Hood River News

Deion Davis scored 23 points and the Pendleton Buckaroos rolled to a 74-32 over the Hood River Valley boys basketball team Friday night.

The Eagles were already down 15 points at the end of the first quarter, which ended on a succession of big plays for Hermiston. First Davis came up with a steal and a dunk, then seconds later he got another steal which he fed up the court to Chaz Madsen for a lay-up at the buzzer.

Davis nearly outscored HRV by himself in the first half, finishing with 14 points to the Eagles' 15.

"I didn't think we were real physical out there," said HRV coach Steve Noteboom of what let the game get away by halftime. "At halftime we talked about being mentally tough and physically tough and let's go out and play the way we are supposed to play."

Luke Kopecky and Cody Walker led HRV with 10 points each.

The Eagles had three games remaining after Friday and are guaranteed to be one of the two North region teams eliminated before state play-in games begin.

Noteboom said he is trying to keep his team focused on playing hard-nosed basketball and forcing opponents to have to work hard if they want to beat the Eagles.

"They may beat us but they should remember we played hard," Noteboom said. "That's what we're focusing on."

Either Hermiston or The Dalles-Wahtonka will be the other North team eliminated before play-ins start, and the Eagles can play spoiler as they play both teams in the final weak of the season.

At Pendleton Friday the HRV girls lost a 31-29 heartbreaker to the Buckaroos.

The Eagles are fighting to overtake Parkrose for the No. 8 spot in the North rankings and earn a home playoff game in the play-in round. HRV is currently ranked ninth.