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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 28, 2015)
WEEKEND, MARCH 28-29, 2015 SPORTS Sports shorts PENDLETON O’Rourke’s season likely over Rockets shut out Ams in playoffs KELOWNA, B.C.— The Tri-City Americans kept it close early in the game against the Kelowna Rockets, but the game opened up in the second period as the Rockets earned a 6-0 win in *DPHRIWKH¿UVWURXQGRI their WHL playoff series on Friday. Tri-City started out the second period with some solid chances, but couldn’t get anything past the red line and ended the period down 4-0. Tri-City was scoreless ZLWK¿YHSRZHUSOD\FKDQFHV and spent 10 minutes in the penalty box. Game 2 is today in Kelowna. Kevin Durant to miss rest of season 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS likely more. “It’s a pretty devastating blow,” Pendle- ton coach Greg Whitten said. “He was such a leader for the team. But, he’s lucky, because it East Oregonian could’ve been much worse.” Whitten said O’Rourke will seek further BOISE, Idaho — Pendleton senior base- opinion from specialists. ball player Alex O’Rourke suffered potential- “There’s always a ray of hope (for a re- ly season-ending injuries at a tournament in turn this season), but I don’t think it’s looking Idaho on Thursday. good for him,” Whitten said. The Oregon State signee and All-State se- O’Rourke has started at catcher for the OHFWLRQWRRNDZLOGSLWFKWRWKHIDFHLQWKH¿IWK Buckaroos since his freshman year, drawing inning of Pendleton’s 12-1 loss to Vallivue numerous all-league and all-state honors. In (ID) at the Bucks Bags Classic in Boise, Ida- November, he signed to play baseball with ho. The shot left O’Rourke with multiple bro- the Beavers, joining a celebrated 15-player ken bones, including nose, cheek, eye socket class. He’d been committed to OSU since his sophomore year. and orbital bone. O’Rourke was 4-for-17 with two runs Boise-area doctors indicated that a recov- ery will take a minimum of six weeks and See O’ROURKE/2B Buckaroo star breaks multiple bones in face at tournament Staff photo by E.J. Harris Pendleton catcher Alex O’Rourke talks to pitcher Caden Smith during a recent game in Pendleton. O’Rourke broke multiple bones in his face after being hit by a pitch during a game Thursday in Boise, Idaho. NCAA Tournament Zags join the Elite Gonzaga players cele- brate after the second half of a college bas- ketball region- al semifi nal game in the NCAA Tourna- ment against UCLA, Friday in Houston. Gonzaga won 74-62. OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — NBA MVP Kevin Durant will miss the rest of the season and have bone graft surgery next week to treat a fractured bone in his right foot. The Oklahoma City Thunder had said last week he likely would shut down FACES be for the season. The team was WU\LQJWR¿JXUH out why his pain remained long after he was supposed Durant to be able to play. General manager Sam Presti said Friday the team expects Durant to return to basketball activities within the four to six months. The Thunder are in position to make the playoffs without Durant, but they clearly will miss one of the game’s most dynamic play- ers. Durant last played Feb. 19 before the discomfort became too much to bear. He has played in just 27 games, averaging 25.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists. “I actually wish they made it a law that whoever drafts you, you gotta stay there your whole career.“ — Shaquille O’Neal Retired NBA players af- ter saying he sometimes regrets his decision to leave the Orlando Magic for more money with the Los Angeles Lakers after his fi rst four seasons. O’Neal was inducted to the Magic Hall of Fame on Friday. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1939 — The barnstorm- ing Renaissance Five beat the NBL champion Oshkosh All- 6WDUVWRZLQWKH¿UVW annual World Professional Basketball Tournament in Chicago. Sports reporters of the day make no mention of the fact that all the Rens are black and the All-Stars are all white. 1992 — Christian La- ettner hits a 15-foot turn- around jumper at the buzzer to give defending champion Duke a 104-103 overtime victory over Kentucky and D¿IWKFRQVHFXWLYHWULSWRWKH Final Four. 1995 — Michael Jordan, SOD\LQJ LQ KLV ¿IWK JDPH LQ 22 months, scores 55 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 113-111 victory over the New York Knicks. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com AP Photo/David J. Phillip Gonzaga headed to Elite Eight for first time under coach Mark Few winner of the Utah- Duke game on Sun- day. #2 Gonzaga HOUSTON — Growing up in UCLA (22-14) Poland, Przemek Karnowski had to opened the second stay up until 2 or 3 a.m. to watch the half with a 6-0 run NCAA Tournament. to get within 35-34. Gonzaga’s big man got to star in Gonzaga got going after that, scor- the show in prime time on Friday ing the next 12 points, thanks to the night, scoring 18 points with nine powerful inside game of the 7-foot- rebounds to lead the second-seeded 1, 288-pound Karnowski to make it Bulldogs to a 74-62 win over No. 11 47-34. seed UCLA in the Houston Region- “For me it was always a dream DOVHPL¿QDOV to be here and to play deep into the The victory puts Gonzaga (35- NCAA Tournament,” Karnowski 2) in the Elite Eight for the second said. “And right now I’m here and WLPH LWV ¿UVW UHJLRQDO ¿QDO VLQFH I’m trying to enjoy every second of 1999. The Bulldogs will play the it.” By KRISTIE RIEKEN Associated Press 74 #11 UCLA 62 Karnowski helped the Bulldogs grab six more offensive re- bounds than UCLA, which Bruins coach Steve Alford believes was the key to the game. “We didn’t rebound the basket- ball,” Alford said. “They got too many second shots.” Gonzaga’s Kyle Wiltjer raved about Karnowski’s work. “He was a beast down there, just gobbling up offensive boards,” Wiltjer said. “It’s so easy for us, es- pecially when we’re on the perime- ter, to just throw it down to him and HERMISTON Dawgs deal with glaring issue East Oregonian Rain, and even wind, is an ac- ceptable reason for delaying baseball games in Eastern Oregon. Sun glare, said Hermiston baseball coach Lance Hawkins, is not. For the second time this week the Bulldogs had to stop in the middle of a game and wait for the sun to stop re- ÀHFWLQJRIIWKHFRQFHVVLRQVWDQGURRI DQG EOLQGLQJ ¿HOGHUV DW$UPDQG /DU ive Middle School. “This is our fourth year (playing games) at Armand and it’s never hap- pened before,” said Hawkins, who was an assistant with the program before taking over as head coach this See GLARE/2B he gets a bucket.” The Bruins, who lost in the Sweet 16 for the second straight year, were done in by a tough shooting night that included long stretches without scoring. They were led by Norman Powell’s 16 points. They quieted doubters who questioned whether they should be in the tournament by winning their ¿UVW WZR JDPHV EXW FRXOGQ¶W VWD\ with the Bulldogs on a night when their shots weren’t falling. Powell made just 8 of 19 shots and Bryce Alford was 3 of 11. It’s Gonzaga’s second win over UCLA this season after also beat- See GONZAGA/3B Pitching leads way in sweep East Oregonian The Hermiston Bulldogs entered the sea- son with a big question mark on the mound, but the team’s pitchers contin- ued to lead the way as the Hermiston Bulldogs swept Century 9-2 and 8-2 on Friday in a non-league twin bill. Tyler Sexton “bull- dogged through” four in- Century nings when his best stuff wasn’t working, said coach Lance Hawkins, and Chase See BULLDOGS/2B 9-8 Staff photo by E.J. Harris Sunlight refl ects off of the roof of the building housing the concession stand at the baseball fi eld Friday at Armand Larive Middle School in Hermiston. The glare has caused two game de- lays so far this season. 2-2
