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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (May 26, 2017)
8A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MAY 26, 2017 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com SPORTS IN BRIEF SHS Gizdavich Memorial games on tap Saturday The Daily Astorian Seaside’s third annual Jon Giz- davich Memorial Baseball Tour- nament is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Broadway Field, where former Seaside baseball players and SHS alumni will gather to celebrate the life of a former teammate and classmate — and raise money for a good cause. Nearly 30 former Gulls showed up and played two alumni games in the first event in 2015, raising money for the “Jon-O Scholar- ship” fund. Gizdavich was a Class of 2007 graduate of Seaside High School, and was nearing his graduation from Oregon State University when he lost his life following a car accident in Corvallis in Janu- ary 2013. For more details, see the tour- nament’s Facebook page, “Jon Gizdavich Alumni Weekend.” Cost is $30 per participant, and spectator donations are appreci- ated. There will be a $5 barbe- cue, as well as souvenir shirts for spectators. James passes Jordan, Cavs back in Finals Associated Press BOSTON — The NBA Finals has its first “three-match,” cour- tesy of a King who passed His Airness. LeBron James scored 35 points and passed Michael Jordan to become the NBA’s all-time play- off scoring leader as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Boston Celt- ics 135-102 on Thursday night to claim their third straight East- ern Conference title and another trip to the NBA Finals to meet the Golden State Warriors. Kyrie Irving added 24 points and Kevin Love finished with 15 for the Cavs, who never trailed and led by as many as 39 points in one of their most dominating wins of the series. The Cavs set an NBA record by winning their 13th consecutive series closeout opportunity. Cleveland’s 4-1 series win gives it a 12-1 record this postsea- son and sets up a third consecutive matchup with Western Confer- ence champion Golden State, the team it beat in the Finals last sea- son to claim the franchise’s first championship. “I wear the number because of Mike,” James said. “I think I fell in love with the game because of Mike, just because of what he was able to accomplish. When you’re watching Michael Jordan it’s almost like a god. So I didn’t think I could be Mike.” ESPN signs Kelly as college football analyst Barb Enos/Submitted Photo From left to right, Ilwaco coaches and golfers Jon Kukula, Brenden Chabot, Tenyson Ramsey, Blake Kukula, Zac Tapio, Ethan Ban- nister and Bob Enos proudly showed off their first-place trophy from the recent District golf tourney. Kukula wins individual title The Daily Astorian RICHLAND, Wash. — The tradition con- tinues for the Ilwaco boys golf program, as Ilwaco freshman Blake Kukula won the boys 1B/2B state golf tournament, which concluded Wednesday at Horn Rapids Golf Course in Richland, Wash. After carding a 75 in Tuesday’s opening round, Kukula crushed the field with a 70 in Wednesday’s final round to win the tourna- ment by seven strokes, with a 145. Dawson Strobel of Tekoa-Rosalia was second at 152. Ilwaco’s Ethan Bannister shot 86-97 for 21st overall, helping Ilwaco take second in the team standings behind Colfax, which scored the upset over the defending state champion Fishermen, with 36 points (schools in the Washington 1B/2B state tournament need only two golfers to qualify for team scoring). Ilwaco was second (30), and Pomeroy was the only other school with two golfers for third (29). Ilwaco senior Aslyn Fisher, facing largely 1A competition, finished one stroke out of the top 20 at the 1B/2B/1A, taking 23rd place after shooting 98-91—189. Cavs-Warriors reach NBA Finals, again Cruz’s 3-run HR off Turner lifts Mariners over Nats By TIM REYNOLDS Associated Press Here they go again. For the third straight year, it’s Cleveland and Golden State in the NBA Finals. The 2016 champions versus the 2015 champions . The first “threematch” — rematch of a rematch — in league history. It’s the matchup most expected, the matchup most predicted, and probably the matchup the Cavaliers and Warriors wanted as well. Let the hype, and the waiting, begin: Game 1 isn’t until Thursday. “I’ve been very blessed the last few years to be a part of this league and play on the big stage,” said Cleveland star LeBron James, who has now reached the Finals for the eighth time — including each of the last seven years. “But we’re going to enjoy this for a couple more days before we have to lock in on that jug- gernaut out west.” The numbers The Cavaliers and Warriors split their two meetings this season, both winning at home. Cleveland won by one on Christmas Day, Golden State prevailed by 35 on Jan. 16. Golden State led the league with 67 wins this season and is a staggering 27-1 in its last 28 games — including By IAN QUILLEN Associated Press AP Photo/Elise Amendola The Cleveland Cavaliers pose with their trophy after winning Game 5 of the NBA basketball Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics 135-102 on Thursday in Boston. GAME 1 OF NBA FINALS • Cleveland Cavaliers (51-31) at Golden State Warriors (67-15) • Thursday, 6 p.m. TV: ABC a perfect 12-0 in the Western Confer- ence playoffs, the first time a team has gone this deep into an NBA postsea- son without losing. Cleveland, which seemed sleepy at times in the regular season, went 12-1 in the Eastern Con- ference playoffs that ended with a win over Boston on Thursday night. “Playing in this league, you can’t take anything for granted,” Warriors guard Stephen Curry said. “Thirty teams suit up every year trying to get to this point, and only two teams do. So you have to appreciate it. ... We need to understand the privi- lege that we have and the opportu- nity that we have to play in the Finals again, to have the opportunity to win a championship.” Associated Press Former Oregon coach Chip Kelly is joining ESPN as a studio analyst next season. ESPN announced today it has signed Kelly to a multi-year deal. Kelly will primarily be part of Saturday pregame, halftime and wrap-up shows on ESPN2. He’ll also provide NFL analysis on Sun- days during SportsCenter. The 53-year-old Kelly spent the last four seasons in the NFL, coaching the Philadelphia for three years and San Francisco for one. Kelly was fired by the 49ers after going 2-14 last season. He was 26-21 with a playoff appear- ance for the Eagles. SCOREBOARD PREP SCHEDULE TODAY Baseball — 4A Quarterfinal: Astoria at Hidden Valley, 4:30 p.m.; 2A/1A Quar- terfinal: Sherman-Arlington at Knappa, 4:30 p.m. NHL royalty vs. rowdy neighbors in Stanley Cup Final By WILL GRAVES Associated Press PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins kept getting by even as their star players kept skating off the ice in pain. Even as the targets on their back as Stanley Cup champions kept get- ting bigger. Even as Columbus and Washington and Ottawa kept pushing and prodding, poking and pinching. “Just play,” coach Mike Sullivan kept telling his players. Over and over and over again. So the Penguins did. And the team that found itself uncharacteristically on its heels for long stretches as it fended off the Blue Jackets in the first round, shut down the Capitals in the second and outlasted blue-collar Sen- ators in the third is back where it was a year ago: heading to the Stanley Cup Final with confidence, momentum and more than a little bit of swagger. Next up: “Smashville.” GAME 1 OF STANLEY CUP FINALS • Nashville Predators (41-29) at Pittsburgh Penguins (50-21) • Monday, 5 p.m. TV: NBC Pittsburgh earned a return trip to the Cup with a thrilling 3-2 dou- ble-overtime victory over Ottawa in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals on Thursday. Chris Kunitz pro- vided the winner, a knuckler from just outside the circle that made its way past Craig Anderson 5:09 into the sec- ond extra period and moved the Pen- guins a step closer to becoming the first team in nearly 20 years to repeat. And here’s the scary part: after a season pock-marked by the loss of do-everything defenseman Kris Letang and significant absences by Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Kunitz, goaltender Matt Murray and a host of others, the Penguins are start- ing to look like the team that picked apart San Jose last June to capture the franchise’s fourth title. “Our last four games in this series for me, we really found our game,” Sullivan said. The result is a potentially intrigu- ing final between NHL royalty and the rowdy neighbors next door. The Pen- guins have the experience, the lead- ership and the star power. The Pred- ators have defenseman P.K. Subban, a bunch of country music A-listers in the stands and absolutely nothing to lose in their first appearance on hock- ey’s biggest stage. Game 1 is Monday night in Pitts- burgh. The teams split their two meet- ings during the regular season, with each winning on home ice, with Nash- ville overwhelming Pittsburgh 5-1 back in November and the Penguins returning the favor with a 4-2 victory in January. WASHINGTON — Mariners manager Scott Servais got ejected for the second time this season. Nelson Cruz came through with a big hit, just like he did when Ser- vais was tossed from a game on April 16. “Our guys joke about it,” Ser- vais said Thursday after Seat- tle rallied to beat the Washington Nationals 4-2. “They’d like to see it probably happen more.” Cruz greeted reliever Jacob Turner with a go-ahead, three-run homer in the sixth inning, two bat- ters after Servais’ departure. The Mariners stopped a five-game los- ing streak. “Everything starts with one game,” Cruz said. “A win can defi- nitely change everything.” Gio Gonzalez took a 2-0 lead into the sixth, when Jean Segura singled leading off and Guillermo Heredia took a called third strike. That prompted Servais to com- plain from the dugout, which led to his dismissal by plate umpire Adam Hamari. Robinson Cano singled, and Washington manager Dusty Baker brought in Turner (2-3), despite Cruz having just one hit in 15 at-bats against Gonzalez. Gonzalez had thrown just 50 of 96 pitches for strikes. “I saw a couple balls hit hard right after we scored, and he was struggling all day,” Baker explained. “It was kind of like a Houdini up there, got out of trouble a bunch. He was 2-0 on everybody.” Cruz drove Turner’s belt-high slider over the fence in left-center for his 12th homer this season and a 3-2 lead. Cruz, who leads the AL with 40 RBIs, had a run-scoring single that capped a ninth-inning rally in the April 16 win over the Rangers. The home run made him 2 for 2 against Turner. Cano added an RBI single off Turner in the seventh. Seattle scored multiple runs for the first time since May 18.
