1A Big Sky boys basketball roundup

The Rangers, guided by longtime Coach Hollie Darden, was hampered by foul trouble in both games.

“We got in foul trouble (against Heppner) and we failed to get back in our transition game and they (Mustangs) are a pretty athletic team,” said Darden. “It was a good opening game for us against Wallowa and we worked out the kinks a little bit. We had way too many fouls in both games.

“We just have to get ourselves a little bit more under control. We have to play a little smarter if we want to be successful against teams that have kids that are more athletic and have better basketball skills.”

Against Wallowa, Dufur was led by juniors JJ Johnston (26 points) and Cody Phillips (14 points). Phillips was playing his first-ever high school game.

“It’s great to be back on the court playing basketball again,” Phillips said. “We can definitely play a lot better and there’s room for improvement. We can be a really good team this year and we’ll get better if we just keep working hard in practice.”

Johnston scored nine points in the first quarter to help Dufur build a 27-6 lead and then scored seven consecutive points for Dufur at the outset of the second quarter.

In the contest against Heppner, Dufur had seven players who scored, led by Phillips with seven points.

Horizon opens season with two wins

Horizon Christian (13-8 last year) had two victories to start the season. Horizon won its opening game on the road, 43-40, over the North Clackamas Christian High Saints (1-2) at Oregon City. The Hawks followed with a 55-27 win over the Griswold High Grizzlies (0-1) in their opening home game Dec. 3 at Horizon Christian High School in Hood River.

Against North Clackamas, senior Caleb Yuan scored 19 points — most in the second half. Horizon Coach Kim Linder used the games, especially the Griswold contest, as a chance to give some of his younger players some varsity action.

Sherman County wins opener

The Sherman County High Huskies won their season opener Friday at home, 49-35, over the Culver High Bulldogs in the Sherman Invitational Tournament in Dec. 2-3 in Moro. The Huskies lost their second game Saturday, 48-45, to the Class 4A Madras High White Buffaloes junior varsity.

Lyle/Wishram splits two games

The Lyle/Wishram High Cougars (1-1) lost their season opening game, 34-26, to C.S. Lewis Academy (3-0) on Nov. 30 in Newberg. The Cougars bounced back and won their home opener, 54-48, over the Trout Lake High Mustangs (1-1) Dec. 2 at Lyle High School.

The Mustangs bounced back from the loss to Lyle and won their home opener, 51-25, over the Stevenson High JV on Dec. 3. The Mustangs equaled their win total from last year when they had a 1-12 record, which included seven forfeits.