SPORTS
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
PAC-12: Tournament
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Continued from 1B
tournament titles last year
and Oregon has the talent to
do it this season.
POELTL SHINES: Utah
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behind Oregon in the race
for the regular season title
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regular season poll. Jakob
Poeltl was a big reason for
it. The 7-foot sophomore is
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most versatile players, able
to score inside or out. He was
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nationally in shooting at 66
percent, second in the Pac-12
in scoring (17.5 points) and
third in rebounding (9.1).
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California (22-9, 12-6) may
be the hottest team headed
into the tournament. The
Bears won eight of their
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in position to beat Arizona
before coughing up a late
lead in Tucson last week.
Cal is young and athletic,
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players in Jaylen Brown, the
Pac-12 freshman of the year
after averaging 15.3 and 5.6
rebounds.
DANGEROUS WILD-
CATS: Arizona (24-7, 12-6)
fell short of winning it third
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two games behind Oregon.
The Wildcats may be one of
the most dangerous teams in
the bracket, though. Arizona
is big up front, led by 7-0
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most dynamic players in
freshman Allonzo Trier. The
15th-ranked Wildcats won
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will be one of the favorites to
win it this year.
R I V A L R Y
CONTINUED: The rivalry
between UCLA and Southern
California shifts to Sin City
in the opening round of the
Pac-12 tournament for the
second straight season. The
Bruins swept the three games
last season and this year the
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return the favor after winning
the two regular-season games
by a combined 33 points.
UCLA (15-16, 6-12) limped
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games and seven of nine to
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USC (20-11, 9-9) had a
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SOLD OUT: The depth
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the Pac-12 tournament sell
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history. The tournament has
been a big hit since moving
to Las Vegas four years ago
and three of the four days
were sold out last year. This
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also sold out ahead of time,
making the tournament a
tough ticket to get.
ACADEMICS: Two other
PHS programs in top 10
Continued from 1B
tive GPA to win the OSAA
Academic All-State Award
for girls basketball, narrowly
edging Wilsonville and its
3.84.
Every member of the team
will receive a sling bang,
commemorative bag tag and
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achievement. The school
will receive a plaque for the
trophy case.
Several other area schools
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sports and activities, and
each member of those teams
will receive a commemora-
tive bag tag.
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10 were: Weston-McEwen
girls basketball, third (3.75);
Pilot Rock boys basketball,
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basketball, seventh (3.41);
Pendleton boys swimming,
fourth (3.69); Pendleton wres-
tling, ninth (3.10); Mac-Hi
cheerleading, third (3.66).
East Oregonian
Page 3B
BULLDOGS: Spartans a familiar foe at state
Continued from 1B
This is the last go-around
for four-year varsity players
Jansen Edmiston and Sara
Ramirez. They were present
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close loss to La Salle Prep.
With their experience in
hand, they hope their senior
season can be the most
memorable.
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more focused than excited,”
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on losing a game. But if we
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any of the other three years.
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hard as we can and come up
with what we can.”
The Bulldogs enter as
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a poor record, but because
of how the OSAA ranks its
teams. An important calcula-
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is the Colley Ranking,
which depends on playing
teams within your division.
Because
of
preseason
schedule that included
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or second is not there. The
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But we are (expecting it),
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to our advantage.”
Now the Bulldogs once
again see the Spartans in
their home city. There is
certainly familiarity between
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different this year. Corvallis
is generally similar to Herm-
iston with good guard play
and lots of athleticism. This
year, however, Corvallis
brings some size to the
equation, which Hermiston
is lacking. Though if Herm-
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a detriment.
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run, believe it or not, they
try to push the ball down the
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their height,” Hoffert said.
“If they can take advantage
of your height, beat you
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post on the block before you
can react, then they have an
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advantage. We have to take
advantage of that in transition
“I don’t feel any
pressure. It’s just
like any of the
other three years.
We’re gonna go
and play as hard
as we can and
come up with what
we can.”
— Sara Ramirez,
Hermiston senior
tournaments in Arizona and
playing in the elite division in
Lake Oswego against some
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competition this season came
from their league games and
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Ranking other schools do.
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as a sign of disrespect. The
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outside of who plays who.
They do recognize, though,
that it takes a bit of pressure
off them, internally and
externally.
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for us, because we feel like
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Hoffert said. “We still have
on the offensive end, and the
defensive press side to make
them make mistakes.”
If the Bulldogs are to win
the three games necessary
to be crowned champion of
Oregon girls 5A basketball, it
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these seniors or this town. To
Hoffert, it would be a culmi-
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work, from recent alumni
like Tavin Headings and Abi
Drotzmann, to 2010 gradu-
ates Mary Barnett and Jade
Crossley, and the numerous
others that have passed
through the system during
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and beyond.
“It would be an amazing
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give a lot of respect to all the
teams that were there in the
last eight to 10 years,” Hoffert
said. “It would make a lot of
girls happy — Tavin, Abi,
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class (with) Maloree Moss
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name dozens of players in the
last 10 years it would mean a
lot to. They know we have
this saying, ‘Tradition never
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gonna feel responsible for
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Winning the title or not, they
have respect for us.”
CONGRATULATIONS
HEPPNER
MUSTANGS!
GREAT JOB
MUSTANGS!
Serving Morrow, Wheeler,
Gilliam, and Grant Counties
communitycounselingsolutions.org
Way to go, Mustangs!
"Where Quality
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CONGRATS!
BLAZERS: Lillard hits winning
shots in overtime
48. CJ McCollum added 18
points for Portland, which
moved into sixth place in the
Western Conference.
John Wall had 20 points
and 11 assists for the Wizards,
who have lost three straight.
Ramon Sessions added 21
points off the bench, while
Marcin Gortat had 19 points
and 10 rebounds.
Wall hit a 3-pointer with
15 seconds left in regula-
tion to give Washington a
104-102 lead, but McCollum
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seconds to go to tie it at 104.
The game went to overtime
when Gerald Henderson
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attempted layup.
Lillard hit a 3-pointer that
gave the Blazers a 111-106
led in the extra period. Wall
answered with a 3 for the
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with 23.5 seconds left made
it 113-109 and Portland hung
on for the win.
The Wizards led by as
many as 13 points in the third
quarter, but Portland wrestled
back to lead 85-81 going into
the fourth.
The Blazers were back
home after a six-game road
trip that started with three
wins but ended with three
losses, capped by a 123-103
loss at Detroit on Sunday.
Henderson was key off
the bench for Portland,
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seven rebounds.
Washington was without
guard Bradley Beal, who
did not travel with the team
to Portland because of a
sprained pelvis he sustained
on Saturday during a
disheartening 100-99 loss to
Indiana. Beal, who has strug-
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scorer, averaging 17.8 points.
The game was marred by
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and Alan Anderson with 1:23
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players got into a shoving
match and had to be sepa-
rated by teammates.
Upon review, Anderson
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got a personal foul and both
got technicals.
Anderson was aver-
aging 9.2 points and 2.6
rebounds after missing the
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following left ankle surgery.
The Wizards have been
managing his minutes since
his return.
Portland led by as many
as 10 points early, Lillard
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half points. But the Wizards
pulled into a 50-all tie on
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put the Wizards ahead 55-52.
The Wizards went on
a 12-point run to open the
second half, going up 67-54.
Portland answered with a
17-4 run to tie it at 71, capped
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CONGRATS
MUSTANGS!
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AP Photo/Steve Dykes
Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) reacts af-
ter hitting a shot during overtime of an NBA basketball
game Tuesday in Portland.
Continued from 1B
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14 SE Campbell Drive, Hermiston
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