Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Mountaineers
honor
Warriors get mad, even with Cavs
scholar athletes
NBA Finals
By TOM WITHERS
Associated Press
CLEVELAND — Weaving his way
toward Golden State’s locker room,
where the Warriors were packing for
home, Stephen Curry had to handle
one last double-team.
Game 5
Two Cavaliers fans
wanted a photo with
him.
“Gotta be quick,” Cleveland
Curry said, pausing Cavaliers
at
and smiling for the
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Curry was happy to
please, and happier the
NBA Finals were tied Golden St.
Warriors
again.
With
Curry’s • Sunday
shooting touch back • 5 p.m.
to normal, Andre • TV: ABC
Iguodala playing like • Series
a younger version of tied 2-2
himself, and coach
Steve Kerr’s gamble to tweak his
starting lineup — even if he had to lie
about it — the Warriors knotted these
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with a 103-82 win over the gassed
Cavaliers, who are desperate for rest
and help for LeBron James.
Facing the prospect of falling behind
3-1, the Warriors came out to play.
They were energized from the start,
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Cavs with a dominant fourth quarter, a
12-minute bombardment of big shots to
seize momentum going into Sunday’s
Game 6 at noisy Oracle Arena.
These were the Warriors closer to
full volume, 9 out of 10.
“We really picked up our intensity
level,” said forward Draymond
Green, who moved to center in Kerr’s
smaller starting lineup. “We contested
shots. We got on loose balls, and we
rebounded. We battled.”
Questioned by some critics for
being too laid back, the Warriors were
more physical, more focused and
more urgent than previously in this
series. They outran the frazzled Cavs,
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made baskets and imposing their will
for 48 minutes.
Curry was Curry again. After
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three games, he knocked down four 3s
and scored 22. He’s made 9 of his last
15 3-pointers, an encouraging sign for
the Warriors and something that will
keep Cavs coach David Blatt from
getting much sleep.
Iguodala, though, was Golden
State’s best player. He scored 22 points,
East Oregonian
AP Photo/Tony Dejak
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) answers a question
during a press conference following Game 4 of basketball’s NBA Fi-
nals in Cleveland, early Friday, June 12, 2015. The Warriors defeated the
Cleveland Cavaliers 103-82 to tie the best-of-seven game series at 2-2.
made James work for every shot and
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in Golden State’s 101st game, he set the
early tempo by outrunning Cleveland’s
defense for a pair of dunks.
“He’s one of the X-factors, and
he came to play,” James said of the
31-year-old Iguodala, one of his
Olympic teammates. “He was in attack.”
Kerr went with a smaller lineup —
he benched center Andrew Bogut —
and it’s likely he’ll stick with a group
that causes matchup problems for the
Cavaliers. Because of injuries to Kyrie
Irving and Kevin Love, Cleveland has
limited options. Kerr admitted after-
ward that he wasn’t truthful leading
into the game for fear of Cleveland
making an adjustment.
Given the Cavs’ fragile state, it may
not have mattered.
The coast-to-coast travel, lack of
depth and demanding schedule caught
up to Cleveland. Although the deci-
mated Cavs downplayed the fatigue, it
was obvious they didn’t have their legs.
And the postgame scene in their
training room underscored their brittle
condition. James needed stitches for a
head cut sustained when he banged into
a courtside camera; Matthew Della-
vedova took an ice bath to soothe his
cramping muscles; Iman Shumpert had
his bruised left shoulder encased in ice.
All things considered, it’s remark-
able the Cavs are in the series.
After carrying his teammates in
three games, James was due a sub-stan-
dard performance. He still managed 22
points, 12 rebounds and eight assists,
but he was unable to dictate the tempo
as the Warriors took control.
Blatt may need to re-consider his
rotations. He’s only playing seven
players, ignoring veterans Mike Miller
and Shawn Marion, former champions
who might be able to provide vital
minutes and ease James’ burden.
Also, the Cavs need to get something,
anything, from J.R. Smith, who missed
all eight 3-pointers in Game 4.
The only time Smith, who arrived
at Quicken Loans Arena riding an
electric, hands-free vehicle called
a PhunkeeDuck, was on the mark
was when he muttered an expletive
describing his performance.
James, in typical fashion, seemed
unfazed by the loss — almost as if he
expected it.
He understands his team’s limita-
tions, but he also knows the Cavs still
have a chance, and that’s all he can ask.
James has been in tougher jams
than this. He dismissed the notion
that his next game will be his biggest
challenge.
With Miami in 2012, James went
to Boston trailing 3-2 in the confer-
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responded with an epic 45-point,
12-rebound effort.
“That’s probably the biggest chal-
lenge of my career,” he said. “Game
5 at Golden State is not that big when
it comes to going to Boston, you lose
multiple times in that arena, and the
franchise I was with at the time had
never won a playoff game in Boston.
Now that’s pretty challenging, so I’ve
been through a little bit in my pretty
cool career.”
LA GRANDE — Eastern
Oregon University honored
its scholar athletes on Friday
at the 2015 Student Awards
Ceremony.
Six-time NAIA All-Amer-
ican runner Hans Roelle was
the Male Scholar Athlete, and
volleyball standout Bobbi
Sumpter was the Female
Scholar Athlete.
Also awarded were the Male
and Female Ragsdale Scholar
Awards, which went to Jace
Billingsley (football) and Kailey
Wilson (cross country/track).
Roelle has a 3.84 GPA
and has won the 1,000-meter
indoor track national title each
of the last two years. He also
won the 800-meter outdoor
track national title, and holds
the EOU and Cascade Confer-
ence champion meet records in
the event.
Sumpter has been an on-court
leader for the volleyball team
the last four years, helping them
to the national tournament this
past season. She has a 3.87
GPA, and is a two-time NAIA
Scholar Athlete.
Billingsley is a record-setting
receiver with the Mountaineers
who has been an academic
all-conference selection each of
the last two years.
Wilson is a double major in
biology and pre-veterinarian,
and has completed her course-
work in three years while main-
taining a 3.8 GPA. The distance
runner has also scored in every
Cascade Conference meet since
joining the Mountaineers.
Loper named CCC
Player of Year
LA GRANDE — Casey
Loper became the second
Mountaineer to win Cascade
Collegiate Conference Red Lion
Player of the Year on Thursday.
Loper, of Powell Butte,
helped
Eastern
Oregon
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eighth in the nation this season
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CCC title with an EOU-record
494 kills.Robbie Hayne was
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Year (11-12).
Locals to play in
2A/1A all-star
volleyball match
LA GRANDE — Two local
volleyball standouts will take
the court one more time in the
high school career when Eastern
Oregon University hosts the
Oregon Athletic Coaches Associ-
ation 1A/2A Volleyball All-Star
Match on Saturday, June 20 at
Quinn Coliseum at 9 a.m.
C o n d o n / W h e e l e r ’s
Matney Jamieson and Ione’s
Lauren Garrett were both
selected for the game, which
will feature 24 athletes from
around the state.
Admission is $5 for adults
and $3 for students.
Photo courtesy of Eastern Oregon University
Eastern Oregon University athletes Bobbi Sumpter, far
left, Kailey Wilson, center, and Hans Roelle pose with
their plaques from the EOU Scholar awards on Friday.
Preserve the Memories
Purchase 2015 State Championship Photos on
eastoregonian.com