6A
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
The Observer
Strong second half
pushes Kings past
Blazers, 107-99
By Michael Wagaman
The Associated Press
Ronald Bond/Observer fi le photo
Eastern Oregon goalkpeeper Max Rose is shown during a match earlier this season. Rose stopped three straight
shots in the penalty kick round to help EOU advance past Oregon Tech in the CCC tournament Tuesday.
Mounties win on PKs
By Ronald Bond
The Observer
The Eastern Oregon University
men’s soccer team reached today’s
Cascade Collegiate Conference tourna-
ment semifi nal in a manner fi tting of
its season.
Jack Rose converted the go-ahead
penalty kick in the seventh round of
PKs, and his brother Max Rose made
three saves in a row during the PK
round to send Eastern past Oregon
Tech on penalties, 4-3, Tuesday in
Springfi eld after the teams battled to
a scoreless draw in regulation and two
overtime periods.
“They fought together the whole
time,” EOU head coach Zach Mills
said. “We thought we could beat them
in regular time, especially when they
went down a man with that red.”
The Mountaineers had a man
advantage for nearly half the contest
after John Sarna was given a red card
in the 57th minute, leaving OIT to fi n-
ish 10 vs. 11.
Eastern had ample opportunities,
outshooting the Owls 23-3, but were
unable to fi nd the back of the net. Tech
goalkeeper Mitchell Jillson had six
saves through 110 minutes of action.
Eastern also had two shots — includ-
ing one in the fi nal moments of the
second OT — hit either the crossbar or
the post.
EOU fell behind 3-1 in the PK
round, but staged a rally akin to the
kind that put the Mountaineers in the
tournament to begin with. Elvis Pavon
and Joaquin Bermejillo both converted
their must-have shots to keep the
season alive, with Max Rose making
a save following Bermejillo’s kick to
force extra PKs. Both teams missed in
the sixth round, but Jack Rose stepped
into a kick to put the Mountaineers
up for the fi rst time, and Max stopped
the ensuing shot to send EOU to the
semifi nals.
“When we went behind two on
penalties I still believed we’d win even
if the odds were not in our favor,” Max
Rose said. “After saving the fi rst one I
tried to get in the heads of the opposi-
tion and it must have worked because
I saved the next two. The team’s
worked hard all year, so when it came
down to PKs I knew I had to step up
and we came up big.”
Mills gave a ton of credit to his
sophomore keeper for keeping the
team in the contest.
“Everyone felt good about Max being
between the posts, and even though
we went down 3-1 in penalties to
start they didn’t shake,” he said. “The
next guys up had the confi dence they
needed because they knew it wasn’t
See Eastern / Page 8A
EOU trio named first-team all-CCC
SACRAMENTO, Cali-
fornia — After a slow and
sluggish start in their fi rst
game without leading scorer
De’Aaron Fox, Sacramento
eventually found a nice
rhythm with Bogdan Bogda-
novic running the offense.
Luke Walton was even
more impressed with his
team’s defense, something
that’s been an ongoing issue
for the Kings.
Bogdanovic had 25 points
and 10 assists, Nemanja
Bjelica added 19 points and
12 rebounds and the Kings
won in their fi rst game since
losing leading scorer Fox
to an ankle injury, beating
the slumping Portland Trail
Blazers 107-99 on Tuesday
night.
Sacramento forced 17
turnovers and prevented
Portland’s potent backcourt
tandem of Damian Lillard
and CJ McCollum from tak-
ing over.
“It’s what we’ve been
preaching about every day
since Day 1 of training
camp,” Walton said. “I’ll be
the fi rst to admit it needs to
get a lot better. We started
the game, we couldn’t make
anything. That’s why defense
is important. Every night
won’t go like that but the
competitive level that we
played with on the defensive
end tonight, that needs to be
a steady constant for us.”
The Kings overcame a
sloppy fi rst half when they
shot 36.7 percent, made a big
run in the third quarter, then
pulled away in the fourth to
end a two-game losing streak
to the Blazers.
Fox suffered a Grade 3
sprain in his left ankle dur-
ing practice Monday. The
third-year point guard, who
started 81 games last season,
will be reevaluated in a few
weeks.
“Ankle sprains happen
a lot in the NBA. But it is
unfortunate that it is as
severe as it is,” Walton said.
“What’s important is that
our team comes together,
grows, fi ghts, and gets bet-
ter. And he attacks his rehab
and get back with us as soon
as he can.”
Bjelica helped make up
for the loss of Fox. He made
eight of his 14 shots and set a
season-high for rebounds in
his fi rst double-double of the
season. Buddy Hield added
20 points.
Lillard had 27 points and
McCollum added 24 for the
Blazers (4-7), who have lost
fi ve of six. Nearly half of Lil-
lard’s points (13) came at the
free throw line.
“The third quarter got
away from us defensively
and we had some trouble
with matchups,” Portland
coach Terry Stotts said.
“They got off to a good start
in the third quarter and built
a lead. We really couldn’t
recover after that.”
The Kings led by 14 early
in the fourth quarter before
the Blazers chipped away
and pulled within 98-93 on
a 3-pointer from Anfernee
Simons with 2:51 remaining.
Bjelica answered with a 3,
and after McCollum scored
for Portland, Cory Joseph
added a 3-pointer that made
it 104-95. Joseph, starting in
place of Fox, missed his fi rst
fi ve shots before that.
“We kept fi ghting, played
great defense and we knew
we were going to make shots
in the second half,” Bjelica
said. “Everybody played
well.”
Camacho, Retano
both take first at
Clackamas Open
Observer staff
Ronald Bond/Observer fi le photo
Ronald Bond/Observer fi le photo
Nan Kiebert, who led Eastern Oregon with 11 goals this
season, was named fi rst-team all-CCC.
Morgan Farrington, who scored seven goals in CCC
action, was named fi rst-team all-conference.
Observer staff
and three goals and three
assists overall on the season
— but, more important,
played a key role helping
anchor the EOU defense,
which recorded seven shut-
outs in conference play and
10 overall during the regu-
lar season. Eastern overall
allowed just 10 goals in 16
regular-season contests.
Cydni Cottrell, last year’s
goalkeeper of the year,
followed up the effort by
being named second-team
all-conference. The senior
started all 11 CCC matches,
and 15 overall. In CCC play
she registered 27 saves on
Seven members of the
Eastern Oregon University
women’s soccer team were
named to the all-Cascade
Collegiate Conference
squad, including three play-
ers who garnered fi rst-team
all-conference honors when
the awards were handed out
late Monday night.
“I thought all our ladies
were very much deserving
of those awards,” head coach
Jacob Plocher said. “Obvi-
ously it’s a team effort, and
I think they would all say
that. (I’m) really excited
about our team moving
forward.”
Nan Kiebert and Morgan
Farrington — who were
EOU’s top scorers both
throughout the season and
in conference play — were
selected to the fi rst team, as
was senior defender Josee
Bassett. Kiebert, a senior,
had a team-best 11 goals
and seven assists, all in just
10 CCC games, to lead the
Mountaineers. Farrington,
a junior, had seven of her
nine goals and fi ve of her six
assists in 11 games in CCC
action.
Bassett had a goal and an
assist in conference play —
35 shot attempts for a 77%
save percentage. All told in
2019, she had 41 saves on
50 shots for an 82% save
rate.
A trio of players were
named honorable mention
— junior Sarah Mitchell,
junior Camie Edgington and
freshman Cassidy Quick.
Edgington played a role in
the offense this season with
three goals and fi ve assists
in conference action, and
four goals overall, playing in
each contest and starting all
but two. Mitchell contrib-
uted as a defender and
See Awards / Page 8A
Both Jesse Camacho and
Marco Retano picked up
tournament titles for the
Eastern Oregon University
men’s wrestling team during
the Clackamas Open Satur-
day in Clackamas.
Camacho went 4-0 at
157 pounds. He won two
one-point decisions in the
semifi nal and fi nal match,
including edging Highline
Community College’s John
Sowers in the fi nals by a 10-9
decision.
Retano won fi ve matches
at 184 pounds, and didn’t
have as many close bouts
on his way to the champion-
ship, fi nishing off Highline’s
Hayden Henry by fall in just
1:49 in the title bout.
Keegan Mulhill also
reached the fi nals of the
tournament at 174 pounds,
where he dropped an 8-2 de-
cision to Corban’s Levi Perry
to fi nish 3-1 on the day.
Three Mountaineers took
fourth. Blake McNall went
5-1 to fi nish fourth at 141
pounds, Jared Brant fi nished
with a 3-2 record at 149, and
Josh Pine went 5-1 at 165.
Eastern is back on the mat
Sunday at the men’s Mike
Clock Open in Forest Grove.
HIGA’S TITLE LEADS EOU
WOMEN AT MIKE CLOCK
OPEN
Macy Higa took fi rst place
to lead the Eastern Oregon
University women’s wres-
tling team at the women’s
Mike Clock Open Sunday in
Forest Grove.
Higa won all four of her
contested matches at 123
pounds for the title, including
defeating Simon Fraser’s Vic-
toria Seal by an 11-6 decision
in the championship match.
Jessica DeHart took sec-
ond at 116 pounds, posting a
3-1 record, but dropping the
fi nal bout to Simon Fraser’s
Jocyln Bhatha by forfeit.
Cassidy O’Hara rebounded
from an early loss to take
third at 130, winning her fi -
nal three matches, including
a 10-0 technical fall over Big
Bend Community College’s
Mireya Sanchez in the third-
place match.
Morgan Shines (136),
Dempsi Talkington (155) and
Alexis Tupuola (191) each
took fourth place. Shines and
Talkington each fi nished
with 2-2 records on the day,
while Tupuola was 1-3.
EOU returns to action
Sunday at the Missouri Val-
ley Open.