SPORTS
TRACK: Foley wins dead heat in girls 800 meters
Page 2B
East Oregonian
Delaney
Clem, of
Pendleton,
led the
entire way
Thursday
during the
1500 meter
run at the
Colum-
bia River
Conference
Track and
Field Cham-
pionships,
winning
with a time
of 5:05.89.
Melany
Solorio,
on Clem’s
shoulder,
came in
second.
Continued from 1B
Valley walked away with the
district title as they squeezed
out a three-point win over
Hermiston. The Eagles
inished the meet with 99
points and Hermiston was
second with 96 points, which
was a lot closer than Strot
had expected.
“I went through the projec-
tions before and if we did
everything we were supposed
to I thought we’d be in second
place by a wider margin,” she
said. “I’m just so proud of the
boys ... they did phenomenal.”
Pendleton inished third
in the boys standings with 59
points and The Dalles came in
fourth with 10 points to round
out the teams.
The Bulldogs earned 13
spots in 12 events for the state
meet, led by senior Tre Neal
who earned Athlete of the
Meet award for ield events,
as he qualiied in the shot put,
discus and javelin.
Xavier Rambo had a big
day in the jumping pits for
Hermiston, as he earned a
irst place inish in the triple
jump with a personal record
of 43-2.00, and a second place
inish in the long jump.
Also qualifying for state
in the triple jump was Pend-
leton’s Dylan Clemons as he
jumped a personal record of
42-04.00 in the inals, beating
out Hermiston’s Vaemu Ena
by a very slim margin.
Clemons has been to the
state meet in each of the last
two years as an alternate and
Staff photo by
Kathy Aney
a competitor in Pendleton’s
4x400 relay, and says that he
is happy to cap off his high
school career with yet another
trip back.
“Oh man I feel really good,”
he said. “I’m very thankful ...
my friends have been pushing
me to do better for myself and
for my team and when you get
individual sports like these
there’s almost more of a sense
of unity than in team sports
because everyone works to
get the team to the next level
and it feels great to be a part of
something so great.”
Nolan Bylenga was strong
as usual for Pendleton in the
boys 800 meter run, taking
irst with a time of 1:55.85,
which was just off the pace of
his CRC record of 1:55-lat set
last year. Bylenga said he was
pushed more than he expected
to be by Hermiston’s Hayden
Earl, who inished in second
place.
“In that irst lap, Hayden
was right on my tail ... and
then he took the lead from me
and I knew the inish would
be dificult,” he said. “I was
thinking today about a really
good seed time today, and
Hayden pushed me and ran
out of his mind today. We’re
friends and I’m proud of him.”
The Buckaroo boys earned
seven spots at state, behind
both relay teams and on the
back of senior Garison Alger
who qualiied in both the 110
meter and 300 meter hurdles.
Two of the best races of
the evening came within the
last hour of competition, as
the girls 800 meter run and the
boys 4x400 relay brought great
excitement for the hundreds of
fans in attendance.
In the 800 meter run,
Hermiston’s Macey Foley
and Pendleton’s Sokoloski
battled
neck-and-neck
throughout much of the race,
and were dead even as they
came around the last turn to
inish out the remaining 100
meters. The inish was too
close to call as both appeared
dead even at the line, and
after looking at the inish line
photos, it was determined
that Foley was the winner
with a time of 2:24.75 — one
one-hundreth of a second
over Sokoloski’s 2:24.76.
And then in the boys
4x400, which was the last
event of the meet, Pendleton’s
team of Soren Wolf, Andrew
Porter, Garison Alger and
Nolan Bylenga blew the doors
off the competition, winning
by eight seconds over second
place with a time of 3:23.97.
But the excitement came at the
second place battle, as Herm-
iston anchor Alexis Mercado
overtook Hood River Valley
within the last 30 meters to
grab the second place inish.
“What a way to end the
night,” Strot said.
———
Contact Eric Singer at
esinger@eastoregonian.com
or (541) 966-0839. Follow
him on Twitter @ByEr-
icSinger.
TOVEY: State semiinals produced favorite moment
Continued from 1B
Harry is the other Hermiston
coach to be named NWCA
Assistant Coach of the Year
(2006-07).
“Tovey’s an awesome
guy, tons of help, very enthu-
siastic and a lot of passion
about wrestling,” Larson
said. “He’s a great person to
be around and a great person
for kids to be around.
“He’s trying to work with
kids to help them grow as
young men, help get these
kids into college. That’s what
Hermiston wrestling is about
and he embodies it.”
Hermiston went 17-2 in
2015-16, including a 5-1
record at The Clash National
Wrestling Duals in Minne-
sota, and then won its 10th
OSAA state championship.
It was the third in a row and
Tovey’s ninth between his
27 years with Hermiston and
Roseburg.
He said the state tourna-
ment produced his favorite
moment of the season
following a disappointing
irst day of competition at
Veterans Memorial Coli-
seum in Portland.
“We were nervous. We do
our homework ahead of time
and try to map out as much
as possible,” he said. “We
did not have a good irst day.
We thought our role players
would have done more,
scored more points.”
The Bulldogs had seven
wrestlers still in the semii-
nals, but Tovey said his many
years of experience has taught
him to expect about a 50
percent loss rate each round.
“Going into the semiinals
we were nervous, then we
went seven for seven,” he
said. “I’d never seen that
happen before, 100 percent.
The tournament was over,
you know what I mean?
“I think that was kind of
a cool reward as a coaching
staff. He just did a great job
pulling guys that were in the
community.”
Tovey said he’s honored to
represent the Bulldogs staff,
paid and volunteer alike —
Joe Delgado, Jase Houston,
Clayton Cook, Kenny Valdez,
Brian Tarvin, Jason Lambert
— who Tovey says all deserve
credit for his award.
“As a coaching staff we
really gelled and igured it
our this year,” he said. “Kyle
did a tremendous job as a
irst-year coach illing out a
coaching staff.”
Tovey said he also owes a
debt of gratitude to his wife
Melinda.
“I’ve been coaching
forever and she’s had to share
me for a long time, and she is
just a great support,” he said.
As a wrestler at Portland
State, Tovey was part of the
Vikings’ 1989 NCAA Divi-
sion II championship team
under Marlin Grahn.
Pat Simpson of Father
Ryan High School in
Nashville, Tennessee, was
named NWCA Head Coach
of the Year. The Irish posted
a 22-0 record and claimed
state championships at the
Division II individual and
dual tournaments.
“Both Coach Simpson
and Coach Tovey have long
careers in coaching at the high
school level and have served
as tremendous mentors for our
next generation of teachers
and coaches,” said NWCA
Executive Director Mike
Moyer. “One of the hardest
things about recognizing great
scholastic coaches is there are
so many viable and deserving
coaches to consider.”
———
Contact Matt Entrup at
mentrup@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0838.
Follow him on Twitter @
mattentrup.
BLAZERS: Front ofice pushing for long-term deal with Stotts
Continued from 1B
that’s very common in the
NBA now,” Lillard said.
From a preseason bonding
trip to San Diego, where the
team hammed for photos on
the beach, to Lillard’s team
dinners and trips to a roller
skating rink, the young Blazers
became a cohesive group.
Lillard was the lone starter
to return from the 2014-15
Blazers, after LaMarcus
Aldridge, Nicolas Batum,
Robin Lopez and Wesley
Matthews departed in the
offseason.
The group that was assem-
bled was the third-youngest
in the NBA and included
players who, for whatever
reason, hadn’t really caught
on elsewhere. Many never
thought the Blazers would
win more than 30 games, let
alone make the playoffs, but
Portland went on to inish
44-38 with the ifth seed in
the Western Conference.
The Blazers beat the
injury-depleted Clippers in
the irst round.
Portland had a daunting
task in the defending NBA
champion Warriors and MVP
Stephen Curry in the second
round but put up a ight.
After dropping the irst two
in Oakland, Portland claimed
the third at home but lost the
fourth in overtime — with
Curry coming back from a
knee injury and scoring 40
points, including 17 in the
OT. The Warriors closed out
the series with a nail-biter in
Oakland on Wednesday night.
Lillard averaged a career-
high 25.1 points in the
regular season, becoming
just the third Portland player
to average more than 25. He
also averaged 6.8 assists.
CJ McCollum averaged
20.8 points in his irst year as
a starter, giving the Blazers
their irst backcourt duo with
an average of 20 or more
points apiece in a single
season.
McCollum was named
the league’s Most Improved
Player for more than tripling
his scoring average from the
2014-15 season.
Those two will almost
certainly be back next
season, as will fellow starters
Al-Farouq Aminu and
Mason Plumlee. Forward
Maurice Harkless, who
started all 11 postseason
games, backup guard Allen
Crabbe and reserve forward
Meyers Leonard are all
restricted free agents.
Gerald Henderson and
Chris Kaman and Brian
Roberts are unrestricted free
agents.
Leonard injured his
shoulder late in the season
and required surgery. He
was still wearing a sling
Thursday.
“To be honest, I haven’t
had a conversation with
my agent about this (free
agency),” said Leonard, who
said his focus was on rehab.
He and Crabbe said they’d
like to stay in Portland.
The Blazers have a team
option on coach Terry Stotts
for the coming season,
but the team is looking to
quickly irm up a long-term
deal. The 58-year-old coach
has a 182-146 record in four
seasons with the team. He’s
led the Blazers to the play-
offs in each of the last three
years, and to the conference
semiinals twice.
Stotts inished second to
Golden State’s Steve Kerr
in NBA Coach of the Year
voting.
“You just look at what he
got out of his guys all year,”
Plumlee said. “He should
have been coach of the year.”
Lillard and McCollum,
meanwhile, are already plan-
ning the team’s collective
offseason getaway.
“Coming into this season
we weren’t even expected to
be a playoff team. We didn’t
accept what everybody
expected of us. We had our
own goals, we had own
plan in mind,” Lillard said.
“I think the next step is not
accepting, ‘All right, let’s
just get there, let’s get there
and compete.’ Now it’s ‘Let’s
get there and let’s go win it.”’
SCOREBOARD
Local Slate
PREP BASEBALL
Today
Stanield at Enterprise (DH), 1/3 p.m.
Elgin at Umatilla (DH), 1/3 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Burns (DH), 2/4 p.m.
Pendleton at Hermiston, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday
Pilot Rock at Grant Union (DH), 11 a.m./1 p.m.
Irrigon at Sherman (DH), 11 a.m./1 p.m.
Culver at Heppner (DH), 11 a.m./1 p.m.
PREP SOFTBALL
Today
Echo at Enterprise (DH), 1/3 p.m.
Elgin at Umatilla (DH), 1/3 p.m.
Riverside at Grant Union (DH), 1/3 p.m.
Baker at Mac-Hi (DH), 2/4 p.m.
Pendleton at Hermiston, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday
Pilot Rock at Irrigon (DH), 11 a.m./1 p.m.
Heppner at Culver (DH), 11 a.m./1 p.m.
Vale at Weston-McEwen (DH), 1/3 p.m.
PREP TRACK & FIELD
Saturday
Pilot Rock, Weston-McEwen, Heppner,
Irrigon, Stanield at Districts (at Athena), TBD
Echo, Helix, Ione at Districts (at Moro), 1 p.m.
PREP TENNIS
Today
Pendleton (boys) at Districts (at Hermis-
ton), 4 p.m.
Pendleton (girls) at Districts (at Bend), 4 p.m.
Weston-McEwen, Mac-Hi, Umatilla,
Riverside, Helix, Ione, Condon/Wheeler,
Stanield at Regionals (at Ontario), 11 a.m.
PREP LACROSSE
Saturday
Hermiston at Hood River, 1 p.m.
PREP RUGBY
Saturday
East Oregon vs. Polk County (Cup Semi-i-
nals at Delta Park, Portland), 1:30 p.m.
East Oregon vs. Centenniel (at Lents
Park, Portland), 2 p.m.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Saturday
Blue Mountain at Big Bend (DH), 1/4 p.m.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Today
Blue Mountain at Yakima Valley (DH),
2/4 p.m.
Saturday
Blue Mountain at Wenatchee Valley (DH),
Noon/2 p.m.
Basketball
NBA PLAYOFFS
CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Cleveland 4, Atlanta 0
Sunday, May 8: Cleveland 100, Atlanta 99
Toronto 3, Miami 2
Thursday: Toronto 99, Miami 91
Today: Toronto at Miami, 5 p.m. (ESPN)
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Oklahoma City 4, San Antonio 2
Thursday: Oklahoma City 113, San
Antonio 99
Golden State 4, Portland 1
Today: Golden State 125, Portland 121
Hockey
NHL PLAYOFFS
SECOND ROUND
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Tampa Bay 4, N.Y. Islanders 1
Sunday, May 8: Tampa Bay 4, NY
Islanders 0
Pittsburgh 4, Washington 2
Tuesday: Pittsburgh 4, Washington 3, OT
WESTERN CONFERENCE
St. Louis 4, Dallas 3
Wednesday: St. Louis 6, Dallas 1
San Jose 4, Nashville 3
Thursday: San Jose 5, Nashville 0
Baseball
MLB
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Thursday’s Games
Baltimore 7, Detroit 5
N.Y. Yankees 7, Kansas City 3
Boston 11, Houston 1
St. Louis 12, L.A. Angels 10
Today’s Games
Chicago White Sox at N.Y. Yankees, 4:05 p.m.
Detroit at Baltimore, 4:05 p.m.
Houston at Boston, 4:10 p.m.
Minnesota at Cleveland, 4:10 p.m.
Oakland at Tampa Bay, 4:10 p.m.
Toronto at Texas, 5:05 p.m.
Atlanta at Kansas City, 5:15 p.m.
L.A. Angels at Seattle, 7:10 p.m.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Thursday’s Games
Philadelphia 7, Atlanta 4, 10 innings
San Diego 3, Milwaukee 0
San Francisco 4, Arizona 2
St. Louis 12, L.A. Angels 10
L.A. Dodgers 5, N.Y. Mets 0
Today’s Games
Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs, 11:20 a.m.
Cincinnati at Philadelphia, 4:05 p.m.
Miami at Washington, 4:05 p.m.
San Diego at Milwaukee, 5:10 p.m.
Atlanta at Kansas City, 5:15 p.m.
N.Y. Mets at Colorado, 5:40 p.m.
San Francisco at Arizona, 6:40 p.m.
St. Louis at L.A. Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Soccer
MLS
Today’s Game
New York at D.C. United, 4 p.m.
Friday, May 13, 2016
NBA Playoffs
Thunder return to
conference inals
By CLIFF BRUNT
Associated Press
OKLAHOMA
CITY
— The Thunder lipped
the script, and now they’re
heading to the Western
Conference inals.
Tim Duncan doesn’t
know yet where he’s headed
as the San Antonio Spurs
face an uncertain future.
Kevin Durant scored 37
points, Russell Westbrook
added 28, and Oklahoma
City beat San Antonio
113-99 on Thursday night
to win the Western Confer-
ence semiinal series 4-2.
Oklahoma City lost
124-92 in Game 1, but irst-
year coach Billy Donovan
led the Thunder to victory
in four of the next ive.
Oklahoma City controlled
Game 6, leading by as
many as 28 points.
Westbrook said the
Thunder never lost coni-
dence.
“We had that game, and
we left it behind us,” he said.
“We came out after that and
had a different mindset. We
knew what we had to do to
win the series. They’re a great
team. They’ve been winning
for 10-plus years, same pace.
I’m just proud of our guys.”
Steven Adams had 15
points and 11 rebounds,
and Andre Roberson added
Game 6
San Antonio Oklahoma City
99
113
• Thunder win series 4-2
14 points for the Thunder.
Oklahoma City now will
face defending NBA cham-
pion Golden State, starting
Monday in Oakland, Cali-
fornia.
“Golden State’s a great
team,” Donovan said. “It
will be a great challenge.
We’ve got a little bit of
time to prepare before we
play, but right now, for
us, it’s just to enjoy the
opportunity to move on, get
a chance to continue to play
and get as prepared as we
can going into Game 1.”
The Spurs were trying
to extend the winningest
season in franchise history
after going 67-15. The
40-year-old Duncan strug-
gled for much of the series
before scoring 19 points as
San Antonio tried to ight
back in the fourth quarter.
Duncan didn’t clear
anything up about his future
after the game. He has a
player option for next season.
“I’ll get to that after I get
out of here and igure life
out,” he said.
Athlete of the Week
Twenty questions with
Weston-McEwen’s
Hunter Sater
East Oregonian
ATHENA — When the
Weston-McEwen baseball
team needed a boost in a
pair of important league
games on Saturday, junior
Hunter Sater answered the
call time and again.
Sater pitched 8.2 innings
of relief, allowing just three
hits with 10 strikeouts and
also batted 4 for 6 to lead
the TigerScots to wins of
6-3 and 7-6 over Grant
Union.
He has been named East
Oregon Athlete of the Week
for the week of May 1-7.
East Oregonian: Favorite
pro sports team?
Hunter Sater: Seattle
Seahawks
Favorite college team?
Oregon State Beavers
Favorite sport to play/
watch?
Baseball
Who’s your favorite player?
Manny Machado (Balti-
more Orioles 3B/SS)
What do you like to do in
your free time?
Hunt and ish, and play
baseball.
What’s your favorite ishing
spot/species to target?
Pretty much anywhere on
the Columbia River. Bass.
Favorite music genre?
Country
What was the irst concert
you attended?
Josh Turner
Favorite subject in school?
Biology
What’s your dream job?
Biologist
What’s your favorite food?
The beef stroganoff my
mom makes.
Favorite restaurant?
Buffalo Wild Wings
Favorite place to vacation?
Alaska
What’s your favorite
junk food?
Oreos
If you could have a
superpower what would
you choose?
Flying
Do you have a favorite
actor?
Probably Will Ferrell
What’s your favorite
movie?
American Sniper
Favorite TV show?
How I Met Your Mother
What’s your best memory
as a TigerScot?
Winning in the state
quarterinals (3-1 in nine
innings over Umpqua
Valley
Christian)
my
freshman year and making
it all the way to the cham-
pionship.
Who’s been the largest inlu-
ence for you in baseball?
My dad.
ATHLETE
OF THE WEEK
HUNTER
SATER
Junior,
Weston-McEwen
Baseball
Sater led Weston-McEwen
to a doubleheader sweep
of Grant Union on Friday,
pitching a combined 8.2
innings in relief and
allowing just three hits and
one walk with 10 strikeouts,
earning the win in both
games. Sater also went 4-6
on offense with two runs
scored and an RBI.
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