Wednesday, January 8, 2020
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DAWGS PLACE 3 AT GUT CHECK
sophomore sam Cadenas leads the
way with a fifth-place finish
By ANNIE FOWLER
sPOrTs edITOr
Hermiston had three wrestlers place
in the top eight, and the Bulldogs fin-
ished in the top 10 of the team standings
Saturday at the prestigious Gut Check
tournament at ShoWare Center in Kent,
Wash.
Sophomore Sam Cadenas, who
Cadenas
Wagner
Coughlin
advanced to the semifinals at 220
pounds, was the top Dawg on the week-
end, finishing fifth.
Cadenas posted a 10-3 decision over
Carter Thomas of Orting in the 5-6
placing match.
Trevor Wagner dropped from 170
pounds to 160 for the tournament, and
placed seventh. He pinned Jaxsen Tut-
tle of Connell in his final match.
Dustyn Coughlin placed eighth at
285 pounds, losing the 7-8 placing
match to Terrell Underwood of Top-
penish, who pinned Coughlin in 2:05.
Hermiston, which had six men
still alive for Day 2, including Aiden
Favorite (106), Daniel Faaeteete (182)
and Jon Lee (220), was eighth in the
team standings with 76.5 points after
the first day.
Blair Academy (New Jersey), one
of the top high school wrestling teams
in the country, crowned seven cham-
pions and won the team title with 351
points.
Toppenish was second with 208, fol-
lowed by Chiawana with 161.
Hermiston finished 10th with 89.5
points in the field of 69 teams.
Hermiston is back on the mat Jan.
15, hosting Hanford and Kamiakin in
a pair of Mid-Columbia Conference
duals.
Dawgs cruise past Suns for first MCC win
By ANNIE FOWLER
sPOrTs edITOr
Katelyn Heideman scored 12
points, and Hermiston used a
tough full-court press to shut down
Southridge 57-31 in Mid-Colum-
bia Conference action Friday night.
It was the first conference win
for the Bulldogs (4-4, 1-3 MCC),
who also got 11 points from Kaylee
Young.
“We opened up with probably
the top three teams in the league,”
Hermiston coach Maloree Moss
said of Kennewick, Chiawana and
Pasco. “The whole conference is
tough. That is a challenge. They
muscled us around a bit. The Lew-
iston game helped us get a little
momentum.”
The Suns (3-6, 0-5 MCC) were
right in the game with the Bulldogs
at the end of the first quarter, trail-
ing 14-8, but once the Bulldogs
slapped on their man-to-man full-
court press, things went downhill
pretty fast for the Suns.
Hermiston went on a 10-5 run
in the second to take a 24-13 lead
at the half, but it was a 21-8 scor-
ing spree by the Bulldogs in the
third that separated the two teams
for good.
The Suns, who pulled within
16-13 at 5:49 of the second quar-
ter, did not score again until the
third quarter.
“Once we put on our man press,
they had trouble,” Moss said. “We
did a good job of reading passes.
Jazlyn (Romero) was picking off
passes.”
Romero finished the game with
seven steals, eight points and five
rebounds.
The Bulldogs also hit 10
3-pointers on the night — four by
Heideman and three by Young —
to keep the Suns’ defense spread
out.
“A lot of it was dribble, drive,
kick and 3,” Moss said. “You are
squared up and ready to shoot.”
The Bulldogs missed some easy
baskets early in the game, but were
able to ride the storm until they got
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Katelyn Heideman (1), of Hermiston, goes up for a shot during Friday’s Mid-
Columbia Conference game against Southridge in Kennewick. She scored
12 points in the 57-31 win.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
on track.
“We came out not perfect, but
then we were fine,” said Young,
who also had six rebounds. “We
started shooting better and get-
ting steals. Our defensive inten-
sity changed dramatically through-
out the game, and I think we kind
of scared them with the the press.
They were trying to get rid of the
ball.”
Hermiston forced 29 South-
ridge turnovers, with 11 coming in
the third quarter.
“It was a good way to start a
new decade,” Heideman said. “We
did a lot of conditioning over the
break, worked on our press and
pushed it hard. It showed tonight.”
Jayden Ray added five points
and a team-high 12 rebounds for
the Bulldogs, while Alexis Kessell
had eight rebounds and six points.
Nadine French led Southridge
with nine points, while McKenna
Crum added six.
HERMISTON 73, HAN-
FORD 63 — The Dawgs led by
just four points at the half, but sharp
shooting from Jazlyn Romero in
the fourth quarter helped put the
game away and earn the Hermiston
Mia Hernandez (21), of Hermiston, goes up for a shot over Southridge
defender Emmee Ball (2) during Friday’s Mid-Columbia Conference game
in Kennewick.
girls their second Mid-Columbia
Conference win Saturday night.
Romero scored 12 of Hermis-
ton’s 21 points in the fourth quar-
ter Saturday to help bury visiting
Hanford.
Romero finished the game with
16 points. Six of her 12 points in
the fourth quarter were scored at
the free-throw line.
Katelyn Heideman led the Bull-
dogs (5-4, 2-3 MCC) with 17
points, while Jayden Ray added
16. The Falcons were led by Iliana
Moran with a game-high 23 points.
BOX SCORE
HERMISTON 14
10
21
12 — 57
SOUTHRIDGE 8
5
8
10 — 31
HERMISTON — Heideman 12, K.Young 11, Ray 5,
Seavert 2, Kessell 6, Dowdy 5, Hernandez 6, Romero
8, B.Young 2.
SOUTHRIDGE — Ball 2, Crum 6, Connors 4, Smith 2,
James 1, French 9, Brooks 2, Molt 5.
Hermiston boys fall short against Southridge
By ANNIE FOWLER
sPOrTs edITOr
Hermiston coach Drew Pre-
uninger knows his team does not
have an inside presence to combat
the likes of Southridge’s 6-foot-6
Tristan Smith, but he does expect
the Bulldogs to implement their
game plan.
Smith torched the Bulldogs for
28 points Friday night in leading
the Suns to a 54-44 Mid-Colum-
bia Conference win over the Bull-
dogs. It was Southridge’s first
MCC win.
“I feel we could have been
tougher,” Preuninger said. “We
didn’t front players, we didn’t
have any backside help. It comes
down to executing our game
plan.”
Hermiston (2-6, 1-3 MCC)
opened the game with a 5-0 lead,
courtesy of Jaiden Ruloph. The
teams traded the lead throughout
the quarter, with the Suns (2-7,
1-4 MCC) coming out on top
14-13 after 8 minutes of play.
Ruloph had 10 of his team-
high 19 points in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs welcomed Chase
Elliott to the floor with 1:39
remaining in the first quarter.
Elliott broke his leg Sept. 6, 2019,
against Pasco in the first football
game of the season. He finished
with two points.
In the second, Ruloph opened
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Hermiston’s Jaiden Ruloph shoots
during Friday’s MCC match against
Southridge in Kennewick, Wash. He
scored 19 points.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Hermiston’s A.J. Ramos-Barron dishes off to a teammate as he is pressured
by Southridge’s Eddie Marines (behind) and Tristan Smith (13) during
Friday’s Mid-Columbia Conference game in Kennewick, Wash.
things up with a 3 from the left
baseline for a 16-14 Hermiston
lead, only to see Ryker Stevens
step outside for a 3 of his own for
a 17-16 Southridge lead.
Sergio Madrigal drove the lane
for a basket to give the Bulldogs
an 18-17 advantage — their last
of the game.
From there, Smith scored
seven points to help the Suns to a
28-22 lead at the half.
Ruloph hit a 3, and Madri-
gal made one of two free throws
to account for Hermiston’s four
points in the third quarter as the
Bulldogs fell behind 39-26 with
one quarter to play.
The Bulldogs went on an 18-15
run in the fourth quarter, getting
five points each from Madrigal
and Trent Pitney, but it would not
be enough.
“I appreciate them not giving
up,” Preuninger said. “I’m proud
of them — they battled and did
not give up.”
Ruloph added four rebounds
to his 19 points, drawing praise
from Preuninger.
“Jaiden has been shooting
really well all year,” he said. “We
just need someone else to step up.
For us to win, we have to win as
a team.”
A.J. Ramos-Barron added 10
points and four rebounds for the
Bulldogs, while Madrigal had
eight points.
Smith scored 18 of his 28
points in the first half. He was the
only Southridge player in double
figures.
“We put a lot of effort on
stopping (Donavyn) Perry and
Smith,” Preuninger said. “We did
a good job on Perry (two points).”
HANFORD 71, HERMIS-
TON 56 — The Bulldogs trailed
early, and faced a 40-24 deficit in
the third quarter, as the visiting
Falcons cruised to a Mid-Colum-
bia Conference victory Saturday.
Trent Pitney led the Bulldogs
(2-7, 1-4 MCC) with 15 points,
with Chase Elliott adding 13 and
Jaiden Ruloph 11.
Turner Clayton scored a game-
high 22 points for the Falcons.
BOX SCORE
HERMISTON
13
9 4
18 — 44
SOUTHRIDGE
14 14 11
15 — 54
HERMISTON — Ruloph 19, Pitney 5, Elliott 2,
Ramos-Barron 10, Madrigal 8.
SOUTHRIDGE — Marines 4, Brown 2, Stevens 5,
Smith 28, Perry 2, Stillwell 5, Lopia 8.