SPORTS
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2016
HERMISTON
Sports shorts
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CLEVELAND (AP) —
Cavaliers forward Kevin
Love has re-injured his
surgically
repaired left
shoulder.
Love,
whose
shoulder
was
dislocated in last year’s
playoffs, left the À oor in the
¿ nal minute of the ¿ rst half
of Wednesday night’s game
against the Los Angeles
Lakers. Love turned toward
Cleveland’s bench and said
“it’s my shoulder´ before
heading straight to the locker
room for treatment. Love’s
left arm hung limply to his
side as he exited.
It’s not clear how or when
Love got hurt.
At halftime, the Cavs
only said Love will not
return in the second half.
The team is expected to
provide more information
following the game.
Love came in averaging
15.8 points and 10.5
rebounds per game.
Lillard named
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2O\PSLFWHDP
Portland Trail Blazers
guard is one step closer to
the Olympics.
USA Basketball
announced in a press release
on Wednesday that Lillard
had been
FACES approved
by the USA
Basketball
Board of
Directors as
an addition to
the list of 30
¿ nalists for the
Lillard
2016 Summer
Olympic Games to be held
from Aug. 5-21 in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil.
“Both Mike (Krzyzewski)
and I feel like Damian
is playing at a very high
level and that he should
be added to our list of
Olympic ¿ nalists,´ said
Jerry Colangelo, managing
director of the USA Men’s
National Team.
Lillard has been part of
the USA Men’s National
Team since 2014. The
of¿ cial 12-member roster
will be announced later this
year.
“I think that sets a
horrible example
for kids, honestly.
You can’t protect
guys because they
can’t shoot free
throws. We’re
getting paid a
lot of money to
make a damn free
throw, dude. I
think it sets a bad
precedent.
— Kobe Bryant
Los Angeles Lakers
guard on the ‘Hack-a-
Shaq’ strategy in the
NBA. The rule has seen
a lot of criticism recently,
as many teams resort
to intentionally fouling
bad foul shooters to slow
down offenses.
7+,6'$7(,1632576
1990 — Mike Tyson loses
for the ¿ rst time when Buster
Douglas knocks him out in
the 10th round and captures
the heavyweight champi-
onship in one of the biggest
upsets in boxing history.
2011 — The Cleveland
Cavaliers stopped their
NBA-record losing streak at
26 games with a 126-119 win
in overtime against the Los
Angeles Clippers. Antawn
Jamison scores 35 points
for the Cavs and makes a
3-pointer with 22 seconds
left in the extra period.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com
1B
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Bulldog signs on with MSU-Northern
Simon continues
career with four more
years of football
By SAM BARBEE
East Oregonian
Ever since he was in the third
grade, Hayden Simon wanted to
play college football. He dreamed
of playing at The Ohio State Univer-
sity, a school with an enrollment
nearly the size of Umatilla County.
Now, a decade later, Simon
has realized his childhood dream,
signing with Montana State Univer-
sity-Northern in Havre, Montana
last week, joining a program trying
to pull itself out of an 0-11 (0-10
Frontier Conference) season at the
National Association of Intercolle-
giate Athletics (NAIA) level.
Simon will play middle line-
backer and perhaps get a few oppor-
tunities to run the ball, something
he did as a senior at Hermiston.
“I just really liked their academic
program,´ he said. And, while
taking his visit in late January, he
discovered that he “really liked the
people there. That basically what
did it for me.´
Academically,
Northern
provided some things the Simon
family was excited to see. It has a
relatively small enrollment (1,037
undergraduates for the 2015 ¿ scal
year) which means the student-pro-
fessor ratio is about 14-1
Staff photo by Sam Barbee
Simon started playing football Hayden Simon of Hermiston smiles with his parents
Deannie (far
in fourth grade and was coached, in left) and Mike after signing a National Letter of Intent Wednesday.
part, by his dad Mike, who helped
oversee Simon’s football teams
“I started noticing when he was then college. Ultimately it was on
until he reached middle school.
sixth
grade entering into junior Hayden and his work ethic to get
When Simon was about to make the
transition into seventh grade foot- high,´ Mike said. “He had the there.´
A three-year starter at Herm-
ball, Mike got an inkling that his ability athletic-wise to go to the
son might have the tools to continue next level of football, whether it’s iston, Simon was an anchor on the
high school, onto the varsity, and
See SIMON/2B
playing.
PENDLETON
Rough Riders skate into of season
The
Rough
Riders
Pendleton
Ice Sports
Booster
Associa-
tion offers
local
youth the
oppor-
tunity
to play
a sport
unfamiliar
to a lot
of Ameri-
cans.
Staff photo by
E.J. Harris
Pendleton youth hockey league holds final games of the winter season
By MATT ENTRUP
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — With just three
minutes left in the ¿ nal game of
their season, the Pendleton Rough
Riders had one thing on their minds.
“4uick, score a goal´ A random
voice shouted out from behind the
boards.
Moments later that cry was
answered as a player lifted the
puck over the growing layer of ice
shavings covering the rink and past
the determined goalkeeper for what
would be the game’s ¿ nal point.
The players cheered in unison
as smiling faces peered out from
behind their face masks.
Just a few seconds later the
referee blew three shrill bursts of
his whistle to signify the game
was over. Players lined up to shake
hands and then ¿ led off the ice at
Roy Raley Park.
So what was the ¿ nal score"
“7-5,´ came one response. “8-4,´
another. “4 to something,´ a third
player replied.
It didn’t matter.
What did matter was that for
another year the Rough Riders had
gotten to participate in their favorite
sport.
Sure, the conditions weren’t
ideal — soft ice, thigh-high boards
and a rink so small even seven
players seemed like a crowd — but
the players didn’t seem to mind it
much.
The game pitted the Level 4
Rough Riders against their Level
3 compatriots, high school against
middle school, with the younger
players in a perpetual power play
with an extra skater to try to even
the playing ¿ eld.
It didn’t work, of course, but
winning the game wasn’t the most
important aspect of Wednesday
night’s season ¿ nale.
Keeping ice hockey alive and
well in a region without much
opportunity for the sport was the
key victory.
Since 2007 the Rough Riders
have carried that torch for local
youth. Consisting of four levels of
competition ranging from players
age 6-18, the organization has expe-
rienced recent growth.
“Two years ago we had 29
(players) and this year we had 45
come out for it,´ said John Bieker,
a committee member for Pendleton
Ice Sports, the non-pro¿ t that over-
sees the organization. “We have a
lot of beginners. When they ¿ rst
come out here they can’t even skate
and by the end of the season they’re
doing really good.´
Pendleton’s tiny rink is the only
one in operation in Umatilla County,
but the Rough Riders make due.
“We can de¿ nitely learn to
See HOCKEY/2B
NBA
Lillard scores 31 as Blazers hold off Rockets
Blazers slide into
seventh in West
with win
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Damian
Lillard sparked a second-
quarter outburst for the
Portland Trail Blazers and
¿ nished with 31 points and
nine assists in a 116-103 win
over the Houston Rockets on
Wednesday night.
Maurice Harkless set
season highs with 19 points
and 13 rebounds for the
Blazers, who moved past
Houston into a tie with Utah
for seventh place in the
Houston
Portland
103
116
Western Conference stand-
ings. They enter the All-Star
break having won three in a
row and eight of nine.
James Harden had 34
points, 11 assists and nine
rebounds for the Rockets,
who have dropped three
straight and six of eight to
fall out of playoff position.
Dwight Howard dominated
the paint with 28 points and
13 rebounds.
After trailing by as many
as 21 in the second half,
Houston closed to 93-88
early in the fourth quarter.
But a Blazers timeout led to a
scoring burst that restored the
lead to 20 with 3:47 to go.
An entertaining, if at times
sloppy, game took on a far
more spirited air with 5:02
left in the second quarter.
Patrick Beverly committed
a hard, and needless, foul on
Lillard just past halfcourt,
sending the Blazers point
guard sprawling.
Lillard spiked the ball in
anger, of¿ cials reviewed the
play to determine if it was a
À agrant foul, and the crowd
roared as Portland reeled off
eight consecutive points and
closed the half on a 13-4 run
to take a 57-46 lead into the
locker room.
See BLAZERS/2B
Portland
Trail Blaz-
ers center
Mason
Plumlee
(24) shoots
over Hous-
ton Rock-
ets center
Dwight
Howard,
right, as
Rockets
guard
James
Hard-
en (13)
watches
during
Wednes-
day’s
game in
Portland.
(AP Photo/Steve
Dykes)