Playing on back-to-back nights against a very good, well-rested team proved too much for the The Dalles High Riverhawks to handle, as they lost, 65-52, to Redmond High last Thursday. The game was the Class 5A Intermountain Conference boys basketball opener for both teams.
The Riverhawks (0-1 IMC, 6-6 overall) guided by Coach Greg Cummings, were playing their third game in four days, which included a 48-36 loss at Gladstone on Jan. 12 and a 69-51 road win over Estacada. Redmond, the No. 4-ranked Class 5A team (10-5 overall), was playing for the first time since Jan. 5.
“They are very good,” said Cummings. “They have great guard play. They have great low-post play and they’re well coached. I do think fatigue was a factor, too, because we got home on Wednesday night after 11 p.m. Even though we were playing back-to-back, we still have to come out play hard and play Riverhawk defense. We haven’t had our starting five together in the last three weeks. We can turn things around for sure when we get everyone back in the lineup and we’ll have Braden Schwartz back for our next game.”
Schwartz, a 6-foot-4 junior post, hasn’t played the last three games, because he’s been unavailable with an illness.
After losing three of their past four games, the Hawks were hoping to end their slump Tuesday at home over the Class 6A Aloha Warriors (result was after the printed edition deadline). The Hawks play their next game at 5:30 p.m. Friday at home against Gorge rival and No. 11-ranked Hood River Valley (1-0 IMC, 7-2).
In their first home game since Dec. 22 (a 58-39 win over McLoughlin), The Dalles came out and had a strong start in building a 12-10 lead over the Panthers. The momentum shifted in the Panthers favor though, as they outscored the Hawks 22-7 in the second quarter. A highlight for the Hawks and their fans was a two-handed slam dunk by junior guard Styles DeLeon (career-high 25 points) late in the second quarter.
“They (Panthers) are a tough team, but we had them for a little bit and then they made a push late in the game and we just couldn’t come back from that,” said DeLeon. “We were within striking range near the end, but we just couldn’t finish it out though. We just have to play better, and we’ll do that once we get Braden back. I definitely think we’ll end our slump soon.
“We just have to have our full team together and get everyone healthy, then we’ll have better team chemistry and we’ll be fine. We have to win our next game for sure on Friday at home against Hood River.”
The Hawks quickly trimmed the deficit to 10 points after sophomore guard Henry Begay (11 points) fired in a three-point field goal early in the third quarter. The Panthers responded with a 10-0 run to build their largest lead of the game, 42-22.
“We just didn’t play good defense in the second quarter,” said Cummings. “Our intensity level dropped, and we struggled offensively. I hope from here on out, we can play better defense. Even if shots aren’t falling or whatever the case may be, we still have to play great defense and it definitely wasn’t as good as it should be.”
The Dalles sophomore Andre Niko scored on a jumper in the lane, was fouled and his free throw for a three-point play made it 46-38, forcing a Redmond timeout with 6:35 left in the game.
“I didn’t notice that we were so close at that point, but I was just happy seeing that we never gave up,” said Niko. “We had some turnovers, but we had a good comeback effort. It was kind of hard to get a shot off against their center (Evan Otten), who is probably the best player in our conference. We just have to come back, keep our heads up and hopefully get a win in the next game.”
Otten (19 points), a 6-foot-8 junior, had a one-handed dunk during an 8-1 run to help the Panthers extend their lead to 54-39 with 5:04 left in the contest. “He (Otten) was tough, and our tallest guy was 6’3, so it’s hard to play against a 6’8 guy,” said Cummings. “We’re not in the habit of making excuses, even with him (Otten) out there. We still could’ve played better defense and we should’ve created turnovers defensively, which would’ve led to some offensive fast breaks and some offensive transition points.”
In the Hawks’ loss to Class 4A Gladstone, their 36 total points was the fewest they’ve scored in a game this year. The Hawks were 1-for-24 (4%) from the 3-point line.
The Dalles’ victory over Class 4A Estacada on Jan. 10 was led by senior wing Tristan Bass, who scored a career-high 21 points.
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