one at halftime and
traded the advantage for much of the sec-
ond half.
The Bulldogs have three nonleague
contests remaining: a road game against
Summit Saturday, a home game against
Sunnyside Tuesday and they host La Sal-
le Prep Jan. 16. Columbia River Confer-
ence play begins against The Dalles on
Jan. 23 in The Dalles.
League play at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at
Nyssa.
WRESTLING
At Nampa, Idaho, Hermiston wrestlers
Bob Colman and Sam Colbray each won
Jansen Edmiston went 10 of 17 from
WKHLU ZHLJKW FODVVL¿FDWLRQ DW WKH PHJD
3-point land, and Hermiston made 17 3s
49-team Rollie Lane Invitational on Sat-
as a team to wax Kennewick 85-56 Sat-
urday.
urday in Kennewick.
Coleman used two sudden victo-
CRESWELL 68,
The win was the Bulldogs’ 10th
ry wins to earn the top medal in the
straight, which improved their record to KENNEWICK 46,
170-pound weight class at the Idaho
UMATILLA 65
10-2. As of Monday, they were ranked
super tournament. Coleman beat fellow
At Salem, for the second straight day, Bulldog Brock McDonough in the over-
¿UVWE\WKH26$$$IWHU7XHVGD\¶VJDPH HERMISTON 39
the Vikings played extra basketball with time period and then did the same to
at La Grande, the Bulldogs have two non-
At Kennewick, the Bulldogs hung one of Class 3A’s best teams, and, for Brendan Harkey of Crook County. He
league contests remaining: a home game
against 10-0 Sunnyside on Jan. 13 and a tough against one of the top Washington the second straight day, they dropped won the championship match by 9-2 de-
road game against fourth-ranked La Salle schools before turnovers did them in late a heartbreaker at the Salem Academy cision over Kyle McCullough of Capital
Tournament on Saturday. Both Andrew (Idaho).
on Jan. 16. League play begins Jan. 23 Saturday.
Playing in a tied ball game midway Jaime and Eric Garcia failed to convert
against The Dalles in the Dawghouse.
The defending state champion Colbray
through the fourth quarter, Hermiston (2- layups in crucial spots for Umatilla (6-7). won all three matches at 195 Saturday by
8) threw it away on four consecutive pos- Jaime, who had a season-best 16 points, major decision or pin. He defeated Gun-
UMATILLA 51,
sessions, and the savvy Lions (7-1) took missed a go-ahead point-blank look with ner Robirts of Crook County by a 10-2
advantage to slink off with a narrow win. ¿YH VHFRQGV UHPDLQLQJ LQ UHJXODWLRQ ,Q PDMRUGHFLVLRQLQWKH¿QDOERXW
NIXYAAWII 24
Hermiston coach Jake McElligott was overtime, Garcia missed a driving layup
The win was Colbray’s second at a
At Salem, miles away from home, the pleased with the team’s effort, especial- that would have knotted the score at 67 in major tournament of the season at 195
area schools met in a consolation-bracket ly the play of posts Keegan Crafton and the waning seconds.
pounds. Colbray also took medalist hon-
contest at the Salem Academy Tourna- Trey Neal, who combined for 20 points
Nyssa defeated Umatilla in overtime ors at the Tri-State Invitational in De-
ment, however the Vikings (10-3) made and helped the Bulldogs win the re- on Friday. The loss is Umatilla’s third cember.
short work of the Golden Eagles (7-3) bounding battle by three.
overtime defeat this season.
Both wrestlers were a perfect 7-0
Friday.
“I thought we played well. We had the
“I’m proud of the guys for compet- during the two-day meet.
Nine Umatilla players recorded at rebounding edge,” he said.
ing,” Viking coach Derrek Lete said. “It’s
$QG\ :DJQHU ¿QLVKHG VL[WK SODFH LQ
least one steal and four had more than
Crafton had 14 points and 12 re- just the little things that are going wrong the 126 pound competition.
three, as the Vikings totaled 23 for the bounds. Chase Knutz nailed four 3-point that cost you the game. A missed layup
+HUPLVWRQ ¿QLVKHG ¿IWK LQ WKH WHDP
game. Kasandra Galbraith had a team- VKRWV WR MRLQ &UDIWRQ LQ GRXEOH ¿JXUHV here or there.”
FRPSHWLWLRQ 3RVW )DOOV WRRN ¿UVW SODFH
best six swipes.
with 12 points.
Umatilla begins Eastern Oregon and Crook County was second.
BOYS BASKETBALL
WATSON:
continued from page A1
ways the ball in her hand,
no matter what sport she’s
playing,” Bow said.
On the court, Watson
could be described as a
stat-sheet stuffer. She
scores; she distributes; she
gets steals, rebounds, etc.
She’s had scoring games
of 16, 19 and 23 points.
She’s racked up 10 steals
in a game and 10 rebounds
once, too.
“Things that we’re
HOOPS:
continued from page A1
interesting, are on top
of the Eastern Oregon
League. They have a
loss to Nyssa, but it was
at a tournament in Salem
and, therefore, counts as a
nonleague game. I have that
one circled on my pretend
calendar because the Vikings
lost by three in overtime,
and head coach Derrek
Lete said it was a game
they should have won. It’s
provided some motivation to
win those kind of games that
can carry through the league
schedule.
Nyssa is 5-5, Riverside
is 5-7 and Vale is 2-7, as
of Monday. Also, Umatilla
has hung with Irrigon
twice, although the scores
don’t indicate that. If
Umatilla can parlay these
disappointments, for lack
of a better term, into some
success, I like them in the
EOL.
running, she’s usually our
No. 1 option everywhere
we go,” Bow said. “We
know that. Other teams
know that. We run our
offenses through her first
and, hopefully, get her
the first best look we can.
Then she kind of becomes
the distributor from there.
Like last game (against
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once (opponents) lower her
abilities, take her away a
little bit, other girls stand
right out.”
Watson said she does
whatever is necessary to
make the team win. If she
scores 30 points and the
Lady Viks lose, she’s un-
happy. If she scores four
and they win, it’s a good
night.
“I don’t really look at
what I do,” she said. “It’s
more of a team thing. I want
to help out as much as I can
(for) the team. I want to
do everything that I can to
EHQH¿W WKH WHDP MXVW ZRUN
as hard as I can, every day
be in the gym ready to go,
get to work, get the work
done that I need to, to make
sure I’m ready to play.”
After this season, Wat-
son has two more years left
to play high school basket-
ball. Beyond that, though,
opportunities are already
beginning to present them-
selves for her to continue
her basketball career. Bow
says interest in his soph-
omore guard is beginning
to mount, and he believes
she can play small-school
college basketball, if every-
thing goes smoothly.
“I’m talking to multiple
people, and the interest is
out there,” Bow said. “She
would love to play. We just
gotta keep her on track and
hope she stays injury-free,
and good things can happen
to a kid like that.”
“If I can (play in col-
lege), then, yeah, I want to
go there,” Watson added. “I
want to play (in) college if I
can. If I have the opportuni-
ty, I think it would be really
cool.”
Her immediate priority,
however, is high school ball
and helping the 11-3 Uma-
tilla Lady Viks team to the
playoffs.
With league play be-
ginning this week, Wat-
son is optimistic about her
squad’s chances to make
noise in the 3A ranks.
“I feel very good about
(this season),” she said
FRQ¿GHQWO\³,WKLQNZH¶UH
gonna go far. As long as
we keep playing the way
we’re playing and mak-
ing sure we keep the same
goal in mind, make sure
we’re where we want to go
and just keep doing what
we’re doing, I think we’re
gonna do really good this
year. I think we’re gonna
go far.”
Now, go south on 395 to
6WDQ¿HOG
With Daniel Sharp
pulling double duty with
the boys and girls, it’s
a wonder the boys play
as well as they do. Not
that Sharp is any less of
a coach, but that’s a lot
of work. At the Bouncin’
Cancer series, he coached
four games in two days.
That’s a ton of basketball.
Sometimes I think the
players sense how tired
he is and sort of feed off
that. I’ve never thought
about people feeding off a
negative deal, but I guess
it’s possible.
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a tough league this year.
Irrigon is good. Heppner
is good. As of Monday,
Weston-McEwen is 5-5
but dangerous. The Tigers,
as I’ve written before,
have a good mix of size
and speed and can really
score. Their only problems
are limiting turnovers and
playing sound defense.
Those two things will be
huge factors against Irrigon
and Heppner. I don’t know
much about Heppner,
but Irrigon thrives off of
turnovers and transition
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both teams, in my opinion,
but it’ll have to play its
best to do so.
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girls, too. They get better
every time I see them
play. They’ve already
tripled their win total
from last season and
will undoubtedly get
a few league wins this
year. Sharp is building
that program from the
ground up, and in a
couple years I think it
will be very competitive
in the Columbia Basin
Conference.
Now, we head across
I-84 to Echo.
The girls have lost
just twice, to a very good
Country Christian team
and to a Tri-Cities Prep
team that has a very good
scorer. They’ve gotten a
taste of their new league
and waltzed through. The
Old Oregon League will
come down to Nixyaawii
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two league matchups is
coming Saturday. Those
two games, the other
landing on Feb. 6, will
decide the league title.
The Echo boys round
out the group of opposites.
As the girls sit atop the
proverbial ladder, the boys
are still climbing it. A nice
win over Tri-Cities Prep
on Saturday — a team that
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in a good place mentally
heading into the league
schedule. Head coach Ben
Campbell said a couple
weeks ago that he is happy
with where they are and
happy to be focused on
basketball rather than off-
the-court issues. I don’t
blame him. Echo is going
to be competitive in a
league with only one .500
team (Nixyaawii at 6-6).
Look for Echo to possibly
make some noise.
So that’s it. Thanks for
bearing with me. In about a
month and a half, the playoff
picture will be set, and we’ll
talk about that then. Plus,
it’ll start to get warmer, and
I can’t argue with that.
—Sam Barbee is the
sports reporter for the
Hermiston Herald and can
be reached at (541) 564-
4542 or sbarbee@hermis-
tonherald.com