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A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAy, FEbRuARy 19, 2020 HeraldSports Follow sports on Twitter @HHeraldSports Dawgs drop District 8 game A 43-35 loss to Mt. Spokane in semifinals drops Hermiston to consolation bracket By ANNIE FOWLER SPORTS EDITOR Hermiston used a stingy defense to hold Mt. Spokane to 15 points under its average, but the Bulldogs had a tough time putting the ball in the basket at the other end. The Wildcats, the No. 5-ranked team in the state, held on in the sec- ond half for a 43-35 win Friday over the Bulldogs in the 3A District 8 semi- finals at Mt. Spokane High School. “I’m proud of the girls for coming out and com- peting,” Hermiston coach Maloree Moss said, “but we did play a little scared offensively. Defensively, we held a team averag- ing 58 points to 43, so that was good to see. We have to be more aggres- sive offensively to beat a team of that caliber.” The Bulldogs will play Kamiakin in a loser-out game at 9 a.m. Friday at Toyota Center in Kenne- wick, Washington. The Braves lost a 73-60 game to Kennewick in the other semifinal. “It’s hard to beat a good team three times,” said Moss, whose team beat Kamiakin 76-50 and 63-39 during Mid-Co- lumbia Conference play. “We will have to bring our ‘A’ game.” Mt. Spokane (17-3) opened the game with a 3-pointer by Kyara Say- ers, but the Bulldogs (14-8) responded with a layup by Jayden Ray and a 3-pointer by Katelyn Heideman for a 5-3 lead. After the Wildcats tied the score, Jazlyn Romero made good on two free throws for a 7-5 lead — the Bulldogs’ last of the game. Gracey Neal, Jayda Noble and Emma Main hit consecutive baskets down the stretch to give Mt. Spokane a 13-7 lead after the first quarter. “I’m super proud of the girls for the way they played in the first quar- ter,” Moss said. “The second and third were not super great. We got a little tired, which usu- ally doesn’t happen. That hurt us getting back on defense.” The Wildcats took an 18-12 lead 4 1/2 min- utes into the second quar- ter, but a 3-pointer by Romero made it 18-15. Mt. Spokane would use a 7-1 run the rest of the quarter for a 25-16 lead at the half. With each team scor- ing 10 points in the third quarter, the Wildcats kept their lead at nine points — 35-26 — with one quarter to play. A 3-pointer by Mad- ison Feigum, and a bas- ket by Mia Hernandez cut the Wildcats’ lead to 37-33 early in the fourth quarter. Hermiston outscored Mt. Spokane 9-8 in the fourth, but could not catch the Wildcats. “Sadly, we gave up too many second-chance opportunities,” Moss said. “We got hot for a bit, then had some defen- sive lapses. It was 37-33 for a long time. Then they got two quick ones, and it went from there.” Romero and Feigum led Hermiston with seven points each, while Heide- man had six points, Kaylee Young five, and Bailey Young five points and nine rebounds. Romero added five rebounds, while Hernan- dez had four. Noble, who has signed to play at University of Washington, had eight points for the Wildcats, as did Neal and Sophia Bertotti-Metoyer. Contributed photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman Review Mt. Spokane forward Jaimyn Sides drives the ball to the basket and into the defense of Hermiston’s Jayden Ray (left) during Friday’s 3A District 8 semifinal game at Mt. Spokane High School. BOX SCORE Hermiston 7 9 10 9 — 35 Mt. Spokane 13 12 10 8 — 43 HERMISTON — Heideman 6, K.Young 5, Ray 3, Feigum 7, Hernandez 2, Romero 7, B.Young 5. MT. SPOKANE — Sides 2, Main 5, Neal 8, Bertotti-Metoyer 8, Allen 4, Noble 11, Kamalu-Vargas 2, Sayers 3. “SADLY, WE GAVE UP TOO MANY SECOND-CHANCE OPPORTUNITIES. WE GOT HOT FOR A BIT, THEN HAD SOME DEFENSIVE LAPSES.” Mt. Spokane guard Destiny Kamalu-Vargas (back) and Mt. Spokane guard Jayda Noble (24) chase Hermiston guard Jayden Ray (with ball) downcourt during Friday’s 3A District 8 semifinal game at Mt. Spokane High School. Hermiston coach Maloree Moss Contributed photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman Review Dawgs face Kamiakin in loser-out game Hermiston won both Mid- Columbia Conference games against the braves By ANNIE FOWLER SPORTS EDITOR For years, the Kamiakin girls basketball team was one of the top 3A programs in the state. Graduation took its toll on the Braves last spring, but Herm- iston coach Maloree Moss still sees Kamiakin as a formidable opponent. The Bulldogs (14-8) and Braves (5-17) will meet at 9 a.m. Friday at the Toyota Center in a 3A Dis- trict 8 loser-out game. The win- ner advances to the second-place game at noon Saturday against the loser of Friday’s Kennewick-Mt. Spokane game. The top two teams advance to regionals. “This is a higher-stakes game than the last time we played them,” Moss said. “It’s loser-out. We played a lot of girls last time, and he rotated five players at a time. We won’t see that again.” Kamiakin coach Lane Schum- acher’s team has a different look than the first two times it played Hermiston — 76-50 and 63-39 losses. The first game, junior Regan Clark still was recovering from a soccer injury. Two weeks ago, the Braves were without junior Amani Davis, who was under concussion protocol. “Regan had a good game for us against North Central,” Schumacher said of their Dis- “THIS IS A HIGHER-STAKES GAME THAN THE LAST TIME WE PLAYED THEM. IT’S LOSER-OUT.” Hermiston coach Maloree Moss trict 8 opener. “She had 23 points. It’s nice to see her getting more aggressive with her shots.” While his team’s shooting has improved, Schumacher is more concerned about what the Bull- dogs are capable of. “They have some girls who can shoot, and shoot deep,” Schum- acher said. “I’ve seen it firsthand. We need to do a better job of stopping them, and taking away the dribble and penetration. We need to focus on containing their shots and pro- tecting from long range.” Moss would like to see her team attack the rim and do a better job of getting offensive rebounds, which proves to be dif- ficult at times because they do not have a true inside presence. The Bulldogs are led by senior guard Jazlyn Romero, who aver- ages 11.75 points a game, and is one of the team’s top rebounders and playmakers. “She is something special, for sure,” Moss said. “She is our court leader. The girls trust her, she plays with poise and she stays composed in all situations. This will be one of the biggest games she will play, but she has com- peted in other sports at a high level.” Hermiston also gets 10 points a game from Katelyn Heideman, mostly from long range, while Kendall Dowdy and Bailey Young take care of business inside. Kaylee Young and Jayden Ray play tough defense and can be dangerous from the floor if you lose track of them. Davis leads Kamiakin with 14 points a game, with freshman Nikole Thomas adding 11.8 for the young Braves. “Our record is not great, but we keep competing,” Schum- acher said. “They have a lot of fight and haven’t quit all year.”