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Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Prep Basketball Thursday, May 21, 2015 NBA NFHS targets post Smith, James lead Cavs past Hawks play with rule changes GAME 1 with a soaring player,” dunk in the Hawks coach ¿QDOPLQXWH Mike Buden- For the holzer said. ATLANTA — J.R. Smith Atlanta “He has a big knocked down a tough Hawks, it was Cleveland second impact at both 3-pointer, then another. the ends of the Turning toward the fans, straight series which court.” their heckling transformed to in Jeff Teague led Atlanta groans, he blew off his right they’ve lost the opening game LQGH[ ¿QJHU DQG PRWLRQHG at home. Cleveland will look with 27 points. But Atlanta toward his side, like he was to take command of the series didn’t produce its usual in Game 2 Friday night. balanced scoring, as two holstering his pistol. Making matters worse starters — Kyle Korver and Yep, Smith was that hot. While LeBron James led for Atlanta, DeMarre Carroll Carroll — failed to reach Cleveland with 31 points, it went down with a knee GRXEOH¿JXUHV With Smith doing most was Smith who ignited the injury driving to the basket Cavaliers in Game 1 of the with 4:59 remaining. He was of the damage, Cleveland (DVWHUQ &RQIHUHQFH ¿QDOV helped to the locker room, outscored the Hawks 22-4 He made eight 3-pointers not putting any weight on RYHUWKH¿QDOPLQXWHVRIWKH and scored 28 points in his left leg, and will undergo WKLUG TXDUWHU DQG WKH ¿UVW a 97-89 victory over the an MRI on Thursday to minutes of the fourth. During WKDW VSDQ KH PDGH ¿YH top-seeded Atlanta Hawks determine the seriousness. Besides being the main 3-pointers and another jumper on Wednesday night. “When he gets hot,” defender on James, Carroll from just inside the arc, as Cleveland coach David Blatt had been the Hawks’ leading well as throwing up a lob that marveled, “he gets smoking scorer in the playoffs. He Tristan Thompson dunked. was averaging more than 17 Smith has been a huge hot.” Intent on bringing points coming into Atlanta’s addition for the Cavaliers since he was acquired in &OHYHODQGLWV¿UVW1%$WLWOH ¿UVWFRQIHUHQFH¿QDO “DeMarre is a complete January as part of a three- James sealed the victory By PAUL NEWBERRY Associated Press East Oregonian INDIANAPOLIS — A crackdown on defensive contact in high school basketball games is being extended to all ball-handlers next season. The National Federation of State High School Associ- ations (NFHS) revised Rule 10-6-12 prior to the 2014-15 season in an effort to elimi- nate excessive contact on ball-handlers and dribblers outside the lane area. The latest revision extends those protections to post players as well. The new language states that “a player becomes a ball-handler when he/she receives the ball. This would include a player in a post position.” The acts that constitute a foul when committed against a ball-handler are a) placing two hands on the player, b) placing an extended arm bar on the player, c) placing and keeping a hand on the player and d) contacting the player more than once with the same hand or alternating hands. “The current rule covers the ball-handler/dribbler situ- ations but ignores the action that goes on in the post area with the hands, arm bars, etc.,” said Theresia Wynns, NFHS director of sports and RI¿FLDOV ³7KH DGGLWLRQDO language will clarify that the illegal acts should be ruled for every position on the ÀRRU´ The NFHS Basketball Rules Committee also released its points of emphasis for the coming VHDVRQ FKLHÀ\ FOHDQLQJ XS post play and rebounding. The committee noted that new information has been added to the rules book that addresses cleaning up post play and urged fouls to be called when violations occur. In addition, the committee emphasized that illegal tactics related to rebounding should be called since these violations are among the leading causes of injury in high school basketball. A complete listing of the basketball rules changes is available on the NFHS website at www.nfhs.org. NFL Goodell waiting on Brady from the players’ union that he recuse himself from the appeal SAN FRANCISCO — because he has been focused NFL Commissioner Roger on the spring owners meetings Goodell said Wednesday that concluded Wednesday. He said he would study it’s his responsibility to hear directly from New England the request when he returned quarterback Tom Brady in to New York but added that his appeal of his four-game unless there is a factor that he VXVSHQVLRQ LQ WKH GHÀDWHG is unaware of he will likely hear the case. footballs case. Goodell said no date has Goodell said he has not had time to study a request been set for the appeal. Associated Press SOFTBALL: Spencer commits only one error Continued from 1B and walks (11). They were two of BMCC’s most important defenders as well. Spencer only committed one error behind the plate IRUD¿HOGLQJSHUFHQWDJH and threw out six runners on the base paths. Zarate manned the hot corner at third base and was VHFRQG DPRQJ LQ¿HOGHUV with 42 defensive assists ZKLOHKROGLQJD¿HOGLQJ percentage. Spokane, which won the region title before going on to win the NWAC Tourna- ment, earned the Pitcher of the Year (sophomore Lindsie Scholwinski) and Coach of the Year (Janet Skaife). Scholwinski went 18-0 in league play with 15 complete games, a 0.76 ERA and 168 strikeouts. East Region MVP went to Wenatchee Valley short- stop Iris Rodriguez. The sophomore batted for a .571 average with 56 hits, 62 RBIs, 44 runs, 18 doubles and seven home runs. She had a ¿HOGLQJSHUFHQWDJHZLWK 64 assists. ——— NWAC East Region 2015 All-Stars Coach of the Year: Janet Skaife, Spokane Most Valuable Player: Iris Rodriguez, So, Wenatchee Valley Pitcher of the Year: Lindsie Scholwinski, So, Spokane FIRST TEAM Pitcher Liz Crookes, Wenatchee Valley Kayla Andrews, Columbia Basin Infield Brinley Miller, Big Bend Sydnie Malloy, Spokane Shawnee Zink, Spokane Madison Anthony, North Idaho Brenna Elhart, Treasure Valley Hunter Schneitter, Wenatchee Valley Outfield Sarah Gilliam, Columbia Basin Berkley Fisher, Spokane Ashleigh Lynch, Wenatchee Valley Nikki Mather, Wenatchee Valley Catcher Sidney Hazen, Wenatchee Valley Utility Ambrea Cuellar, Treasure Valley DH/DP Jesse Schafer, Spokane Hayden Fields, North Idaho SECOND TEAM Pitcher Haylie Van Laethem, Spokane Tori Almos, North Idaho Jessica Capson, Treasure Valley Infield Savanna Zarate, , Blue Mountain Katelyn Sage, Spokane Lexi Miller, Spokane Chloe McIntosh, North Idaho Kenzie Barrera, Treasure Valley Shanika Sawyer, Wenatchee Valley Outfield Tiffany King-Phillips, Big Bend Shalaina Duford, Spokane Katelyn Geyer, Spokane Miranda Smith, WWCC Catcher Rayne Spencer, Blue Mountain Utility Hayley Fields, North Idaho Jacie McDaniels, Walla Walla DH/DP Lauren Dykstra, Wenatchee Valley BASEBALL: BMCC’s Crow makes second team Continued from 1B and led the team in runs (30) and walks (22). Also honored by the East was Blue Mountain Commu- QLW\&ROOHJHRXW¿HOGHU&ROWRQ Crow. The sophomore from Meridian, Idaho, made the second team after batting for a .297 average with 27 hits, 18 runs, 19 walks, 12 RBIs, eight doubles and two home runs East play. He was the only BMCC player honored. East Region Coach of the Year went to Treasure Valley’s Aaron Sutton after leading the Chukars to the league title. Most Valuable Player was 6SRNDQH IUHVKPDQ LQ¿HOGHU Evan Douglas, who batted .301 with 31 hits, 20 runs, 21 RBIs, 10 doubles, 16 walks and three home runs in 103 league at-bats. ——— NWAC East Region 2015 All-Stars Coach of the Year: Aaron Sutton, Treasure Valley Most Valuable Player: Evan Douglas, Spokane FIRST TEAM INFIELDERS Gunnar Buhner, Columbia Basin Hunter Hanson, Wenatchee Valley Lane Lacrone, Treasure Valley Hayden Meier, Columbia Basin Jake Roberts, Yakima Valley OUTFIELDERS Spencer Bennion, Columbia Basin Alec Chaney, Yakima Valley Michael Kilpatrick, Walla Walla Austin Kopacz, Walla Walla PITCHERS Tanner Lupton, Treasure Valley Tony McCarty, Treasure Valley Adam Paulson, Spokane Darrion Simons, Yakima Valley RELIEF PITCHER J.D. Page, Columbia Basin CATCHER Dylan Wilbert, Walla Walla DESIGNATED HITTER Lucas Denney, Spokane UTILITY Clayten Ayres, Walla Walla SECOND TEAM INFIELDERS Connor Anderson, Yakima Valley Ryan Grening, Big Bend Kyle Kilian, Big Bend Drew Loera, Columbia Basin Jarod Paul, Walla Walla OUTFIELDERS Blake Bell, Treasure Valley Joey Cotto, Columbia Basin Colton Crow, Blue Mountain Steven Sordahl, Walla Walla PITCHERS Jacob Gleichman, Columbia Basin Reign Letkeman, Big Bend Chris Petrosie, Yakima Valley Jake Simmons, Walla Walla RELIEF PITCHER Tanner Alexander, Treasure Valley CATCHER Spencer Pollock, Treasure Valley DESIGNATED HITTER Cameron Walker, Walla Walla UTILITY Daulton Blackwell, Treasure Valley 97 89 team trade with New York and Oklahoma City. A player RQFH NQRZQ IRU KLV VHO¿VK- ness, he had learned to work ZLWKZLWKLQWKHFRQ¿QHVRID team led by James. When the Cavaliers really needed Smith in Game 1, he seemed to make every shot. “Once I start shooting,” Smith said, “everybody keeps telling me to keep shooting.” Cleveland scored the ¿UVW SRLQWV RI WKH ¿QDO period — all but two on 3s by Smith — for its biggest lead, 85-67. Carroll’s injury silenced the raucous crowd and would be a tough blow for the Hawks to overcome. While he was being taken off, James came over to say a few words and pat the injured player on the head. “We’re all a brother- hood,” James said. “You don’t want anybody to get hurt like that.” TENNIS: Small school action begins Friday Continued from 1B I think got nervous because my team was there to cheer for me and their team wasn’t so much.” Dillenburg said Cittadini wasn’t giving enough credit to her own play, which is what she’ll have to rely on at state, where he thinks she’ll be able to hold her own. With most of her team- mates attending classes back in Pendleton, Cittadini knows not to expect as vocal a cheering section this time, but said that’s OK because she’s not putting any pres- sure on herself going in. “I kind of know that I’m not going there to win, because there are people that just live for playing tennis and get really serious about this type of competition,” she said. “I know that I’m not going to win, but I’m glad that I’m going there.” &LWWDGLQL¶V ¿UVW PDWFK will be against Wilsonville sophomore Keely Petticord, ZKR ¿QLVKHG VHFRQG DW WKH Northwest Oregon Confer- ence tournament. While Cittadini will be the only local playing at the 5A level, a handful of SOD\HUV KDYH TXDOL¿HG IRU the small school bracket. That action won’t begin until Friday and will take place in Corvallis. Umatilla junior Sidney Webb will be the only girl, and will face Molalla freshman Mollie Lewand- RZVNL LQ WKH ¿UVW URXQG Webb was second at the Special District 4 tourna- ment while Lewandowski placed fourth in Special District 2. In the boys’ bracket, Ione junior Jan Glasen was paired against Corbett senior Caleb Berghoff in Round 1. Glasen was the Special District 4 champion while Berghoff ¿QLVKHGVHFRQGLQ6' Glasen’s championship didn’t help him in seeding at state, though, since second- place Carlos Angel will meet WKH IRXUWKSODFH ¿QLVKHU from Berghoff’s league. Angel, a senior at Mac-Hi, will open against Crook County junior Jack 6WXEEOH¿HOG In doubles, Ione junior Kai Arbogast and Daichi Walters will be the only locals to open against a seeded opponent when they take on Philomath’s Nathan Haslam and Derek Stucki. The Special District 2 cham- pions are the third seed. Rounding out the bracket for the locals is the senior Umatilla team of Alejandro Madrigal and Ramiro Rubio. The SD4 champs begin their state run against North Bend’s Nils Hachmann and Jacob Gage, a senior/sophomore pairing that was third in SD3. ——— Contact Matt Entrup at (541) 966-0838 or mentrup@ eastoregonian.com. FAAETEETE: Coaching bug bit by surprise it sat well with him. “From there, I just felt from their home in Western Samoa, where they worked like working with kids was a plantation on the South the thing,” he said. “Early 3DFL¿F LVODQG DQG OLYHG DV on, I kinda knew that I sustenance farmers. His would be teaching and grandfather, who wound coaching eventually, but up starting a Seventh-day like every other young kid Adventist church in (I had) aspirations to play in Medford, decided it would the Big Show.” be best for the family if they FOOTBALL CAREER moved to the States. He After an all-state career said there would be more at in high school, Faaeteete opportunities for his family moved on to the University in America. Faaeteete said he doesn’t of Oregon and backed up All-American remember the transition consensus DQG ¿UVWURXQG 1)/ GUDIW well. He knew some English from American television pick Haloti Ngata. When he arrived on programs — some Chuck campus in Eugene, his only Norris and MacGyver among focus was football. Early others, he said — but largely into fall camp, the freshman he eased into the transition. It wasn’t so for some of the class of about 45 was ushered around from place to place, adults in the family. “I think the biggest chal- “to eat our time,” Faaeteete lenge was not necessarily said. Advisers spoke of the for me growing up — it was importance of planning a for our parents, our uncles career and choosing classes getting acclimated to not to accommodate that goal. Faaeteete raised his hand having to go out to the plan- and asked simply, “What tation and harvest food to if you’re here to play foot- bring home,” he said. “My ball?” uncle still to this day gets “Looking back, I was a road rage because he can’t smart, cocky kid who just understand why people cut wanted to play,” he said. him off.” His freshman fall camp Life in the big city was a was good enough to earn him GLI¿FXOWWUDQVLWLRQIRU)DDH- a minor defensive role as a teete’s family, but once they WUXHIUHVKPDQ+LV¿UVWJDPH moved to Oregon things action game was against the quieted down. Medford No. 2, defending national was still relatively small champion Oklahoma and rural then, putting the Sooners with a freshman Faaeteetes more at home. running back named Adrian His grandfather bought a 3HWHUVRQ 2Q KLV ¿UVW VQDS farm outside of town, and it a play that Faaeteete still provided a link with home, remembers vividly, the something to remember freshman split the center and about Samoa. guard — both All-Amer- After some time, icans — and dropped Grandad, as Faaeteete calls Peterson for a three-yard him, had to sell the farm to loss. He didn’t even know attend to business in Samoa. he was going in. The next By then, Faaeteete was a play, those All-Americans, rising star on the gridiron perhaps slighted by the true for the North Medford Red freshman beating them — Tornadoes, with a certain doubled-teamed Faaeteete high-energy offensive and drove him back into the coordinator prowling the GHIHQVLYH EDFN¿HOG :KHQ sidelines. Ngata came back in, Faae- In Medford, he started teete went to the sideline and working with children at was greeted with an all-too Kids Unlimited of Oregon, common phrase from his a mentoring service run by position coach: “Welcome North Medford girls basket- to college football.” ball coach Tom Cole. He enjoyed it. He liked being a DISCOVERING THE SRVLWLYH LQÀXHQFH JXLGLQJ CLASSROOM youngsters in a productive Faaeteete maintained his and positive direction. His academic attitude until his senior project delved into sophomore year, when he EHKDYLRUDO PRGL¿FDWLRQ IRU was given “swift kick in the special needs students, and butt” by the coaching staff. Continued from 1B His GPA had dipped under 2.5, the acceptable limit for remaining eligible. He then ran into some injury troubles to his knee and elbow and realized then that academics was important. He appraised his body and what it can bring him, and understood that football isn’t going to be around forever. “I realized that school was really important,” he said. At the time, Faaeteete wasn’t majoring in anything related to education. He was a political science major with an emphasis in political theory and thought he might attend graduate school at Oregon and then go into law. His eyes were also set on the NFL That dream was fading fast, too, however. Even at Oregon, Faaeteete under- stood the chances of playing pro football were small. of the business-like approach. That, plus the growing injury concerns, forced Faaeteete back into the classroom with a renewed vigor. He went from B’s and C’s to A’s and B’s and graduated with a 3.6 GPA with a degree in polit- ical science. He excelled HQRXJKRQWKHIRRWEDOO¿HOG however, to score a couple try-outs in the Big Show, as Faaeteete calls it. Those opportunities led him nowhere, however. He spent a total of six days on NFL rosters and went back home to Eugene to play the waiting game. When Kay and Hodges reached out, he had all but closed the door on a potentially lucrative professional football career. Then, in October of 2008, just a month into his new gig, the Raiders called while Faaeteete was in class. They asked how quickly he could get to Oakland, that there might be a shot to make the team. He asked for some time, and they granted it, and he got to thinking. He told his then-girlfriend — now wife — what happened and didn’t know what to do. That evening at football practice, in the environment he always felt was right IRU KLP KH PDGH KLV ¿QDO decision. “I go to practice that night with this thing on my chest,” he said. “I’m working with kids. Kids are having fun. The coaching staff’s excited about it. We’re doing drills and it hits me, ‘You don’t want to play anymore. You want to coach.’ ” Primarily his decision was FHQWHUHG DURXQG IXO¿OOLQJ the commitment he made to Hermiston High School. He also really enjoyed what he was doing. Those summer days in Medford running the sixth-, seventh- and eighth- grade camps his senior year told him all he needed to know about where he wanted to be. 1RZ KH ZDV ¿QDOO\ there, and couldn’t think of anywhere he’d rather be. HEAD COACH Seven years after mistaking Arlington for Hermiston, Faaeteete has come a long way. He said there is no place in the world he would rather be than teaching world studies and coaching football. In his class, students learn about historical events through themes. This semester is DERXWFRQTXHVWDQGFRQÀLFW Students are asked to think critically about violent historical events, such as World War II, and answer questions about them that aren’t “Who was this guy?” or “What happened here in this year?” His goal in the classroom is to give students skills that stay relevant and useful long past the classroom days, long past the football day. He wants to give skills that last into life. As a football coach, Faaeteete has endured four years of a rigorous program that demanded both athletic and academic excellence, and he has come to under- stand the value of both. “Commitment, integrity, work, team work — all these things are what goes into what, I feel, makes a good person,” Faaeteete said. “Someone who honors their commitments, holds them- selves accountable for their actions. The simple things. (People say), ‘That’s what you do normally.’ Exactly. If you emphasize doing things the right way, things’ll take care of themselves. The world is the world. Things happen. Not everything goes your way. But a part of life is learning from the bad and embracing the good.”