A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAy, DECEMbER 19, 2018
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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