Pendleton picked to win conference

Published 4:00 am Monday, December 13, 2004

Take a squad that returns two first-team all-league players, one of whom was honorable-mention all-state, add two capable transfers and a solid group of young players and what do you get?

The Pendleton Buckaroos, who, in the eyes of many, are the favorite to win the Intermountain Conference girls basketball championship.

Pendleton is the pick to win this year’s league title based on results of The Bulletin’s annual poll of coaches and media who cover the IMC. The Buckaroos received six of the nine first-place votes in the coaches poll, and garnered seven of the 13 first-place votes from media.

”We’ve got our work cut out for us,” said Pendleton coach Todd Zimmermann, referring to his team’s role as favorites. ”I do feel like we have two very nice returnees (juniors Mackenzie Larson and Marissa Hammond), and we expect awfully big things out of them. Hopefully, the rest of the pieces will come together and we’ll be among the top teams.”

Larson, a 5-foot-8-inch wing, is the top returning scorer in the league after averaging 13.9 points per game last season. Hammond, a 6-2 low post, averaged 8.8 points last season.

Pendleton’s lineup has been bolstered by the addition of seniors Ashley Emerick and Mindy Walchli. The duo transferred from rival Hermiston after playing varsity for the Lady Bulldogs last season. Coach Zimmermann also noted returnee Carly Edwards and varsity newcomers Alexis Humphrey, Whitney Adams and Crystal Pond as key components of Pendleton’s drive for the title.

Two teams expected to challenge the Bucks for the crown are Redmond and Hermiston.

The Panthers received the other three first-place votes from coaches and finished with 58 points, four fewer than Pendleton. The consensus of coaches had Hermiston picked third with 51 points, followed in order by Mountain View (36), Bend (35), Summit (32), The Dalles-Wahtonka (22), Crook County (16) and Hood River Valley (12).

Redmond received four first-place votes in media voting and finished with 106 points, just one behind Pendleton’s 107. Hermiston, which received the two other first-place votes in the media poll, was picked third with 95 points, followed in order by Mountain View (72), Bend (58), Summit (50), The Dalles-Wahtonka (39), Crook County (29) and Hood River Valley (29).

The Panthers, who have won or shared the league championship the past two seasons, return six players who were part of the school’s 23-win team from 2003-04. Among those back are senior point guard Mallory Whipple (7.4 ppg) and senior shooting guard Casey Hanf (7.0 ppg), who ranked among the top 20 IMC players in scoring last season.

”They’ve got the experience of being champions,” noted first-year Bend High coach J.J. Anderson. ”They have good speed, they’re pretty deep, and they have a system that kids come into having learned it through their feeder program. By the time they get there (varsity), those kids know what they’re doing.”

Despite the loss of Emerick and Walchli, along with a handful of key graduates, longtime Hermiston coach Mike Royer expects the Lady Bulldogs to be in the running for the postseason – and his colleagues agree.

Hermiston returns two starters in 5-5 senior wing/guard Amanda Sivey (8.0 ppg) and 5-9 senior wing Mykael Bothum (6.8 ppg). Anne Barnett, Andrea Burrows and Kelley Royer also have varsity experience. Prisella Ena, a 5-8 junior post, is among the top newcomers.

”We’ll get better as the season goes on,” said Royer. ”Our expectations are high. I look at us as a playoff team. I feel real good about our potential.”

While coaches and media agreed in the order of finish, there wasn’t strong overall consensus in the coaches poll on who would finish fourth and gain the IMC’s final berth to the Class 4A state playoffs.

”After the top three, it’s pretty much a crapshoot,” said The Dalles-Wahtonka coach Dan Telles. ”The top three is pretty solid., Everybody else is going to be fighting for position. The fight for the fourth spot will be a doozy.”

Coaches expect Mountain View, Bend and Summit to contend for fourth place and the IMC’s final berth to the Class 4A state playoffs. The Cougars got the nod from coaches by the slimmest of margins, while the media has Mountain View as its clear consensus No. 4 team.

A team coaches mentioned as a possible dark horse is the IMC’s new entry at The Dalles-Wahtonka. The Eagle Indians are off to a 2-1 start. Senior forward/center Sarah Clark has helped spark The Dalles-Wahtonka to its strong start, averaging 13.3 points per outing to date. Freshman Andrea Bailey is averaging about 10 points per game.

”We have a goal like everybody else to make the playoffs, but I don’t know how realistic that is,” said Telles. ”The last few years they haven’t won many games. We just hope to be competitive and sneak out some wins.”

The two teams consistently picked at the bottom of the league were Crook County and Hood River Valley. Both teams have struggled recently at the offensive end, but strong defensive abilities displayed by both makes them a threat on any given night.

”I think this league is tougher than heck, especially when you go out on the road,” said Pendleton’s Zimmermann. ”I saw giant leaps and bounds of improvement last year in this league, and I don’t see any reason for that not to continue.”