A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2018
Herald Sports
Irrigon sweeps doubleheader
By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ
STAFF WRITER
The Irrigon basketball
teams stuck to their winning
ways at their home tourna-
ment Friday and Saturday.
The girls handed Pilot Rock
its first loss at the invite,
while the boys ran away
with a 81-71 win after Pilot
Rock was unable to execute
an upset.
After the girls bested the
Rockets 47-41, the boys
took the court at Irrigon Ele-
mentary, a change of venue
because of a leak in the high
school gym roof.
The packed house wit-
nessed quite possibly the
Knight’s most electrify-
ing game of the season, as
they outlasted the Rock-
ets to remain perfect on the
season.
“It’s an emotional game,”
head coach Davie Salas said.
“I’m sure Pilot Rock always
wants to beat the Irrigon
kids and vice versa.”
The opening quarter was
a good indication of how
close the game would be,
as the teams ended the first
eight minutes with the score
knotted at 17 points apiece.
“When you take a team
lightly, and that’s what hap-
pened, you get a scare like
that,” Salas added.
In the second quarter,
the lead changed four times
before Pilot Rock went on
a 7-1 run to have the upper
hand at 28-22 with just over
five minutes until halftime.
Although the game
remained close throughout
the next two quarters, Irri-
gon was slowly gaining the
upper hand.
Thanks to a 3-pointer at
the buzzer from Eric Car-
rillo — who finished with
eight points — and another
three from Lino Covarru-
bia to open the fourth, the
Knights went on a 4-2 run to
put the pressure back on the
Rockets.
Emotions were running
high as the two teams battled
it out. Two technicals were
given, one to each team.
Keith Fleming received
one in the first quarter after
exchanging words with a
Rocket, and Pilot Rock’s
Levi Thieme was tagged
with one in the fourth for the
same offense.
It was only after the
technical that a win looked
more and more probable for
Irrigon.
Carrillo sunk three of
the four free throws he was
awarded because of the foul
and the technical and from
there the Knights sailed to
its 11th straight win.
“You need these games,”
Salas said. “It lets you know
you’re not invincible. It lets
you know you’ve got a lot of
work to do.”
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PREP ROUNDUP
Umatilla boys make it
to championship round
of SAC Tournament
Heppner drops doubleheader, Echo girls find
success at Bouncin’ Cancer Tournament
HERMISTON HERALD
Umatilla Vikings
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Irrigon’s Natalie Romero shoots the ball trailed by Pilot Rock’s Sara Weinke in the Knights’
47-41 win against the Rockets on Friday in Irrigon.
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Irrigon’s Johnny Phillips shoots the ball guarded by Pilot Rock’s Levi Thieme in the Knights’
81-71 win against the Rockets on Friday in Irrigon.
The Knights were led by
Flemming, who knocked
down 26 points — 15 of
which came in the second
half. Johnny Phillips also
played a key role in the vic-
tory, contributing 16 points
of his own to Irrigon’s total.
GIRLS:
A day off sur-
prisingly hurt the Knights
more than it helped them.
Despite showing fatigue
against the Rockets, who
looked fresh after defeating
Mac-Hi 56-34 on Thursday,
Irrigon was able to hold on
and outlast Pilot Rock to
claim its fourth consecutive
win.
Irrigon had a steady lead
after the first two quarters.
The Knights outscored
the Rockets 16-4 in the
first and entered halftime
up 24-17. But even with
the upperhand entering the
final two quarters, Irrigon’s
sluggish second quarter and
rocky third gave Pilot Rock
a chance to strike back.
“I thought we started the
game (well), the first quar-
ter was good for us,” head
coach Mike Royer said. “We
shot the ball pretty well and
we passed it well and I think
defensively we played with
energy (but) we got tired
and you could tell — we
had trouble buying a basket
in the third quarter. Noth-
ing seemed to drop. We had
opportunities to pull away a
little bit but we never could.”
A late effort from Brianna
Rice off the bench in the
fourth quarter gave Irrigon
some momentum as it was
able to hold off Pilot Rock’s
final push.
Rice scored all eight of
her points in the fourth quar-
ter, including a pair of threes.
However, it was Jada
Burns who again led the
Knights with 10 points.
Three players chipped in
eight points, Ana Zacarias,
Kylie Wyant and Rice.
Both Umatilla basket-
ball teams set out to the
SAC Holiday Tournament
at Salem Academy Chris-
tian High School over the
weekend.
The boys entered the
tournament on a three-
game winning streak and
kept things going with a
big win on Thursday. The
Vikings blew out the Mon-
roe Dragons 71-34 and
then claimed a spot in the
championship game after
defeating the host Salam
Academy 59-54.
Umatilla was led by
Trent Durfey, who scored
15 points and grabbed
11 rebounds. Three other
players scored double fig-
ures for the game.
Behind Durfey, Sebas-
tian Garcia had 14 points,
Kaden Webb had 10 points
and seven assists and Seth
Cranston had 10 points
and five rebounds.
On Saturday, in the
championship
game
against Portland Adven-
tist Academy, the Vikings
came up just short and fell
61-51 to end the weekend
2-1.
Umatilla now sits at
11-2 on the season and
will have a three-game
homestand to bring in the
new year. The Vikings first
hosted Kennewick (WA)
on Tuesday — results for
this game were not avail-
able at press time — and
will welcome Stanfield on
Thursday and Irrigon on
Jan. 12.
The girls didn’t have
nearly as good of a week-
end as their counterparts.
The Vikings dropped
all three games at the SAC
Holiday Tournament.
After a 40-28 loss on
Day 1 to Western Men-
nonite, Umatilla scored
less than 30 points for the
fourth consecutive game
as it fell 48-26 to Portland
Christian.
On the final day of
play, the Vikings dropped
their 10th game of the sea-
son to East Linn Christian
Academy. The 43-35 loss
moved Umatilla to 3-10 on
the season.
The Vikings will return
home to face Stanfield at 6
p.m. Thursday.
Echo Cougars
The Echo Cougars
joined a handful of other
schools at the Bouncin’
Cancer Tournament in
Helix on Thursday and
Friday.
The girls basketball
team ended the week
unscathed after earning a
59-36 win over Ione and
a 54-37 victory against
Trout Lake (WA).
The boys, on the other
hand, were 1-1 after fac-
ing the same competitors.
The Cougars picked up
a nearly 20-point win to
open play Thursday.
The 70-54 win over
Ione was their first victory
in three games. But Echo
would split the tournament
after falling 51-48 to Trout
Lake (WA) on Friday.
Both
teams
then
returned home to welcome
South Wasco Country on
Saturday.
The girls moved to 5-7
on the season after a 57-46
loss to the Redsides. The
boys, however, matched
the girls season record,
5-7, after another big vic-
tory. This time around
Echo defeated South
Wasco Country 57-36.
Next on the schedule,
the teams will host Nixy-
aawii Friday for a dou-
bleheader. The girls will
begin play with a 6 p.m.
tipoff against the unde-
feated Eagles and the boys
will follow with a matchup
against the 9-2 Nixyaawii
boys basketball team.
SCHEDULE
Local slate
PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
Wednesday
Hermiston at AC Davis (WA), 7 p.m.
Thursday
Nixyaawii at Echo, 7 p.m.
Stanfield at Umatilla, 7:30 p.m.
Friday
Riverside at Nyssa, 6:30 p.m.
Silverton at Hermiston, 7 p.m.
Joseph at Echo, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday
Irrigon at Vale, 4:30 p.m.
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
Thursday
Stanfield at Umatilla, 6 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Echo, 6 p.m.
Friday
Riverside at Nyssa, 5 p.m.
Joseph at Echo, 6 p.m.
Saturday
Irrigon at Vale, 3 p.m.
PREP WRESTLING
Friday
Echo, Heppner at JO-HI
Riverside, Irrigon, Heppner duals
Saturday
Riverside, Irrigon, Heppner at
Riverside Rumble
Tournaments get the best of Bulldogs
HERMISTON HERALD
Over the weekend, the Herm-
iston boys basketball lost a pair
of games at the Crescent Valley
Invitational.
The Bulldogs entered the
matchup against the host school,
Crescent Valley, with newfound
momentum after picking up their
first win in three games a week
prior — a 72-52 victory over Dal-
las — but all was lost Friday night
as Hermiston suffered a 55-45
defeat at the hands of the Raiders.
“(It was) a pretty sloppy
game,” Hermiston head coach
Casey Arstein said. “We never got
into a good rhythm offensively, a
little of that was defensively not
getting out and forcing any kind
of turnovers or getting transition
baskets.”
Ryne Andreason had a game-
high 16 points for the Bulldogs
and both Jordan Ramirez and
Cesar Ortiz added eight points. AJ
Sandvig led Crescent Valley with
13 points.
The two-day tournament gave
the Bulldogs a chance to redeem
themselves Saturday after the
10-point loss. But again, they
struggled on defense and allowed
Central to get away with a 54-48
win.
The Panthers outscored the
Bulldogs 12-7 in the first quarter,
and used their size advantage in
the paint to extend the lead at half-
time to 27-23 despite Hermiston’s
best efforts.
The Bulldogs were able to
make some offensive adjustments
and try for a comeback after scor-
ing 25 of their 48 points in the sec-
ond half, but their efforts were
squandered by poor free throw
shooting that could have changed
the outcome in Hermiston’s favor.
Hermiston was 3-for-12 from
the charity stripe, while Central
was 22-for-43. The nine missed
points were what the Bulldogs
needed and then some to make
the trip back into town a bit more
bearable.
After the game, head coach
Arstein noted that the defense —
as well as playing cohesively and
consistently — was going to be a
priority going forward.
“We didn’t do the best job of
getting them out of the paint,” he
said.
Size has always been a disad-
vantage for Hermiston so along
with working on pushing teams to
the outside, Arstein wants the team
to get better at working together.
Hermiston will have only a few
days to work out its kinks before
the Bulldogs (4-6) head to AC
Davis (WA) on Wednesday.
GIRLS: The Hermiston Bull-
dogs returned to the court over
Christmas break and won one of
four games at the Nike Interstate
Shootout in Lake Oswego.
The four-day tournament is
comprised of 24 teams, including
Hermiston. Among the mix are the
top schools from OSAA’s Class
6A, Southridge and McNary, and
from Class 5A, Marist Catholic
and La Salle Prep.
In the opener, the Bulldogs
weren’t able to last the full 32
minutes and fell 42-30 to Oregon
City.
Hermiston went toe-to-toe with
No. 2 seeded Oregon City and
entered the break with a narrow
25-22 lead.
But a sluggish third quarter for
the Bulldogs and a breakout third
for the Lakers gave Oregon City
a late lead that it would hold until
the final buzzer.
For Hermiston, junior Jordan
Thomas finished with a team-high
12 points.
On Day 2, the Bulldogs faced
the host school after falling into
the consolation bracket with that
opening loss.
Hermiston was up 34-32 late in
the game, but the Lakers cashed in
with three points of their own to
claim the lead as the clock wound
down, but the Bulldogs dished
out a 3-pointer of their own from
senior Hannah Thompson to seal
the deal and a 37-35 win.
For the second day in a row,
junior Thomas led Hermiston with
a game-high 19 points.
On Friday, Hermiston scored a
season-low 26 points as they lost
to Sherwood at the Lake Oswego
Nike Shootout.
On the final day in Lake
Oswego, the Bulldogs left the
Nike Interstate Shootout 1-3 after
falling to Skyview (WA) 38-28.
The 10-point loss was Herm-
iston’s 10th of the season and the
Bulldogs (2-10) will have one
more road trip before returning to
the Dawg House.
Hermiston will have over
a week to prepare for its next
matchup at Post Falls (ID). The
Bulldogs will make the trip on
Jan. 10.