WEEKEND, FEBRUARY 14-15, 2015
Sports shorts
LeBron James
elected VP of NBA
player’s union
NEW YORK (AP) —
Cavaliers su-
perstar LeBron
James has been
elected ¿ rst vice
president of the
National Basket-
ball Players As-
sociation, giving
the game’s top
player a leader-
ship role in the union.
James was elected unani-
mously on Friday during the
union’s annual meeting as
part of All-Star weekend. A
person familiar with James’
election said Clippers All-
Star guard Chris Paul, the
union’s president, had urged
the four-time MVP to take an
active role within the union.
The person, who spoke on
condition of anonymity be-
fore union executive director
Michele Roberts announced
the election, said James
wanted to be deeply involved
in future collective bargain-
ing with the league.
SPORTS
War on 84
Bucks hold off late rally
By SAM BARBEE
EO Media Group
Pendleton’s
Caden Smith
shoots the ball
guarded by
Hermiston’s
Cole Smith and
Austin Nailon
(10) in the
Bucks’ 62-51
win against the
Bulldogs on
Friday in Herm-
iston.
The last time the Hermiston
Bulldogs played the Pendleton
Buckaroos, it was a back-and-forth
affair at Warberg Court the Pendle-
ton boys would eventually win.
Friday night in Hermiston, the
game couldn’t have been more dif-
ferent.
The Bucks led for the ¿ nal 27
minutes of the game behind Wes
Persinger’s 19 points, seven re-
bounds and three blocks and they
held off a late rally by Hermiston
to win 62-51.
“It was very important (to get
ahead and stay ahead),” Persinger
said after the game. “We’ve been
focusing on it for awhile. It’s just
good to come out and beat ‘em by
(11). This game was very important
because now we automatically won
the series with them.”
Kai Quinn added 15 points
and six assists for the winners and
Caden Smith chipped in with 14
points. Austin Naillon led the Bull-
dogs with 13 points, Keegan Craf-
ton had 10 and Chase Knutz had 11.
But no one was bigger or better
on the À oor than Persinger.
“He was the hardest-working
kid out there,” Hermiston head
coach Jake McElligott said of
Persinger after the game. “He was
the difference-maker. He was the
equalizer in the game. He worked
his butt off, and I told him that after
the game.”
Hermiston (6-14, 3-3 CRC) nev-
er led did tie the game at three after
Austin Naillon hit a three-pointer to
put Hermiston on the board. Pend-
leton (14-7, 4-2), however, would
close the quarter on an 11-6 run to
seize control early and extended the
lead to 12 at halftime. Hermiston
never came closer than 10 points in
the second half.
McElligott called this week
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
BOYS HOOPS
Pendleton
62
Hermiston
51
Morgan lifts US to
win over England
MILTON KEYNES, En-
gland (AP) — Alex Morgan
is back.
The American forward
scored in the 25th minute
in her second start since re-
turning from an ankle injury,
and the U.S.
FACES women defeat-
ed England 1-0
on Friday night
in an exhibition
game.
Morgan got
her 50th goal in
79 international
Morgan
appearances,
becoming the third-fastest
American woman to reach
the mark behind Michelle
Akers (49 games) and Abby
Wambach (64).
The goal ended a
217-minute scoring drought
for the United States, which
played its second game of
the year in preparing for this
year’s Women’s World Cup
— and its second without
suspended goalkeeper Hope
Solo. The Americans had
won just one of their previ-
ous ¿ ve matches, including
a 2-0 loss to France last
weekend.
“I don’t think he
knew whether he
was going
to play last year
until almost
training camp.
Marshawn is
getting to a point
in his life where
he may want to
enjoy other things
that are important
to him.“
— Michael Robinson
Former Seattle Seahawks
FB and friend of RB
Marshawn Lynch con-
fi rming in a radio
interview that Lynch has
not decided whether or
not he’ll play again next
season. Lynch has one
year remaining on his
deal with Seattle, and
Robinson said he thinks
he’ll end up playing out
the contract.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1975 — Julius Erving of
the New York Nets scores 63
points in a 176-166 quadru-
ple overtime loss to the San
Diego Conquistadors. Erv-
ing sets an ABA record by
shooting 25-for-46 from the
¿ eld and the 342 points are
an ABA record.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com
1B
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS
GIRLS HOOPS
Hermiston
66
Pendleton
57
See BOYS HOOPS/3B
Bulldogs run to victory
Hermiston transition
game sinks Pendleton
By ERIK SKOPIL
East Oregonian
The third quarter of Friday’s War on
84 girls basketball game might have ren-
dered Hermiston’s pre-game layup lines
obsolete.
The Bulldogs got plenty of chip-shot
practice to open the second half, using a
slew of fast-break run outs to bury rival
Pendleton on its way to a 66-57 victory at
the Dawg House.
With a slim cushion out of half, Class
5A’s second-ranked team’s advantage got
plenty comfy thanks to a 17-5 run to open
the second half. Much of the Bulldogs
(18-3, 6-0 CRC) success began at the de-
fensive end. That’s where Hermiston put
the kibosh on the Bucks (13-8, 3-3 CRC)
aim of hanging around with stop after
stop that allowed a rash of uncontested
gimmes.
The ef¿ ciency at which the Bulldogs
transitioned from defense to offense was
just what Hermiston coach Steve Hoffert
had hoped for.
“We forced bad shots, got quick re-
bounds and we were gone,” he said. “We
talked (at the half) about defense having
to be the difference in the game and then
went out in the third quarter and did ex-
actly what we had to do.”
“We wanted to keep pushing them un-
til they were done,” said sophomore Kyn-
zee Padilla, who had eight points in the
third. “The ¿ rst ¿ ve minutes of the quar-
ter we wanted to go until we push them
over and they fell.”
With the victory the Bulldogs locked
down a share of their ¿ fth consecutive
Columbia River Conference crown. Now
holding a three-game edge on the ¿ eld
with three remaining, things would have
to go bonkers for that not to become yet
another outright win.
The reign of dominance extends over
the Buckaroos in particular. Hermiston
has now downed Pendleton 24 straight
times. Not since February 18, 2006 have
the Buckaroos gotten the better of the
Bulldogs.
“That’s a long stretch to beat some-
body,” Hoffert said. “We don’t talk about
it much... it’s obviosuly that we’re very
proud of. It’s something that’s very dif¿ -
cult to do. You hope you can beat some-
body three times in a row let alone 24
times in a row.”
Pendleton coach Michelle Gomez
knew her team place themselves in an
inauspicious position after they fumbled
See GIRLS HOOPS/3B
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Hermiston’s Maddy Juul puts up a shot guarded by
Pendleton’s Kristin Williams and Marlene Bodmer in
the Bulldogs’ 66-57 win against the Bucks on Friday in
Hermiston.
Prep Wrestling
+HUPLVWRQMXVWLQFKHVIURP¿UVWDWGLVWULFWVDIWHU'D\
By MIKE WEBER
For the East Oregonian
HOOD RIVER — The Hermiston Bull-
dogs have 22 wrestlers with an opportunity
to qualify for the state tournament and are
1.5 points away from winning the District
4 title at Hood River Valley High School.
Hermiston, guided by third-year head
coach Shaun Williams, had an incredible
performance with most of their 26 team
members advancing to compete Saturday
in the nine-team Columbia River Confer-
ence/Intermountain Conference Regional
Tournament. The defending state champi-
on Bulldogs notched 145.5 points in team
scoring to hold onto second place behind
front-runner Redmond with 147. Pendle-
ton has six wrestlers in contention for trips
to state.
“We did a fairly good job and every-
one competed well today,” Williams said.
“Some of the younger guys wrestled very
well and they upset people in their match-
es, which was good to see. We have to
compete hard and win some more match-
es on Saturday. We don’t have anything
clinched yet. We’re all happy now, but if
we don’t get the job done Saturday, then
we’ll be crying.”
Hermiston has 11 boys in today’s semi-
¿ nal matches and if they win, they’ll move
on to the state tournament Feb. 26-28 at
Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.
Bulldog wrestlers in the semis who are
hopeful of advancing to state include Jesse
Rodelo, Sam Colbray, John-Henry Line,
Mitchell Lincoln, Bob Coleman, Brock
McDonough, Devin Bonser, Robert Crane,
See WRESTLING/2B
Photo by Mike Weber for the East Oregonian
Hermiston sophomore Oscar Lopez has a strong per-
formance in getting a win over Redmond’s Davin Curry
during a 132 weight class match Friday in the Colum-
bia River Conference/Intermountain Conference Class
5A District 4 Regional Tournament at Hood River Valley
High School.