WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2016
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
Herald Sports
February
Power
Rankings
J
ust when I think I have a
handle on time, it shocks me
again. It’s been four weeks
since we’ve visited the power
rankings, and I feel like I wrote
that column yesterday. Then
again, the Earth does spin at 1,000
mph. Do we know anything that
goes that fast? Other
than light?
But, I digress.
I’m good at that.
We have just
about a month
left of the winter
sports season, and
Sam
the landscape is
Barbee
beginning to form.
FROM THE
SIDELINES
Before we jump
into February’s list,
here’s January’s: 1. Hermiston
girls basketball; 2. Hermiston
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basketball; Umatilla girls
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basketball.
Let’s jump back into it, shall
we?
1. Hermiston girls basketball
— 14-3, 2-0, OSAA No. 6. Last
month: 5-0
These girls haven’t done
anything to warrant moving them
down. They’ve been consistently
good all season, from the
opening tip to now. January was
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is plus-95 in point differential in
those games.
Hermiston is second in the
state in points per game (56.5)
behind La Salle Prep at 64.5.
Hermiston has unsurprisingly
jumped to the top of the
Columbia River Conference with
two blowout wins over Hood
River and The Dalles. The only
close result last month was a
63-62 win at Sunnyside (WA)
who is 13-3 on the year and
beat the Bulldogs last season in
Hermiston.
Though just two league
games are under the Bulldogs’
belt (it’ll be three when this
column is published but due to
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here), Hermiston has once again
demonstrated its leagues ahead
of the rest of the conference. I’d
expect a sixth striaght CRC title
and another run in the playoffs.
But as coach Steve Hoffert told
me last week, things can happen,
injuries can happen. It may not
be prudent to start planning your
trips to Corvallis, but keep it in
mind. Hermiston will most likely
be there again.
2. Hermiston wrestling —
last month: 2nd at Reser’s
Tournament of Champions, 1st at
Oregon Wrestling Clasic, 1st at
Gut Check Challenge, 5th at the
Clash.
It was a busy month for
Hermiston wrestling with four
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dual of the season, and the
Bulldogs exited the month as the
probable odds-on favorite to win
another state championship.
Sam Colbray is dominant, as
usual, posting a 28-1 record. But
he isn’t alone. Fellow senior Bob
Coleman is 28-2. Valen Wyse has
taken several steps forward at
152 pounds, winning his bracket
at the Tournament of Champions
and posting a 26-4 mark, third-
best on the team. Colbray has
won every bracket he’s entered
this season — with his lone loss
coming in December to Trevor
Eichner of Post Falls — and
Coleman has won two of the
three individual brackets.
It’s pretty amazing to see how
much depth Hermiston can call
upon. Colbray can do either 195
or 220 pounds, and Coleman
can bump up to 195 from 182.
Hermiston boasts four guys with
more than 20 wins (Colbray,
Coleman, Wyse and CJ Hendon)
and has two more (Isaiah Aguilar
and Beau Blake) who are close.
Add in Julio Laiva (13-4) and
Devin Bosner (12-6) and there
are a handful of guys who can
win any match they enter.
With just the Oregon City
Tournament two duals remaining
before the Special District 4
tournament Feb. 19 and 20 and
See RANKINGS, A8
Follow sports on Twitter
@HHeraldSports
Heppner boys hold
on Wo beDW 6WDn¿eld
Stanfield girls ease
past Mustangs
By SAM BARBEE
Staff Writer
The play worked exactly as it
was supposed to.
With one second remaining
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down 44-43, the Mustang de-
fense collapsed down on Stan-
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the baseline inbounds, leaving
Brody Woods open from eight
feet out. The lob was accurate,
Woods caught it and tossed it at
the rim in one motion, but it went
off back iron, giving Heppner an
exciting one-point win Saturday
evening.
“What can you ask for? We
had the chance, had the oppor-
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Baros said. “Like I told the boys,
‘You can’t predict how the ball
is gonna bounce. It’ll go in or go
out.’ We had the opportunity.
“I knew by setting up that play
that the ball was probably gonna
end up in Brody’s hands. I knew
they’d be tight on Dylan. That’s
exactly how it happened, but the
ball didn’t bounce the right way.”
For Heppner (16-2, 6-1), it
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considering the motivation Stan-
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pner walloped the Tigers 83-65
Jan. 9.
“We knew coming in it was
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coach Jeremy Rosenbalm said.
“That’s two really good basket-
ball teams that gave everything
they had. I can’t ask anything
more from my team in terms of
effort or hustle. We’ve worked so
hard to get to this point, and to
have big road wins like this (is
huge).”
It was a back-and-forth affair
all night that was rather mis-
take-free. There were only a to-
tal of 15 turnovers committed by
both teams combined, and, for
the most part, there weren’t any
silly fouls, either.
Heppner led by 10 points once
when CJ Kindle hit a 3-pointer
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put the Mustangs up 31-21, but
it wouldn’t get any bigger. Stan-
STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE
HeSSner’s Caden Hedman ()
attemSts a layuS as a host oI StanÀeld
7igers deIend during the 0ustangs
44-43 win Saturday in StanÀeld.
STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE
STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE
StanÀeld’s 7ony Flores () rises over HeSSner’s C- .indle Ior StanÀeld’s
Àrst basNet during the 0ustangs’ 44-43 win Saturday in StanÀeld.
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was four after Tony Flores hit
a 3-pointer with 5:09 left in the
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up 13-8, Heppner watched as
the Tigers’ defense ratcheted up,
forcing three straight turnovers
while embarking on an 11-2 run
to take the 19-15 lead on Flores’
3. The possession prior, Thyler
Monkus converted a three-point
play to take a one-point lead at
16-15, then Flores hit his 3 for
the four-point lead.
Then Weston Putman took
over.
The 6-foot-2 senior scored 10
of Heppner’s last 13 points as
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a 13-2 run to take a seven-point
lead into the break.
“A couple of (guys) didn’t
play their best game (Friday)
night (in a 49-42 loss vs. Irrigon),
StanÀeld’s Cynthia Curiel (3) is
deIended by HeSSner’s -aFFe
Currin () and Rylee .ollman
during the 7igers’ 38-4 win
Saturday in StanÀeld.
and so they were amped up and
ready to redeem themselves to-
night,” Rosenbalm said. “Weston
was one of those guys. He was
pretty upset last night with the
way he played and we wanted to
come and show our fans what he
can play like.”
The Mustangs largely con-
trolled the action in the second
half, grabbing the 10-point lead
See TIGERS, A8
Bulldogs blast Eagles at home
Hermiston scores
54 in first half,
cruise to easy win
STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE
Hermiston senior guard Sara Ramirez (with ball) drives around Hood River
Valley’s Emily Curtis during the Bulldogs’ 78-43 win Friday night in Hermiston.
and a half of game time.
The Bulldogs stayed in the press
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Hood River coughed it up 13 times
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jumped to a 30-8 lead.
“We have to make sure we
By SAM BARBEE
Staff Writer
send our message early and get it
At the varsity level, competition done early,” Hoffert said. “We let
is generally very even. Parody, as The Dalles hang around. They’re
it’s known, usually prevents teams a good team, but I don’t think we
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scrimmages where they can work them away.
“You want to make sure you
on new plays, lineups or whatever.
That wasn’t the case Friday play well enough and you put the
night, when Hermiston thoroughly teams away that you should just so
dominated the Hood River Valley WKH\ORVHWKDWFRQ¿GHQFHIDFWRU´
The starters played the rest of
Eagles 78-43 at The Dawghouse.
Anticipating an easy win over a WKH¿UVWKDOIZLWKVRPHIXWXUHWDO-
team devoid of talent and numbers ent getting some run, as well. Han-
— Hood River (3-12, 0-2) suited QDK 7KRPSVRQ ZDV WKH ¿UVW GHHS
just nine players — Bulldogs coach UHVHUYHWRVHHWKHÀRRU)ULGD\QLJKW
Steve Hoffert wanted to use Fri- and she scored four points.
day’s game as an opportunity to try
Jordan Thomas, a 6-foot-1
new rotations, new plays and the freshman forward, started the third
press. He liked what he saw.
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“I tried to look for and look on why there is so much optimism
our reaction time to running a play, surrounding her. She netted eight
running a press, getting into some- points, battled for rebounds and
thing after a made basket, getting played tough defensively. Edmis-
into this defense after a miss,” he ton said the improvement is obvi-
said. “We kept switching defense ous.
based on misses, makes and free
“She never gives up,” Edmiston
throws. So I was looking for if we said of the freshman. “She keeps
got into the position we were sup- running down the court and she al-
posed to.”
ways tries for every rebound. And
The Bulldogs (14-3, 2-0 CRC) she’s usually there for the pass.”
dominated from the opening jump,
But that’s not all.
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“She’s starting to jump,” the se-
route to a 34-point halftime lead. nior laughed.
Opening in a full-court press, some-
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thing Hermiston had yet to do this were freshman Sidney Stefani and
season, the Bulldogs forced four
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See BULLDOGS, A8