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S PORTS Hermiston A9 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016 HERMISTONHERALD.COM Hermiston rallies to down No. 4 Summit Bulldogs use 12-3 fourth-quarter run to comeplete game-long comeback By SAM BARBEE Staff Writer After trailing most of the game, the Hermiston boys bas- ketball team rallied in the second half to down the No. 4 Summit Storm 56-53 Saturday in Hermis- ton to give the Storm just its sec- ond loss of the season. Before taking a 41-39 lead with 49 seconds left in the third quarter, the Bulldogs’ (8-6) last lead was 5-4 in the ¿rst quarter. For interim head coach Dave Ego, the comeback was an indi- cation of the improved “attitude and work ethic” displayed by his group, which started last season 2-12. “It says our attitude’s getting better,” he said. “Not hanging your head, and doing the things that we need to do. They kept working hard and it was a good effort down the line.” Early on, Summit’s size gave Hermiston some problems. Play- ing without Tre Neal, Summit’s tall front line affected numerous Hermiston shots at the rim, but led just 16-14 after the ¿rst quarter. Hermiston started a small lineup ² ¿ve guards ² and wanted to run the Storm into oblivion. It wasn’t quite working, though, and Summit’s Jack Hur- ley hit a 3-pointer with 4:01 on the clock in the second quarter to take its largest lead of the game of eight points at 24-16. But, as happened all afternoon, Hermiston rallied to cut the half- time de¿cit to just three at 30-2 behind the aggressive fast-break- ing offense Ego employs, and a strong effort by 6-foot-5 senior Preston Peterson off the bench. “Going small like we did, we knew we could out-run ‘em,” Ego said. “That worked out for us. Pe- terson came in and played well and ran the Àoor well for us de- fensively, and that was necessary for us. It was a good team effort.” Summit tried to extend its lead in the third quarter, leading by as many as ¿ve after &am Baker’s putback with 2:51 left to move the count to 39-34, but a -0 Bull- dogs run gave them its ¿rst lead since the ¿rst quarter, and the fourth quarter began with things tied up at 41. Then Hermiston’s offense came alive with help from its de- fense. “We did a good job of closing out and contesting,” Ego said of his team’s defense against a Sum- mit squad that likes to, and can, shoot 3s, holding the Storm to just four. “We did a pretty good job of getting the post people in- side. That’s another weakness for See RALLY, A10 STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE Hermiston guard Chance Flores (1) rises for a layup over Summit’s Nick Mason during the Bulldogs’ 56-53 win Saturday in Hermiston. Road tested: Hermiston grapplers Dawgs rack up miles in December Preseason travel win Gut helps Hermiston girls appreciate Check Dawghouse Challenge By ERIC SINGER Colbray, Coleman take home individual titles By SAM BARBEE Staff Writer The Hermiston wres- tling team continued its recent success this weekend, winning the Gut &heck &hallenge at the .itsap &ounty Fair- grounds in Bremerton, Washington, just across the Puget Sound from Se- attle. Hermiston complet- ed the tournament with two individual wins and 163 points, besting the other 24 scholastic team present. The only team to score more — Japan’s Junior National Team — scored 228 points, but was not awarded the Gut &heck championship as it was an all-star team. Or- ting (WA) ¿nished third with 14 points and <elm (WA) was a distant fourth with 126 points. Sam &olbray topped &larkston’s (WA) Dylan Beeler in a close 2-1 match for the 220-pound championship, and Bob &oleman beat Taisei 0a- tayuki of Japan for the 195-pound title 4-2. 9alen Wyse ¿nished third at 152 pounds with a 2-1 win over Henley’s Daine Taylor, and Andy Wagner beat &hris Joner of Battleground (WA) by fall in the third round in the third-place match at 132 pounds.. Overall Hermiston went 23-20, with 11 of those wins coming in matches ending in deci- sions and 12 wins coming in matches ending in falls. Staff Writer When any basketball coach or athletic direc- tor puts together a season schedule, they typically like to keep things balanced. Plenty of home games, but still enough road games to test the team. However, Hermiston girls basketball coach Steve Hoffert wanted to give this year’s team a challenge — a tougher, unbalanced schedule that he believes will help the Bulldogs in the long run. Hermiston has complet- ed 14 games in the 2015- 16 season so far, and only four of those games have been played in Hermiston. In 10 away games played in the month of December the Bulldogs have traveled more than 2,800 combined miles by bus and plane, traveling to destinations such as Lake Oswego and Phoenix, Arizona for a pair of intense preseason tour- naments. The tournaments came almost back-to-back with each other, with the Bull- dogs playing in Arizona from Dec. 18 until Dec. 22 and then in the Port- land suburbs from Dec. 2 through Dec. 30 — with just enough time in between to spend a few days at home for the holidays. “We’re road tested now,” Hoffert said last month, “which I think can only help us come playoff time.” So when the Bulldogs ¿- nally took the court again at The Dawghouse on Jan. 2 — a long 21 days after their previous home game — the players were relieved and even had a new perspective on the feeling of playing home games. “It’s de¿nitely more re- warding now,” said Herm- iston senior Jansen Edmis- STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE The Hermiston girls basketball team spent most of the holiday season abroad, playing games in Arizona and Lake Oswego before returning Tuesday for a home game against La Grande, its Àrst in nearly a month. “It reminded me of playing AAU (basketball), but bigger. With staying in hotels, playing a lot of games with a lot of teams. It was cool.” — Jansen Edmiston Hermiston Senior ton. “We didn’t appreciate (playing at home) as much before, it was just a game, and now we do. It brought a calming effect.” In that ¿rst game back at home, the Bulldogs gave their fans plenty of satisfac- tion on the court, defeating .ennewick (WA) 1-38. Just three days later, Herm- iston took the Àoor again at home and again took the win, defeating La Grande 56-42 to improve their overall record to 11-3. And although the team was happy to get back home, the road trip is an experience the Bulldogs’ players will remember for a while, and it started all the way back in the spring of 2014. Hoffert, the eighth-year Bulldogs coach, had been trying for several years to challenge and reward his team with a trip to an out- of-state preseason tourna- ment. But for the last three years his team had sat on a waiting list, one that is judged partially off previ- ous year successes. Twice Hoffert anticipat- ed an invitation, and twice he was left disappointed. However after the Bull- dogs made their run to the state championship game last spring, Hoffert ¿nally received the coveted invi- tation — a trip to the Nike Tournament of &hampions in Phoenix — which was an offer he quickly accepted. “I didn’t want to trav- el with a team that I knew wouldn’t compete, but this (team) would do really well,” he said. When Hoffert broke the news to the girls in April of last year, he said they thought he was joking. “I had been talking about it for three years so they didn’t want to get too excited,” he said. But after he showed them the of¿cial invitation, the girls’ excitement shot through the roof, especially for Edmiston and her senior teammates. “I was super excited,” she said. “It’s my senior year and getting to travel, have a vacation and play basketball was pretty cool.” The tournament was a unique experience for the Bulldogs. It featured 90 to- tal teams originating from 18 different states split into six brackets for competi- tion. Hermiston competed in a bracket with schools from &alifornia, Arizona, and &olorado and won three out of the four games they played for a ninth place ¿n- ish. “It reminded me of play- ing AAU (basketball), but bigger,” Edmiston said. “With staying in hotels, playing a lot of games with a lot of teams. It was cool.” The tournament also brought in more than 80 registered college basket- ball coaches, ranging from the NAIA level up to pres- tigious N&AA Division I schools such as Stanford, 0ichigan State, and 0ary- land — presenting a great opportunity for players to possibly get noticed for the next level. Hoffert said the tourna- ment helped teach the team about where their skills stand right now as it got a taste of different styles and paces of play, some- thing that Edmiston and her teammates enjoyed a lot. “We got to see a lot of different defenses and things like that,” she said. “The teams were quicker than a lot of the ones we face and it helps us get in better shape.” But aside from the on- court play, the Bulldogs also got to do some team bonding in Arizona. Hof- fert took them to a Phoe- nix Suns NBA game and an Arizona State women’s basketball game, as well as a few shopping trips to the local malls. The girls also did some things by themselves in their free time, often gath- ering to watch a movie, more shopping trips, or goo¿ng around at the resort golf course. 0ore than 20 Bulldog family members traveled to both tournaments as well, making the experience that much better. “It was way more relax- ing,” said Edmiston. The lone drawback of the tournament was its proxim- ity to &hristmas, where the lacking holiday atmosphere and warm desert weather was a little different than the colder climate of Ore- gon the players were used to. “It didn’t feel like &hristmas there,” Edmiston said. “With no &hristmas lights on houses and warm weather … it felt odd.” Hermiston returned home from Arizona just a few days before &hristmas, and then hit the road again as quick as they got in for the three-hour drive west to See DAWGS, A10 Riverside leaves Echo 3-way dual 2-0 Echo/Stanfield, tops Irrigon By SAM BARBEE Staff Writer Dual wrestling meets are rare for small school pro- grams, as size differences and travel make them more dif¿cult to pull off than, say, Hermiston’s program which is used to the team-based events. Even so, Irrigon, River- side and EchoStan¿eld got together for a 3-way dual Thursday night that saw the Pirates go 2-0, and the &ou- gars 1-1, and the Knights 0-2. Riverside used its expe- rience to beat Irrigon 36-21 and EchoStan¿eld 33-12, and Echo beat Irrigon after the meet ended in a 30-30 draw. The &ougars, though, won on the tiebreaker be- cause they scored 24 points in head-to-head matches while the Knights scored just 12. The rest of the points came from forfeits. In the ¿rst dual of the day — Riverside vs. Irrigon — the ¿rst match wrestled was Irrigon’s Damon Sawyer against Riverside’s Ulises &alvillo with the Pirates up 18-6 on forfeits. Already up 11-2, the Pirate 145-pounder pinned Sawyer with a minute STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE Echo’s Damien Curiel (top) looks to control the back of 5iverside’s 8lises Calvillo during a 3-way dual at StanÀeld High School Thursday night. Calvillo beat Curiel 13-7. left in the ¿nal period, setting the tone for the rest of the dual. Pirate 152-pounder Ivan Escobedo followed &alvil- lo’s pin with one of his own, this one coming in the ¿rst period over Alex Walls. Irri- gon came back with a win, though, when Jeff Patton slipped past Jason Navarro 5-4 to move the count to 30- 12. Irrigon then won a forfeit, coming within 12 at 30-18. To close out the meet, Riverside just needed to not lose by pin and they had it, and that’s how it worked out. &hristian 0ichaels of Irrigon topped Zach Ferguson of Riverside to move the team scores to 30-21, then, after a double forfeit, Riverside’s Anthony Kernal stuck Tuck- er 0cAllister to end the day at 36-21. Riverside then got the upstart EchoStan¿eld club, which is vastly improved from last season. Kyle Rang- er lost a close match -5 to Pirate Gabriel Romero with several hand-locking penal- ties going against the Echo sophomore. Down 5-0 after one round, Ranger tied it at ¿ve in the third round, but two hand-locking penalties gave Romero two points and the win. “Kyle Ranger’s come a long way,” Raymon Smith said. “To lose it on a hand-locking is a mental See DUAL, A10
