A6 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAy, JANuARy 15, 2020
HeraldSports
Dawgs outlast Kamiakin
Hermiston picks up first
win over Braves since
joining the MCC
By ANNIE FOWLER
SPORTS EDITOR
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Hermiston’s Jazlyn Romero (22) brings the ball downcourt during Saturday’s game against
Kamiakin at the Dawg House.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Hermiston’s Bailey Young (25) and Kamiakin’s Pinna Lujan
(33) go after a loose ball during Saturday’s game at the Dawg
House.
team. She lit a fire under our
butts.”
That fire burned the hot-
test in the final 8 minutes,
where the Bulldogs went on
a 21-4 run.
The Dawgs opened the
quarter with a 13-point
streak, capped off by two
at the free-throw line from
Romero, hoisting them to
their first of two 24-point
advantages at 70-46 with
2:30 left to play.
“We started hitting more
shots,” Moss said of the
fourth quarter. “Defensively,
we got some stops. We really
came together as a team. We
outlasted (Kamiakin).”
The Braves got one bas-
ket each from Thomas and
Lindsey Benham in the final
three minutes.
Hermiston (7-5, 4-4
MCC) got 13 points each
from Heideman and Young.
WALLA
WALLA
(Washington) 55, HERM-
ISTON 42 — The Bull-
dogs saw their four-game
win streak come to an end,
as they fell to the host Blue
Devils in Mid-Columbia
Conference action Friday
night.
“We had a really slow
start,” Hermiston coach
Maloree Moss said. “We
needed a couple of our shots
to fall in the first half, and
that might have helped us
gain some momentum.”
Jazlyn Romero notched
two treys in the first quarter,
and the Dawgs trailed 17-12
at the first buzzer. They were
outscored 17-3 in the sec-
ond, where their lone bas-
ket came from Jayden Ray
beyond the arc.
Meanwhile, Rian Clear
scored 11 of Walla Wal-
la’s 17 points in the second
quarter.
“I’m super proud of the
way we responded after
halftime,” Moss said, “but
we ran out of steam, and
the ball didn’t fall our way
like we needed it to in the
fourth.”
The Dawgs took the third
quarter 13-6, and the fourth
16-15, but could not com-
plete the rally.
Romero led Hermis-
ton (6-5, 3-4 MCC) with 18
points, and Ray added 11.
Clear had 22 points on the
night for the Blue Devils
(8-3, 4-3 MCC).
Bulldogs can’t keep
up with Blue Devils
HERMISTON HERALD
Hermiston held an early
8-2 lead over the Blue
Devils, but after a time-
out, Wa-Hi went to work
and showed no mercy in an
86-49 Mid-Columbia Con-
ference home win Friday
night.
“The first quarter was
pretty competitive,” Herm-
iston coach Drew Preun-
inger said. “We came out
and hit a couple of 3s.”
Sophomore Chase Elliott
had 10 of his career-high 19
points in the first quarter for
the Bulldogs.
The Blue Devils led
48-28 at the half, and 69-40
at the end of three quarters.
“There was a running
clock there for a minute or
so,” Preuninger said. “We
were down by 40. We knew
this would be a tough year.
They have better players
Big second half propels
Richland over Hermiston
Ruloph leads Dawgs
with 20 points
By BRETT KANE
STAFF WRITER
In the Mid-Columbia
Conference, any slack in
your team’s momentum can
cost you the game.
While the Hermiston
girls experienced that in
brief lapses, it was what
derailed the visiting Kami-
akin Braves on Saturday
night.
The Dawgs fought to
hold onto a 10-point advan-
tage throughout the contest,
and an early fourth-quar-
ter rally put the game out of
reach for good as Hermiston
cruised a 76-50 win.
It was the Bulldog’s first
win over Kamiakin (2-10,
1-7 MCC) since they joined
the MCC.
“We wanted to come out
strong, and we did that,”
said Hermiston senior Jaz-
lyn Romero, who poured in
16 points to lead the Bull-
dogs. “But then we lagged
a little bit. You can’t afford
those mental lapses in the
MCC. You never know —
anyone can win any game
on any given night.”
Romero,
sophomore
Sydney Seavert, and junior
Kaylee Young opened play
with three consecutive treys
for Hermiston that helped it
to a 9-2 lead.
Braves freshman Kath-
ryn Hollenberg notched
two unanswered baskets
that pulled them within
five points in response, and
sophomore Kylie Malloy hit
a basket to cut the deficit to
just three with 4:36 left in
the quarter.
Seavert sank another
3-pointer in the final minute
to help keep the Dawgs up
22-16 at the buzzer.
Braves freshman Nikole
Thomas, who finished the
game with 15 points, got
her team within three points
again with just 3:53 left in
the half, but Romero strung
together two baskets from
beyond the arc for a 31-22
advantage.
Sophomore Mia Her-
nandez hit a 3-pointer in
the final 30 seconds to give
Hermiston a 37-27 lead at
the half.
In the game’s closest
quarter, the Bulldogs were
outscored 19-18 in the third.
A 3-pointer from Kate-
lyn Heideman helped the
Bulldogs to a 10-point lead
at 51-41 with just 2:30 to
go. The Braves trailed just
55-46 with one quarter to
play.
“Our coach (Maloree
Moss) kind of yelled at us
at the half,” Heideman said.
“We weren’t playing as a
Follow sports on Twitter
@HHeraldSports
than us, and their inside
presence killed us. We prob-
ably gave up 20 offensive
rebounds.”
Trent Pitney added 15
points for the Bulldogs.
Michael Cornia led the
Blue Devils with 23 points,
while Dylan Ashbeck added
15.
KAMIAKIN
78,
HERMISTON 29 — The
Bulldogs fell to an eight-
game skid as they dropped a
Mid-Columbia Conference
matchup against visiting
Braves on Saturday night.
Chase Elliott was the
only Hermiston player to
score in double digits, fin-
ishing with 13 points on the
night. The Bulldogs (2-10,
1-7 MCC) were held to just
three points in the fourth
quarter — a basket from
Miguel Moreno and one
point from the free-throw
line by Elliott.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Hermiston’s A.J. Ramos-Barron (11) tries to work the ball
inside during Saturday’s game against Kamiakin at the Dawg
House.
The Hermiston Bull-
dogs opened a few eyes
during their Jan. 7 game.
Jaiden Ruloph scored
12 of his 20 points in the
second quarter as the Bull-
dogs pulled within 41-39 at
the half against Richland.
It was a fleeting
moment of accomplish-
ment. The Bombers (7-4,
4-3 MCC) regrouped at the
half, and promptly went
on a 23-8 run in the third
quarter to pull away for an
85-62 Mid-Columbia Con-
ference win at Art Dewald
Gymnasium.
“The first half, that was
fun,” Hermiston coach
Drew Preuninger said.
“We have been talking
about having fun, and me
giving them a little bit lon-
ger of a leash. We should
have gone into halftime
tied, but we couldn’t take
care of the ball the last few
seconds.”
Ben Fewel scored nine
of his 17 points in the first
quarter, floating through
the key for easy baskets
and helping the Bombers
to a 24-13 lead.
The Bulldogs (2-8, 1-5
MCC) took their first lead
at 37-36 with 1:41 to play
in the second quarter as
Ruloph hit both ends of a
one-and-one.
After a 37-37 tie,
Ruloph hit a short jumper
to put Hermiston out front
39-37.
Two free throws by
Twazae Gladney tied the
score at 39-39, and a steal
and bucket by Fewel with
2 seconds left on the clock,
put the Bombers back on
top.
Less than 5 minutes
into the third quarter, the
Bombers had gone on a
20-2 run to take a 61-41
lead.
Hermiston outscored
Richland 15-10 in the
fourth quarter, but it was
too late to get back in the
game.
“I don’t know how
may offensive rebounds
we gave up,” Preuninger
said. “It was a ridiculous
amount. We weren’t box-
ing out. They were crash-
ing the boards like nuts.
That was huge.”
A.J.
Ramos-Barron
added 11 points for the
Bulldogs, while Trent Pit-
ney had 10 points and four
rebounds. Chase Elliott, in
just his third game back
since breaking his leg
during the football season,
added eight points.
“It has been nice to get
Chase back,” Preuninger
said. “He has another gear
no one else has — it forces
them to play faster.”
Ivan Rangel, who has
had a few big games for
Hermiston, was held to
three points, but he pulled
down eight rebounds.
“Jaiden has the touch
and the confidence, and that
is half of shooting,” Preun-
inger said. “If you don’t
have confidence, nothing
happens. We need some-
one else to step up and start
scoring some points for us
to win games.”
William
McClelland
led the Bombers with 20
points. The 6-foot-4 junior
stepped outside the arc for
three 3s.
BOX SCORE
HERMISTON 13 26 8 15 — 62
RICHLAND 24 17 23 10 — 85
HERMISTON — Ruloph 20, Pitney 10,
Elliott 8, Ramos-Barron 11, Rangel 3,
Moreno 6, Jay.Ramirez 4.
RICHLAND — Schuster 3, Rew 5, Glad-
ney 13, Fewel 17, Wagar 7, Albrecht 14,
Daniels 6, McClelland 20.
Bulldogs defuse Bombers
Hermiston hands
Richland 2nd MCC loss
By ANNIE FOWLER
SPORTS EDITOR
Hermiston faced a
10-point deficit at the half.
The 3-point shots weren’t
falling, and Richland was
dominating the boards.
Good thing every game
has two halves.
Jazlyn Romero scored 11
of her game-high 14 points
in the second half, and the
Bulldogs outscored the
Bombers 34-19 over the last
two quarters en route to a
47-42 Mid-Columbia Con-
ference win on Jan. 7 at Art
Dewald Gymnasium.
“Tonight, we showed our
mental toughness,” Romero
said. “What we have been
taught, showed tonight.”
Any way you slice it,
the win could be classified
as the biggest victory for
Hermiston (6-4, 3-3 MCC)
since it joined the MCC last
season.
“This is confidence
booster tonight,” Romero
said. “We are competitive
in the MCC. That will shift
over into our next game
against Walla Walla (on
Friday).”
Trailing 23-13 at the half,
Hermiston coach Maloree
Moss challenged her play-
ers to shut down the Rich-
land perimeter and apply
more pressure going into
the third quarter.
“We put pressure on
them a little bit more, and
we switched to zone, which
helped,” said Moss, whose
team has won four games
in a row. “They didn’t have
a 3 in the second half. The
girls had a ton of heart. This
is a big win for us — they
earned this one.”
Richland (6-5, 5-2
MCC) scored to opened
the second half and take a
25-13 lead. The Bulldogs
slowly chipped away at the
lead, getting seven points
from Romero.
Bailey Young was left all
alone down low with 2 sec-
onds left in the third. She
put the ball off the glass and
in the basket to tie the score
at 30-30 with one quarter to
play.
Hermiston took its first
lead, 35-34, on a 3-pointer
by Katelyn Heideman with
5:46 to play. Heideman’s
second trey of the quarter
put the Bulldogs ahead for
good with 2:38 to play.
The Bombers tried to
get back in the game, but
an intentional foul on the
part of Megan Holm, sent
Kendall Dowdy to the line
for two. She made one free
throw to give her team a
45-42 lead.
The Bombers fouled
again, but this time Romero
made both free throws with
16 seconds remaining to
seal the win.
“When that happens,
you have to take advantage
of it,” Romero said. “They
are a really good team.”
Dowdy added five
points and eight rebounds
for the Bulldogs, while
Young had eight points and
three rebounds. Mia Her-
nandez and Jayden Ray
each had five rebounds,
while Romero added five
rebounds, five steals and a
handful of assists.
“Jaz has come into her
own and sees the floor really
well,” Moss said. “It’s really
awesome to see.”
BOX SCORE
HERMISTON 5 8 17 15 — 47
RICHLAND 16 7 7 12 — 42
HERMISTON — Heideman 6, K.Young 2,
Ray 6, Dowdy 5, Romero 14, Hernandez
6, B.Young 8.
RICHLAND — Jo.Clark 11, Smith 11, Ja.
Clark 5, Fox 8, Holm 7.