Umatilla’s Kaden Salamanca (23) pushes past a La Grande defender. The La Grande Tigers defeated the Umatilla Vikings 52-48 Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021, at Umatilla High School.

UMATILLA — Ulises Armenta poured in 21 points and had four assists and two steals, but Umatilla fell short against La Grande, 52-48, in a nonleague game Thursday, Dec. 2.

“It was good,” Umatilla coach Scott Bow said. “We didn’t get the win, but I’m super proud of the kids tonight.”

The Tigers hit a buzzer-beating 3-point shot at the end of the third quarter to take a 40-37 lead.

Lynkin McLeod added 10 points and four rebounds for the Vikings, who played with a short bench.

“We had a couple of athletes who were not available, but we had a lot of kids playing a lot of minutes today,” Bow said. “Ulises is a very natural scorer. We were able to work our offense through him and he was able to capitalize on a lot of his looks. Lynkin ran the point for us and did a phenomenal job.”

Logan Williams led La Grande with 16 points.

Umatilla will play at Heppner on Friday.

PILOT ROCK 74, GRISWOLD 11 — Freshman Rylen Bronson scored 32 points, handed out 10 assists and had seven steals to lead the Rockets to a nonage win over the Grizzlies in the season opener for both teams.

“Honestly, four of our five starters are out right now because of suspensions,” Pilot Rock coach Tyler Zyph said. “We will be without them for a couple of weeks. We hope to have the full squad ready when league rolls around.”

Senior AJ Fitzgerald added 10 points and five steals for the Rockets.

Caiden Boatright led the Grizzlies with seven points.

Pilot Rock will play at the Sherman County Invite on Friday and Saturday.

Girls basketball

LA GRANDE 52, UMATILLA 28 — Taylor Durfey had a game-high 19 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Vikings dropped a nonleague road game to the Tigers.

La Grande led 26-12 at the half, and 42-18 after three quarters.

Mayline Serrano added eight points for Umatilla.

PILOT ROCK 42, GRISWOLD 25 — The Rockets used a balanced scoring attack to hand the visiting Grizzlies a loss in the first game of the season for both teams.

Mady Moffit led Pilot Rock with 11 points, while Jade Atkins added 10 and Ali Smith eight.

Mayabella Texidor led Griswold with 11 points, while Victoria Keen had seven.

Wrestling

HERMISTON 58, RICHLAND 6 — The host Bombers won the first match of the night, but from there, it was all Bulldogs.

Hermiston used three pins and four forfeits to beat Richland in the Mid-Columbia Conference opener for both teams.

Zayne Helfer (126 pounds), Daniel Garza (138) and Jaxson Gribskov (182) all won by fall for the Bulldogs, who also got a major decision from Jesse Vassey at 220.

106 — Jeremiah Lichliter (R) p. Caiden Harris, 4:38. 113 — Double forfeit. 120 — Aiden Favorite (H) won by forfeit. 126 — Zayne Helfer (H) p. Blake Birl, :34. 132 — Jaysen Rodriguez (H) d. Brody Holcombe, 8-1. 138 — Daniel Garza (H) p. Donovan Gallegos, 2:55. 145 — Hunter Dyer (H) won by forfeit. 152 — Ami Tuia (H) d. Mason Leavitt, 6-3. 160 — Ben Larson (H) won by forfeit. 170 — Tama Tuia (H) d. Liam Williams, 8-1. 182 — Jaxson Gribskov (H) p. JohnMark Villarreal, 3:16. 195 — Michael Ramirez (H) d. Sam Lemieux, 3-2. 220 — Jesse Vassey (H) md. Melvin Kreitzer, 10-1. 285 — Siu Sepeni (H) won by forfeit.