A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2018
Herald Sports
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TOWERING
ABOVE THE COMPETITION
At 6-4, Hermiston’s
Jordan Thomas
presents a challenge
Home opener
Lewiston at Hermiston
5:45 p.m., Friday
The Dawg House
By ANNIE FOWLER
STAFF WRITER
T
here’s one thing basketball
coaches say they can’t coach
— height.
But when they have it, it’s
a luxury, especially at the high school
level.
Hermiston coach Juan Rodriguez
counts himself a lucky man with 6-foot-4
senior Jordan Thomas on his side of the
court.
“It’s a big deal in high school bas-
ketball to have a 6-4 girl who can finish
around the basket,” he said. “She has the
talent to play college basketball.”
Which is a dream for Thomas, but
first there is her senior season to take
care of.
“Honestly, I love it,” Thomas said of
basketball. “It’s a stress reliever and it
makes me happy.”
The Bulldogs will open their season
Friday, hosting Lewiston in a nonleague
game. They will host La Grande on Tues-
day before beginning Mid-Columbia
Conference play Dec. 8 at Kennewick.
Thomas and fellow senior Mati Byrd
have been playing basketball together
since grade school. With Byrd standing
6-2, they are Hermiston’s version of the
Twin Towers, though they do not play at
the same time.
“I hope coach makes the decision and
looks at us and sees two girls over 6-2,”
Thomas said. “It’s intimidating. It could
be a huge threat.”
Rodriguez said their offense isn’t
designed for two post players. He said
Byrd will come off the bench to relieve
Thomas.
While Thomas is one of the two tall-
est players in the school — Hermiston
boys player Blake Davis also is 6-4 —
she also is the tallest in her family.
Her dad John is 6 feet tall, while
her mom Barbara is 6-1. Her older sib-
lings Mitchell (6-1) and Vanessa (5-10)
also are shorter. She believes her height
comes from her mom’s side of the fam-
ily. Her mom’s brother, Larry Bush, is
6-9.
Thomas is the Bulldogs’ returning
leading scorer from last season with 16
points and 11.8 rebounds a game. She
had 30 points in a playoff game last sea-
son against St. Helens, and while pour-
ing in the points is nice, she feels her
strength is her defense.
“Rebounding is what I feel I am bet-
ter at,” she said. “I’d rather play defense
— I feel I am more of a threat and I’m
more comfortable doing what I do. I
can score, but if I have an off night, my
defense is always there.”
Pendleton coach Kevin Porter isn’t
shedding any tears with Hermiston and
Thomas leaving the Columbia River
Conference.
“Last year, she was our focal point,”
Porter said. “She killed us in the second
game and was almost unstoppable. Our
HH FILE PHOTO
Hermiston’s Jordan Thomas drives past Hanford’s Sarah Ellis in the Bulldogs’ 55-38 win against the Falcons on Dec. 5, 2017.
plan was, how do we drag her away from
the basket defensively, and how to keep
her from scoring without opening up the
3. Even on a bad night, height kills.”
Thomas spent the summer playing
with Oregon Elite. She was on the Navy
team, which is the top team in her age
group.
The team traveled to Canada, Califor-
nia, Kentucky and Arizona.
“We won our tournament in Canada,”
Thomas said. “In Kentucky, we were at
a facility that had 150 courts. There was
one in Arizona with 60. There were girls
playing everywhere. It was a lot of fun.”
Rodriguez said the summer program
helped Thomas with her game.
“She has developed a lot the past year
and a half,” he said. “She is very ath-
letic, and she slimmed down this sum-
mer playing on her traveling team.”
The move to the MCC is exciting
and a little sad for Thomas and Byrd.
They want the challenge of the play-
ing the MCC teams, but they will miss
the friendships they have made over
the years, especially with the Pendleton
girls.
“We have played against them since
the seventh grade,” Thomas said. “They
have been our rivals since then. It’s part
of growing up, I guess.”
But, they also have played against
the Tri-City schools in summer league.
“I know some of them, but a lot of
their best players are always gone with
their elite teams,” Thomas said. “Wash-
ington is a totally different league. It will
be interesting.”
Boys ready to take on the MCC
Hermiston opens
league play Dec. 8
at Kennewick
By ANNIE FOWLER
STAFF WRITER
Hermiston left the Columbia
River Conference last year with the
league title in hand, and one win
from the state tournament.
This season, the Bulldogs move
into the competitive Mid-Colum-
bia Conference, and coach Casey
Arstein is happy to pack up their
gear and head across the border.
“It’s exciting,” he said. “Every
night will be competitive. We are
excited to do home and away games
against good athletes. It’s good all
the way around.”
The Bulldogs will open their
season Friday, hosting Lewiston in
a nonleague game. The game will
follow the girls matchup, which is
another benefit of moving to the
MCC.
In the MCC, the girls and boys
teams play back-to-back at the same
venue, and each team will play the
other eight opponents twice. Herm-
iston will open league play Dec. 8 at
Kennewick.
Though the league plays as one
during the season, the 3A and 4A
schools split for the postseason.
Hermiston in the 3A ranks with
the three Kennewick schools - Kami-
akin, Kennewick and Southridge.
“Having 16 league games, and
every game is a battle, will be dif-
ferent,” Arstein said. “Every team in
the league has a kid who could play
college basketball. You couldn’t
say that about our old league. It’s
nice to play good teams, and every
team will have athletes. I know Earl
Streufert (Richland coach) really
well. I’m glad we didn’t have to
play them last year.”
The Bulldogs enter the MCC
with a group of talented players, led
by Ryne Andreason and Cesar Ortiz,
who were first-team CRC players
last year, and Jordan Ramirez, who
was a second-team selection.
The one thing Hermiston lacks is
a dominant presence inside. Junior
Blake Davis is 6-foot-4, but from
there, the Bulldogs rely on their ath-
letic ability and knowledge of the
game.
“We have a bunch of smart kids
with high basketball IQs,” Arstein
said. “Ryne is our best athlete, but
there isn’t one guy who is our main
guy. Most of these guys have played
together since the second grade.”
And most have played against the
Tri-City teams in summer league,
and in nonleague games over the
years.
“They know those Tri-City kids,”
Arstein said. “We’ve played a lot of
those schools, minus a couple.”
HH FILE PHOTO
Hermiston’s Ryne Andreason
shoots the ball over the top of
Sunset’s Colby King on Jan. 12,
2018 in Hermiston.
LOCAL SLATE
Wednesday, November 28
Boys Basketball
Heppner at Riverside, 7:30 p.m.
White Swan (WA) at Umatilla, 7:30 p.m.
Girls Basketball
White Swan (WA) at Umatilla, 6 p.m.
Heppner at Riverside, 6 p.m.
Boys Wrestling
Hermiston at Southridge, 7 p.m.
Thursday, November 29
Boys Basketball
Stanfield at Irrigon, 7:30 p.m.
Girls Basketball
Stanfield at Irrigon, 6 p.m.
Friday, November 30
Boys Basketball
Stanfield vs. Culver, 4:30 p.m., in Moro
Helix vs. Irrigon, 4:30 p.m., in Ione
Echo vs. Trinity Lutheran, 4:30 p.m., in
Hood River
Umatilla at Vernonia, 7:30 p.m.
Lewiston at Hermiston, 7:30 p.m.
Girls Basketball
Stanfield at Sherman County Tournament,
3 p.m.
Helix vs. Irrigon, 3 p.m., in Ione
Riverside at Faith Bible, 3 p.m.
Lewiston at Hermiston, 5:45 p.m.
Umatilla at Vernonia, 6 p.m.
Heppner at Willamina, 6 p.m.
Boys Wrestling
Hermiston at Yakima, 1 p.m.
Girls Wrestling
Hermiston at Kennewick, 11 a.m.
Saturday, December 1
Boys Basketball
Umatilla at Vernonia Tournament
Stanfield at Sherman County Tournament
Riverside vs. Taft, 1:30 p.m.
Heppner at St. Paul, 2 p.m.
Echo vs. Perrydale, 2 p.m., in Hood River
Irrigon vs. Pine Eagle, 2:30 p.m.
Girls Basketball
Stanfield at Sherman County Tournament
Riverside vs. Taft, noon, Westside
Christian
Heppner at St. Paul, 12:30 p.m.
Helix at Ione, 4 p.m.