HERMISTON, Ore.-With two games left, the Hermiston High School Varsity Boys Basketball team is hoping to finish the regular season on a high note.
While Hermiston’s season hasn’t gone exactly as expected, the Bulldogs, 5-13 overall (4-12 Mid-Columbia Conference), still have plenty to play for the final week of the season, including the possibility of making a play-in game if they win out and get some help.
“We’ve been in so many close games where we had the lead or were just down a few possessions in the fourth quarter,” said Hermiston Head Coach Bryan Edwards, as he listed several games, including playing Richland better the second time around, and being within a possession or two in the second half against Kamiakin the second time they played. “All of those games were really close, within 10 points, it’s given us a lot of gray hair.”
The intensity on display at a recent practice shows that Hermiston is not just playing out the string of a tough season, but rather that morale is high, and the Bulldogs are still hungry to compete and win their final two games.
“Our confidence is high because of all those close games, that shows potential,” said Edwards. “We’ve got lots of new pieces on the team that didn’t play heavy minutes last year, but if we’re close in these games, we’ve got to close the deal.”
Hermiston is a young team, predominantly juniors, according to Edwards, with Carter Waelti and Evan Hays, the only seniors suiting up for the varsity this season.
“They lead by example by doing the things people don’t always see,” Edwards said of his two seniors. “They’ve shown maturity and growth and put the team above themselves.”
Hermiston has improved throughout the season, playing opponents more closely the second time around, and are undoubtedly better than their record indicates, with Edwards believing a lack of consistency is all that’s holding the Bulldogs back.
“Our biggest issue has been playing 32 minutes of high-level competitive Mid-Columbia Conference Basketball,” said Edwards. “We’d be the best in the league if games were 25 minutes, but we lose stretches, we go through little spurts where we shoot ourselves in the foot.”
Despite the close games and inconsistency, Hermiston can still make a play-in game if they win out and Southridge goes 1-2 in their final three games.
Waelti and Hays will suit up for the Bulldogs for the final time in front of the home crowd as Hermiston takes on Southridge on February 7.
“Playing basketball for Hermiston has meant a lot,” said Waelti, a forward who missed all of his junior year with injury and fondly recalled the grind of working his way up from the C-team his sophomore season. “I worked really hard to make varsity, and it’s been great.”
For Waelti, who will play baseball for Hermiston in the spring and is considering attending trade school after graduating, the best part of basketball was the camaraderie, the long bus rides with friends and teammates, especially after winning.
“The realization that my last home game is coming up is hitting all at once,” said Hays, a center/forward for the Bulldogs. “I’m pretty nervous and sad, I’m going to take in every moment.”
For Hays, who will also play baseball for the Bulldogs in the spring and plans to attend Blue Mountain Community College for a year before possibly going to a Bible College, basketball was about the journey.
“Going through the process and earning a spot on each team I’ve played on has meant the most to me,” said Hays. “From being on the bench on C-team, to playing junior varsity, then making varsity this season.”
The process is not over for Hays and the rest of the Bulldogs as the team prepares for the final two games of the regular season this week, and Waelti has at least one more bus ride to look forward to when Hermiston takes on Kennewick in the Lion’s Den on February 6.
“We’ll need a little luck, basketball’s a make-and-miss game,” said Edwards. “The season’s a marathon, but now we’re in the homestretch, and we’ve got to sprint to the end to get where we haven’t been.”
Hermiston’s last home game of the season is February 7 against Southridge, with tipoff set for 5 p.m.
