Vikings reject Pirates

“Umatilla is fourth in state for a reason,” Riverside coach Kevin Gilbertson said. “They play hard. Those girls hustle.”

The hustle and clamp down mimicked the Vikings (13-3, 2-0 EOL) first league win over Nyssa Saturday, when they held the Bulldogs to a measly 21 points.

The other developing habits don’t have Bow quite as encouraged, however.

“We’re struggling to put the ball in the hoop,” Bow conceded. “I think we’ve had a lot more possessions and better looks than other teams, but we’ve just struggled to put the ball in the hoop.

“I really thought we were just going to start running away in the beginning, and they were there to stop us and challenge us and we weren’t able to finish them.”

In the opening half Umatilla forced 22 Riverside (7-8, 0-2 EOL) turnovers, but the added looks resulted in just 22 total first half points.

The Umatilla offense never found its rhythm, shooting just 17 of 50 on the night and 1 of 9 from three-point range.

The two EOL league wins provide two of the team’s three lowest scoring outputs in wins this season. The 37-point average in those games marks a stark contrast from the squad that averaged 57 points per win in its run through non-league play.

“We had a lot of shots that kids normally hit that didn’t go down for us,” Bow said. “The last two games have been the same way — the same style — we played well defensively down in Nyssa, we played well defensively tonight, but we just couldn’t convert.

“We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do to win these games and hopefully at the end of the season we’ll be peaking — back to the way we started the season.”

Junior center Courtney Dohman’s eight first quarter points appeared to have the Vikings headed in the right direction, but she only scored twice more on the night. The remainder of the normally potent scorers never got going.

And still the Vikings built a 22-12 halftime lead. The margin never dipped below 10 in the second half.

“We lost, but it’s a win,” Gilbertson said. “It’s a moral win. We’re building. We just want to keep building.”

The Pirates start two sophomores and two freshmen, and while the team never truly challenged the Vikings on the scoreboard, they “battled” throughout, Gilbertson said.

“Our ranking doesn’t show the heart our girls have,” he said of his team’s 27th positioning in Class 3A out of 39 teams. “Overall, I can’t complain.”

Dohman finished with a game-high 12 points and five rebounds, in “her best game all year”, according to Bow.

“They have a 5-11 girl that’s a beast,” Gilbertson said of Dohman.

Sophomore forward Aleesha Watson added 11 points in the win for the Vikings.

Lacey Mashos led Riverside with eight points.

Both sides play again on Saturday. Umatilla hosts Vale, while Riverside will play Nyssa at home.

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UMATILLA 42, RIVERSIDE 27

RHS (7-8) 8 4 8 7 — 27

UHS (13-3) 12 10 8 12 — 42

RIVERSIDE — Lacey Mashos 8, K. McCullough 2, S. Hasbell 0, P. Pena 0, J. Shimer 6, S. Wightman 5, E. Velasco 2, E. Sanchez 2, A. Hernandez 2.

UMATILLA — B. Chavez 2, M. Paz 0, K. Barajas 0, I Campos 3, B. Campos 2, S. Webb 3, K. Galbraith 9, C. Dohman 12, A. Watson 11.

3-point field goals — RHS 1, UHS 1. Free throws — RHS 0-4, UHS 7-14. Fouls — RHS 13, UHS 16.