SPORTS
SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015
HERMISTONHERALD.COM
PREP BASKETBALL • PREP WRESTLING • SCHEDULE
Pasture golf
Bulldogs muscle past Eagles
event to raise Big second quarter
Hermiston
money for Echo pushes
into fi rst place
girls hoops
BY SAM BARBEE
HERMISTON HERALD
BY SAM BARBEE
If you go
When Echo resident
Phillip Marcum was in
La Grande visiting friends
recently, they showed him
an interesting game.
They took him out to a
pasture near their house,
where various areas were
cleared out and with PVC
pipe placed in the center.
Marcum, who describes
himself as “not a golf per-
son,” was perplexed. He
didn’t know what he was
looking at.
Marcum
said
his
friends told him the area
was set up for pasture
golf, a form of the old
gentleman’s game from
Scotland that doesn’t re-
quire perfectly groomed
grass, sand and ponds; the
course is just cleared areas
of a pasture.
As it turns out, Mar-
cum had volunteered to
think up a fundraiser idea
for the Echo girls basket-
ball team, and, after he
saw his friends’ pasture,
he was inspired.
“These friends told me
how fun it was,” he said.
“I thought that sound-
ed like a good idea for a
fundraiser.”
Marcum will host the
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Tournament Feb. 15 in
Echo. The event will run
from 8 a.m. to dark or as
long as people continue
to show up at the pas-
ture, which is two miles
past Echo school on a dirt
road. Marcum said people
should follow the signs.
The cost is $15 to play,
and there is no registra-
tion. All clubs and balls
are provided. The course
has eight holes, and there
will be a one-shot win-
ning hole toward the end
for which people can win
prizes.
“Just come out and
play,” Marcum said. It’s
up to people to come by
themselves or groups or
teams.”
Pasture golf itself isn’t
The Pasture Golf Tournament
will take place from 8 a.m.
until dark Feb. 15 at a pasture
in Echo two miles past Echo
school on a dirt road. Signs
will be posted to provide peo-
ple direction. Cost is $15, and
there is no registration. All
clubs and balls are provided.
For more information, contact
organizer Phillip Marcum,
541-376-5525, and leave a
message.
HERMISTON HERALD
a new concept. It’s sort
of a remembrance of the
early days of golf, when
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the norm. Only recently
— in the past 20 years or
so — have golf courses
really become carefully
manicured spectacles of
landscaping. There are
sanctioned pasture golf
courses all over the coun-
try, from Washington state
to Texas to Alaska, one in
Nova Scotia, Canada, and
even in Great Britain.
Although Echo’s pas-
ture golf event will re-
quire just one club — as
the pasture is particularly
hard on clubs — other
courses allow for a range
of sticks. Some courses
are even long enough to
use a 9-iron or a pitching
wedge.
Echo’s course, though,
is much smaller.
“The holes are any-
where from 45 to 100
yards apart,” Marcum
said. “It should play fairly
fast.”
For Marcum, the fun
of the event is helping out
Echo’s girls basketball
program. It isn’t a compe-
tition. He won’t award a
trophy or keep score.
He just wants to help
out any way he can.
“As most of the pro-
grams around here, they
need extra funds because
the schools are strapped,”
he said. “I’m just trying to
help them out.”
GO SEE IT
Saturday, January 31
Swimming
Hermiston @ Baker, noon
Girls Basketball
Umatilla vs. Vale, 4 p.m.
Echo @ Joseph, 4 p.m.
Boys Basketball
Umatilla vs. Vale, 5:30 p.m.
Echo @ Joseph, 5:30 p.m.
After a quarter of play
Friday, the demons that
have plagued the Hermis-
ton boys basketball team
were once again on dis-
play. Turnovers and con-
tested shots played right
into Hood River Valley
players’ hands, who would
take the steals or the re-
bounds and turn them into
points at the other end.
The Eagles didn’t shoot
particularly well that
quarter, but Hermiston
couldn’t get out of its own
way.
Then, in the second
quarter, the Bulldogs took
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half up 33-25 and riding
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over their Columbia Riv-
er Conference foes in the
Dawghouse.
Hermiston’s
Keegan
Crafton scored 20 points
and was active on the
boards all night, and Dillon
Zimmerly added 17. Chase
Knutz made three 3-point-
ers for the Bulldogs (5-11,
2-0). Tyrone Stintzi had 20
points off the bench for the
Eagles (8-8, 1-1). HVP’s
Dallas Buckley chipped in
with 12, and Skyler Hunter
had 11.
Hermiston also dom-
inated the glass Friday,
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fourth quarters, when they
struggled to slow their
play and work the clock,
the Bulldogs were suc-
cessful in breaking the
Eagles’ press, eliminating
turnovers and taking good
shots.
Hermiston broke the
game open in the second
SAM BARBEE PHOTOS quarter when Knutz hit a
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25-21 lead with 2:13 left.
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Crafton then got consecu-
tive baskets to extend the
lead to 29-23. Hermiston
grabbing 13 offensive re- the season.
bounds to Hood River Val-
Hood River Valley em- HQGHG WKH ¿UVW KDOI RQ D
OH\¶V RQH LQ WKH ¿UVW KDOI ploys an up-tempo style of 13-4 run to take a eight-
alone. On one possession basketball with quick shots point halftime lead. Herm-
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iston had four looks at the ¿YH HYHU\ IHZ PLQXWHV second half.
The Bulldogs’ next con-
basket after three offen- In preparation, Hermiston
sive rebounds.
practiced against its quick, WHVWLVWKH¿UVWLQVWDOOPHQW
The win put Hermiston relentless freshman team of area basketball’s War
in the top spot in the Co- LQ ¿YHRQVHYHQ GULOOV DQG on 84, when they head to
lumbia River Conference, against seven-man presses Pendleton Tuesday to take
a place that seemed far off to try and simulate Hood on the Bucks. Tip-off is
after a lackluster start to River’s high-energy attack. scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Echo wrestling team hosts fi rst home meet ever
small schools and one gym per
town.
Somehow, though, Echo Athlet-
%HIRUH (FKR¶V ¿UVWHYHU KRPH ic Director Raymon Smith made it
wrestling meet on Thursday, the work.
gym was abuzz with activity, but
“Nobody missed anything. No-
none of it was related to wrestling.
body didn’t get to practice (Thurs-
Both Echo basketball teams had day),” Smith said. “We made sure.
practice. The middle school basket- From my standpoint, as the athletic
ball teams had practice. The school director and as a coach, I’m making
carried out its physical education sure that nobody gets pushed out of
classes. Such is the situation with practice time.”
BY SAM BARBEE
HERMISTON HERALD
Sunday, February 1
No events scheduled
Monday, February 2
No events scheduld
Tuesday, February 3
Girls Basketball
Hermiston @ Pendleton, 5:15 p.m.
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Boys Basketball
Hermiston @ Pendleton, 7 p.m.
6WDQ¿HOG#+HSSQHUSP
Wednesday, February 4
No events scheduled
MAEGAN MURRAY PHOTO
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The mat was donated for the
night by local National Guard Staff
Sgt. Greg Cortaberria, from Herm-
iston, who helped set it up and tear
it down after the meet had conclud-
ed.
Riverside and Irrigon wrestling
teams both helped support the
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ing the meet in their schedules on
short notice.
“It’s nice to see another program
in the area getting started,” River-
side head coach David Boor said.
“Anytime you get a program start-
ed, you want to help them out as
much as possible.”
Hayden Hilliard will go down in
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gar to win a match in the Cougar
Den. It took all of 18 seconds.
“I think it’s cool,” he said with a
smile. “There’s never been a wres-
tling deal in Echo before. It feels
pretty good.”
It was a different experience
for the Echo team — comprised
of athletes from Echo and Stan-
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home crowd. Students from both
schools watched, cheered and sup-
ported their team. Parents were vo-
cal. The cozy Echo gym was about
half full, but the noise level got to
SEE WRESTLING/A12
SPORTS IN BRIEF
Hermiston Booster Club
Steak Feed coming up
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nual steak feed is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
March 7 in the Hermiston Conference
Center. Tickets cost $40, and the proceeds
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On average, the steak feeds generate about
$80,000 dollars per night and $100,000 in a
year. Call Joe Thompson at 541-571-4478
for more information.
PREPS ROUNDUP
EO MEDIA GROUP STAFF
At Riverside, the Uma-
tilla girls basketball team
extended its winning streak
to seven with a 58-28 win
over the Pirates on Thurs-
day night.
Aleesha Watson scored
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bounds, and Kassandra
Galbraith had 12 points and
eight rebounds for the win-
ners. Iri Campos and Court-
ney Dohman added seven
rebounds apiece.
8PDWLOOD
EOL) hasn’t lost since
a 54-52 heartbreaker to
third-ranked 2A Kennedy
on New Year’s Day, which
was also the last time the
Lady Viks allowed more
than 37 points.
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p.m. Saturday.
———
UMATILLA 58, RIVERSIDE 28
UHS (16-3) 11
16
26
5
—
58
RHS (8-11) 5
6
8
9
—
28
UMATILLA — Aleesha Watson 20, K. Galbraith
12, B. Campos 7, M. Paz 4, S. Webb 4, C.
Dohman 4, I. Campos 3, K. Barajas 2, B.
Chavez 2.
RIVERSIDE — Lacey Mashos 10, S. Wightman
6, E. Sanchez 4, K. McCullough 4, A. Caldera 2,
M. Camp 1, J. Haskell 1, J. Shimer, E. Velasco,
Y. Barrera.
3-SRLQW À HOG JRDOV — UHS 5, RHS 3. )UHH WKURZV
— UHS 11-17, RHS 11-31. )RXOV — UHS 22, RHS
16. )RXOHG RXW — B. Campos (UHS).
———
HERMISTON 89,
HOOD RIVER
VALLEY 22
The Hermiston Bulldogs
knew there would be nights
like these.
That didn’t cause them
to let up against the Hood
River Valley Eagles in a
Columbia River Confer-
ence girls basketball game
on Thursday, however.
The No. 2 Bulldogs routed
the No. 31 Eagles 89-22, an
outcome coach Steve Hoffert
said was necessary to keep
Hermiston on the right path.
“We talked about it com-
ing into league (play), that
there would be nights when
we wouldn’t see the level of
competition we were need-
ing to see,” he said of a team
with high goals for its sea-
son. “You have to basically
dominate these games to get
to where you want to go.”
Sara Ramirez led Herm-
iston (14-3, 2-0) with 23
points, and Jansen Edmis-
ton added eight assists to
go with her seven points.
Abi Drotzmann chipped
SEE ROUNDUP/A12