Prep/Youth Sports

• Spotlight

Every Weston-McEwen TigerScot could find joy in their 52-49 nail-biting win over Stanfield in Saturday’s Blue Mountain District championship at Pendleton Convention Center, but none could appreciate it as much as transfer senior Riley Sederberg.

PENDLETON — The final moments of Weston-McEwen’s third-place game at the Blue Mountain Conference District Tournament on Saturday were spiked with emotion in both directions.

HERMISTON — The Horizon Christian Hawks repeated as Big Sky Conference boys champions  behind another big night from 6-foot-8 post Jake Wells, beating Sherman 65-56.

BURNS — The Riverside Pirates went into their Class 3A district wrestling tournament anticipating they had a shot to get somewhere between six and 12 wrestlers through district round and into the state tournament. The Pirates ended up splitting the difference perfectly, as nine Riverside mat men placed in the top three in their weight divisions to earn state berths.

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It took the Echo Cougars boys’ basketball players a few minutes to get their feet under themselves Thursday in Hermiston in the first round of the Big Sky Conference district tournament. The No. 2 seed Cougars out of the Big Sky East struggled with their shot and were a little too worked up playing in the large venue at the Dawg House, but as they settled in, the team pulled away to beat Arlington 50-36.

The top spot in the Columbia River Conference is already spoken for but there’s still plenty of action left on the sports calendar this basketball season.

PENDLETON — Of the 10 Blue Mountain Conference teams battling it out at the district basketball tournament this weekend in Pendleton, all but one are quite familiar with this portion of the season.

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In two games at The Dalles Wahtonka this season, Pendleton earned a pair of wins, but only by an average of 12 points. The offense played with hiccups in those meetings, without the cool flow that the boys’ basketball team has tried to work on late this season.

HOOD RIVER — The Hermiston Bulldogs unleashed a barrage of three-pointers on the Hood River Valley Eagles en route to a 75-52 Columbia River Conference win on Tuesday.

RIVERSIDE 69, UMATILLA 28 — In Umatilla, the Riverside Pirates closed the book on a perfect season in the Eastern Oregon League with a 69-28 smothering of Umatilla on Tuesday.

IRRIGON — The final weekly middle school girls’ basketball jamborees took place in Irrigon and Helix Saturday, closing out the season for most teams.

SALEM — Hermiston’s Sam Schwirse placed fourth in the boys 8 to 9-year-old division at the Elks Hoop Shoot state championships held Saturday.

The Pendleton Lady Bucks basketball team jumped ahead 20-13 at halftime and needed every one of those baskets to stay there as the clock ticked down in the fourth quarter. Pendleton dodged a bullet when a pair of short Hood River Valley shots in the last five seconds both missed the mark and the Bucks crawled away with a 31-29 Columbia River Conference win Friday.

The combined margin of victory for the Hermiston girls’ basketball team through the first three times they played The Dalles Wahtonka was 30 points.

PILOT ROCK — The Blue Mountain Conference race is coming down to the wire and the Union girls have put themselves in the mix with a 40-35 win on the road over Pilot Rock Friday.

HERMISTON — The Hermiston Parks and Recreation Department will begin its bi-weekly youth volleyball clinic later this month.

PENDLETON — Anyone interested in umpiring high school baseball and/or softball should make plans to attend the first meeting of the Blue Mountain Baseball/Softball Officials Association on Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 7 p.m. in the Leadership Room at Pendleton High School. 

IONE — The Ione Cardinals took a one-game lead on Echo for the district tournament first seed from the Big Sky Conference-East by beating Central Christian 76-35 on Thursday in a make-up game.

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Two of the Columbia River Conference’s standouts have been chosen to represent their schools in the Les Schwab Bowl on June 23 in Hillsboro.

The Hermiston Bulldogs and Pendleton Buckaroos represent the final test for each other’s wrestling teams before the antes get raised for the district tournament next week.

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With one school record in hand and two more within their sights, the 2011-12 Pendleton boys’ relay swimmers have to be in the discussion when considering the best group to ever take the pool for the Buckaroos.

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For eight minutes the Pendleton Buckaroos were able to put the brakes on the Hermiston Bulldogs in their Columbia River Conference girls’ basketball game Tuesday.

ELGIN — A pair of runs to end each half helped the Elgin Huskies keep the score close but the Irrigon Knights led most of the way and held on for a 53-51 victory in Blue Mountain Conference boys’ basketball on Tuesday.

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Hermiston’s Stetson Iverson scored a 7-1 decision against Hood River Valley’s Charlie Mallon to sew up a 39-25 wrestling dual victory Thursday at The Dawg House.