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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 2015)
A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2015 SPORTS Umatilla sends seniors off with win over Riverside Paz sparks run with six in second BY SAM BARBEE HERMISTON HERALD Thursday was senior night for the Umatilla girls basketball team, but a cou- ple of juniors stole the show. Courtney Dohman had a double-double with 13 points and Mari Paz scored six-straight points in the second quarter to rally the eighth-ranked Lady Viks past the Riverside Pirates 47-26 at The Pit. Down 12-11 late in the second quarter, Paz hit a pair of free throws and a pair of run-out layups to start an 11-0 run that bled into the third quarter to give her team control of the ¿nal matchup with the rival Pirates. With the win, Umatilla (18-5, 6-2 Eastern Oregon League) is a game and a half back of the Vale Vi- kings, who play Nyssa on Friday and Umatilla on Sat- urday, for ¿rst place. River- side (9-14, 0-8) falls further behind. “We started running our sets ¿nally,´ Umatilla head coach Scott Bow said. “We struggled in the ¿rst half trying to get our sets run, and I told my girls ... ‘Let’s start working on our stuff.’ It still didn’t happen.´ Then, after Riverside head coach Kevin Gilber- ton called his second tim- eout of the quarter, Bow gave it to his team straight. “I said, ‘If we’re not gonna run my sets, then I’m no help,´ the seventh-year coach said. “Until I can help you, we’re not gonna BONDS: continued from page A9 There are obviously more fans like Ross and Harlan. They sprinkle the east stand of The Dawghouse, and they know the drill. They prompt the introductory music by standing and essentially start the DROTZMANN: continued from page A9 her father attended, but, like her dad, she is considering optometry as a career choice, and she didn’t want to spend eight years at one school. Lin¿eld caught her atten- tion when Vaughn called and she heard about the program’s success. She said what really sold her was the town of Mc- Minnville itself. McMinnville is a little town nestled in the hills of the Willamette Valley. Drot- zmann said she felt at home four hours away. “Before I went (on my visit), my parents and I went and (visited) downtown Mc- Minnville, and it’s not like (Hermiston’s) downtown,´ she said. “It’s more like a cute downtown. I just fell in love with it. Then I went to the campus, and it’s old, and it’s pretty, and it’s green there. Everything is growing.´ She said, despite the small- town feel of McMinnville, the campus is large, “like Or- egon or Oregon State,´ which she liked. Drotzmann, though, un- derstands that there are few- er opportunities to continue playing softball after college, so it was important that she Umatilla’s Aleesha Watson (40) attacks the hoop as River- side’s Abby Hernandez (50) and Sadie Hasbeel (20) defend GXULQJWKHÀUVWKDOIRI8PDWLOOD·V7KXUVGD\QLJKWRYHU the Pirates. work.´ Umatilla did, in fact, start running its set plays, and the Vikings went from being down one to up eight by the end of the second quarter. “$t ¿rst, you want to be mad at yourself, but you have to remember it’s only (the) ¿rst, second quarter,´ junior Sidney Webb said. “You gotta get through this. You gotta focus. It’s too early in the game for you to do that. You just gotta play your game. You gotta let it go.´ Umatilla cruised the re- mainder of the game. Aside from a three-pointer from Sadie Hasbell on River- side’s second third-quar- ter possession that put the count at 22-15, Umatilla didn’t trail by fewer than double-digits the entire sec- ond half. Riverside was without key player in junior Jenna Shimer, and Ellie Sanchez went down in the third quarter with an unfortu- nate knee injury. That left the Pirates signi¿cantly short-handed and under- sized at the block. “When you’re down to being 5-foot-6 against 5-foot-11 and 5-foot-8, 5-foot-9 athletic girls (it’s tough),´ Gilberton said. “I’m proud of ’em. (The Vikings are) eighth for a reason. They’re big, they’re poised and they want to win.´ As far as the league standings are concerned, Umatilla needed to win Thursday night after con- secutive losses to Vale. “The kids didn’t real- ly see them as losses, and I didn’t really see them as losses, either,´ Bow said. “Vale is Vale. I challenge anyone else in the state to go after Vale and see what they get.´ Both Bow and Webb said the win Thursday was important not because the team had to rebound from its last two games against Vale but because it was im- portant to send the seniors off in style. Both said the Viking girls are very close, and Thursday night was emotional. Bow suggested the girls’ emotions might have con- tributed to the their slow start, as the Vikings only scored seven ¿rst-quarter points. In the second quar- ter, the emotions turned to pride, and the Vikings weren’t playing for a win — they were playing for the seniors: four-year var- sity players Iri Campos and Kassandra Galbraith and reserves Berenice Chavez and Kelly Barajas. “I think it meant more than anything tonight be- cause we’re a very close team this year,´ Webb said. “We just connected very well. We bonded more like a team, but as sisters in a way. This season’s been great. We had fun enjoy- ing each other and playing our game. I think it meant a lot.´ Umatilla got off to a rough night shooting, cash- ing in on just 3-for-18 from the Àoor in the ¿rst quarter and 0-for-7 from deep in a quarter that ended at a 7-7 draw. The Lady Viks didn’t shoot much better in the second, going just 5-for- 14 from the Àoor, while Riverside posted 3-for-10 and 1-for-8 in the ¿rst half. Umatilla was 25 percent shooting, Riverside 22 per- rhythmic clapping as the Hermiston starters are introduced. They live and die with the Bulldogs. In a sports age where loyalty is hard to come by, these folks are a model of loyalty. They are people who have created allegiances to institutions that have become like family bonds. I have it with my high school and for my university. Ross, Harlan and the rest of the east- standers have developed that bond with Hermiston High School, like others have done at other schools, like I have done. The bond with Hermiston High they’ve formed is a strong one, not likely to be discarded or destroyed. It’s a bond that goes past athletics and into family, past basketball and into parenthood. They are fans, but they are more than that, too. And it comes back to knowing from where you SAM BARBEE PHOTOS Umatilla senior Berenice Chavez chases and tries to save a loose ball during the second half of Umatilla’s 47-26 win over Riverside on senior night Thursday in Umatilla. ¿nd a school that correspond- ed with her academic plans. Her father made that point, too. “I’m excited for her to continue her collegiate ca- reer playing softball,´ Dave Drotzmann said, wearing a red Lin¿eld shirt. “For us, all along, it’s been about the col- lege education. There’s not a large professional circuit for softball players beyond col- lege, so it’s more about the education. So to have the opportunity to play college softball for a successful pro- gram like Lin¿eld and get the quality education like you get at Lin¿eld, I couldn’t be more proud.´ Drotzmann said she isn’t nervous about her next step after high school. Drotzmann’s best friend was recently accepted in Lin¿eld, so “at least I have a roommate,´ she said. “Abi’s a mature kid,´ her father said. “She works hard. She studies hard. She’s gonna be successful. So I’m not worried about her going away. I’m worried about try- ing to make all the games. So there’s nothing on her part I’m worried about. It’s the other side of the state, so (it’s) just being able to get there and watch games and see her continue her career.´ cent. Riverside managed to stay close because of its better 3-point shooting. The Pirates canned one in the ¿rst half and three in the second. The Umatilla run led by Paz in the second, however, and Sanchez’s injury in the third, plus signi¿cantly bet- ter shooting from Umatilla made a comeback bid too dif¿cult for the Pirates. Umatilla heads to Vale on Saturday for the ¿nal game of its regular sched- ule. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. (MT). ——— came. — Sam Barbee is the sports reporter for the Hermiston Herald. He can be reached at sbar- bee@hermistonherald. com UMATILLA 47, RIVERSIDE RHS 7 5 7 7 26 UHS 7 13 17 10 47 Riverside — L. Mashos 11, K. McCullough 0, B. Lomas 0, S. Hasbell 13, P. Pena 0, M. Camp 0, S. Wightman 0, E. Valasco 0, E. Sanchez 0, A. Hernandez 2. Umatilla — B. Chavez 0, M. Paz 9, K. Barajas 0, I. Campos 8, B. Campos 0, S. Webb 3, K. Galbraith 10, C. Dohman 13, A. Watson 4. SRLQW¿HOGJRDOV²5LYHUVLGH8PDWLOOD Free throws — Riverside 4-13, Umatilla 7-19. Fouls — Riverside 14, Umatilla 13. OREGON MANUFACTURERS. LOCAL BUSINESSES. YOUR NEIGHBORS. ALL GETTING MORE FROM THEIR ENERGY. Here in Oregon, thousands of businesses and individuals are saving money with help from Energy Trust of Oregon. With cash incentives for energy improvements, we can help you get more from your energy. + Are you ready to get more from your energy? Visit www.energytrust.org/more or call us at 1.866.368.7878. SAM BARBEE PHOTO Hermiston senior Abi Drotzmann signs her National Letter of In- WHQWWRSOD\VRIWEDOOQH[W\HDUDW/LQÀHOG&ROOHJHLQ0F0LQQYLOOH Serving customers of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, NW Natural and Cascade Natural Gas.