SPORTS
TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2017
STANFIELD
Tigers
exact
revenge
Stanfi eld repays
Sherman for
earlier road losses
East Oregonian
Brody Woods scored with
less than 30 seconds left and
Sherman’s attempt to win with
a three-pointer clanged off the
rim just before the buzzer as
Stanfi eld avenged its only loss
of the season 82-80 on Monday
night.
The non-league game pitted
Class
2A’s
No. 1-ranked Boys Hoops
Stanfield
Tigers against
Class
1A
Sherman
defending state
champion and
No. 2-ranked
Sherman
Huskies.
When they
Stanfi eld
met on Dec. 3
in the second
game of the
season it was
the Huskies celebrating an
85-67 win on their home court.
“We really wanted the oppor-
tunity to see how much we had
progressed,” said Stanfi eld
coach Jason Sperr. “We were
kind of using this as a measuring
stick.”
The Tigers (15-1) came away
feeling even better about the
win considering the last time
they had played Sherman (14-5)
it was without Huskies starting
point guard Jacob Justesen,
who was back in the lineup on
Monday and contributed 10
points for his team.
Stanfi eld’s Dylan Grogan led
all scorers with 33 points, and
Thyler Monkus fi nished with
12 as the only Tigers to reach
double digits.
Max Martin paced Sherman
with 21, and Isaiah Coles added
another 17 and the Huskies got
just two points from their bench
as all fi ve starters scored in
See TIGERS/4B
1B
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MISSION
Golden Eagles stay unbeaten
Nixyaawii girls improve
to 16-0 with big win over
Powder Valley
Nixyaawii’s
Milan
Schimmel
dribbles
the ball up
the court
during
Nixyaawii’s
61-43 win
against
Powder Val-
ley in girls
basketball
on Saturday
in Mission.
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
The Nixyaawii Community School gymnasium
was packed with spectators on Saturday night, as
the Golden Eagles hosted Powder Valley for an
Old Oregon League contest.
There was a lot riding on this
Girls Hoops
game and both teams entered the
day deadlocked at the top of the
league standings with identical
Powder Valley 7-0 records. Both teams knew
what was at stake, but as the
game was played it was obvious
that one wanted the win to stay
unbeaten more.
That team was Nixyaawii, as
Nixyaawii
the Golden Eagles trampled the
Badgers 61-43 to take over sole
possession of fi rst place in the
OOL and remain a perfect 16-0
on the season.
“Our game plan coming was to attack the
rim and I think we did a really good job of that,”
Nixyaawii coach Jeremy Maddern said. “I think
when we got going offensively, then our defense
picked it up too and I think we just played a pretty
complete game from start to fi nish.”
Nixyaawii’s athleticism on defense frustrated
Powder Valley early in the game, affecting seem-
ingly every shot attempt the Badgers put up and
leading to an 0-for-11 start shooting. As Maddern
mentioned, that success on defense fed Nixy-
aawii’s offense, leading to easy shots in transition
as well as nicely-run offensive sets that set up easy
shots in the paint.
Staff photo by
Eric Singer
43
61
80
82
See GOLDEN EAGLES/3B
Nixyaawii boys survive
Schimmel scores 31 to
help beat Powder Valley
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
A feeling of uneasiness fi lled the
Nixyaawii gymnasium on Saturday
evening, as the Godlen Eagles boys
basketball team sputtered out of
the gates against the Powder Valley
Badgers.
On paper, the game was set up to
Boys Hoops
Powder Valley
Nixyaawii
51
55
be one of the best and toughest of the
year for both sides as the Badgers and
Golden Eagles sat atop the Old Oregon
League with identical 7-0 records. But
Powder Valley started the game playing
with a different gear than Nixyaawii
and led 13-6 after one quarter of play.
See NIXYAAWII/2B
Staff photo by Eric Singer
Nixyaawii players and coaches celebrate after the Golden
Eagles defeated Powder Valley 55-51 in boys basketball on
Saturday in Mission.
Men’s College Basketball
Gonzaga takes top spot in poll for second time in school history
Gonzaga
coach Mark
Few yells at
an offi cial
during the
second
half of the
team’s
NCAA
college
basket-
ball game
against
Pepperdine,
Saturday,
Jan. 28,
2017, in
Malibu,
Calif.. Gon-
zaga won
96-49.
AP Photo/Ringo
H.W. Chiu
Villanova drops
to No. 4 after loss
By JIM O’CONNELL
Associated Press
Being the top-ranked team
in the country was new to
Gonzaga in 2013. The Zags
were considered one of the
best teams in the West and
had a long string of NCAA
Tournament appearances, but
going to No. 1 carried with it
a new level of expectations.
They know what’s coming
this time.
The lone remaining
unbeaten team in Division I,
Gonzaga moved to No. 1 in
The Associated Press college
basketball poll for the second
time in school history.
“It defi nitely grows when
you have that No. 1 by
your name,” Gonzaga point
guard Nigel Williams-Goss
said of being a target for
opposing teams. “You see
that throughout the country
where other teams have been
No. 1 and people really try
to come out and give them a
run for their money. We just
have to stay focused and if
we come to play like we have
been, I feel like we’ll be all
right.”
The Zags (22-0) jumped
up from third when Villanova
and Kansas both were beaten
in a week when seven of the
top 10 lost. Gonzaga won
both of its games last week,
blowing out Portland and
Pepperdine.
Gonzaga received 46
fi rst-place votes from the
65-member national media
panel Monday. The Zags
were No. 1 for the last three
weeks of the 2012-13 season.
Gonzaga is the fi fth team
to reach No. 1 this season,
joining Duke, Kentucky,
Villanova and Baylor.
“It’s great for the program,
it’s great for the school, even
the community,” Gonzaga
coach Mark Few said. “I told
the guys today, hey, we live
in a big country. If you’re
No. 1 at anything it’s pretty
cool. But they understand.
These polls are tracking
who’s winning and who’s
losing, and the only one that
matters is the one at the end
of the year. But we’re playing
games and they’re keeping
score, so if they want to rank
us No. 1, fi ne by us.”
Baylor (20-1), one of the
three top 10 teams to not
lose, jumped from fi fth to
second. The Bears had six
fi rst-place votes and were
one point ahead of Kansas
(19-2), which dropped one
place after losing at West
Virginia before winning at
Kentucky. The Jayhawks had
nine fi rst-place votes.
Villanova, which had
been No. 1 for the last two
weeks and six overall,
See GONZAGA/4B
Sports shorts
Beard wins weekly CCC award
KLAMATH FALLS — Oregon Tech senior
forward Bryan Beard has been named the
Cascade Collegiate Conference Red Lion Men’s
Basketball Player of the Week the conference
announced on Monday.
Beard, a 2012 graduate of
Pendleton High and the school’s
all-time blocks record holder,
averaged a double-double of 22.5
points and 10.5 rebunds in two
wins for the Hustlin’ Owls.
Beard recorded back-to-back
Beard
career highs in points as he shot
.815 percent from the fi eld going
10-12 for 21 points against Multnomah and
12-15 shooting for 24 points against Warner
Pacifi c as Oregon Tech secured its spot in the
CCC tournament.
Beard also was named to the Academic All
Conference list last week for maintaining at
least a 3.2 cumulative GPA.
“I just gotta be real, you
know, it’s been a couple
games where I smoked
before games and had
great games.“
— Stephen Jackson
Former NBA player saying he
occassionally smoked marijuana
before playing games during his
career on the “I Am Rapaport:
Stereo Podcast” hosted by actor
Michael Rapaport. Jackson last
played during the 2013-14 season
and averaged 15.1 points, 3.9
rebounds and 3.1 assists over his
14-year career.
Gutierrez makes select roster
HERMISTON — Hermiston safety Joey
Gutierrez has will get a jump start on his senior
football season playing on one of the nation’s
most selective 7-on-7 squads.
After a recent tryout, Gutierrez was chosen
for the Ford Sports Performance
(FSP) 7on7 squad, which is the
offi cial Adidas National Travel
team out of the northwest and
fi nished ranked No. 10 in the
nation in 2016. FSP fi elds two
varsity level teams, and regularly
Gutierrez
features the top high school
players in the region.
Fifty-fi ve former participants have gone on to
play Division I football in college, and 14 four-
star recruits have come through the program.
Gutierrez is coming off a junior season in
which he led Hermiston defensive backs with
fi ve interceptions and four pass defenses. He also
had 60 tackles from his strong safety position.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1950 — High school pitcher
Paul Pettit signs with the
Pirates for a record $100,000.
To do so, Pittsburgh has to
purchase his contract from a
fi lm producer who had signed
Pettit to an exclusive contract
as an athlete/actor.
1991 — Michael Adams of
the Denver Nuggets scores a
career-high 45 points, hands out
12 assists and grabs 11 rebounds
in a 123-119 win over New
Jersey. The 5-foot-11 guard
becomes the shortest player in
the NBA to get a triple-double.
2006 — Carolina ties an
NHL record for wins in a
month, going 13-1 in January
after an 8-2 win over Montreal.
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