A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018
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ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS!
Hermiston youth girls teams make
history with three state championships
PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIS ELLIOTT
Hermiston’s fifth grade AAU, the Sparks, team poses after
winning the championship in Central Oregon. Pictured are:
(front row, left to right): Madeline Jared, Camryn Hagel,
Addison Garberg, Shayla Stewart and Karsyn Botefuhr; (back
row) head coach MaryJane Heideman, Ellie Heideman, Piper
Roberts, Amy Armstrong, Avonlea Edwards, Madison Wicks
and assistant coach Josh Hagel.
By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ
STAFF WRITER
After the Hermiston
Storm defeated West Linn
33-29 in the 2017 Girls Ore-
gon Middle School State
Championship for AAU,
they were poised to bring
home some more hardware
the following season. This
past weekend in Central
Oregon, the Storm — along
with the fifth grade Hermis-
ton Sparks and sixth grade
Hoopdawgs — did just that.
With the three victories,
Hermiston became the first
city since the start of the
AAU tournament in 2013 to
win multiple championships
in the gold bracket.
The championship tour-
nament began Friday and
wrapped up play Sunday in
Bend and Redmond.
Three teams made up of
Hermiston-area
students
qualified to attend the tour-
nament through top fin-
ishes in various tournaments
throughout the regular
season.
The fifth grade Hermis-
ton Sparks and eighth grade
Storm earned bids in early
Hermiston
boys, girls
seasons end
with tough
matchups
HERMISTON HERALD
CENTRAL POINT — After a
long trip southwest, the Hermis-
ton boys basketball team had their
work cut out for them against No. 2
seeded Crater.
The Comets held nearly a
10-point lead heading into halftime.
After the break, steady defense from
the Bulldogs allowed time for their
offense to find shots, and Hermiston
was able to pull within three points
with three minutes of play left.
But during their following three
possessions, the Bulldogs turned the
ball over and Crater was able to pull
away with a 51-43 victory.
“I thought the effort was there,”
head coach Casey Arstein said. “We
had our chances ... we just couldn’t
hit a shot.”
After the first quarter, Hermiston
found itself in a 19-9 hole but then
clawed its way out with 19 points in
the second.
The Bulldogs (12-12) needed
shots along the perimeter, which
had never been a problem until Fri-
day night. Reliable long-distance
shooter Cesar Ortiz knocked down
just three 3-pointers, two of which
were in the high-scoring second
quarter.
Ryne Andreason, who has also
been known for knocking down
threes, didn’t hit a single shot from
outside but still led the team with 10
points.
For the Comets, Mason Vranes
led with 19 points.
Girls basketball
SILVERTON 40, HERMIS-
TON 24 — Hermiston girls were
ousted from the state tournament
after a Round 1 loss to Silverton on
the road. The 40-24 defeat ended the
Bulldogs’ season.
Hermiston managed to stay
within reach of the Foxes (20-5),
and trailed just 15-14 after the first
half. But shooting was sparse in
the third and fourth quarters, as the
Bulldogs (12-14) were held to only
10 points while Silverton knocked
down 25.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIS ELLIOTT
Hermiston’s eighth grade AAU team, the Storm, poses after
winning the championship for the second consecutive year
in Central Oregon. Pictured are: (front row, left to right)
Sydney Seavert, Adrianna Coleman, Faith McCarty, Katelyn
Heideman and assistant coach Heidi De La Cruz; (back row)
head coach Aaron Heideman, Morgan Brown, Taylor Durfey,
Caitlin Anderholm, Alexis Kessell, Heavenly Coleman and
assistant coach McKenzie Byrd.
November after finishing
in the top two at a tourna-
ment in Spokane. For the
sixth grade Hoopdawgs,
they punched their ticket in
January.
In the gold bracket,
which included middle
schools that feed into a
Class 6A/5A high school
program, Hermiston had to
outlast a total of 55 other
teams to make it to the
championship game.
The three teams went
a combined 14-0 through-
out the tournament, hold-
ing off their opponents in
some tough matchups — the
Sparks advanced to the title
game by defeating the Chur-
chill Iron Maidens by one
point — and some blowouts
— the Storm defeated their
first opponent 64-20 to open
the weekend.
In the title games, the
Storm came back for the win
PHOTO COURTESY OF MARYJANE HEIDEMAN
Hermiston’s sixth grade AAU team, the Hoopdawgs, poses
after winning the championship in Central Oregon. Pictured
are: (front row, left to right): Kaylee Elliott, Izzy Simmons,
Sydney Stocker, Brooklynn Warburton and Nevaeh Thew;
(back row) coach Alissa Simmons, Ainsley Philippi, Haylee
Mercer, Rian Woodard, Alexis Ackerman and coach Kay
Edwards.
after starting the first half
behind with a 28-23 victory
over McMinnville.
“I’m proud of the girls
playing hard,” head coach
MaryJane Heideman said,
“and coming away with
these tough wins.”
The Hoopdawgs were
off to a rocky start in their
championship game. They
started down 9-1 in the first
five minutes of the play, and
couldn’t buy a basket.
However, after halftime,
Hermiston found its rhythm
and eventually defeated
Sherwood 42-37.
The Storm was the final
team to compete, and pulled
away late to seal a 44-39 win
over Sheldon.
Mustangs ousted by Prospectors, 46-39
By ERIC SINGER
STAFF WRITER
PENDLETON — Heppner
seniors Kacie Gray, Morgan Cor-
rea and Sophie Grant sat side by
side at the end of the Mustangs
bench as the final seconds of their
prep basketball careers ticked
away on Friday morning.
The Mustangs lost to Grant
Union 62-46 in the consolation
round of the Class 2A state tour-
nament at the Pendleton Con-
vention Center, ending their sea-
son. However, the seniors’ faces
didn’t show signs of sadness or
disappointment. Instead, they
were upbeat, soaking in the last
moments of the kind of season
they could have only dreamed
about for the first three years
wearing the blue and gold.
“This season was crazy and we
loved every minute of it,” Grant
said afterward. “We were really
a family and each and every one
of us love each other and it was a
great experience to have.
“We came here as the underdog
and we really surprised people, so
it was an awesome experience.”
Even with the loss, the three
seniors went out on a high note.
They combined for 16 points, nine
rebounds and three assists and all
played solid defense against a tal-
ented Prospectors squad. Head
coach Robert Wilson was proud
of the growth the seniors showed
in their career and the leadership
they showed this season.
“When I took over three years
ago,” Wilson said, “we were really
young and this group embraced
the situation they’ve had to deal
with and have been leaders with
the younger kids, keeping them
engaged with a great team vibe.”
Grant and Correa were in the
starting lineup on Friday when
the Mustangs (16-8) got off to a
STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY
Heppner’s Jacee Currin flicks a pass to a teammate out of reach of
Kaylee Wright (23), of Grant Union during Thursday’s OSAA 2A girls
consolation state tournament game in Pendleton.
slow start in trying to meet Grant
Union’s fast tempo. Grant Union
(22-4) scored the first nine points
of the game and later opened up
a 29-10 lead with 3:52 left in the
second quarter.
Except Heppner wasn’t ready
to go away. The Mustangs ended
the half on a 9-0 run, capped by a
jumper from Gray, to head to the
break trailing by 10 points at 29-19.
“We never gave up,” Grant
said. “We knew we could play
with each and every team here,
and we knew if we kept trying
and played our game we could be
with every team.”
That fight from the Mustangs
continued throughout the sec-
ond half. After Grant Union got
the lead back to 17 points early
in the third quarter, the Mustangs
chipped away and back-to-back
3-pointers from Sydney Wilson
and Gray made it a 43-33 game at
the end of the third.
In the fourth, the Mustangs got
the deficit to single digits on sev-
eral occasions, coming as close
as seven points after Jacee Currin
nailed a short jumper with 6:28 to
make it a 46-39 game.
But that was as close as Hep-
pner could get. Each time the Mus-
tangs would get the lead under
double digits, Grant Union’s pres-
sure defense would force a few
turnovers that lead to easy baskets
and get the lead above 10.
“We knew Grant Union was
going to pressure us the whole
game,” Wilson said. “And we
did really well at times, but when
a team does that the whole time,
there’s moments whether it’s
fatigue or something that leads to
little runs. But for the most part
we did a good job of handling it.”
Sydney Wilson, Heppner’s
standout freshman, led the team
with 17 points on 6-of-9 shoot-
ing with seven rebounds and two
assists. Junior Jacee Currin added
11 points with three boards, two
assists, and two steals. Both are part
of nine contributors set to return for
the Mustangs next season.
“For us, our expectation is to
be back here,” Robert Wilson said.
“We talked about soaking this
up and enjoying it ... we need to
understand the level of competi-
tion it takes to play here at this level
because it’s a different type of game
than preseason and regular season.”
And even though the seniors
will be moving on, they are
excited to see what the future
holds for the team and will likely
be keeping close tabs next season.
“I see great things,” Grant said.
“These young girls are awesome
and we have so much coming up
from the youth, it’ll be great and
I’m so excited for them.”
————
HHS
7 12 14 13 — 46
GU
16 13 14 19 — 62
HEPPNER — S. Wilson 17, J. Currin 11, S. Grant 8,
K. Gray 6, M. Correa 2, M. Combe, M. Nichols, J.
McCullough, J. Mahoney, M. Ashbeck, M. Mitchell.
GRANT UNION — K. Wright 30, H. Wright 8, H.
McCullough 8, T. Huchison 5, M. Moulton 4, K.
Wells 4, M. Culley 3.
3-pointers — HHS 4, GU 3. Free throws — HHS
16-23, GU 15-22. Fouls — HHS 15, GU 14.
Irrigon finishes sixth at 3A state championships
HERMISTON HERALD
COOS BAY — In the conso-
lation finals at the Class 3A state
tournament, the No. 8 Irrigon
Knights had to face No. 6 Cas-
cade Christian.
At first, Irrigon had the advan-
tage, going up 11-7 after the open-
ing quarter. But the Challengers
put together back-to-back quar-
ters where they held the Knights
to only 20 points while scoring 34
of their own.
In the second quarter, Cascade
Christian chipped away at its defi-
cit to enter the half just one point
behind Irrigon.
Then, in the third quarter the
Challengers exploded and their
efforts led to a 55-45 victory to
claim fourth place.
Cascade Christian was led by
Joel McLemore, who finished
with a game-high 24 points.
The Challengers (20-10) shot
40 percent from the field and
banked more than half of their
free throw attempts.
For the Knights (22-6), Eric
Carillo finished with 13 points
and Johnny Phillips followed
with 12.
Irrigon finished 43 percent
from the field and only hit 3-of-
13 3-pointers.