SPORTS
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2015
Sports shorts
Trail Blazers fall to
Clippers 115-109
LOS ANGELES (AP)
²%ODNH*ULI¿QVFRUHG
points and
Paul Pierce
had 19 as the
Los Angeles
Clippers
defeated the
Portland
Trail Blazers
115-109 in the preseason
¿QDOHIRUERWKWHDPVRQ
Thursday night.
Pierce scored 14 in
the fourth quarter and the
Clippers came back from
SRLQWVGRZQLQWKH¿UVW
quarter and an 18-point
KDOIWLPHGH¿FLW
J.J. Redick’s 3-pointer
tied it at 102. Wesley
Johnson followed with
a 3-pointer to give the
Clippers the lead for good.
Blazers: Damian Lillard
started hot with 14 points,
six assists and four rebounds
LQWKH¿UVWQLQHPLQXWHV+H
¿QLVKHGZLWKSRLQWV&-
McCollum scored 22.
Up next: Portland will
host New Orleans on
Wednesday.
Mattingly out
as manager of
Dodgers
LOS ANGELES (AP)
— Don Mattingly won’t
return as manager of the
Los Angeles Dodgers next
year after he and the front
RI¿FHPXWXDOO\
it was
FACES agreed
time for a fresh
start.
Mattingly
said Thursday
in a statement
distributed by
the team that
Mattingly
it’s “the right
time and right
move for both parties.”
Los Angeles was 446-363
XQGHU0DWWLQJO\¿QLVKLQJ
with a winning record in
every season and claiming
the last three NL West titles.
But the Dodgers have not
reached the World Series
since in 1988.
The 54-year-old former
Yankees star ranks sixth
in wins among Dodgers
managers.
Mattingly says “we
all felt that a fresh start
would be good for both the
organization and me.”
“It’s crazy that
10 seconds could
take you from just
being on the team
to people tweeting
you and text
messaging you
saying, ‘You’re a
legend; You’re a
hero.’
—Jalen Watts-
Jackson
Michigan State red-
shirt freshman who
has acheived ‘hero’
status around the MSU
campus for recovering
Michigan’s muffed punt
and returning it for the
game-winning touch-
down last Saturday.
Watts-Jackson did pay
a price for the play,
however, as he broke his
hip while he was being
tackled in the end zone.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1988 — Dan Marino
passes for 521 yards,
WKUHH WRXFKGRZQV DQG ¿YH
interceptions as the Miami
Dolphins lose to the New
York Jets 44-30.
1999 — Florida State’s
Bobby Bowden gets his
300th win with a 17-14 win
over his son, Clemson coach
Tommy Bowden. With the
victory Bowden joins Bear
Bryant, Pop Warner, Joe
Paterno and Amos Alonzo
Stagg as the only major
college coaches to reach 300
victories.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com
1B
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS
HERMISTON
Bulldogs hoping to click at districts
Hermiston boys,
girls looking for
state berths at
district finals
By SAM BARBEE
East Oregonian
Hermiston cross country coach
Troy Blackburn is currently reading
a book about the 1998 Colorado
Buffaloes team that overcame
numerous setbacks during the
season to win the national champi-
onship.
Though he’s yet to talk to his
team about it, he sees parallels
between those Buffs and these
Bulldogs.
“All it takes is people clicking at
the right time and the season can be
completely turned around,” he said.
“(Colorado was) having setbacks
the whole season. They all clicked
at the right time and won the cham-
pionship. All it takes is at the end.”
Like those Buffaloes, these
Bulldogs, especially the boys, have
struggled with minor injuries and
illnesses. Senior Angel Castellanos
missed the past two races with an
illness, and he’s not the only one to
miss races. But, with the Columbia
Staff photo by Sam Barbee/fi le
In this fi le photo, Hermiston’s Donnell Rome (813) and Josiah Niederwerfer (812) take off at the front
of the pack at the start of the Runner Soul XC Fest on Saturday, Sep. 5, 2015, in Hermiston. The Bull-
dogs won the team title, a distintion they hope capture at this weeken’s district meet in The Dalles.
River Conference district meet
Saturday in The Dalles, Castellanos
thinks those hurdles are behind
them.
“Nobody’s been real achy-
painy,” he said. “I think that’s
helping with the whole peak thing.
We’re backing off and all feeling
good.”
Before the 2015 cross country
season began, the Hermiston
Bulldogs’ season was thought to be
split between the high expectations
of the boys and the hopeful steady
improvement of the girls.
With the 5A Columbia River
Conference district meet tomorrow,
the season didn’t go exactly that
way for the Bulldogs.
7KH ER\V ZKLFK ¿QLVKHG WKLUG
at last year’s 5A state meet, failed
to meet the high expectations set
for themselves. They expected to
LPSURYHRQWKHLU¿QLVKDWODVW\HDU¶V
VWDWHPHHWDQG¿JXUHGVLQFHIRXURI
WKH¿YHWRSUXQQHUVZHUHUHWXUQLQJLW
would be easy.
It wasn’t.
“I know in the beginning, … we
returned so many guys that we said,
‘We’re gonna get it. We’re gonna get
See HERMISTON/2B
PENDLETON
NFL
Healthy
Clem
leading
Bucks
Pendleton girls
and boys prepare
for district meet
By MATT ENTRUP
East Oregonian
AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch (24) runs for a 1-yard touchdown against the San Fran-
cisco 49ers during the fi rst half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 22, 2015.
Wilson, Seahawks rule rivalry
By JANIE MCCAULEY
Associated Press
for its fourth straight
one-sided rivalry with
victory against its
San Francisco.
NFC West rival.
On
another
Seattle
San Francisco
“It felt like a really
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — No Thursday night, and
normal Seahawk night
turkey necessary this time, just some on San Francisco’s
tonight,” coach Pete
KLJKÀ\LQJGHIHQVHDQGPRUHSRZHU KRPH¿HOGDJDLQ
Carroll said.
Wilson threw a
running by Marshawn Lynch.
The Seahawks (3-4) whipped
The Seattle Seahawks rediscov- 43-yard touchdown pass to Tyler
ered their tried-and-true formula to /RFNHWW ODWH LQ WKH ¿UVW KDOI /\QFK San Francisco in Levi’s Stadium on
get back in the win column, with added a leaping 1-yard score, and a Thursday in prime time 11 months
Russell Wilson and Co. ruling this Seattle beat the hapless 49ers 20-3
See SEAHAWKS/3B
20
3
7KH ¿UVW WLPH 'HODQH\
Clem felt the sharp pain in
her abdomen was less than
24 hours before she was to
compete in the 3,000-meter
VWDWH¿QDOVDWWKH26$$
Track and Field Champion-
ships in Eugene.
“Then when we were out
warming up for her race at
state track she doubled over,”
said Pendleton track and
cross country coach Nicole
Stewart.
Clem would run through
the pain to a 10th-place
¿QLVKEHWWHULQJKHUWLPHDQG
placing from the year before.
“As soon as she got done
with state track she went to
the emergency room. They
told her she tore an abdom-
inal muscle,” Stewart said.
For the next four months,
See PENDLETON/2B
HELIX
Best friends lead Grizzlies to breakout season
Helix opens district
tournament against Echo
lot of my height (up front).”
The Grizzlies — and the seniors’ —
road to success has not come without
its fair share of bumps in the way,
By ERIC SINGER
however.
East Oregonian
Earlier in their careers, the trio were
part of teams that did not have much
Makenzie Mize, Paden Flerchinger, success. During their freshman year the
and Tegan Jackson are three best Grizzlies went 1-18 and during their
friends who love to play sports.
sophomore year only a slightly better
They like to play basketball, they 4-14 record.
DUHYHU\FRPSHWLWLYHDWWUDFNDQG¿HOG
“It’s not like we were awful, we just
and this fall they became pretty darn didn’t know what it would take to win,”
good at volleyball.
said Mize, “and when we did (win)
The trio of friends are at the heart were almost scared and overwhelmed
RID+HOL[*UL]]OLHVWHDPWKDW¿QLVKHG of what to do next.”
17-4 overall and 10-2 in the Old Oregon
But prior to the 2014 season,
League, earning a second-straight trip VRPHWKLQJ ¿QDOO\ EHJDQ WR FOLFN ZLWK
to the district tournament.
the Grizzlies as a whole that led to a
“They’ve really matured and they 15-win season and a trip to the Old
are exactly what seniors should be,” 2UHJRQ/HDJXHGLVWULFW¿QDOV
said Helix coach Tammie Parker, who
“Our coaches always told us we
is in her 15th year at the helm of the were a good team, we just had to realize
Grizzlies squad. “Seniors always mean it,” said Flerchinger. “And when we
a lot to a team because they have the
See HELIX/2B
experience, and this group also has a
Staff photo by Kathy Aney/ fi le
In this fi le photo, Bethany Newtson (11) and Paden Flerchinger
(44), of Helix, attempt to block a hit from Echo’s Alyssa Ray (6)
on Tuesday, Sep. 29, 2015, in Helix.