Pendleton’s Chloe Taber (11) puts up a shot during the first quarter. The Milwaukie Mustangs defeated the Pendleton Bucks 45-31 Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, at Pendleton High School.

PENDLETON — Pendleton did not have the start to the season it would have liked, but coach Kevin Porter said there was a lot to like despite the 45-31 loss to Milwaukie on Wednesday, Dec. 1.

“We learned a lot about ourselves today,” Porter said. “We have a very difficult preseason schedule ahead of us. We have some of the big dogs in the state. We are going to give it our best. The effort the kids put into the game today was phenomenal. They never backed down.”

The Mustangs jumped out to an early 12-2 lead and never trailed.

“They took a punch in the nose to start, then settled down,” Porter said of his team. “It was single digits late in the game and we had to start fouling to get more possessions. They made their free throws.”

Chloe Taber led the Bucks with 14 points and six rebounds, while Jaden Samp added 11 points. Hailey Schmidt and Olivia Corbett each had four rebounds.

Milwaukie senior Cali Denson, who is being recruited by more than half of the Pac-12 schools, led the Mustangs with a game-high 24 points, half of which came from the free-throw line.

The Bucks will play at the Ridgeview Tournament this weekend. They play Crescent Valley at 7 p.m. on Friday, and will take on Lebanon at 11 a.m. Saturday.

STANFIELD 42, IRRIGON 16 — The visiting Tigers jumped out to a 21-5 lead at the half and never looked back in their season opener with the Knights.

“Stanfield has a solid team,” Irrigon coach Mike Royer said. “We’ll get better.”

Alexis Shelby led Stanfield with 10 points, while Maggie Sharp added nine.

Nia Seastone had six points to lead the Knights, while Jolyne Harrison added five.

RIVERSIDE 43, WESTON MCEWEN 17 — Jasmin Lopez scored all 12 of her points in the second half as the Pirates cruised to a nonleague road win over the TigerScots.

Aleydis Torres added nine points for Riverside, while Layla Castillo added eight points.

W-M, which was outscored 12-1 in the first quarter, got six points from Dalana Pickard and four from Kelsey Graham.

Boys basketball

HEPPNER 60, CONDON 34 — The Mustangs got off to a 14-3 lead after the first quarter and cruised to a nonleague win over the visiting Blue Devils.

“It was a nice start to the season,” Heppner coach Jeremy Rosenbalm said. “It was a typical first game of the year — some bright moments, and some moments where we need some work — but the kids played hard.”

Heppner led 43-29 after three quarters, then closed the door with a 17-5 run in the fourth quarter.

Blake Carter led the Mustangs with 13 points, while David Cribbs had eight points and eight rebounds. Brock Hisler and Joe Sherman had eight points each.

Condon’s Eduardo Barrera finished with a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds.

STANFIELD 63, IRRIGON 47 — Ryan Elizares led four players in double figures as the Tigers opened their season with a road win over the Knights.

The Tigers led by five points at the half, then went on a 19-9 run in the third quarter to pull away. Pablo Arellano had eight of his 11 points in the third quarter.

Elizares finished with 17 points, while Gator Goodrich had 14 points and eight rebounds, and Jesus Arellano added 12 points.

Irrigon’s Luis Flores-Coria had a game-high 19 points.

WESTON MCEWEN RIVERSIDE 35 — Theo White had a game-high 11 points to lead the TigerScots to a nonleague home win over the Pirates in their season opener.

Riverside led 16-14 after the first quarter, and 23-22 at the half. W-M went on a 14-3 run in the third quarter, sparked by seven points from Cameron Reich, to take a 36-26 lead.

The Pirates countered with a 9-4 run in the fourth quarter, but fell short in the end.

Reich finished with nine points, while Blane Peal added seven.

Humberto Sanchez led the Pirates with eight points, with Wyatt Browne adding seven.