Sports
A9
Thursday, April 14, 2022
Blazers
think talent
is there
Joe Cronin, Chauncey
Billups predict bright future
following 27-55 record
By AARON FENTRESS
The Oregonian
PORTLAND — Portland Trail
Blazers interim general manager Joe
Cronin decided about four months
ago that the best course of action for
the franchise was to make moves and
decisions that would create fl exibility
and garner a high draft pick to retool
the roster around superstar Damian
Lillard.
That meant losing. A lot. And
badly.
It was NBA tanking at its fi nest.
But with the 16th worst season
now in the rearview mirror, Cronin
and coach Chauncey
Billups are on the clock
to deliver fans a win-
ning product. They
must prove that trading
away franchise corner-
stone CJ McCollum and
enduring blowout losses
Billups
on a nearly nightly
basis for six weeks was
worth the suff ering for
fans, many of whom
paid top dollar for an
NBA-level product.
On Monday, April
11, both men faced
Cronin
reporters at the team’s
exit interviews to discuss the end of
a season that saw the Blazers (27-55)
fi nish with the sixth-worst record in
the NBA. And as they broached the
future, they did so with an air of con-
fi dence that a season of misery could
lead to something better in the future.
“I feel good about it,” Billups said.
“I think that we have an opportunity
that I don’t think that this organiza-
tion has ever had. To be able to step it
back just this one season and be able
to get pretty good, pretty fast.”
The NBA has evolved into a
league that occasionally rewards
losing. Bad teams net higher draft
picks, providing a chance for strug-
gling franchises to score a future All-
Star. The Blazers chased that path in
December, after Lillard was sidelined
with a severe abdominal injury and
McCollum suff ered a collapsed lung,
sending the team to a 2-11 record
with no chance to contend.
By the Feb. 10 trade deadline,
McCollum, Norman Powell and
Robert Covington were gone, Lillard
had undergone surgery and was shut
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File
Eastern Oregon University’s Karsyn Zaragoza (7) rounds
third base on her way to home plate against Providence
University at the Peggy Anderson Softball Field, La Grande,
on Friday, March 25, 2022.
In a groove
Eastern Oregon University soft ball fi nds success behind pitching, well-rounded eff ort
By DAVIS CARBAUGH • The Observer
A GRANDE — The
L
Eastern Oregon
University softball
program is on the brink of a
historic season.
With just three weeks left in the reg-
ular season, the Mountaineers have tal-
lied 30 wins and stand at third in the Cas-
cade Collegiate Conference. Just one year
removed from a 16-32 record, Eastern is
12 wins away from securing the program
record for wins in a season. Despite the
success and accolades so far this year, the
Mountaineers are taking things one game
at a time in pursuit of competing with the
conference’s best schools.
“The girls are buying in and realizing
that we’re one of the top teams who can
compete against top teams in the nation,”
head coach Nicole Christian said. “It’s
those little things that build up the pro-
gram and the winning mentality.”
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File
Amanda Smith (14) delivers a pitch during the Mountaineers’ matchup with Providence University on
Friday, March 25, 2022, at the Peggy Anderson Softball Field, La Grande.
Christian is in just her third year as
head coach, taking the reins of a team
that went 13-32 in the season before her
hiring in 2019. Not much changed in
terms of winning percentage over the last
two seasons, but the 2022 campaign has
See, EOU/Page A10
See, Blazers/Page A10
SPORTS SHORT
Northwest University to add beach volleyball
Cascade Collegiate Conference
school to add program in 2023
The Observer
KIRKLAND, Wash. — Northwest
University Director of Athletics Gary
McIntosh formally announced the spon-
sorship of beach volleyball beginning in
2022-23.
Following the addition of beach vol-
leyball, Northwest will sponsor 11
NAIA athletic programs. The addition
of beach volleyball will add approxi-
mately 12 female student-athlete oppor-
tunities to the Northwest athletic pro-
gram and will become the seventh
female sport at Northwest University.
“We are excited about the oppor-
tunity to add beach volleyball to our
department,” said McIntosh. “We are
confi dent that beach volleyball will be
a good addition here at Northwest and
will achieve success in conjunction with
our current women’s volleyball pro-
gram. Beach volleyball is a growing
sport in the NAIA, and we are excited
to bring that growth to Northwest.”
Beach volleyball consists of two-
player teams with dual matches fea-
turing fi ve pairs from each team. The
school that wins three matches fi rst
is the winner. Each match consists of
three sets, with the fi rst to 21 winning
the fi rst two sets and the third set to 15
points if needed.
“Beach volleyball competition
at Northwest is set to commence
in the spring of 2023. We are cur-
rently searching for a head coach,”
McIntosh said.
Beach volleyball was declared an
emerging sport by the NAIA in 2019
and has since garnered national invi-
tational tournament status with more
than 25 programs.
Although beach volleyball is not
a conference sport, the Cascade Col-
legiate Conference, which includes
Eastern Oregon University, has six
member or associate member schools
sponsoring the sport: Arizona Chris-
tian, Bushnell, Corban, Life Pacifi c,
Southern Oregon and Vanguard.
Bushnell University/Contributed Photo
Bushnell’s Camille Guerrero (20) prepares to spike the
ball over the net as Corban’s Avari Ridgway (23) defends
during the Warriors’ 4-1 win over Bushnell on Saturday,
April 2, 2022. Northwest University has announced it
is joining Corban and Bushnell in sponsoring beach
volleyball in 2023.
Find up-to-date scores and additional game coverage
for your local high school, available 24/7 at
www.lagrandeobserver.com.