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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2016)
SPORTS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2016 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS Sports shorts Prep Basketball No. 5 Beavers eager to start season It’s time to win or go home CORVALLIS (AP) — 7KH¿IWKUDQNHG%HDYHUV open the 2016 season this weekend with four games in Surprise, Arizona. With forecasts calling for temperatures in the 80s, 268¶V¿UVWWHVWZLOOEHD noon matchup on Friday against Ball State. “Saying we’re very excited would probably be an understatement,” junior catcher Logan Ice said. “Nice weather, a different team, we get to go see some other guys that we haven’t been playing for the last six months.” Drew Rasmussen will get the start for the Beavers LQWKHRSHQHU7KHVRSKR PRUHULJKWKDQGHUZHQW ZLWKD(5$LQVWDUWV last year. CBC district tournament offers no guarantees By MATT ENTRUP East Oregonian Nike cuts ties with Manny Pacquiao BEAVERTON (AP) — Manny Pacquiao’s latest disparaging comments about gays have cost him a contract with Nike. It may not be the only endorsement FACES Pacquiao loses, even as he and promoter Bob Arum scramble to contain the damage done by a television interview in Pacquiao the Philippines in which the boxer said gay people “are worse than animals.” Nike issued a brief statement Wednesday saying it was severing its ties with the boxer over his comments about gays. The company said it no longer will have any business dealings with the boxer. Pacquiao, a congressman who is now running for Senate in the Philippines, made the comments to a television station that was asking candidates about their views on same sex marriage. “It would be like if your employer just said, `Hey, don’t worry about it, you will get paid.’ That is kind of where most every driver is.“ — Brad Keselowski NASCAR driver on how the new association’s new charter system has has completely over- hauled how drivers are paid from their teams and race purses. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1964 ² :LOW &KDPEHU lain scores 52 points against 'HWURLWKLVVHFRQGFRQVHFX WLYHSRLQWJDPH 1981 — Edmonton’s :D\QH *UHW]N\ VFRUHV ¿YH goals and adds two assists to lead the Oilers over the St. /RXLV%OXHV 1995 — Utah guard John 6WRFNWRQ EHFRPHV WKH ¿UVW NBA player with 10,000 DVVLVWV LQ D YLFWRU\ over the Boston Celtics. 2001 — Dale Earnhardt, the greatest stock car star of his era, is killed in a crash on the last turn of the last lap of the Daytona 500 as he tries to protect Michael Waltrip’s victory. 2006 — Shani Davis EHFRPHVWKH¿UVWEODFNDWKOHWH to win an individual gold medal in Winter Olympic history, capturing the men’s PHWHU VSHHGVNDWLQJ race. Joey Cheek makes it a $PHULFDQ ¿QLVK DGGLQJ a silver to his victory in the 500 at the Turin Games. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com Staff photo by E.J. Harris In this Dec. 30, 2015 i le photo, Heppner’s Patrick Collins goes up for a rebound fl anked by Enterprise’s Brycen Locke (34) and Brett Greenshields in the Mustangs’ 65-34 win against the Outlaws in Pendleton. PENDLETON — There used to be a huge LQFHQWLYHWRZLQQLQJWKHUHJXODUVHDVRQWLWOH in the Columbia Basin Conference. By earning the No. 1 seed to the district tournament, a team knew it had already secured a spot in the championship game and a state playoff berth. Not anymore. That stipulation went out the window this season, meaning Heppner’s reward IRU HDUQLQJ WKH UHJXODUVHDVRQ FURZQ LV D ORVHURXW PDWFKXS ZLWK WKH ODVW WHDP WKDW beat them. 7KH0XVWDQJV&%&SOD\WKH :HVWRQ0F(ZHQ 7LJHU6FRWV to open the district tournament at 1 p.m. on Friday at Pendleton Convention Center. 7KH IRXUWKVHHGHG 7LJHU6FRWV XSVHW WKH 0XVWDQJV LQ $WKHQD RQ )HE DQG could easily do it again according to Heppner coach Jeremy Rosenbalm. “Even though they’re a four seed, they’re athletic, they get after you,” he said. “We’ve been talking all year long that, and especially right now too, there’s four really good teams that are going to the district tournament.” The winners in Friday’s games will move on to the championship and a guaranteed state berth. After winning a state title in football, the Mustangs are eager to make a deep run in the basketball postseason. “The boys are extremely focused this week and they know that they’ve got to come ready to play,” Rosenbalm said. “They NQRZ WKH\ FDQ¶W D KDYH D VOLSXS OLNH WKDW (last loss), so they’ve got to come to play. ³7KH\¶UHQRWVDWLV¿HGDQGWKH\¶UHKXQJU\ for more. Right now it all comes down to Friday night.” The Mustangs defeated the TigerScots LQWKHLUJDPHLQ+HSSQHU ,QWKHRWKHUVHPL¿QDOJDPHZKLFKWLSVDW SPWKH6WDQ¿HOG7LJHUVZLOOEHWU\LQJWR beat defending district and state champion Irrigon for the third time this season. Their last meeting went to overtime where WKH7LJHUVSXOOHGRXWDZLQLQ6WDQ¿HOG RQ)HE6WDQ¿HOGDOVREHDW,UULJRQLQWKHLU KRXVH “I’ve been told that it’s hard to beat a team three times, and so what I told the boys was See CBC/2B Golden Eagles ready for anything Small schools to settle district titles this week By MATT ENTRUP East Oregonian MISSION — The Nixyaawii girls basketball team doesn’t have to look far for a reminder of how little seeds can mean when it comes to the district tournament. Just last season the Golden Eagles went into the bracket with the top seed, only to lose their two games and fall short of a state playoff berth. Nixyaawii holds the No. 1 seed again this season, and will have a bye when the tournament begins play today at Baker High School. 7KH *ROGHQ (DJOHV 22/KDYHZRQWKHLUODVW four in row, which included SRLQW YLFWRULHV RYHU ERWK of the teams they may face in )ULGD\¶VVHPL¿QDOV ³, IHHO FRQ¿GHQW DQG , NQRZ WKH JLUOV IHHO FRQ¿GHQW but anything can happen,” said Nixyaawii coach Jeremy Maddern. Nixyaawii will wait for the winner of today’s game EHWZHHQ(FKRDQG -RVHSK 1L[\DDZLL EHDW-RVHSKLQWKHLU¿QDO UHJXODUVHDVRQJDPHDQGWRSSHG (FKRLQWKHLUODVWPHHWLQJ on Feb. 5. Maddern said it can be a positive and a negative to take a E\HLQWKH¿UVWURXQG “You could look at it both ways,” he said. “You’re playing a team that just played the day before and got to get all the nerves out, because no matter In this Jan. 15 i le photo, Nixyaawii’s Teata Oatman (10) and Griswold’s Macey Tullis (20) race downcourt during an Old Oregon League game in Mission. Staff photo by Kathy Aney See SMALL SCHOOLS/2B Men’s Basketball Prep Roundup Beavers, Ducks ready for rematch Rangers hold off feisty Cardinals By JESSE SOWA Corvallis Gazette-Times CORVALLIS — Oregon State is looking for a repeat of LWV 3DF &RQIHUHQFH PHQ¶V basketball opener, when the Beavers controlled the game against Oregon from nearly VWDUWWR¿QLVKLQDKRPH ZLQ EDFN RQ -DQ DW *LOO Coliseum. On the offensive end, OSU didn’t have to lean heavily on senior guard Gary Payton II, as has been the case several times this season. 7KH %HDYHUV KDG ¿YH SOD\HUV LQ GRXEOH ¿JXUHV WKH only time they’ve done it in 3DF SOD\ 7KH\ DOVR ZRQ WKHERDUGVVRPHWKLQJ that’s been accomplished just twice since then. “It’s real tough for people to guard us when we get everybody involved,” Payton said. “When Drew (Eubanks) is playing well early. We get Drew going off to a good start. You know, Tres (Tinkle), Stevie (Thompson), guys coming off the bench. I just try to get everybody involved, and I think I did that game early. Later on I just put the stamp on it.” 7KH %HDYHUV will try to make it two straight DJDLQVWWKHLUULYDOVIRUWKH¿UVW time since 2010 when they travel to Eugene to play the No. 'XFNVDWSP on Saturday. Payton was third on the WHDP LQ VFRULQJ WKH ¿UVW WLPH with 12 points, behind Tinkle (19) and Olaf Schaftenaar 6FKDIWHQDDU DGGHG D FDUHHUKLJKDQGWHDPEHVWHLJKW UHERXQGV)LYHSOD\HUVKDG¿YH boards or more. The Beavers did it on defense as well, as Oregon’s SHUFHQWIURPWKHÀRRUZDV OSU’s best result and UO’s ZRUVWLQ3DFSOD\ Dufur beats Ione boys in GLVWULFWSOD\LQJDPH East Oregonian DUFUR — The Dufur boys basketball XVHGDVWLÀLQJSUHVVWREXLOGDFRPIRUWDEOH OHDGRYHU,RQHWKHQEDFNHGRIILQ:HGQHV GD\¶VGLVWULFWWRXUQDPHQWSOD\LQURXQG 7KH &DUGLQDOV ZHUH DEOH WR WDNH DGYDQ tage of the extra room and battled back into the game at the end of the third quarter, only to see the press reapplied to cut off their hopes of completing the comeback. Dufur advanced to the district bracket in See PREPS/2B
