Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 11, 2019)
A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019 HeraldSports Follow sports on Twitter @HHeraldSports Bulldogs top Davis in home opener EO Media Group Photo/Ronald Bond Hermiston’s Trent Pitney (2) looks for a teammate after stealing the ball From La Grande’s Nick DuVernay Wednesday during a nonleague basketball game in La Grande. Hermiston boys take down La Grande in season opener By RONALD BOND EO MEDIA GROUP Staff photo by Kathy Aney Jayden Ray (10), of Hermiston, shoots under pressure during a game Dec. 3 against Davis at the Dawg House. Hermiston hits from long range to beat La Grande HERMISTON HERALD Davis may have brought the height that Hermiston lacked, but little did the Pirates know they would be no match for two of the Dawgs’ smallest players. Sophomore Katelyn Heideman, a 5-foot, 4-inch guard, and junior Makaylee Young, a 5-5 guard, each poured in a game-high 16 points to help Hermiston take down Davis 77-51 in its Dec. 3, home opener for girls basketball. The Pirates had four players at 6-foot or taller, there was nothing they could do to stop the Hermiston duo from pushing the Bulldogs out front early. “With their height, they had a disad- vantage,” Young said of Davis. “We were able to block them out. We came out with straight fi re tonight.” Heideman opened play with a 3-pointer not 40 seconds into the fi rst quarter. From there, Young hit back-to-back treys, and Heideman sunk one more of her own at the fi ve-minute mark to put the Bulldogs ahead 14-2. Heideman hit one more 3-pointer, and junior guard Jayden Ray knocked down a bucket in the fi nal seconds of the quarter to keep Hermiston up 25-12 at the buzzer. “They were confi dent,” Hermiston head coach Maloree Moss said of Heideman and Young. “They were ready to shoot the ball. They’ve practiced and practiced. They’re just dedicated girls. They work hard, and that showed tonight.” Alexis Kessell followed Heideman and By RONALD BOND EO MEDIA GROUP Staff photo by Kathy Aney Katelyn Heideman (1), of Hermiston, gets ready to shoot Dec. 3 during a game against Davis at the Dawg House. Young with 12 points, while Ray had 11. SUNNYSIDE 51, HERMISTON 46 — Hermiston suffered its fi rst loss of the season Saturday, dropping a 51-46 game at Sunnyside in a nonleague matchup. A 14-6 Sunnyside run in the second quarter kept the Dawgs down for good. Hermiston outscored Sunnyside 19-18 in the fi nal eight minutes, but could not over- come their early defi cit. Katelyn Heideman fi nished with a team-high 16 points, three 3-pointers, and a 7-for-7 performance at the line in the fourth quarter for Hermiston. Kendall Dowdy recorded 12 rebounds. The Hermiston Bulldogs used bal- anced scoring and a big night from the 3-point line to hold off a pesky La Grande squad on a night their best player spent a lot of time on the bench in foul trouble. Katelyn Heideman led four play- ers in scoring with 15 points, Jaz- lyn Romero added 13 and Hermiston held off every La Grande run to escape with a 64-56 road win Monday night in their fi nal contest before beginning Mid-Columbia Conference play Fri- day in Pasco, Washington. “They’ve had to do that the last couple of games. Jaz has been getting in a little bit of foul trouble lately, and we’ve had some awesome kids step into their role and be fearless,” Herm- iston head coach Maloree Moss said. “Tonight, Mia (Hernandez) and Kate- lyn (and) Makaylee (Young) took on some big leadership which is awe- some. They had to turn it on a little bit.” Romero missed most of the sec- ond quarter after picking up her third foul 23 seconds into the period, then was back on the bench after getting her fourth barely a minute into the third. The Hermiston Bulldogs used balanced scoring and crisp pass- ing — an emphasis of head coach Drew Preuninger — to pick up a win in their season opener. Jaime Ramirez led four players in scoring with 12 points, and the Bulldogs never trailed in defeating the La Grande Tigers on the road Wednesday, 60-44. “That’s one thing we’ve been really working on is trying to pass more,” Preuninger said. “I know in the past we usually dribble-drive. I’m trying to get more passing, cut- ting (and) screening away.” Hermiston’s perimeter passing and kickouts led to four fi rst-half 3-pointers as the Bulldogs built a 29-19 halftime lead, and seven 3s on the night. But in the second half it was interior passing that helped set up baskets in the paint and helped Hermiston pull away . “I would love to see them get it inside more, though,” Preuninger said. “That’s one thing at halftime I was saying (to the team). I know we don’t have height, but if we get it inside it opens up the outside. ... They did it a couple more times (in the second half), which I was happy about.” Ramirez, Ivan Rangel and Trent Pitney were among those who got into the paint to score for the Bulldogs in the second half. Two layups by Ramirez, a drive by Ser- gio Madrigal and two fi eld goals by Pitney were all part of a 17-5 run that spanned the third and fourth quarters. The run pushed a sev- en-point Hermiston lead to 58-39 midway through the fourth quarter — the largest lead of the game. Ramirez was joined in double fi gures by Rangel and AJ Ramos, both of whom scored 11 points, and by Jaiden Ruloph, who added 10, including a pair of third-quarter 3s to help stem a La Grande run. For more, see www.hermiston- herald.com. Dyer, Wagner help Dawgs take down Suns in wrestling Hermiston never trailed en route to a 41-29 MCC victory By ANNIE FOWLER STAFF WRITER Hunter Dyer knew he couldn’t afford to give up any points with his team leading by just nine points with two matches left. The Hermiston sophomore did his part with a fi rst-round pin of Arturo Cardoza at 132 pounds to put the match out of reach and help the Bulldogs to a 41-29 victory Thursday over the visiting South- ridge Suns in the Mid-Columbia Conference opener for both teams. “What I knew, is I had to come out as strong as I could,” Dyer said. “I needed to push the pace. Opening up with a win is a bet- ter start than we had last year. We have more talent than we’ve had the past couple of years.” Southridge coach Rich Cun- ningham said he knew his Suns were in for a battle. “I knew they were much Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Hermiston junior Trevor Wagner wrestles Southridge’s Ryan Stayrook in the 170-pound match at Hermiston High School on Thursday night. Wagner won the match 11-4. improved,” he said of the Bull- dogs. “They are ranked fairly high. We have so many young kids. I’m proud of my guys.” The Dawg House was rocking for the 170-pound match between Hermiston’s Trevor Wagner and Southridge’s Ryan Stayrook. Wagner, who placed fourth at 160 pounds at the 3A state tour- nament last year, jumped out to 6-0 lead after the fi rst round, and led 8-2 after two. An escape and a takedown in the third helped Wag- ner to an 11-4 victory. “He is frickin’ ripped out of his mind,” Wagner said of Stayrook. “I wrestled my match and things turned out well. I didn’t really look at the score too much. I knew he was good and I wasn’t going to give up. It feels good to get a team win under our belts to start it off.” Wagner said he wasn’t sure if he would drop back down to 160 this season, but acknowledged that he could. “I have a little football fat left on me,” he said, pinching his mid-section. “We’ll see how the season goes.” Hermiston coach Kyle Larson said it’s matches like Wagner’s that will put the fans in the stands. “When you wrestle a tough guy at home, give the fans what they came to see,” Larson said. Cunningham said it was the must-see match of the night. “It was fun,” he said. “In the third, Ryan was dragging. They are both great athletes. After the match, he (Stayrook) wanted to know when we would see them again.” Trailing 13-0, Southridge posted back-to-back pins by Shawn Gegg (182) and Cody Hud- son (195) to pull within 13-12 of the Bulldogs’ six matches into the action, but Hermiston quickly got back on track. Sam Cadenas pinned South- ridge’s Lucas Martin early in the second round at 220, and Dustyn Coughlin followed with a pin of Gavin Johnson in 2:37 to give the Bulldogs a 25-12 lead. The Suns picked up a forfeit at 106, but Zayne Helfer got a few of those points back for the Bulldogs with a 10-0 win over Soe Moe Lat at 113. Southridge cut the defi cit to 29-24 with a pin by Chris Cue- vas at 120, but consecutive pins by Adrian Delgado (126) and Dyer sealed the win. “It’s a start,” Larson said of the win. “We had some last-minute changes with guys fi lling in where needed.” For more, see www.hermiston- herald.com.
