WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2017 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A11 SPORTS Hermiston girls show promise By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ STAFF WRITER I t was a tale of turnovers for the Herm- iston girls basketball team. The Bull- dogs gave up 26 turnovers to the Chi- awana Redhawks, who capitalized on each to run away with a 58-43 win Friday. Hermiston was coming off of its first win of the season, a 55-38 victory over Handford (WA) on Tuesday and in the Bulldogs’ second home game of the week, they got off to a good start minus usual starter senior Maddy Juul. Hermiston chipped away at a sev- en-point deficit with the help of a 3-pointer by senior Hannah Thompson. The 10-2 run knotted the score at 10 points apiece after the first quarter but the Riverhawks (3-1) quickly reasserted their dominance. Their 2-3 zone shut down Hermiston’s offense and forced mistakes that have plagued the young team early in the season. “The activity of their zone really hurt us and some of our girls were a lit- tle indecisive with the ball,” head coach Juan Rodriguez said after the game. “We were successful when we caught the ball and when we attacked but when you’re a little timid of them.” Chiawana fed off Hermiston’s appre- hensiveness and turned turnovers into transition points and took advantage of second-chance balls to push its lead to 28-16 at halftime. In the first half alone, the Riverhawks tallied nine steals and 17 rebounds — compared to the Bulldogs’ two steals and 12 rebounds. Their depth off the bench also played a factor in their ability to stay aggres- sive, especially later in the game when Hermiston’s depth was tested. “What they do really well is they bring three or four girls off the bench that gives their starters some breaks and right now that’s what we’re struggling with,” Rodriguez said, “a little bit with our youth and also just with girls step- ping up and being able to fill roles and give us positive minutes to give girls breaks.” The Bulldogs (1-4) caught a small glimpse of the talent coming off their bench, as senior Regan Meyers and freshman Paige Palzinski racked up eight combined points. Hermiston also had spurts of aggres- siveness that opened the lane for buckets inside even with Chiawana’s 6-foot cen- ter, Clair Eubanks, guarding the basket. “Our effort is there and I think we work hard all the time,” Rodriguez said. “Now, we have to be able to channel that into making less mistakes defensively. Against a team like that, you make a mistake, they are going to make you pay and even when you play good defense they are going to make a tough shot. So, it’s just those little things that will win us Hermiston’s Paige Palzinski (14) goes up for a shot during Friday’s non-league game against Chiawana. STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY Hermiston’s Hannah Thompson looks to pass around Mykila Burton (20), of Chiawana, during Friday’s non-league game in Hermiston. Hermiston’s Jordan Thomas (34) shoots over Alyssa Agundis (2), of Chiawana, during Friday’s non-league game in Hermiston. Hermiston’s Jazlyn Romero (22) gets around Macey Morales (1), of Chiawana, during Friday’s non-league game. games down the road and that team has a lot of athletes. I was happy with the spurts of what we did, but then again we have to put 32 minutes together.” Eubanks was second behind senior Kennedy Cartwright, who scored a game-high 20 points on the night. Eubanks finished with 15 of her own with three blocks and three steals. After a standout night for sopho- more Jazlyn Romero on Tuesday, when she led all scorers with 15 points and was near perfect from the charity stripe — missing only one of six free throw attempts — it was a few other Bulldogs who stepped up Friday. Junior Madison Wilson was the most aggressive Bulldog on defense and fin- ished with a team-high three steals and one block. Junior Jordan Thomas led Hermis- ton with 12 points, and senior Hannah Thompson trailed with nine. Hermiston hit the road Tuesday for the first of two games. The results from the match up against Cleveland were not available at press time. The Bulldogs will return home Friday and host Clack- amas for a 5 p.m. tipoff. Pirates come out of tournament 2-1 UMATILLA — The River- side Pirates joined eight other local schools in the Columbia River Clash. The three-day tour- nament began Thursday with the girls basketball team facing Pilot Rock. The Pirates continued their win streak after a dramatic finish over the Rockets. Riverside held on to defeat the Pilot Rock Rock- ets 38-36 thanks to a strong second half performance from senior Sky- lar Wightman and a bucket at the buzzer. Wightman had an impressive outing with a game-high 13 points. The Rockets outscored River- side in the second half but a strong opening gave the Pirates just enough cushion to pull away with the win. On Friday, the Pirates stayed unbeaten on the season with a 45-14 win over Stanfield. Abby Hernandez scored a game- high 18 points to lead the Pirates and Alondra Caldera notched six points. When Faith Bible and Riverside met Saturday, only one would keep their undefeated record. Unfortu- nately for the Pirates, it was the Faith Bible Cougars that came out of the weekend unscathed. Faith Bible’s 40-35 defeat over Riverside did show the Pirates’ will to win. After a forgettable first half, the Pirates (5-1) came out of halftime with new found energy. Junior Brendy Avalos led the group with a team-high 13 points and three 3-pointers in the third quarter that sparked a Riverside comeback. “We outplayed them in the second half,” head coach Clair Costello said. “(They) really bat- tled, and made it hard for (Faith Bible).” Down 29-9 at the break, Riv- erside began chipping away at its deficit to give the Cougars a scare. Making few mistakes with only seven total turnovers, River- side put up a good defensive effort racking up 13 steals. But it was no match for Faith Bible or the pow- erful Fajer duo — Sarah and Katie Fajer combined for 34 total points. UMATILLA VIKINGS The Umatilla Vikings defended their home floor and edged out Union on Thursday to earn their first victory of the season at the Clash. A loss 50-20 loss on Friday to Faith Bible was a speed bump on Umatilla’s narrow victory to close out the tournament. The Vikings (2-3) defeated Stanfield 49-41 to cap of their busy weekend of play. STANFIELD TIGERS At Umatilla, Mac-Hi defeated Stanfield to notch their first win of the season at the Columbia River Clash tournament on Thursday afternoon. The Riverside Pirates stayed unbeaten on the season with a win over Stanfield at the Columbia River Clash on Friday. Abby Hernandez scored a game- high 18 points to lead the Pirates (5-0) and Alondra Caldera had six points. Kylee McClure was Stan- field’s high-scorer with seven points. The Tigers skid continued Sat- urday after the 49-41 loss to Uma- tilla. Stanfield now sits a 0-7 on the season. ECHO COUGARS On the first day of the Clash, Echo was handed its second loss of the season — a 52-14 loss to Faith Bible. The Cougars got over some of their shooting woes on Friday, as senior Marti Huff scored 23 points but it was not enough to lead her team to a win. Echo fell 42-34 to Union. Huff scored her team-high on 7-of-13 shooting and added eight rebounds as well for the Cougars. The Cougars (2-3) were able to leave the Clash with one win, a 47-25 victory over Mac-Hi on Saturday. Barnard leads boys to second place finish HERMISTON HERALD BAKER CITY — Junior Ryan Barnard and senior Carson Wrath- all had the best finishes of any Bulldog at the Baker City Meet on Saturday. In the second meet of the young season, Barnard earned a first place finish in the boys 100- yard backstroke after clocking 1:00.95 and Wrathall finished first in the 50-yard freestyle in 24:32. The top performance added 14 points to the boys total. The boys team finished with 67 points, good for second place and edged out Pendleton (66) by only one point. The girls team rounded out fourth place with a combined score of 19. Despite scoring 40 points below the third-place finisher, Pendleton (59), the Bulldogs had some standout performances from two underclassmen. Sophomore Jenna Thomas fin- ished in third place in both the 100-yard freestyle (1:18.89) and the 50-yard freestyle (36.38). Freshman Georgia Steven- son also made it into the top three during her first year on the team. Stevenson finished in third place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:17.62. For Hermiston, along with three other individuals who earned top three finishes, two relay teams also finished in the top three. Full top three results for both are listed below. ———— Hermiston Top-3 Finishers Boys 200-yard medley relay 2. Hermiston (Carson Wrathall, Lane Stevenson, Ryan Barnard, Seth Buck), 1:55.27 Boys 50-yard freestyle 1. Carson Wrathall, 24:32 Boys 100-yard freestyle 2. Ryan Barnard, 54.95 3. Lane Stevenson, 1:01.31 Girls 100-yard backstroke 3. Georgia Stevenson, 1:17.62 Boys 100-yard backstroke 1. Ryan Barnard, 1:00.95 Boys 100-yard breaststroke 2. Carson Wrathall, 1:07.43 3. Seth Buck, 1:14.07 Boys 400-yard freestyle relay 1. Hermiston (Wrathall, Buck, Stevenson, Barnard), 3:47.01 Team Scores Combined 1. La Grande, 281; 2. Pendleton, 125; 3. Baker, 91; 4. Hermiston, 86. Girls 1. La Grande, 161; 2. Baker, 64; 3. Pendleton, 59; 4. Hermiston 19. Boys 1. La Grande, 120; 2. Hermiston, 67; 3. Pendleton, 66; 4. Baker, 27. SCHEDULE Local slate PREP BOYS BASKETBALL Wednesday Hermiston at Walla Walla (WA), 7 p.m. Friday Condon/Wheeler vs. Mac-Hi (at Pilot Rock), 4:30 p.m. Ione vs. Riverside (at Stanfield), 4:30 p.m. Umatilla vs. Gervais (at Amity), 4:45 p.m. Putnam at Pendleton, 7 p.m. Wallowa at Nixyaawii, 7 p.m. Echo at Helix, 7 p.m. Heppner at Imbler, 7:30 p.m. Weston-McEwen at Grant Union, 7:30 p.m. Enterprise at Pilot Rock, 7:30 p.m. Elgin at Stanfield, 7:30 p.m. Irrigon at Union, 7:30 p.m. Saturday Mac-Hi vs. Enterprise (at Pilot Rock), 2:30 p.m. Hermiston at Lewiston (ID), 3 p.m. Echo at Pine Eagle, 3 p.m. Helix at Wallowa, 5 p.m. Weston-McEwen at Imbler, 5:30 p.m. Grant Union at Heppner, 5:30 p.m. Condon/Wheeler at Pilot Rock, 5:30 p.m. Cove at Nixyaawii, 5:30 p.m. Stanfield vs. TBD (at Stanfield), TBD Ione vs. TBD (at Stanfield), TBD Riverside vs. TBD (at Stanfield), TBD Umatilla vs. TBD (at Amity), TBD PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL Thursday Wilsonville at Pendleton, 7 p.m. Friday Condon/Wheeler vs. Mac-Hi (at Pilot Rock), 3 p.m. Umatilla vs. Gervais (at Amity), 3 p.m. Ione vs. Riverside (at Stanfield), 3 p.m. Heppner at Imbler, 3 p.m. Wallowa at Nixyaawii, 5 p.m. Irrigon at Union, 6 p.m. Weston-McEwen at Grant Union, 6 p.m. Enterprise at Pilot Rock, 6 p.m. Elgin at Stanfield, 6 p.m. Echo at Helix, 6 p.m. Saturday Mac-Hi vs. Enterprise (at Pilot Rock), 1 p.m. Echo at Pine Eagle, 4 p.m. Cove at Nixyaawii, 4 p.m. Weston-McEwen at Imbler, 4 p.m. Grant Union at Heppner, 4 p.m. Condon/Wheeler at Pilot Rock, 4 p.m. Helix at Wallowa, 5 p.m. La Grande vs. Irrigon (at Hermiston), 7 p.m. Ione vs. TBD (at Stanfield), TBD Umatilla vs. TBD (at Amity), TBD Stanfield vs. TBD (at Stanfield), TBD Riverside vs. TBD (at Stanfield), TBD PREP WRESTLING Friday Hermiston at Tri-State (ID) Pendleton at Banks Echo at Twin Falls (ID) Irrigon vs. Riverside Saturday Hermiston at Tri-State (ID) Pendleton at Liberty Tournament (Hillsboro) Mac-Hi, Riverside, Irrigon, Heppner, Echo at Mac-Hi Christmas Tournament PREP SWIMMING Saturday Pendleton, Hermiston at La Grande