THE GORGE — As expected, the Dufur High girls and South Wasco County boys sit atop the Big Sky League basketball standings after one week of conference games.
The Ranger girls (10-2 overall, 2-0 league as of Jan. 11) won twice this past week, 67-9 versus visiting Horizon Christian School, and at South Wasco County, 41-21. The game against South Wasco was close early, as the Redsides bottled up things inside for Coach Aimee Bell’s Rangers. South Wasco’s aggressive play led to Dufur enjoying a big scoring advantage at the free throw line.
It was 9-6, Dufur, after one quarter before the Rangers opened a small lead, 18-9, at halftime. A 7-0 scoring run early in the third period provided Dufur enough cushion before pulling away late.
South Wasco shut down Dufur’s leading outside scorer, Makaila Miller, by face-guarding her the entire contest. The Rangers did get 28 points — 15 and 13 — from their inside tandem of Cadence Young and Hailee Pechanec. South Wasco was led by Makayla Barnett’s three triples.
A key game early in the girls season will be Jan. 16 at Trout Lake, where the Mustangs (7-2, 1-0) will host Dufur. Trout Lake opened its league season with a 38-28 home win over South Wasco on Jan. 6. The Redsides earned their first league win, 35-20, at Horizon on Jan. 10.
In Big Sky boys play, South Wasco won the battle of the league’s top-ranked 1A teams with a 64-47 victory Jan. 11 at Horizon Christian. The teams — ranked 10th and 11th entering the contest — played an even first quarter before the Redsides (11-1, 3-0) pulled away to a double-digit lead in the second period behind the outside shooting and overall play of seniors Jason Hull and Rowen Huff. Hull would finish with 31 points, and Huff added 16.
Horizon, which was coming off a 54-36 win at Dufur in its league opener, was led by senior Ben Chapman, whose playing time in the first half against South Wasco was limited because of fouls, and junior Milo Bielen. Chapman, who scored 25 points and grabbed 18 rebounds against Dufur, had 21 against South Wasco and Bielen added 14.
South Wasco, which entered the week ranked No. 7 in 1A, was scheduled to play at second-place Klickwood (7-2, 2-0) on Jan. 12 and hosts ninth-ranked Pilot Rock (12-2) in a non-league contest Jan. 15. The Redsides’ lone loss was in overtime to 2A Crosshill Christian. Klickwood has league wins against Trout Lake and Dufur.
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