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-
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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.