FEATURES/SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A11
Hermiston’s Romero named All-EO Player of the Year
By ANNIE FOWLER
FOR THE HERMISTON HERALD
First-year coaches usu-
ally are left with a ros-
ter devoid of talent and
leadership.
At Hermiston, girls bas-
ketball coach Maloree
Moss hit the motherlode
with the Bulldogs, even if
it didn’t look that way to
outsiders.
With just one senior
and a handful of juniors
and sophomores, the Bull-
dogs were ready to take on
the tough Mid-Columbia
Conference.
That one senior was Jaz-
lyn Romero, one of the best
players to ever put on a
Hermiston uniform.
Romero can play, and is
willing to play, any position
on the court, but her value
is with the ball in her hands.
She shoots the 3 with pre-
cision, and dishes the ball
with a little fl air like Magic
Johnson, but it’s her leader-
ship that sets her apart.
Romero’s qualities made
her the right choice for the
East Oregonian Player of
the Year.
“Anytime you can have
a player who knows their
role, it’s helpful in a lot
of ways,” Moss said of
Romero. “She had already
established leadership with
the girls, and she bought
into what I was doing and
that made it easier. I knew I
had to have her buy in. For
a senior to do that speaks to
her character.”
Romero averaged 11.8
points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.3
assists and 3.3 steals a
game. She also earned sec-
ond-team all-MCC honors.
“I think all the girls on
the fi rst team are Division
I athletes,” said Romero,
who also is a Division I ath-
lete, but in track. “It’s nice
to have that competition.
You don’t get an opportu-
nity to play against athletes
like that very often.”
Moss said Romero was
deserving of the MCC rec-
ognition, which is voted on
by the conference.
“To get any kind of rec-
ognition in that conference
is huge,” Moss said. “I’m
glad they recognized her as
a top player. That is a big
conference (nine teams)
and a very good one, too.”
Romero is joined on
the fi rst team by team-
mate Jayden Ray, the MCC
Defensive Player of the
Year; Faith McCarty of
ALL-EO GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM
Player of the Year: Jazlyn Romero, sr., Hermiston.
Coach of the Year: Maloree Moss, Hermiston.
First Team
Jazlyn Romero, sr., Hermiston; Jayden Ray, jr., Herm-
iston; Faith McCarty, so., Echo; Sydney Wilson, jr.,
Heppner; Muriel Hoisington, so., Pendleton; Kendra
Hart, sr., Stanfi eld.
Second Team
Jessica Medina, jr., Ione; Rachel McCarty, sr., Echo;
Nyah Tejeda, sr., Stanfi eld; Sami Spriet, sr., Pendleton;
Tylene Skillman, sr., Echo; JaLay Burns, so., Irrigon;
Taylor Durfey, so., Umatilla.
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Hermiston’s Jazlyn Romero has been named the All-East Oregonian Girls Basketball Player of
the Year.
Echo, the Big Sky League
Player of the Year; Syd-
ney Wilson, a Blue Moun-
tain Conference unanimous
selection for the fi rst team;
and Pendleton’s Muriel
Hoisington
and
Stan-
fi eld’s Kendra Hart, both
fi rst-team players in their
respective leagues.
“I was super excited to
see the defensive recog-
nition she got,” Moss said
of Ray. “She puts her head
down and gets to work. That
was really, really cool.”
Moss, who led the Bull-
dogs to a 14-9 record and a
trip to the District 8 play-
offs, was named Coach of
the Year.
CRYPTOQUIP
Rising to the challenge
Romero knew she would
be looked upon to lead
the Bulldogs, and that she
would have to round out
her game with a better
defensive effort.
“I stepped up pretty big
as a leader,” Romero said.
“The girls trusted me. I
knew what was expected
each night — scoring and
playing defense. It’s defi -
nitely rewarding to be
a well-rounded player.
Before, you just knew me
as a scorer and passer.”
Moss knew Romero had
it in her to improve her
game.
“I don’t think peo-
ple realize how much of a
defensive threat she had
become,” Moss said. “She
was averaging three to four
steals a game. She brought
everything to the table.”
During the season,
Romero had a game-high
36 points in a 72-61 over-
time win over Pasco.
The school record is
38 points, held by Alissa
Edwards.
The Bulldogs advanced
to the District 8 tourna-
ment, where they beat
Shadle Park before losing
a semifi nal game to Mt.
Spokane.
Hermiston found itself
in a loser-out game against
SUPER CROSSWORD: MIXED BLESSING
Maloree Moss,
Hermiston
Kendra Hart,
Stanfi eld
Muriel
Hoisington,
Pendleton
Sydney Wilson,
Heppner
Faith McCarty,
Echo
Jayden Ray,
Hermiston
Kamiakin. The winner
would advance for a chance
to go to the regional tour-
nament. The Braves rallied
for a 60-50 victory.
“Not many people get to
have that win in their last
game,” Romero said.
Romero had 13 points
and nine rebounds in her
fi nal high school game. She
fi nished her career with
974 points, just missing the
1,000-point mark.
A tale of two loves
Romero comes from
a basketball family. Her
brothers Adrian and Jose
played at Irrigon during the
heyday of the boys basket-
ball program.
Romero followed her
brothers’ lead. It was obvi-
ous she had talent, and at
one point, thought basket-
ball might be her ticket to
college.
Then track came along.
Romero found she had a
gift when it came to throw-
ing the javelin.
She won the Class 3A
state title as a junior with a
toss of 144 feet, 11 inches.
Her personal best is 151-
9. Those numbers caught
the eye of Oregon State
University, which signed
Romero in early December.
“It’s always nice to have
your own thing,” Romero
said. “Not just being Adrian
and Jose’s little sister. When
I fi rst started doing track,
they said it was a waste of
time. I said I liked it.”
It took a while for her
brothers to come around
to their sister passing up
on basketball for track,
but once they realized how
good she was, they quickly
changed their tune.
“Before the season got
postponed, my brother
(Adrian) asked me to send
him my schedule so he
could come watch me,”
Romero said. “It was going
to be nice to have them
there. They are very sup-
portive of what I’m doing.”
Deep down, Romero
knows she will miss
basketball.
“It will be interesting
how my life will be with-
out basketball,” she said. “I
might get a pick-up game
here or there.”
While the sun sets on
her career, it will be a long
while before fans forget
what Romero brought to
Hermiston basketball.
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