Hermiston
S
PORTS
Power Rankings:
A6
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2016
January Edition
D
espite a harrowing up the colley and the OSAA
drive with constant ranking. )irst-year coach Vic-
reminders of the icy tor Baros’ style is working
conditions strewn aEout the for the Tigers; an up-tempo,
freeway, I’m Eack on the east three point-oriented attack
side after a week-long vacation. designed to take advantage of
Stan¿eld’s relative lack
I hope everyone’s
of size and athletic aEil-
holidays were as fun
ity. Irrigon (8-3, 4th) is
(and safe, of course) as
still good, though, and
mine, Eut now it’s time
Heppner (10-1, 5th)
to jump Eack into the
has players all over the
local winter sports scene
place, so the ColumEia
with the January edition
Basin Conference is
of my monthly power
Sam
proEaEly a three-horse
rankings.
race
Eetween the Ti-
Here’s DecemEer’s Barbee
FROM THE
gers, Knights and Mus-
Eefore the season started: SIDELINES
tangs. Circle Jan. 9 and
1. Hermiston Wrestling;
2. Hermiston girls EasketEall; 16 on your calendars for the
3. Stan¿eld Eoys EasketEall; 4. ¿rst meetings Eetween these
Echo girls EasketEall; 5. 8ma- schools as the ¿rst real litmus
tilla girls EasketEall; HonoraEle test for the Tigers.
Mention: Stan¿eld girls Eas-
ketEall.
4. Umatilla girls
And now, the ¿rst power
basketball 10-4
rankings of the new year.
1. Hermiston girls
basketball, 10-3
(8th OSAA)
At 10-3, the Bulldogs have
played the most games in 5A
(13) and have the second-most
wins to top-ranked South
Salem, which is 11-1. After
playing in two top-tier tourna-
ments — the Nike Tournament
of Champions in Phoenix and
the Nike Interstate Shootout in
Lake Oswego — the Bulldogs
have the third-Eest RPI, Eut just
the 15th-Eest colley ranking
Eecause of the numEer of out-
of-state teams they’ve played.
That’s why they’re eighth. But
one loss is to Spring¿eld, a
5A school in a 44-39 decision
in Eoth schools’ ¿nal game at
Lake Oswego, and Hermiston
took two more losses to Oregon
City — the second-ranked 6A
squad — and Chaparral (AZ),
which is 10-5 with consider-
aEly more size than Hermiston.
As the Bulldogs play more in-
state schools — especially with
league play quickly approach-
ing — expect that ranking to
shrink and expect the Bull-
dogs to again Ee a top seed at
March’s state tournament.
2. Hermiston wrestling
8nder ¿rst-year coach Kyle
Larson, the Bulldogs have
steadily improved. A dual
loss to Post )alls (ID) sparked
a second-place ¿nish at the
heavily-attended
Tri-State
Tournament in Couer d’Alene
and a dual win over Kuna (ID)
which Eested the Bulldogs the
last two seasons in Hermis-
ton. Most recently, Hermiston
held its own at The Clash, a
match play-style tournament
with Erackets of dual meets.
Hermiston ¿nished ¿fth there
against some of the Eest high
school teams in the country,
with the dominance of sec-
ond-ranked 195-pounder Sam
ColEray leading the charge, as
usual. With a couple Eig tour-
naments still to attend — Gut
Check Challenge in Bremer-
ton, Washington, Reser’s Tour-
nament of Champions and the
Oregon Classic — the Bull-
dogs can still stake their claim
as a top — or the top — team
in Oregon.
6WDQÀHOGER\V
basketball, 6-1
(17th OSAA)
After taking most of the
holidays off, Stan¿eld is sort
of lagging Eehind the rest
of the 2A ¿eld despite just
the one loss, a 54-52 game
to 8nion that saw the Tigers
shoot very poorly. But if we
take a closer look at what goes
into the rankings, you’ll see
Stan¿eld’s 17th spot sort of
lies. They have the Eest RPI
in the 2A ranks, which means
they’ve faced the tough-
est schedule in their seven
games. However, their colley
ranking, which measures the
Tigers directly against fellow
2A opponents, is 30th. That’s
the largest spread in the
state. )or some context, top-
ranked ImEler (9-0) has the
second-Eest RPI and the Eest
colley, so Stan¿eld isn’t that
far Eehind. They just are yet
to play enough 2A teams to
(12th OSAA)
The Vikings are sort of in
the same place as the Stan¿eld
Eoys team: they’ve got a good
RPI (8th), Eut the colley rank-
ing is lacking (18th) despite a
concerted effort to improve it
from last year. Back-to-Eack
losses to Salem Academy and
Creswell have hurt it, Eut the
Vikings will start league play
soon and 8matilla is the top-
ranked team from the Eastern
Oregon League with Nyssa
14th, Vale 15th and River-
side at 34th. Leading scorer
Aleesha Watson has had a lid
on the Eucket all year despite
getting good looks and the Vi-
kings are still 10-4.
6WDQÀHOGJLUOV
basketball 4-3
(20th OSAA)
Another team with a good
RPI (9) and a not-so-good
colley (29). A three-point
win (38-35) over Tri-Cities
Prep already shows improve-
ment from last year’s team
that stepped into relevance
for the ¿rst time in years,
mayEe a decade, even. The
Jaguars Eeat the Tigers Ey 19
last season, so hurdling that
Earrier this early in the sea-
son is a good sign. It’ll take
some time for the Tigers to
Euild the program-wide skills
and Eelief that already marks
some of the more consistent-
ly successful programs in the
area, Eut you can already see
the foundation Eeing laid.
Stan¿eld is one of two teams
aEove the water in the CBC,
the other Eeing Pilot Rock
at 9-5, so it’s feasiEle — at
least now in the ¿rst week of
January — to make the state
tournament. That would Ee a
huge achievement for Dan-
iel Sharp and Co., Eut you
can’t count out Heppner,
Weston-McEwen and River-
side, either.
Honorable Mention:
+HUPLVWRQER\V
basketball (6-6, 25th)
Wanna know something
weird" Hermiston has a Eet-
ter record than rival Pendle-
ton, Eut the Bucks (4-5) are
ranked 19 spots higher than
the Bulldogs. NumEers, man.
I don’t understand them.
That said, I like what Dave
Ego has done with the Bull-
dogs. Through 12 games last
year, Hermiston was just
2-10 and struggling to ¿g-
ure itself out. This season,
the Bulldogs appear to have
a Eetter idea of what they
want to do and are doing
a Eetter joE of doing that.
Austin Naillon is running
an aggressive fast-Ereaking
offense. Chance )lores is
providing scoring and tough
defense. Andrew James has
Eeen a pleasant surprise as
a freshman, landing in the
starting lineup after just one
game. Brok Palmer and Tre
Neal have Eeen solid at the
Elock, and Hunter Walls and
Dayshawn Neal add min-
utes, as well. At 6-6, Herm-
iston has the Eest record
in the CRC, and the three
War-on-84 meetings will
most likely determine who
wins the league. Don’t miss
those.
HERMISTONHERALD.COM
Vikings cruise after slow start
Umatilla girls take
down Mac-Hi
By SAM BARBEE
Staff Writer
All season long, the
8matilla Vikings girls
EasketEall team has strug-
gled with slow starts.
Monday night while host-
ing the Mac-Hi Pioneers,
it was no different.
The Vikings scored
just seven points and led
Ey one after the ¿rst quar-
ter, Eut turned it on in the
second and third to propel
a 54-30 home win in their
¿nal game Eefore the start
of league play.
Sidney WeEE led the
way with 14 points and
four assists, and Aleesha
Watson with 10 points,
nine reEounds and ¿ve as-
sists. )or Mac-Hi, Brittney
ErE led the way with nine
points and three steals.
“We usually do have
a slow start,´ WeEE said,
“Eut in the second half we
come Eack. I don’t know
why we do that, Eut we
do. It’s something that
needs to change Eecause
against Eetter teams (it’s a
proElem).´
The slow start was
mainly due to turnovers.
8matilla (10-4) commit-
STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE
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ted seven in that ¿rst quar-
ter, allowing the Pioneers
(7-5) to hang around.
8matilla didn’t shoot well
that quarter, either, going
3 of 12 from the ¿eld, 1 of
6 from 3-point range and
0 for 2 from the free throw
line. The Vikings Eene¿t-
ed from a Mac-Hi team
that did largely the same
thing — six turnovers,
3-of-15 shooting, 0 for 4
from the charity stripe.
Things changed quick-
ly in the second quarter,
though.
Two Brenda Campos
free throws to opened the
quarter’s scoring to put
8matilla up 9-6, then Alee-
sha Watson hit a runner
two minutes later and GaEy
Contreras was good for
two points on the next pos-
session, and 8matilla never
really looked Eack. Already
up 15-11, an 11-2 Vikings
run all Eut put the game out
of reach for the Pioneers.
8matilla led 26-13 at
halftime and continued to
Euild its lead in the third
quarter and WeEE 3-point-
er extend the Viking lead
to 36-15 midway through
the period.
The game, which took
only 40 minutes of real
time to play the ¿rst half,
Eogged down signi¿cant-
ly in the second half due to
more fouls and timeouts.
As a result, the turnovers
were cut down some, Eut
were still at alarmingly
high rates for Eoth sides.
Mac-Hi ¿nished with 20,
while 8matilla had 21.
“I feel like we did
good things,´ WeEE said.
“There’s Ead things and
there’s good things. Bad
things help you learn from
your mistakes.”
8matilla held its larg-
est lead at 44-18 after
three quarters, and a 7-0
Pioneers run midway
through the fourth was too
little, too late. But Mac-Hi
coach Brooke Garton was
happy to see the effort it
required.
NotaEle for 8matilla’s
defensive efforts were the
scoreless nights of Pio-
neers Sam Tveidt and AEi
Biggs, who had comEined
for 25 points Mac-Hi’s
last time out.
8matilla’s next game
is Thursday when it visits
Riverside for a 6 p.m. tip.
Mac-Hi, meanwhile, is
right Eack at it today when
it hosts DeSales (WA)
from Walla Walla.
In other action, the
8matilla Eoys topped
Mac-Hi 40-29. Go to
HermistonHerald.com to
¿nd out more.
———
M-H (7-5)
6 7
5 12 — 30
UHS (10-4) 7 19 18 10 — 54
MAC-HI — B. Erb 9, S. Carter 8, S.
Richwine 6, M. Yensen, S. Tveidt, A.
Biggs, B. Jones, K. Crisman, B. Smiley,
B. Hernandez.
UMATILLA — S. Webb 14, M. Paz
12, A. Watson 10, C. Dohman 8, G.
Contreras 4, T. Coffey 2, B. Campos 2,
G. Lemus 2.
3-pointers — M-H 0, UHS 4. Free
throws — M-H 6-17, UHS 6-10. Fouls —
M-H 11, UHS 12.
Moss rewarded
for big games
Deadline
nears for adult
league signups
EOU guards named CCC
Player of the Week
The registration deadline for
adult volleyEall and EasketEall
leagues through Hermiston Parks
and Recreation is Thursday.
The registration fee is $145
per team for volleyEall and $415
for EasketEall. Coaches must reg-
ister the team’s players. Limited
space is availaEle in Eoth leagues,
though late-comers can put their
name on a waiting list.
)or more information, visit
www.hermistonrecreation.com.
To register, call 541-667-5018 or
stop Ey the recreation of¿ce, 180
N.E. Second St., Hermiston.
A triple-douEle and an out-
standing
fourth-quarter
per-
formance helped senior guard
Maloree Moss garner Cascade
Collegiate Conference (CCC) Red
Lion Player of the Week honors,
the league announced on Monday
afternoon.
On Dec. 30 Moss tallied 10
points, 10 reEounds, and 10 as-
sists to lead the Mountaineers
past Northwest, 79-64. A short
time later, the Hermiston native
recorded nine of her team-high 14
points in the fourth quarter to lift
EO8 over Evergreen, 70-55, on
New Year’s Eve.
On the season, Moss is averag-
ing 5.4 points, 3.7 reEounds, and
3.2 assists per contest.
EO8 has won eight of its last
10 games and sits in a three-way
tie for second place in the CCC.
The Mountaineers return to
the hardwood on )riday against
Warner Paci¿c College. Tipoff in
Portland is set for 5:30 p.m.
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After two wire-to-wire duals the
Hermiston Bulldogs put a choke
hold on the ¿fth-place round roEin
Saturday at The Clash XIV in Roch-
ester, Minnesota.
The Bulldogs¶ ¿rst two duals
weren’t clinched until the very end
of their wins over Jefferson City
(MO), 40-29, and Prior Lake (MN),
-. But a run on pins put the ¿-
nal opponent, Hastings (MN), away
early in a 55-15 thumping.
After losing its ¿rst dual in )ri-
day’s Eracketed round, Hermiston
¿nished on ¿ve straight wins and
220-pounder Sam ColEray and
138-pounder C.J. Hendon left Min-
nesota unscathed with perfect 6-0
records at The Clash.
Many Bulldogs did more than
tread water in the land of 1,000 lakes
and Bulldogs Valen Wyse (152),
BoE Coleman (182) and Andy Wag-
ner (126) went 5-1 with Adrian Tuia
(132), Beau Blake (285) and Liam
Tarvin (120) going 4-2.
Blake got Hermiston started on Sat-
urday with a ¿rst-round pin over Jef-
ferson City’s Ryan Mohlman in 1:32,
and the Bulldogs threatened to run
away with the win early when RuEen
Madrigal and Isaiah Aguilar followed
with pins of their own to make it 18-0.
The teams traded the next six
Eouts, Eut where Hermiston earned
decisions, Jefferson City picked up
pins and maMor decisions Eefore
Eack-to-Eack wins cut the de¿cit to
just four points.
Logan Moriarty pinned Brock
McDonough in 1:41 in the
170-pound match to make it 30-26,
Eut Coleman got those points right
Eack with a third-round pin (5:10)
on Rashaun Woods to make it 36-26
with two Eouts to go.
Jefferson City 195-pounder Ja-
len Martin would earn his team a
victory in the next match, Eut Ey
avoiding the pin in a 5-1 decision,
Hermiston’s John-Henry Line se-
cured his team’s victory Ey giving
up just three points.
Not that it would have mattered,
though, Eecause ColEray never let
his opponent score in a 10-0 major
PREP SCHEDULE
Thursday, January 7
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Umatilla @ Riverside, 6 p.m.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Umatilla @ Riverside, 7:30
p.m.
WRESTLING
Echo vs. Irrigon @ Stanfield,
5 p.m.
Friday, January 8
WRESTLING
Hermiston @ Gut Check
Challenge @ Bremerton
(WA), 9 a.m.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Stanfield vs. Pilot Rock, 4:30 p.m.
Echo @ Joseph, 7:30 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Stanfield vs. Pilot Rock, 6
p.m.
Echo @ Joseph, 6 p.m.
Saturday, January 9
p.m.
Stanfield @ Heppner, 5:30
p.m.
Echo vs. Nixyaawii, 5:30 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Stanfield @ Heppner, 4 p.m.
Echo vs. Nixyaawii, 5:30 p.m.
WRESTLING
Hermiston @ Gut Check
Challenge, 9 a.m.
Echo @ Riverside Rumble,
9 a.m.
Swimming
Hermiston @ The Dalles @
Hood River, 11 a.m.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Hermiston vs. Summit, 3:15
decision to ¿nish off Jefferson City.
Hermiston also needed until the pen-
ultimate Eout in the Prior Lake dual to
make victory a mathematical certainty.
The Minnesota school opened
the dual on two straight wins, and
although the Bulldogs took the next
four, regained the lead with a three-
win streak that was capped Ey a 3-2
win Ey Ian O’Connor over Hermis-
ton 160-pounder Joey Gutierrez to
make it 15-13 with ¿ve weights to
contend.
McDonough and Coleman ended
Prior Lake’s victory streak with ma-
jor decisions to put Hermiston Eack
on top 21-15, Eut Sam Brunkow
gave his team a shot with a 5-2 win
over Line.
ColEray did the honors for Herm-
iston this time, though, and scored
another major decision, 11-3, over
Collin O’Brien that made it 25-18.
Blake capped the win with the only
pin of the dual in 1:39 over Alex
Nopola.
After getting just six wins Ey
pin in their ¿rst two dual on Sat-
urday, the Bulldogs tallied eight
against Hastings. A ¿ve-pin rally
in the middle weights erased any
hope Hastings had for a rally and
McDonough made the win of¿cial
with a 3:06 pin over Kyle Erickson
that made it 43-3 with ¿ve weights
Tuesday, January 12
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Hermiston @ Sunnyside, 5:45
p.m.
Stanfield @ Echo, 6 p.m.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Hermiston @ Sunnyside, 7:30
p.m.
Stanfield @ Echo, 7:30 p.m.
to contend.
Hermiston’s next action will oc-
cur at the Gut Check Tournament at
the Kitsap County )airgrounds in
Bremerton, Washington on Jan. 8-9.
———
Hermiston 40, Jefferson City 29
285, B. Blake (H) pins R. Mohlman, 1:32 (6-0)
106, R. Madrigal (H) pins G. Butel, 1:44 (12-0)
113, I. Aguilar (H) pins S. Martin, 1:57 (18-0)
120, P. Kuster (J) pins L. Tarvin, :34 (18-6)
126, A. Wagner (H) def. C. Mayberry, 7-2 (21-6)
132, T. Irwin (J) def. A. Tuia, MD 14-4 (21-10)
138, C. Hendon (H) def. Z. Hurley, 6-3 (24-10)
145, G. Dewitt (J) pins W. Sharkey, 2:45 (24-16)
152, V. Wyse (H) pins D. Barnes, 2:52 (30-16)
160, J. Brune (J) def. Joey Gutierrez, MD 12-2 (30-20)
170, L. Moriarty (J) pins B. McDonough, 1:41 (30-26)
182, B. Coleman (H) pins R. Woods, 5:10 (36-26)
195, J. Martin (J) def. J. Line, 5-1 (36-29)
220, S. Colbray (H) def. T. Sage, MD 10-0 (40-29)
Hermiston 31, Prior Lake 18
106, C. Raney (P) def. R. Madrigal, 12-8 (0-3)
113, C. LeMair (P) def. I. Aguilar, 6-1 (0-6)
120, L. Tarvin (H) def. V. Mosher, 8-1 (3-6)
126, A. Wagner (H) def. T. Smith, 5-2 (6-6)
132, A. Tuia (H) def. A. Hanson, 3-1 (9-6)
138, C. Hendon (H) def. W. Benson, MD 10-2 (13-6)
145, G. Charbonneau (P) def. W. Sharkey, 8-7 (13-9)
152, K. O’Neil (P) def. V. Wyse, 9-7 (13-12)
160, I, O’Connor (P) def. J. Gutierrez, 3-2 (13-15)
170, B. McDonough (H) def. K. Kaisersatt, MD 15-7
(17-15)
182, B. Coleman (H) def. C. Sund, MD 11-3 (21-15)
195, S. Brunkow (P) def. J. Line, 5-2 (21-18)
220, S. Colbray (H) def. C. O’Brien, MD 11-3 (25-18)
285, B. Blake (H) pins A. Nopola, 1:39 (31-18)
Hermiston 55, Hastings 15
113, C. Mader (HA) def. I. Aguilar, 6-4 (0-3)
120, L. Tarvin (HE) pins D. Edwards, 1:39 (6-3)
126, A. Wagner (HE) pins J. Schill, :56 (12-3)
132, A. Tuia (HE) def. L. Wilson, MD 14-1 (16-3)
138, C. Hendon (HE) def. S. Kopp, 10-5 (19-3)
145, W. Sharkey (HE) pins M. Wilson, 1:19 (25-3)
152, V. Wyse (HE) pins A. O’Connor, 1:24 (31-3)
160, D. Bosner (HE) pins C. Leflay, 1:11 (37-3)
170, B. McDonough (HE) pins K. Erickson, 3:06 (43-3)
182, B. Coleman (HE) pins B. Wasvick, 1:39 (49-3)
195, J. Miser (HA) def. J. Line, 4-3 (49-6)
220, S. Colbray (HE) pins D. Guck, :29 (55-6)
285, J. Schichel (HA) def. B. Blake, 3-1 (55-9)
106, M. Myers (HA) win by forfeit (55-15)