Still without Bailey Keever and Travis Lucas, the Dufur Rangers received an energy boost from Ethan Wetherbee and Connor Uhalde in a 53-30 Big Sky Conference boys’ basketball win Saturday over Mitchell-Spray.
Wetherbee totaled 11 in the first-half points, and Uhalde added eight in the first half to help the Rangers break open an 8-2 first-quarter cushion with a 22-10 run to swell the lead to 30-12 at the break.
“Our defense came out strong in the first quarter and then the offense exploded in the second,” said Dufur head coach Tony White. “The kids looked much more comfortable on offense. Connor did a great job controlling the offense and making good decisions. He has really improved the last month on identifying scoring opportunities and not turning the ball over.”
In the third period, Curtis Crawford had five points and Kolbe Bales tacked on seven in a 16-9 spurt to make it 46-21 entering the final quarter.
Wetherbee wound up with a career-high 13 points, Bales had 12, Uhalde went for 10 points and Crawford tallied eight points.
The Rangers (4-6 overall, 1-1 league) hit on 21 field goals, three 3-pointers, and converted 8 of 17 from the free throw line.
Mikulas Galanda scored 10 points, Ben Henry added six to lead Mitchell-Spray (5-6, 0-2), who had 12 field goals and shot 1 for 13 from the line.
Dufur is now in a four-way tie for third place after three wins in its last four games.
“Kolbe Bales has been fantastic defensively in our different schemes and our younger guys are really improving in skill and confidence,” White said. “Overall, I was very happy how my kids played this last weekend.”
The Rangers hit the road to play Horizon Christian (3-5, 1-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Dufur girls storm past Mitchell
Dufur coach Jack Henderson called Saturday’s efforts the best of the season for his Lady Rangers.
Sydney Reed and Emily DePriest combined for 26 points and Dufur outscored Mitchell-Spray 46-22 over the final three quarters of play in a 54-33 Big Sky victory Saturday at Dufur High School.
“Our defensive intensity was the key,” Henderson said. “We turned them over consistently, and had easy opportunities as a result. I’m really proud of our effort and our continued improvement.”
Mitchell-Spray jumped ahead early 11-8 through the opening quarter, but as the game wore on, the Lady Rangers imposed their will.
Laticia Macias and DePriest scored six points each in the second quarter to boost the Dufur lead to 22-14 at the half, and then Reed, Beeson and Kayla Bailey had the hot hand in the second half, as the team used runs of 16-11 and 16-8 to cap the lopsided win.
Reed had 14 points, DePriest finished with 12 and the trio of Bailey, Beeson and Macias ended up with eight points each for the Rangers, who had 25 field goals, three from long range.
“This was our most balanced scoring of the year for us, which is a great thing for the Lady Rangers,” Henderson said.
Dufur (2-8 overall, 1-1 league) is at Horizon Christian (3-5, 0-2) Friday and then hosts Ione (5-5, 2-0) Saturday.
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