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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 19, 2018)
A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAy, DECEMbER 19, 2018 HeraldSports Follow sports on Twitter @HHeraldSports GIRLS BBALL STILL PERFECT By ANNIE FOWLER STAFF WRITER At 6-foot-1, Hermiston’s Adrian Mendez is not your typical post player, but he gets the job done. Mendez had six of his game-high 22 points in overtime Friday night as Hermiston beat Pasco 71-61 in Mid-Columbia Con- ference play at the Dawg House. “I’ve been playing post ever since I started play- ing in sixth grade,” Men- dez said. “I’ve been grind- ing ever since.” It may not have been pretty, but the Bulldogs also improved to 3-0 in MCC play. “We could have played a lot better,” Hermiston coach Casey Arstein said. “But it’s a W, and we’ll take it. Adrian is a smart guy and he sees the floor well. He’s got pretty good hands as well.” Pasco (0-6, 0-3), which is still looking for its first win, struggled at the start of the game, but outscored Hermiston 35-25 in the sec- ond half to force overtime. “We have to play 32 min- utes,” Pasco coach Adam Berg said. “We didn’t get off to the start we wanted. We are capable, we just have to relay that to them. Hermiston is a good team, but I don’t think they played their best game against us.” Hermiston had a good start, but its shooting went cold in the third and fourth quarters, allowing Pasco to sneak back into the game. Pasco pulled within 44-40 at the end of the third quarter, using a 20-14 run. Nicholas Gutierrez drained a 3-pointer at 3:08 of the fourth quarter to give Pasco its first lead at 50-49. It would be its only lead. Ryne Andreason con- verted a 3-point play for a 52-50 Hermiston lead, and Cesar Ortiz did the same 12 seconds later for a 55-50 lead. Diego Gutierrez hit a basket with 57 seconds left in regulation, and then hit a 3 with 33 seconds left to tie the score and force overtime. “We have got to be able to play four quarters,” Arstein said. “We had them burned in the first and sec- ond quarters. We have to be more consistent with the ball in our hands. We were up 15 and they take the lead.” Andrew James opened overtime with a 3-pointer from the right wing, and Mendez grabbed an offen- sive rebound and put the ball in the basket for a 60-57 lead. Jordan Ramirez, who scored a season-high 15 Staff photo by E.J. Harris /East Oregonian Hermiston’s Jordan Thomas shoots the ball over Pasco’s Seline Martinez (11) and Andrea Gonzalez in the Dawgs’ 68-54 loss to the Bulldogs on Friday in Hermiston. Pasco pulls away in second half to beat Hermiston By ANNIE FOWLER STAFF WRITER Staff photo by E.J. Harris Hermiston’s Adrian Mendez shoots the ball against Pasco’s Diego Gutierrez (10) and Nicholas Gutierrez (34) in the Dawgs 71- 61 win over the Bulldogs on Friday in Hermiston. points, hit four free throws in the final 34 seconds to help Hermiston secure the win. “Our shooting got a lit- tle cold, and our defense slacked off,” Mendez said. “We didn’t know who we were guarding. It’s nice to be 5-0.” Hermiston jumped out to an 11-0 lead with 2:23 remaining in the first quar- ter, and Pasco never scored until Nicholas Gutierrez hit a pair of free throws with 1:55 left. Hermiston led 13-6 after the first quarter, and 30-20 at the half, getting a pair of 3-pointers from Ortiz, who finished with 14 points. “Cesar had some big rebounds,” Arstein said, “but we didn’t shoot that well.” Nicholas Gutierrez led Pasco with 19 points, while Diego Gutierrez added 18 points, including four 3-pointers. HERMISTON 71, DAVIS 52: In their best start in more than 20 years, Hermiston moved to 6-0 on the season with a 71-52 nonleague win Saturday over Davis in Yakima. “Even though it was our third game in a week, the guys came out with great energy,” coach Casey Arstein said. “Davis has solid guards who are very aggressive and tough, and we had a few too many turnovers, but I’m happy with any kind of road win.” Hermiston led in each quarter, jumping out to a 14-8 lead at the end of the first, and outscoring Davis 22-12 in the third. Ryne Andreason scored a game- high 28 points for the Bull- dogs, while Jordan Ramirez added 16 and Cesar Ortiz 11. Despite going unde- feated this far into the sea- son, Arstein still sees room to improve. “This is the best start we’ve had in my three years as head coach,” he said. “But every team we play in the WIAA has talent — we gotta get better and keep it rolling.” BOX SCORE Pasco 6 14 20 15 6 — 61 Hermiston 13 17 14 11 16 — 71 PASCO — D.Gutierrez 18, Perez 8, Avina 2, Cuevas 10, N.Gutierrez 19, Scott 4. HERMISTON — Andreason 8, Ortiz 14, James 10, Smith 2, Ramirez 15, Mendez 22. Freshman Aniyah Heav- ens poured in 21 points to help Pasco to a 68-54 Mid-Columbia Conference victory Friday over Hermis- ton at the Dawg House. Heavens scored 14 of her points in the second half to help Pasco to its first MCC win of the season. Hermiston (1-4 overall, 0-3 MCC) trailed just 17-15 after the first quarter, getting four points from Jayden Ray and three each from Jazlyn Romero and Jordan Thomas. Each team scored 11 points in the second as Pasco led 28-26 at intermission. Then the wheels fell off for Hermiston. Heavens and Seline Mar- tinez each scored six points in the third quarter for Pasco, which pulled away with a 20-13 run. It was more of the same in the fourth as Heavens and Mya Groce each had eight points. Groce finished with 19 points, 12 of which came in the second half. Romero led Hermis- ton with 12 points, while Thomas, playing her first complete game of the sea- son, finish with nine points before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Kendall Dowdy also had nine points for the Bulldogs, who will play at Davis on Saturday. BOX SCORE Pasco 17 11 20 20 — 68 Hermiston 15 11 13 15 — 54 PASCO — M.Martinez 6, Gonzalez 3, S.Martinez 11, Groce 19, Mackey 2, Maiden 4, Heavens 21. HERMISTON — Heideman 5, young 6, Ray 7, Palzinski 2, Seavert 4, Dowdy 9, Romero 12, Thomas 9. Umatilla boys run win streak to 7 games By ANNIE FOWLER STAFF WRITER The Umatilla boys basketball team is off to a hot start. The Vikings improved to 8-1 on Monday with a 64-51 non- league home win over Heppner. “Defense is our emphasis,” said Vikings coach Scott Bow, whose team gives up an average of 34 points per game. “Every team we have played, we have held them to double digits below their average. We have to be one of the better defensive teams out there.” The Mustangs kept pace with the Vikings in the first half, trail- ing just 26-22 at the half. “They came out and hit some pretty good shots and got after it,” Bow said. Umatilla, which has won seven games in a row, took over in the second half, leading by 15 at one point. Sebastian Garcia had four 3-pointers in the second half and finished with 20 points, six assists and five steals for the Vikings. “He took after it,” Bow said. “For someone who was face- guarded all night, he played fantastic.” Andrew Earl added 12 points and four assist, while Trent Durfey had 10 points and seven rebounds. Trent Carter led the Mustangs with 19 points — 15 of which came in the second half — and 11 rebounds. The Vikings held Heppner’s 6-foot-10 Justin McAninch to five points. He did have two blocked shots. “Hats off to our big guys at 6-2 for outworking him,” Bow said. The Mustangs (5-5) will host Grant Union in their Blue Moun- tain Conference opener on Friday. “Defense is our emphasis, Every team we have played, we have held them to double digits below their average. Scott Bow, Vikings coach Umatilla will host River View, Wash. (4-2), in a nonleague game at 4:30 p.m. Friday, then will play in the Salem Academy Classic Jan. 3-5. “That’s a good tournament for us before we start league play,” Bow said. Girls HEPPNER 51, UMATILLA 41: Sydney Wilson poured in a game-high 22 points, and added five rebounds, three assists and three steals as the Mustangs beat the Vikings in a nonleague game in Umatilla. The Vikings led 11-9 after the first quarter, but a 23-11 run by Heppner in the second was more than Umatilla could overcome. Jacee Currin added 15 points and six assists for the Mustangs (6-4), which will open Blue Mountain Conference play Friday against visiting Grant Union. Freshman Taylor Durfey had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Umatilla (3-7), which will host River View, Wash., on Saturday. Staff photo by E.J. Harris/East Oregonian Umatilla’s Uriel Garcia Heppner defenders. splits