SPORTS
Wednesday, december 25, 2019
HermIsTOnHeraLd.cOm • A11
OSAA realignment could affect
local football teams
By ANNIE FOWLER
sTaFF WrITer
Nothing is set in stone
just yet, but come February
a few local football teams
could be switching levels
and leagues.
The OSAA Football Ad
Hoc Committee forwarded
its recommendations to the
executive board for review
this week, and the pending
adoption is Feb. 10.
For Irrigon and Umatilla,
that means a step down to the
2A level, while Pilot Rock/
Nixyaawii will go from
1A to 2A, and McLough-
lin/Griswold would join a
hybrid 4A/3A Special Dis-
trict 6 league with Baker,
Burns, La Grande, Nyssa,
Vale and Ontario.
The Pioneers, who
played an independent
schedule this fall, would
compete at the 3A level.
“That’s what we are
anticipating,” Irrigon ath-
letic director Mike Royer
said of the proposed realign-
ment. “It looks likes 2A for
football, but we are hoping
it is for other sports as well.
The recommendation came
from the OSAA for us and
Umatilla.”
Part of the criteria used
was a team’s winning per-
centage over the past two
years. Those whose number
was 22% or less were con-
sidered for movement.
For Umatilla, that num-
ber is 18.18%, and 12.5%
for Irrigon.
If approved, Umatilla
and Irrigon would join the
Staff photo by Kathy Aney, File
Photo contributed by Angela Schneider
Umatilla’s Eric Hoyas (11) runs the ball as Stanfield’s Brad
Sample (34) moves in for a tackle during their Sept. 19, 2019,
game in Umatilla. If an OSAA recommendation is approved
in February, Umatilla and Irrigon would drop from 3A to 2A
for football.
Local Special Olympics coach Jessica Sexton and athletes Misty Larsen, Marsha Ochoa,
Jen Williams and JoJo Garcia participated in the Special Olympics Regional Swimming
Competition in Baker City.
2A Special District 5 (Blue
Mountain Conference) with
Grant Union, Heppner,
Riverside, Stanfield and
Weston-McEwen.
“That 2A league is
a really strong league,”
Royer said. “We played
Weston-McEwen, Stanfield
and Heppner in nonleague,
and it was a struggle. Over-
all, we are better suited for
that league. We didn’t have
enough guys for a JV team
this year.”
Also potentially joining
the 2A group are Adrian/Jor-
dan Valley, which won the
1A state title in November,
and Pilot Rock/Nixyaaawii.
“We aren’t getting too
excited yet,” said Pilot
Rock AD TJ Presley, who
would like his team to stay
at the 8-man level. “There
are a couple of more meet-
ings. It will be a big jump
for us for to go to 11-man.
Even where we are at, we
didn’t have enough for a JV
team. Our enrollment num-
bers are up, but not our par-
ticipation numbers. When
you co-opt, your enrollment
goes up — not just the foot-
ball guys, but everyone in
their school.”
Pendleton will stay at
5A, but will have different
teams in Special District 1
— Forest Grove, Hillsboro,
Hood River Valley, Park-
rose, Scappoose, St. Helens
and The Dalles.
“That makes sense,”
Pendleton coach Erik Davis
said. “We play everybody
once and pick up a couple of
nonleague games, and elim-
inate the crossover game.
They (OSAA) will do
what’s best for everyone.”
Dawgs can’t keep pace with Riverhawks
By ANNIE FOWLER
sTaFF WrITer
Hermiston knew this
season would be tough with
just one returning varsity
player, and the Bulldogs are
starting to realize the prob-
lems they will have in the
Mid-Columbia Conference
this year.
Chiawana used its expe-
rience and depth Tuesday
night to hand the visiting
Bulldogs an 83-44 loss.
“You are 100 percent
right about that,” Hermis-
ton coach Drew Preuninger
said of his team’s inexpe-
rience. “It was tough. We
knew they were strong
and aggressive. It was a
wake-up call. Tonight, we
really didn’t compete.”
Chiawana’s
Connor
Mendez led four players
in double figures with 18
points — 11 of which came
in the first half.
“Both teams shot the ball
well in the first half,” Riv-
erhawks coach Chad Her-
ron said. “They run some
great stuff and play really
good basketball, but we
were a bit more effective.”
The Riverhawks (5-0,
2-0 MCC) raced out to a
17-5 lead in the first quar-
ter, but the Bulldogs cut the
deficit to 22-14 at the end of
the quarter as Ivan Rangel
drilled a 3-pointer from the
right baseline.
Rangel led the Bulldogs
(2-4, 1-2 MCC) with 20
points and eight rebounds.
In the second, the Riv-
erhawks went on a 7-0 run
midway through, and by the
half, had opened up a 50-28
lead.
“I have an experienced
group and he has a young
group,” Herron said. “It
makes a difference.”
Another big quarter by
the Riverhawks gave them
a 74-41 lead at the end of
three. Taylor Perez had
seven points in the quarter
for Chiawana.
With the game out of
reach, Herron played his
second string a good por-
tion of the fourth quarter.
“I hope our guys learn
from them,” Preuninger
said of Chiawana. “They
are doing good things here.
We shot 3s pretty well, but
the pace of the game was
quick. For us to be success-
ful, we need to slow the
pace. We can’t keep up with
that.”
The Bulldogs also had a
hard time matching the Riv-
erhawks’ size inside, and on
the perimeter.
“Their guards were the
same size as ours, but 10 to
20 pounds heavier,” Preun-
inger said. “They manhan-
dle their space.”
Jaiden Ruloph added
14 points, including four
3-pointers for Hermis-
ton, while Sergio Madri-
gal had five points and five
rebounds.
For Chiawana, Perez
finished with 14 points
and seven rebounds, while
Jayden Martinez had 14
points, and Seth Schmidt
eight points, six rebounds
and four blocked shots.
HERMISTON 14 14 13 3 — 44
Chiawana 22 28 24 9 — 83
HERMISTON — Ruloph 14, Landin 2,
Rangel 20, Madrigal 5, Jai.Ramirez 2,
Ramos-Barron 1.
CHIAWANA — Cantu 6, DeWitt 11, Perez
14, Martinez 14, Mendez 18, Davis 4,
Bunger 8, Schmidt 8.
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Special Olympics swimmers
make splash at regional contest
HermIsTOn HeraLd
A handful of swimmers
from the Hermiston/Pend-
leton Special Olympics
Local Program along with
head coach Jessica Sexton
and Local Program Coor-
dinator Angela Schneider
recently traveled to Baker
City to compete in the Spe-
cial Olympics Regional
Swimming Competition at
the Sam-O-Swim Center.
This is the first year
that
Hermiston/Pendle-
ton has offered training
and competition in swim-
ming in decades. The ath-
letes trained at the Board-
man Pool & Recreation
Center this fall in prepara-
tion for regional competi-
tion against athletes from
the Union and Baker local
programs. Results from the
competition:
•Jose Angel Garcia (Jo
Jo), second place silver in
50m freestyle; gold in 25m
butterfly
•Jennifer Williams, third
in 25m backstroke; second
in 25m freestyle
•Misty Larsen, fourth in
25m backstroke; third in
25m freestyle
•Marsha Ochoa, second
25m freestyle; participation
in 25m breaststroke
Coach Sexton said she
was amazed at the dedica-
tion and growth that these
athletes made in their first
endeavor to participate in
competitive
swimming.
Athletes who trained but
did not travel to Baker City
were: Andrea Eiden, Rian
Middleton and Antonio
Altimarano.
Winter sports, which
begin in January, include
basketball and powerlifting.
For more information, call
Schneider at 541-314-0166.
Chiawana rolls to 63-41 win over Hermiston
By ANNIE FOWLER
sTaFF WrITer
It wasn’t the start that
Hermiston or Chiawana
expected, but the end result
was what the Riverhawks
earned.
Talia von Oelhoffen
had 16 points and eight
rebounds to lead host Chi-
awana to a 63-41 Mid-Co-
lumbia Conference win
Tuesday over the Bulldogs.
“They are a good bas-
ketball team,” Hermis-
ton coach Malloree Moss
said. “If Talia isn’t scor-
ing, (Alyssa) Agundis is, or
(Delaney) Pink is. If we are
going to beat a good team,
we have to play better.”
Hermiston’s Mia Her-
nandez led all scorers with a
career-high 21 points — 17
in the second half — but it
was not enough.
“She was aggressive
tonight,” Moss said. “She
played with no fear.”
The way the Bulldogs
opened the game surprised
a few people, taking a 7-3
lead with 4:30 to play in the
first quarter. Once the Riv-
erhawks got into the flow of
the game, all that changed.
Chiawana led 15-7 after
the opening quarter, and
27-11 at the half as the Bull-
dogs shot just 16 percent
from the floor.
A 22-9 Riverhawks’ run
in the third put the game
out of reach at 49-20, but
the Bulldogs never backed
down.
Hermiston (2-4, 0-3
MCC) went on a 21-14
run in the fourth quarter to
make the game a bit more
respectable.
“I really liked the
fourth,” Moss said. “It was
nice to see our bench get
involved.”
Katelyn
Heideman
added 10 points for Herm-
iston, while Kendall Dowdy
had six rebounds.
PREP ROUNDUP
Heideman leads Dawgs past Lewiston
HermIsTOn HeraLd
Katelyn Heideman pre-
fers to play basketball out-
side the paint.
On Saturday, the 5-foot,
4-inch sophomore scored
all 18 of her points off of
six 3-pointers to help the
Hermiston girls rout Lewis-
ton 77-51 on the road, and
snap a three-game skid.
The Dawgs jumped out
early with a 16-10 advan-
tage by the end of the first
quarter, and extended that
lead to 36-27 at the half.
Jayden Ray matched
Heideman with 18 points
of her own, and Jazlyn
Romero and Mia Hernan-
dez each added nine. Tai
Bausch led Lewiston with a
game-high 25 points.
Hermiston (3-4, 0-3
MCC) visits Southridge on
Jan. 3 for a Mid-Colum-
bia Conference game at
5:45 p.m.
Boys basketball
LEWISTON
55,
HERMISTON 42 —
Hermiston held a 22-17
lead at the half, but let Lew-
iston run wild with a 22-5
rally in the third quarter that
put the game out of reach in
nonleague play on Saturday.
Sergio Madrigal had
12 points to lead the Bull-
dogs (2-5, 1-2 MCC), while
Jaiden Ruloph added 10.
Hermiston travels to
Southridge on Jan. 3 for an
MCC contest.
Wrestling
Hermiston’s Sam Cade-
nas placed seventh at 220
pounds, and Jon Lee (220)
was eighth at the Tri-State
Tournament at North Idaho
College in Coeur d’Alene,
Idaho. In the seventh-place
match, Cadenas beat Lee
4-3.
The Bulldogs finished
20th in the team scoring
among the 60 schools.