Dakota Kurahara watches the game with his teammates on the HRV bench Friday night. Kurahara, who was in the hospital due to a partially collapsed lung, was released last week and was able to take in the game, though his return to the HRV lineup this season is questionable.
Stintzi Slam: HRV’s Tyrone Stintzi energizes the crowd on his way to a slam-dunk during Friday’s win over The Dalles in Hood River.
Ben Mitchell
Parker Kennedy fights for position as he attempts a lay-up against a Riverhawks defender.
Ben Mitchell
Dakota Kurahara watches the game with his teammates on the HRV bench Friday night. Kurahara, who was in the hospital due to a partially collapsed lung, was released last week and was able to take in the game, though his return to the HRV lineup this season is questionable.
Ben Mitchell
Zak Ellsworth, who had one of his best nights of the season, drives to the hoop.
Vannet Court was rocking Friday night with white-wearing HRV fans, who screamed themselves hoarse watching the Eagles boys basketball team play its best game of the season on HRV hardwood, demolishing The Dalles, 67-46, in a game that the home team controlled from the tip to the buzzer.
Determined to avenge the previous week’s 72-70 loss to the same team, the Eagles (3-15, 2-4 Columbia River Conference) went on a 15-2 run in the first seven minutes of the game, making things difficult for the Riverhawks (5-15, 2-4) right from the get-go. The Dalles responded with a scoring run of its own in the final minute of the quarter to close it out 17-10, but that’s as close as the Riverhawks got for the rest of the game.
It was an about-face from the previous road game against The Dalles, who saddled the Eagles with an 18-point deficit in the first quarter before nearly blowing the game in the final minute. HRV Head Coach Steve Noteboom said that game weighed heavily on his own mind, as well as the minds of his players.
“Not only that, but the way the we came out the last three games and got down early and were not able to fight back… it was kind of the reverse Friday,” he said. “We got out to the early lead. That was the focus, that we could not get down early and be out of the game.”
The game got more out of control in the second quarter as HRV ran circles around The Dalles, relying heavily on a combination of Parker Kennedy’s lay-ins and short jumpers with Tyrone Stintzi’s outside shooting. Stintzi was left unguarded on many of his shots in the first half, which saw HRV go 5-for-9 from behind the arc — four of which were sunk by Stintzi.
“That was huge for us… we were able to get the ball inside and (The Dalles) kind of collapsed inside and we were able to dish it out and he was open for those shots,” Noteboom said of Stintzi’s shooting.
The Eagles moved the ball effectively in the first half, recording 10 assists and just five turnovers. Noteboom said the team had a total of 14 turnovers in the game and the goal is usually to stay under 16.
“I was pretty pleased with our effort,” Noteboom said. “We shot the ball well, we rebounded well, limited our turnovers — all the things we have to do to win ball games.”
As he predicted, Noteboom saw the team’s shooting percentage go up significantly thanks to the home-court advantage, with the team going 20-for-43 (47 percent) from two-points, 5-for-14 (36 percent) from the three, and 12-for-17 (71 percent) from the free throw line. The hordes of Eagles fans — donning white clothing after it was learned the Riverhawks fans had planned to wear red and flock in droves to Vannet Court — were deafening, cheering every HRV point, block, or crossover dribble. They grew louder as HRV pushed its lead out to 20 points near the end of the half, which was punctuated by a signature Stintzi slam-dunk that brought the house down.
“That was huge for us,” Noteboom said of the crowd energy. “The kids were really excited about having the upper gym, those seats going out and having a bunch of people up there. That’s the largest crowd I’ve seen since I’ve been head coach for five years. The kids just fed off the energy.”
One of those fans cheering for HRV was none other than Dakota Kurahara, who has been unable to play for HRV for the past couple weeks after he was hospitalized due to a partially collapsed lung. Kurahara, who was still unable to play but was released from the hospital last week, watched the game on the bench with his teammates.
“Everybody was pretty happy, because he had come to school for part of the day for Friday, so most of the guys saw him, but it was pretty nice having him there,” Noteboom said of Kurahara’s return.
Stintzi led HRV’s offense with 20 points, eight rebounds and was followed closely by Kennedy, who had 18 points, four assists, and four rebounds. Dallas Buckley also had a good night with a double-double, scoring 11 points and recording a team-high 10 rebounds. Noah Noteboom was a threat everywhere on the court, tallying nine points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Zak Ellsworth had one of his best games so far this season, with nine points and five rebounds, and was the lead scorer for HRV in the third quarter, scoring seven.
Friday’s games made the Columbia River Conference very interesting heading into the final round, as HRV pulled itself back into play-in contention, even with The Dalles 2-4 league record in the third-place spot. Hermiston (10-11, 3-3) proved that Pendleton (12-7, 5-1) isn’t infallible in the CRC, handing the Buckaroos their first league loss of the season, 69-60, in a game that, even more remarkably, took place in Pendleton.
HRV was scheduled to host Pendleton Tuesday at 7 p.m. (results not available at press time) and then have their final home game of the regular season Friday at 7 p.m. against Hermiston. The Eagles will then wrap up CRC play with a game at The Dalles next Tuesday at 7 p.m.
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