Photo by Kathy Aney. Umatilla's Mike McGee (in white) drives to the basket as Pendleton's Jaydon Hoffert reach for the ball on Jan. 18, 2025, in Umatilla.
UMATILLA — Micheal Montez had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Umatilla stopped a two-game skid with a 61-50 win over Pendleton on Saturday, Jan. 18.
“We did a great job of throwing different defenses at them at certain points throughout the game,” Umatilla coach Scott Bow said. “We had a plan of coming in and trying to cause some confusion that could lead to some steals of tough shots.”
The Vikings (12-4) used a 19-12 lead in the first quarter to tak control early, but the Bucks (6-11) came back with an 18-16 run in the second to pull within 35-30 at the half.
Umatilla broke the game open in the third with a 16-5 scoring spree, keyed by 10 points from Montez to take a 51-35 lead with one quarter to play.
Payton Hoffer scored six of his eight points in the fourth quarter as Pendleton went on a 15-10 run, but it wouldn’t be enough.
Carter Monahan added 10 points for the Vikings, while Mike McGee added nine points and six rebounds. Montez also had five assists while David Gary chipped in five rebounds and four assist
“Offensively, we did a good job of making the extra pass when needed,” Bow said “We had assists on 11 of our 22 field goals. We seemed to be more aggressive as we were able to get to the free- throw line for 22 shots versus the three against Riverside (on Friday).”
Evan Lehnert led Pendleton with 14 points, while Garrett Reinhart and Jaydon Hoffert each had five.