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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 2018)
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2018 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9 Herald Sports Bulldogs girls finally take down Buckaroos 43-36 HERMISTON — For the first two years of Maddy Juul’s Herm- iston career, beating the Pendleton Buckaroos on the basketball court was a given, never a toss-up. However, over Juul’s next two seasons the two programs effec- tively changed places in the league standing. The Buckaroos won back-to-back conference champi- onships and won four of the last five games against the Bulldogs — including three straight dating back to last season — going into last week’s regular-season finale between the two rivals. That’s why it was such a rewarding feeling for Juul and the rest of Hermiston’s five seniors as the Bulldogs were able to end their skid to the Buckaroos with a 43-36 victory at The Dawg House on Feb. 20. “Oh it feels so good,” Juul said, grinning from ear-to-ear. “To go out on top is the best feeling ... We just went into this game knowing there was no way we were going to let Pendleton beat us three times, so that thought in the back of our heads the whole game allowed us to be determined all four quarters.” Though the Bulldogs (11-13 overall, 7-2 Columbia River Con- ference) were winless against the Buckaroos (17-7, 8-1) this season, both previous games were winna- ble for the Dawgs as the outcomes weren’t decided until within the final minute. Last week’s game played out the same way for both sides, as the Bulldogs didn’t clinch the win until within the final 20 seconds. Jazlyn Romero led the Bulldogs with 16 points and senior Hannah Thompson added 11 points. The Bulldogs shot 13-of-50 (26 per- cent) for the game and were 14-of- 29 from the free throw line. Hermiston’s five seniors were recognized prior to the start of the game. The five girls — Juul, CONFERENCE CHAMPS STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Hermiston’s Sydney Stefani shoots the ball guarded by Pendleton’s Maureen Davies in the Bulldogs’ 43-36 win against the Bucks on Feb. 20 in Hermiston. Thompson, Regan Meyers, Alyssa Green and Hannah Earl — have been playing together since they were in fifth grade, and have given a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to the Bulldogs program in the last four years. After the game, Rodriguez couldn’t say enough about the quality of the five seniors. “I have five seniors that have been together since fifth grade. Some of them don’t get a lot of playing time, Hannah (Thompson) and Maddy (Juul) get the most, but the other girls are great teammates and when they do come in they do their job and there’s nothing more that I can ask. “Alyssa didn’t get in tonight, but man, she was loud on the bench cheering. Regan gave me good minutes when Jordan (Thomas) was in foul trouble, and I could go on ... I’m just so happy we can send those seniors off with a win in our last game in the CRC.” Bulldogs #ChooseKindness as a theme for final Pendleton- Hermiston matchup By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ STAFF WRITER HERMISTON — Signs that read “Be Kind” and “You Are Loved” grace the hallways and front doors of Hermiston High. In the wake of the recent suicide of Hermiston student Jenna Thomas, messages of kindness and inclusive- ness have covered the empty spaces of the school’s building. They even adorned T-shirts for Hermiston’s final regular season home games. Before the anticipated Pendle- ton-Hermiston doubleheader Tues- day, athletic director Larry Usher, along with other school and district officials, demonstrated kindness that came in the shape of said T-shirts, and cupcakes decorated with both Herm- iston and Pendleton logos that were given to students before the game. “Hermiston High School has experienced more than our fair share of tragedy in the last couple of years when it comes to our students,” Usher said. In 2016, 14-year-old Hermis- ton student James “JJ” Hurtado was murdered. And earlier this year, the school lost a recent alumnus with the death of Hayden Simon. With those losses in mind, Herm- Follow sports on Twitter @HHeraldSports PHOTO COURTESY OF HERMISTON ASB TWITTER Before Tuesday’s Pendleton- Hermiston doubleheader at Hermiston High, #ChooseKindess t-shirts were distributed to HHS students to promote a theme of inclusiveness. iston decided to use its resources to celebrate friendly sportsmanship. As Hermiston gets ready to move into the WIAA next season, the Bull- dogs have already said there will be no football games between the two schools next year, and no future bas- ketball games are currently planned. So, when the two teams faced each other on the court for the last time in what may be a while, they wanted their message to be clear. “Along with our district leader- ship in Tricia Mooney and our build- ing leadership, we made a choice to forgo some of the negative rhet- oric that comes with a rivalry game and choose kindness instead,” Usher said. STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Hermiston’s Jordan Ramirez drives on Pendleton’s Shaw Jerome in the Bulldogs’ 50-46 win against the Bucks on Feb. 20 in Hermiston. Bulldogs named CRC champions for first time in four years HERMISTON — Four years ago, Ryne Andreason was play- ing on an AAU team and not yet walking the halls of Hermiston High. A week ago Tuesday, his 3-pointer put the Bulldogs up one possession over the visiting Pendleton Buckaroos with mere seconds left in the Columbia River Conference title game. The play and that shot was what Andreason has spent the better part of 10 years work- ing on, and it all paid off when Hermiston claimed the CRC championship for the first time in four years. “It’s what we’ve been work- ing hard for our entire lives,” Andreason said. “We’ve been watching these high school games since first grade, it’s just, it’s amazing. It really is.” At the Dawg House, Herm- iston knocked off the three-time CRC champions 50-46. But like most of their games as of late, the Bulldogs’ win didn’t come without some nail biting moments. After Hermiston held a nar- row 24-21 lead at the half, Pend- leton looked to reliable shooters in Shaw Jerome and Tyler New- som to chip away at the deficit. By the end of the third, the Buckaroos (14-10 overall, 6-3 CRC) were up 35-34 after hold- ing Hermiston to its lowest offensive output (10 points) of the four quarters played. There were two ties and one lead change to open the fourth, and after nearly three full min- utes of the score being tied at 39-39, Newsom hit a three from the left corner to put Pendleton up 39-42. The Bulldogs (12-11, 7-2) then saw themselves down by two possessions after Wil- lie Camp banked a pair of free throws with 1:30 left to play. Camp, Pendleton’s sleep- ing giant, came alive in the final regular season game. He fin- ished the game with 14 points, only two behind a team best from Newsom, and was key in giving the Bucks some momen- tum before the break despite being trailing by three points. Up 45-44, the one-point lead would have assured Hermiston a victory but in an effort to stop the clock and with the hope of Hermiston missing a free throw or two, Pendleton’s Ryan Rus- sell fouled out, sending Andrea- son to the line. Andreason’s first shot from the charity strip missed. His sec- ond found the basket to inch the Bulldogs’ advantage to 46-44, but a pair of Buck free throws tied it back up. That’s when head coach Casey Arstein drew up the play that would have Jordan Ramirez come off a screen, attack the paint and kick. Andreason was the one on the receiving end of that pass, and as one of two Bulldogs who has been dependable behind the arc, hit the shot of his life. “I’m okay with him shooting that shot anytime,” Arstein said. “He’s one of the best shooters in the league.” Andreason finished with a game-high 21 points. Ramirez finished with nine and Ortiz fol- lowed with eight points of his own. Hermiston will now pre- pare for the first round of the OSAA state playoffs. Due to play-in games, the Bulldogs will not know who they play until Wednesday and because they fell outside of the top 16, they will be on the road this weekend. ROUNDUP SCHEDULE Umatilla, Stanfield boys seasons come to a close HERMISTON HERALD TUALATIN — The Umatilla Vikings came just short of pulling off an upset in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs, as they fell to Horizon Christian 59-56 in overtime on Saturday. The Vikings (20-7) trailed 27-23 at halftime, but stormed up to a 42-39 lead at the end of the third quarter. After Horizion Christian got it to overtime, the home Hawks bur- ied seven of their 11 points at the free throw line to steal the victory. Sebastian Garcia and Uriel Garcia tallied 17 points apiece for Umatilla, with Uriel Garcia nailing a team- best four 3-pointers. Senior start- ers Seth Cranston (five) and Kaden Webb (three) combined for just eight points for the Vikings. Anthony Sprauer had a game- high 23 points for the Hawks (19-8), who advance to the Class 3A state tournament in Coos Bay next week. ———— UHS 13 10 19 6 8 — 56 HC 17 10 12 9 11 — 59 UMATILLA — S. Garcia 17, U. Garcia 17, C. De Loera 8, G. Armenta 6, S. Cranston 5, K. Webb 3, M. Garcilazo, J. Garcia, T. Durfey. HORIZON CHRISTIAN — A. Sprauer 23, T. Schiele 9, K. Free 8, B. Egger 8, N. Murrell 8, W. Shelby 3. 3-pointers — UHS 9, HC 9. Free throws — UHS 3-7, HC 12-18. Fouls — UHS 16, HC 15. NO. 1 WESTERN MENNO- NITE 100, NO. 16 STANFIELD 33 — At Salem, the Western Mennonite Pioneers showed why they are the No. 1 seed in the Class 2A playoffs as they thumped the Stanfield Tigers 100-33 on Saturday in a first round playoff game. It marked the third time this sea- son that Pioneers (24-3 overall) have scored 100 points or more this sea- son. The loss marks the end of the season for Stanfield with a 12-16 record and the end of the road for the Tigers’ three seniors — Brody Woods, Blake Bailey, and Shayne Keltz. Local slate PREP BOYS BASKETBALL Thursday Irrigon vs. De La Salle North Catholic (3A quarterfinals, at Coos Bay), 3:15 p.m. Saturday Hermiston vs. TBD (5A first round), TBD PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL Thursday Heppner vs. Kennedy (2A Quarterfinals, at Pendleton HS), 1:30 p.m.
