8A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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NBA FINALS
Durant makes his mark in Game 1
Warriors dominate
Cavaliers, 113-91
By JOSH DUBOW
Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. — LeB-
ron James had a simple explanation
for what stood out in Game 1 of the
NBA Finals: KD.
With a motivated Kevin Durant
playing some of the best basketball
of his career and taking the pres-
sure off Stephen Curry, Golden
State dominated Cleveland 113-91
in Game 1 on Thursday night and
showed that Cavaliers-Warriors III
might not look anything like the pre-
vious showdowns.
“You take one of the best teams
UP NEXT: GAME 2
• Cleveland Cavaliers (0-1)
at Golden State Warriors (1-0)
• Sunday, 5 p.m. TV: ABC
that we had ever assembled last
year, that we saw in the regular sea-
son and in the postseason, and then
in the offseason you add a high-
powered offensive talent like that
and a great basketball IQ like
that, that’s what stands out,” James
said. “I mean, it’s no if, ands, or
buts. It is what it is. We’ve got to
figure out how to combat that,
which is going to be a tough chal-
lenge for us.
“But that’s what stands out.”
Durant finished with 38 points,
eight rebounds and eight assists,
didn’t commit a single turnover and
spent much of the night guarding
James on the defensive end in an
impressive return to the Finals stage
five years after his only previous trip
with Oklahoma City.
Durant lost to James and the
Miami Heat in five games in
2012 and then James and the
Cavs knocked off the 73-win War-
riors in a seven-game thriller last
June.
But with Durant added to a mix
that includes fellow All-Stars Curry,
Draymond Green and Klay Thomp-
son, this year’s Warriors proved to
be too tough for James and Cleve-
land to handle in Game 1.
“He can just go get a bucket,”
Green said. “That’s one of the things
that we need, a guy who can go get
a bucket, get to the foul line. ...
That’s huge for us. You are talking
one of the best players in the game.
To have a game like that when he’s
playing that way, it’s tough to beat.
Thirty-eight, 8, 8, zero turnovers?
We’re real tough to beat when he’s
doing that.”
Durant played well in his first
Finals trip but didn’t have the help
he has now with a two-time MVP
in Curry, one of the league’s best
two-way players in Thompson and
a do-it-all demon like Green.
With his big output in Game 1,
Durant joined Hall of Famers Rick
Barry, Michael Jordan and Shaquille
O’Neal as the only players to score
at least 25 points in each of his first
six Finals games.
AP Photo/Ben Margot
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen
Curry (30) and forward Kevin Durant re-
act after scoring against the Cleveland
Cavaliers during the first half of Game 1
of basketball’s NBA Finals in Oakland,
Calif., Thursday.
Top-seeded
Beavers
ready for
postseason
SCOREBOARD
PREP SCHEDULE
TODAY
Baseball — 2A/1A State Champion-
ship: Reedsport vs. Knappa, 1:30 p.m.,
at Volcanoes Stadium
SOFTBALL
Lewis & Clark All-League
Player of the Year: Landree Miethe,
Warrenton
Pitcher of the Year: Haley Schimmel,
Rainier
Coach of the Year: Lance Judd, Port-
land Adventist
First Team
P: Niqui Blodgett, Jr., Warrenton
P: Tori Johnson, Sr., PAA
P: Haley Schimmel, Sr., Rainier
C: Kami Gray, Sr., Rainier
C: Trinity Hamm, Fr., Clatskanie
C: Landree Miethe, Sr., Warrenton
Inf: Emily Blank, Fr., PAA
Inf: Jadyn Crape, Sr., Rainier
Inf: Paige Kellar, Fr., Rainier
Inf: Sage Miller, Sr., Clatskanie
Inf: Aspen Norman, Jr., Rainier
Inf: Olivia Warren, Jr., Clatskanie
Second Team
P: Mackenzie Mitchell, Sr., Clatskanie
C: Katie Blank, Sr., PAA
Inf: Claire Bussert, So., Warrenton
Inf: Sarah Halverson, Sr., PAA
Inf: Sophia Hansen, Sr., PC
Inf/P: Taleah King, So., Rainier
Inf: Macy Simmons, So., Clatskanie
OF: Natalie Duncan, Fr., Warrenton
OF: Maris Jackson, So., Clatskanie
OF: Jaedyn Larsen, Fr., Rainier
OF: Rylee O’Brien, So., Rainier
OF: Kenzi Ramsey, Fr., Warrenton
OF: Julia Taylor, Sr., Rainier
Honorable Mention
Carmen Lindblom, Sr., Clatskanie
Elaina Chinchilla, Sr., PC
Nellie Ernst, Jr., PC
Sportsmanship: Portland Christian
TRACK & FIELD
OSAA State Meet
Team Results
2A Girls
East Linn Christian 86, Grant Union
82, Monroe 51, Pilot Rock 47, Enterprise
42, Union 38, Culver 32, Central Linn
28, Kennedy 26, Bandon 24, St. Paul
21, Weston-McEwen 19.5, Faith Bible
Christian 19, Imbler 17, Gold Beach 16,
Riddle 16, Nestucca 15, Stanfield 11,
Toledo 8.5, Neah-Kah-Nie 8, Oakland 8,
Elgin 8, Myrtle Point 7, Crow 6, Oakridge
6, Lost River 6, Santiam 4, Regis 3,
Knappa 3, City Christian 2, Vernonia 2,
Waldport 1.
2A Boys
Weston-McEwen 67, Bandon 63,
Regis 61, Kennedy 47, Delphian 42,
Union 39, East Linn Christian 37,
Vernonia 31, Monroe 31, Columbia
Christian 24, Myrtle Point 23, Oak-
land 21, Heppner 20, Central Linn 19,
Yoncalla 15, Elgin 14, Enterprise 13,
Neah-Kah-Nie 10, Santiam 10, Pilot
Rock 10, Culver 8, City Christian 8, Lost
River 7, Oakridge 7, Faith Bible Christian
7, Waldport 7, St. Paul 6, Crow 6, Bonanza
4, Imbler 2, Grant Union 2, Nestucca 2.
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
CORVALLIS — None of
the other teams in the Corvallis
Regional have any illusions about
the challenge they face: the Ore-
gon State Beavers are the top-
ranked team in the nation, the
No. 1 national seed in the NCAA
Tournament, and they only lost
four times during the season.
The Daily Astorian/File Photo
Warrenton catcher Landree Miethe, the 2017 Player of the Year for Lewis & Clark League softball.
Warrenton’s Miethe
catches MVP award
Junior pitcher Blodgett
takes first-team honor
The Daily Astorian
Warrenton senior Landree Miethe capped her
final year of high school with the highest individ-
ual award — Player of the Year for Lewis & Clark
League softball.
The Warriors missed out on the state playoffs,
but still had two first-team selections — Miethe and
junior pitcher Niqui Blodgett — with three more
players named to the second team.
Miethe finished her high school softball career as
the Warrior’s all-time leader in hits, stolen bases, tri-
ples and home runs.
League champion Rainier, which will be playing
for the 3A state title today vs. Dayton, had five first-
team selections. The Columbians had another four
players on the second team.
Warrenton had two freshmen outfielders on the
second team — freshmen Natalie Duncan and Kenzi
Ramsey. They were joined on the second team by
sophomore teammate Claire Bussert.
Rainier senior Haley Schimmel was named the
league’s Pitcher of the Year, and Lance Judd of Port-
land Adventist was the Coach of the Year.
Two-run shot lifts Washington past Oregon in WCWS
By CLIFF BRUNT
Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY — Washington appears
to have Oregon’s number.
Kirstyn Thomas’ two-run homer in the top of
the seventh inning helped the Huskies defeat the
Ducks 3-1 on Thursday in the Women’s College
World Series.
The Huskies have taken three of four from
their Pac-12 rival this season, and this time, they
snapped Oregon’s 15-game win streak. Taran
Alvelo (33-7) pitched a complete game for Wash-
ington, which advanced to winners’ bracket play
today.
It was Washington’s first World Series win
since 2013.
“It’s tough to win that first game, tough to play
in this environment for a bunch of kids that hav-
en’t done it before but have only dreamed about it
their whole lives,” Washington coach Heather Tarr
said. “But now it’s not a dream. It’s reality, and
we’re ready for the next game.”
Washington (49-12) scored one run in the third
to open the scoring. Oregon (52-7) put two run-
ners on with one out in the fifth, but didn’t score.
After Thomas’ homer put Washington up 3-0,
Oregon’s Lauren Lindvall doubled to start the
bottom of the seventh. Jenna Lilley was hit by a
pitch to put two on with no outs. Pinch-hitter Madi
Bishop drove in a run, but that’s all the Ducks got.
“So, yeah, there’s runners on and runners in
scoring position, but all that matters in that moment
is that pitch that I’m about to throw,” Alvelo said.
“So I know if I can execute the next one, then
those runners aren’t going to pose a threat to our
team if we can just execute in the moment.”
Lilley, who was hit twice, was upset and threw
her bat after she was hit the second time.
“I was just trying to throw, like, around the
zone and do what I needed to do,” Alvelo said.
“A few got away from me, and that happens. But
no hard feelings. I feel like it’s part of the game.
You’ve got to move on from it.”
The Ducks had five hits and left eight runners
on base.
“I just felt like we weren’t aggressive at the
right times,” Oregon’s Nikki Udria said. “I think
we waited a little bit too long to get going and put
that pressure on them. I’d like to see us come out
on Saturday just ready to go. I felt like it took us a
long time to get going today.”
Bryan Terry/The Oklahoman
Oregon’s Megan Kleist pitches against Washing-
ton during an NCAA Women’s College World Se-
ries softball game in Oklahoma City, Thursday.
“Everyone knows they’ve had
a good year,” Holy Cross first
baseman Anthony Critelli said.
“They’re solid and all. But we’re
more focused on us and what we
need to do.”
Oregon State will host fourth-
seeded Holy Cross on tonight fol-
lowing a game between No. 2
Nebraska and No. 3 Yale in the
double-elimination bracket.
It’s been a record-setting sea-
son for the Beavers, who at 49-4
have the fewest losses going into
the postseason since Texas was
53-4 at the end of the regular sea-
son in 1982.
Oregon State went 27-3 in Pac-
12 play for the league title, sur-
passing Arizona State’s record of
26 league wins set in 1981. Along
the way, coach Pat Casey sur-
passed the 1,000-win milestone.
The Beavers are riding a
16-game winning streak into the
postseason.
“Our guys kept staying with it,
the ball bounced our way, we got
a lot of breaks. We stayed inju-
ry-free till the end,” Casey said.
“We played consistent. I never
thought we got too high or too
low. We stayed pretty consistent.”
The back-to-back College
World Series champions in 2006
and 2007 have made the postsea-
son 17 times with a 51-33 over-
all record. It is the sixth time they
will host a regional, and they’re
26-6 in postseason play at Goss
Stadium.
Holy Cross is headed to the
tournament for the first time since
1978. The Crusaders (23-27) won
their first-ever Patriot League title
since the school joined the confer-
ence in 1986.
Holy Cross won the NCAA
title in 1952.
“I don’t think these guys need
much motivation, to be frank,”
Crusaders coach Greg DiCenzo
said. “They’re excited to partake
in the tournament, they’ve worked
extremely hard. They know how
hard we’ve worked as a coach-
ing staff to develop the program
and put our fingerprints on this
program and build that culture.
And whether we’re playing the
No. 1 team in the country, or the
63rd-ranked team in the country,
I don’t think it matters to us, it’s
about getting between the white
lines and competing.”