Because one state championship during the school year isn’t enough, the Hermiston Bulldogs will be playing for the 5A state girls basketball title tonight to go with the football team’s championship last November.
The top-seeded Lady Bulldogs ended Corvallis’ season Thursday night with 56-49 victory to advance to the title game tonight against No. 2 seed La Salle.
The Bulldogs (24-3) never trailed in the semifinal matchup against Corvallis and opened up a 14-point lead in the third quarter. Hermiston got a huge night from Sara Ramirez, who scored 20 points to go with her 8 rebounds and 2 steals. Tavin Headings added 19 points and Jansen Edmiston scored 8 for the Bulldogs.
Hermiston had a lot of help throughout the night with its bench chipping in 24 points. Corvallis played Hermiston tough throughout much of the game, closing to within 1 when Taylor Hurley hit a 3-pointer with 1:21 left in the second quarter to make it a 24-23 game. Hermiston closed the half on an 8-0 run, and were aided by a pair of 3-pointers by Headings, and took a 32-24 lead going into the locker room.
The closest Corvallis (22-5) got in the second half was 47-41 following a 3-pointer by Sydney Joss with just under 4 minutes left in the contest.
Tonight’s Hermiston-La Salle matchup will be rematch of a Jan. 16 contest in which the Bulldogs edged La Salle, 61-57, in an overtime game at La Salle. That win propelled Hermiston to the top of the 5A rankings.
La Salle is led by freshman Taycee Wedin, who is averaging just under 18 points a game. The Falcons punched their ticket to the title game with a 47-39 win over Crater in the semifinals.
Hermiston has lost in the 5A semifinals each of the past two years before reaching this year’s championship round. This will be the Lady Bulldogs’ second shot at a state title, having lost the title game in 2008.
This will be La Salle’s eighth trip to the final game. The Falcons won the state title in 1981 and 1984 and lost in 1979, 1980, 1983, 2011 and 2014.
Tip-off time for tonight’s game in Corvallis is set for 6:30 p.m.
