Playing their first game in two weeks, The No. 19-ranked The Dalles High Riverhawks boys basketball team last week appeared to be on the verge of notching their first Class 5A Intermountain Conference win.
The Hawks were playing well, leading in the fourth quarter against No. 12-ranked Ridgeview. But Ravens flew past the Hawks, outscoring them 19-7 to get a 60-50 win on Jan. 27 in Redmond.
The Hawks (0-2 IMC, 6-7 overall), guided by Coach Greg Cummings, were hoping to get their first league win and snap a three-game losing streak in Tuesday’s match-up versus the Pendleton High Buckaroos (result was after the print edition deadline). The Hawks play their next contest Thursday at home at 7 p.m. against Gorge rival and No. 9-ranked Hood River Valley (see related story top of page).
“We just had too many turnovers down the stretch and there were a couple of calls that went against us that probably shouldn’t have and so that was really the difference in the game,” Cummings said.
In their first game since Jan. 13 (a 65-52 loss to Redmond), the Hawks played great through three quarters. Led by sophomore forward Andre Niko, who had a season-high 14 points along with a team-high eight rebounds, the Hawks jumped out to a 10-7 first quarter advantage. The Dalles led 43-41 going into the fourth quarter, but the Ravens (2-1 IMC, 11-6 overall) outscored the Hawks 8-0 in the last few minutes.
The Hawks were unable to overcome 25 turnovers and 55 percent free-throw shooting. The Hawks were also playing without starting wing Tristan Bass, who was sidelined while recovering from an injury. Bass scored a career-high 21 points in a 69-51 win over Estacada Jan. 10.
“It’s hard to win when you shoot poorly from the line,” said Cummings. “We also missed a few point-blank layups, which really hurt along with some costly turnovers down the stretch, and some missed free throws late in the game, too. We played really bad in the first half, but then we had a great third quarter and then just an awful fourth quarter.”
The Hawks had three players score in double figures: Jaxon Pullen and Styles DeLeon had 10 points apiece, supporting Niko’s 14. Sophomore guard Henry Begay added eight points, four assists and four steals.
“We played only about 12 minutes of really good basketball,” said Cummings. “If we can just string together 32 minutes of good basketball, then we can compete with anybody and beat any team in the state. It’s just a matter of making sure our kids are ready and prepared and ready to compete.”
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