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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 2, 2016)
A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016 Herald Sports Power Rankings: March Edition Hermiston dominates All-CRC selections By SAM BARBEE year, player of the year — Hermiston got seven spots. The Columbia River Con- Head coach Steve Hoffert was ference announced its all- named Coach of the Year after league teams Tuesday, and leading the Bulldogs to a 21-3 the Hermiston Bulldogs are (9-0) record, sixth straight strongly represented. &5&WLWOHDQG¿IWKVHHGLQWKH 2I WKH SRVVLEOH VSRWV 5A girls basketball playoffs. ² VL[ ¿UVWWHDPHUV ¿YH VHF- Seniors Sara Ramirez ond-teamers, coach of the and Jansen Edmiston are the Staff Writer W hat a long weekend it was, complete with me forgetting my OSAA credential in Hermiston on Thursday and turning a four-hour drive back to Longview into a six-hour drive that only allowed me to get three hours of sleep before Friday’s wrestling action. Anyway, let’s get into the March Power Rankings. A lot happened in the shortest month RIWKH\HDU/HW¶VMXPSULJKWLQ%XW¿UVWOHW¶V look at the February rankings. 1. Hermiston girls basketball; 2. Hermiston ZUHVWOLQJ6WDQ¿HOGER\VEDVNHWEDOO8PD- WLOODJLUOVEDVNHWEDOO6WDQ¿HOGJLUOVEDVNHWEDOO Without further ado... Hermiston wrestling: 10th state championship, four individual champions, nine team titles in 10 years, four straight titles. The accolades just keep coming for arguably the most dominant wrestling program in Ore- gon currently going. There’s a bunch of sidebar info published in this week’s pa- per, so I won’t rehash all of it here. Just know that what Hermiston is currently doing as a wrestling pro- gram is historic, and when you re- alize that three coaches have been in charge as the Bulldogs romp through Oregon is even more im- Sam pressive. It started with Curt Berg- Barbee er, who chose Shawn Williams FROM THE SIDELINES as his replacement, who resigned this summer and opened the job for Kyle Larson, who hasn’t missed a beat. It’s really tough to gauge wrestling because the structure of the schedule is different, and the best indication of who the best wrestling team usually comes at the state tournament. Hermis- ton dominated and left no doubt. For the next month, they’re the best here, too. Hermiston girls basketball: 21-3 (9-0), OSAA No. 5, unknown opponent in 1st round of state playoffs It’s really hard to drop the Bulldogs down. Really hard. But the wrestling season has com- pleted, and the basketball teams still have jobs to do. And it’s no different for these girls. They’ve won all 12 games in 2016 so far. They’ve aver- aged 66 points per game during the streak and KDYHDOORZHGMXVWXQGHUSSJGXULQJWKHVDPH stretch, a difference of 26. They’ve scored 70 or PRUHSRLQWV¿YHWLPHVDQGRQFHDQGKDYHDO- lowed more 60 points or more just once during that time. Their game-opening press isn’t fair, and their offense has only gotten more balanced as the year as gone on. Though Jansen Edmis- ton, Sara Ramirez and Maddy Juul are clearly the top three options, Hermiston hasn’t relied on them as heavily as they did earlier in the sea- son. That fact, more than any other, bodes well for the Bulldogs with the playoffs starting later this week. 8PDWLOOD JLUOV EDVNHWEDOO OSAA No. 9 district champs, plays Dayton at South Bend HS on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. Perhaps this is my fault, but the Vikings have been under the radar all season. No, I take that back. It is my fault. Quietly, the Vikings made quick work of the 3A Eastern Oregon League, helped in part by a horde of return- HUVLQ8PDWLOODEXWDOVRKHOSHGLQSDUWE\WKH sudden and rapid decline of the Vale Vikings. (YHQVR8PDWLOODZRQRILWV¿QDOUHJX- lar season games — all coming in the new cal- endar year — the only loss a surprising 50-37 GHIHDWDW1\VVD8PDWLOODDGYDQFHGWRWKHVWDWH URXQGVZLWKDZLQRYHU%ODQFKHW&DWK- olic on Friday, and will get No. 1 seed Dayton RQ7KXUVGD\ 8PDWLOOD¶V LQ\RXUIDFH GHIHQVH will have to come to play, but the Vikings are DGDQJHURXVEDVNHWEDOOWHDPZKHQ¿ULQJRQDOO cylinders. +HUPLVWRQ ER\V EDVNHWEDOO OSAA No. 20, hosts La Salle Prep in play- in round on Wednesday At some level, continuing to play when the regular season ends is a goal of every team, so when it’s achieved, recognition is deserved. Hermiston stumbled a bit at times, dropping three games — La Salle Prep, at Hood River and at The Dalles — that the Bulldogs probably should have won. They know that. They get another shot at the Fal- cons when they come calling today, and an ORVV WR 3HQGOHWRQ LV WKH ODVW WLPH WKH Bulldogs took the court. Tre Neal has provid- ed energy, strength, toughness and rebound- ing down low after missing some time with a EURNHQ¿QJHU,I+HUPLVWRQ¶VGHIHQVHGRHVQ¶W let it down — which is has a tendency to do, at times — the Bulldogs should beat the Fal- cons and get into the state playoffs. I wasn’t impressed with La Salle when they came Jan. 15, and Hermiston played better most of that game, and even led by double digits at one points. I expect Hermiston to win. But sports are magically unpredictable. 6WDQ¿HOGER\VEDVNHWEDOO 7KLV LV FRQIXVLQJ , ZDWFKHG 6WDQ¿HOG beat Irrigon in a really fun, well-played basketball game, then the Knights hammer the Tigers in the district playoffs. It’s that un- predictability of sports, I suppose. Even so, 6WDQ¿HOGKDGDJRRGVHDVRQ7KHUHZHUHVRPH LQWHUHVWLQJUHVXOWV²DSRLQWORVVWR8PD- WLOODDQSRLQWORVVWR+HSSQHU²EXWDOVR some really fun results — a one-point loss to +HSSQHU WKH ¿YHSRLQW ZLQ RYHU ,UULJRQ UH- FHQWO\ 6WDQ¿HOG¶V MXQLRUV ² '\ODQ *URJDQ Tony Flores, Ryan Bailey, Thyler Monkus and Co. — are one of the best high school classes in terms of athletics I’ve seen. Next year they should be great. But the word “should” always scares me. Follow sports on Twitter @HHeraldSports co-Players of the Year after impressive seasons and cru- cial contributions. The pair of guards also were ¿UVWWHDP $OO&ROXPELD 5LY- er Conference selections with sophomore teammate Maddy Juul. Kynzee Padilla was the other Bulldog selection, earn- ing a second-team nomination. ——— Coach of the Year: Steve Hoffert (HHS) Player of the Year: Sara Ramirez, Jansen Edmiston (HHS) 1st Team: Sara Ramirez (HHS) Jansen Edmiston (HHS) Maddy Juul (HHS) Brooke McCall (T-D) Kalan McGlothan (PHS) Iliana Telles (T-D) 2nd Team: Kynzee Padilla (HHS) Hailey Greb (PHS) Marlie Bloomster (HRV) Lori Cimmiyotti (T-D) Lauren Richards (PHS) 1 2 STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY Hermiston’s BrocN Mc'onough in blacN pinned 2raslo Lope], of Lebonon, Saturday in the semiÀnal round of the state wrestling championships in the 170-pound class at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland. STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY Hermiston’s Bob Coleman (left) wrestles Cavin Gilispie, of Crater, on his way to as 5A state wrestling title Saturday at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in the 182-pound weight class. 3 5 STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY Hermiston’s Sam Colbray throws -acob 7homson, of Summit, to the mat during the semiÀnal round Saturday of the state wrestling championship at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland. The victory sent Colbray to the championship round in the 195-pound weight class. Hermiston’s Andy Wagner reacts after beating Brawley Lamer, of Crescent Valley, to win the 5A wrestling title for 126-pounders Saturday at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. HERMISTON WINS 10TH STATE TITLE By SAM BARBEE Staff Writer The Hermiston Bulldogs wrestling team wrapped up their 10th team title, ninth in 10 years and fourth-straight team title at the Veteran’s Me- morial Coliseum this week- end in Portland. Four Bulldogs — Sam Colbray (195), Andy Wagner %RE &ROHPDQ and Valen Wyse (152) — won state titles, and three other Bulldogs, Liam Tarvin (113), Brock McDonough (170) and John-Henry Line, each were runners-up. “Long season. A lot of work put in. A lot of sweat, WHDUV$ORWRIZUHVWOLQJ´¿UVW year head coach Kyle Larson said. “(The state title) is the goal at the beginning of the year, and you set goals, meet goals, meet expectations.” As ever, Colbray was humble in victory. He didn’t SXPS KLV ¿VW RU UDLVH IRXU ¿QJHUV+HZDVJUDFLRXVDQG even-keeled. “It’s just another match, another day, another wres- tling tournament, another consecutive year,” he said. “Just going out there with an STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY Andy Wagner right faces off against Cade (]ell, of Churchill, Saturday in the semiÀnal round of the state wrestling championships in the 5A 126-pound class at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland. Wagner won the match to reach the Ànals. arsenal and wrestling how you know how to wrestle.” Coleman was equally humble. “It feels like a lot of the VWXII \RX¶YH GRQH LV ¿QDOO\ paying off, like all the hard ZRUN ¿QDOO\ KDV VRPH YDO- ue,” he said. “It’s pretty nice to know you won Reser’s and the state tournament. Call it luck, call it whatever.” Day one started slowly for the Bulldogs, but ended in a crescendo of pins that rocket- ed the Bulldogs up the stand- See CHAMPS, A11
