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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MAY 26, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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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.