Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
NBA
Trail Blazers fall short against Clippers
By STEVE DILBECK
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Blake
Griffin had 26 points and 12
rebounds, Chris Paul had 21 points
and 14 assists, and the Los Angeles
Clippers held off the Portland Trail
Blazers 121-120 Monday night to
sweep the three-game season series.
J.J. Redick finished with 19
points, hitting all eight of his
free throws — including three in
the closing seconds to push Los
Angeles’ lead to four points.
Portland’s Damian Lillard hit a
3-pointer with 1.7 seconds left for
the final margin.
C.J. McCollum had 25 points and
Lillard finished with 24 points and
eight assists for the Trail Blazers,
who lost their fourth straight.
The game got testy in the final
minutes. Portland center Mason
Plumlee was given a flagrant foul
for elbowing Griffin in the face on
layup. With 11 seconds left, Port-
land forward Evan Turner and Los
Angeles center DeAndre Jordan
were ejected after a brief skirmish
under the Clippers’ basket.
Portland trailed 89-86 to start the
fourth quarter and took the lead 1
1/2 minutes in on a free throw by
AP Photo/Chris Carlson
LA Clippers guard J.J. Redick, center, drives to the basket between
Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum, left, and forward Al-Fa-
rouq Aminu during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Los
Angeles, Monday, Dec. 12, 2016.
Ed Davis and two jumpers by Evan
Turner.
However, the Clippers scored
the next seven points on two free
throws by Crawford and a layup
and 3-pointer by Marreese Speights
to take a 96-91 lead with about 9 1/2
minutes to go.
The Blazers answered with a
10-0 run, including four points
each by Allen Crabbe and Mason
Plumlee and the game was close the
rest of the way.
The third quarter was another
back-and-forth affair, both teams
taking turns blowing with modest
leads until the Clippers finally took
a three-point lead into the final
Los Angeles
Portland
121
120
period.
The Clippers acted like they were
going to dominate early, jumping
out to a 38-27 lead at the end of
the first quarter. They connected on
14 of 22 field goals (63.6 percent),
came up with four blocked shots
and outscored Portland 14-4 to
close the quarter.
But Portland charged back in the
second, opening with a 13-2 run and
then just kept rolling. The Blazers
outscored the Clippers 33-18 in the
second quarter to take a 60-56 lead
at the half.
The Blazers outrebounded the
Clippers 12-6 in the second quarter
and found their range from outside,
connecting on 14 of 20 shots (70
percent). Griffin scored all but
seven of the Clippers’ 18 points in
the period.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: Host Oklahoma
City on Tuesday night.
Clippers: At Orlando on
Wednesday night.
PREPS: Stanfield boys win Columbia River Clash tournament
Continued from 1B
Girls Basketball
NIXYAAWII 51, STANFIELD
26 — At Mission, the Nixyaawii
Golden Eagles used a balanced
scoring effort to put away the Stan-
field Tigers in a non-league game on
Monday night by a score of 51-26.
Nixyaawii (3-0) had five scorers
with at least eight points in the game,
and freshman Tristalynn Melton
led all scorers with 11 points off
the bench. Coach Jeremy Maddern
said that the balance came from an
increased focus in ball movement.
“We’ve talked about sharing
the ball more and trying for more
assists,” he said. “It was a priority
tonight and we were able to do it
well. We also were able to rotate
deep into the bench and my younger
girls played really well.”
Kendra Hart had nine points to
lead Stanfield (0-6).
Next up for Nixyaawii is a road
game on Friday in Wallowa to start
Old Oregon League play at 6 p.m.
and for Stanfield, the Tigers will host
Nyssa at 5 p.m. for the start of the
Stanfield Tournament.
From Saturday
STANFIELD 70, UMATILLA
59 — At Umatilla, the Stanfield
Tigers overcame a slow first quarter
and a valiant effort by the Umatilla
Vikings to win the Columbia River
Clash boys tournament champion-
ship 70-59 on Saturday night.
Ryan Bailey led Stanfield (3-1)
with 21 points and Jose Garcia added
11 points. Grogan scored 13 points
for Stanfield, all of which came in
the second half. For Umatilla (3-2),
Sebastian Garcia and Seth Cranston
both scored 12 points each to lead the
team, while Tyrone Morris scored
nine and Kaden Webb had seven.
Stanfield next heads to Nixyaawii
on Monday night for a 7:30 p.m.
tip-off and Umatilla will head to
Union on Thursday to take part in
the Union Holiday Tournament. The
Vikings will first face off against
Jordan Valley Thursday afternoon at
3:30 p.m.
PILOT ROCK 51, UNION
36 — At Umatilla, the Pilot Rock
Rockets took home the third place
prize from the Columbia River Clash
tournament with a 51-36 win over
Union on Saturday evening.
Bryson Pierce led all scorers with
18 points for Pilot Rock (5-1) and
Chris Weinke scored 15 points. Pilot
Rock forced 29 Union turnovers in
the game, which coach Mike Weinke
said was a big factor throughout the
game as Union could never make a
run at the Rockets.
Pilot Rock returns to the court
on Friday night for its tournament,
where they will face off first against
Mac-Hi at 7:30 p.m.
GIRLS: Head to Hillsboro on Saturday
Continued from 1B
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Maddy Juul (20), of Hermiston, goes up for a shot under
pressure as Kamiakin’s OumouToure (24) tries to block
during Saturday’s non-conference game in Hermiston.
DAWGS:
Continued from 1B
Saturday, as the defense
forced seven Brave turnovers
and Hermiston shot 6-10
from the floor to take a 20-10
lead on Kamiakin. But over
the next two quarters, Herm-
iston’s offense went cold and
the Braves began to figure
out the defense as Kamiakin
outscored Hermiston 24-19
over the next two quarters.
“The kids played hard
the whole game, but I think
we got a little sluggish in
our motion offense and not
picking our spots,” Arstein
said. “We got a little impa-
tient, playing not to lose
instead of continuing to play
to win. The little mistakes
add up to bigger mistakes,
and now we just have to fix
those.”
The Bulldogs defense
also got a bit too aggressive
in the second half, totaling
16 team fouls which resulted
in a whopping 26 free throw
attempts in the second half
alone for Kamiakin, who
was successful on 17 of those
attempts.
“I felt like most the
second half we were just
watchin them shoot free
throws,” Arstein said. “We
were sending them to the
line too much, being too
aggressive with our hands.
We bailed them out a lot in
the second half and we have
to get better at picking our
spots and playing smarter
defense with our feet instead
of our hands.”
Kamiakin (1-0) took
tage after one full. But that’s when Kamiakin
started showing that it was the better team.
The Braves (4-0) took the lead at 13-11
with just over six minutes left in the second
quarter on a 3-point play by Oumou Toure
and then stayed in front for the remainder
of the game. Hermiston tallied just seven
points in the second quarter, and also played
out a six minute drought between made field
goals.
But just as Rodriguez said, the Bulldogs
never hung their heads throughout the rest
of the game. The team worked into plenty of
good looks at the basket, registering 55 shot
attempts but again struggled with the execu-
tion as they sank just 16 of those. But what
pleased Rodriguez was the 17 offensive
rebounds that his team grabbed in the game.
“That’s the hustle plays that are hard to
teach,” he said. “We’re missing little lay-ins
that’ll start going in at some point, but the
girls are working towards those offensive
boards and that’s what I’m happy about.
They did a good job of competing and even-
tually that’ll pay off.”
Maddy Juul and Rileigh Andreason
each scored nine points to lead Hermiston’s
offense, and Jordan Thomas pitched in eight
points for Hermiston. Andreason scored
Hermiston’s first 3-pointer of the game with
6:30 left in the game, and the Bulldogs were
just 2-14 from there overall. Oumou Toure
led Kamiakin with a game-high 23 points
and Kylie Larson added 10 for the Braves.
Hermiston now gets a full week of
practice in before its next game, when it
will travel to Hillsboro for a 5 p.m. start on
Saturday.
—————
KHS
7 18 15 19 — 59
HHS
9 7
8 16 — 40
KAMIAKIN — O. Toure 23, K. Larson 11, K Hollie 4, R. Clark 4, C.
Williams 4, S. Brown 2.
HERMISTON — M. Juul 9, R. Andreason 9, J. Thomas 8, K.
Padilla 5, H. Meyers 5, J. Romero 4.
3-pointers — KHS 3, HHS 2. Free throws — KHS 8-10, HHS
6-12. Fouls — KHS 13, HHS 9.
Women’s College
Basketball
Ducks
breeze by
Tigers
Oregon women
in Top 25 for first
time since 2003
Associated Press
CLEMSON, S.C. —
Freshman Sabrina Ionescu
had her second-career
triple-double, Oti Gildon
tied a career best with 16
points, on 7-of-11 shooting,
and No. 25 Oregon beat
Clemson 87-59 on Monday
night.
Ionescu hit 5 of 7 from
3-point range and finished
with 23 points, 12 rebounds
and 10 assists. Ruthy
Hebard made 7 of 9 shots,
scored 15
NCAA
points and
grabbed
n i n e
rebounds,
Oregon
M a i t e
Cazorla
added 14
p o i n t s
and Lexi
B a n d o
Clemson
scored 10
for
the
Ducks.
Ionescu
had Oregon’s first triple-
double since 1988 in an
86-49 win over Hawaii on
Nov. 26.
Ionescu hit two 3s and
Cazorla scored five points
during an 11-3 run that
made it 52-38 with 4:53
left in the third quarter and
Oregon (8-1) led by double
figures the rest of the way.
Gildon had layups on
three-consecutive posses-
sions to make it 73-48 and
a layup by Justine Hall gave
the Ducks their biggest lead
of the game, 79-49, with
3:23 to go.
Jaia Alexander and Nelly
Perry scored 13 points
apiece for Clemson (8-1).
Oregon made 33 of 63
from the field, including
9 of 16 (56 percent) from
3-point range, and 12-of-14
free throws.
Clemson shot 38 percent
overall and 27 percent (4 of
15) from 3-point range.
The Ducks are ranked in
the Associated Press Top 25
for the first time since 2003.
UP NEXT
The Ducks continue their
east coast road trip with
a game at Mississippi on
Wednesday afternoon. The
game is set to tip-off at 4
p.m.
87
59
SCOREBOARD
it’s first lead of the game at
42-39 with 4:45 left in the
game, but it didn’t last long.
On Hermiston’s next posses-
sion, Cesar Ortiz drilled a
3-pointer from the left wing
to tie the game back at 42-all
with four minutes to play.
However, Kamiakin took
the lead back just a short
time later and this time didn’t
relinquish it. Garrett Paxton
was a big part of Kamiakin’s
second-half surge, scoring 16
of his game-high 18 points in
the latter half of the game.
For Hermiston, Andrew
James led the team in scoring
with 13 points, while Chance
Flores and Jordan Ramirez
each scored 11 points. Eight
of Flores’ points came within
the first three minutes of the
game when he scored eight
of the team’s first 10 points.
Altogether, Hermiston shot
35 percent (17-49) from
the floor in the game and
just 5-21 (24 percent) from
3-point range.
Hermiston next hits the
road for a game at St. Helens
on Tuesday with a 7:15 p.m.
tip-off.
—————
KHS
10 10 14 24 — 58
HHS
20 10
9 12 — 51
KAMIAKIN — G. Paxton 18, I. Brimmer
12, C. Grayson 7, K. Bailey 6, S. Wolf 6, C.
Green 3, P. Flynn 3, J. Nichols 2.
HERMISTON — A. James 13, C. Flores
11, J. Ramirez 11, X. Rambo 9, T. Mc-
Cullough 4, C. Ortiz 3.
3-pointers — KHS 1, HHS 5. Free throws
— HHS 12-18, KHS 22-34. Fouls — KHS
20, HHS 26. Fouled out — X. Rambo, C.
Flores, A. James (HHS).
—————
Contact Eric at esinger@
eastoregonian.com or (541)
966-0839. Follow him on
Twitter @ByEricSinger.
Local slate
PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
Tuesday’s Games
Nixyaawii at Pilot Rock, 7 p.m.
Hermiston at St. Helens, 7:15 p.m.
Irrigon at Heppner, 7:30 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Riverside, 7:30 p.m.
Mac-Hi at DeSales (WA), 7:30 p.m.
Ione at Echo, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday’s Games
Umatilla vs. Jordan Valley (at Union
Tournament), 3:30 p.m.
The Dalles (JV) at Arlington, 7 p.m.
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
Tuesday’s Games
Weston-McEwen at Riverside, 6 p.m.
Irrigon at Heppner, 6 p.m.
Mac-Hi at DeSales (WA), 6 p.m.
Ione at Echo, 6 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Pilot Rock, 7 p.m.
Thursday’s Games
Umatilla vs. Jordan Valley (at Union
Tournament), 2 p.m.
The Dalles (JV) at Arlington, 5 p.m.
Pendleton at Wilsonville, 7 p.m.
PREP WRESTLING
Thursday
Pendleton at Liberty, 6 p.m.
Friday
Hermiston at North Idaho College (Tri-
State Tournament), TBD
Echo at Dobbs (ID) Invitational, 3 p.m.
Pendleton at Banks, TBD
PREP SWIMMING
Saturday
Pendleton, Hermiston at La Grande,
Noon
Pendleton (selects) at Bend, 1 p.m.
COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL
Friday
Corban at Eastern Oregon, 7:30 p.m.
Skagit Valley at Blue Mountain, 8 p.m.
COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Friday
Corban at Eastern Oregon, 5:30 p.m.
Blue Mountain vs. Grays Harbor (at
Salem), 5:30 p.m.
COLLEGE MEN’S WRESTLING
Sunday
Eastern Oregon at Reno (Nev.) Tourna-
ment of Champions, TBA
COLLEGE WOMEN’S WRESTLING
Saturday-Sunday
Eastern Oregon at West Coast Tourna-
ment of Champions (at Rocklin, Calif.),
TBD
Football
NFL
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
East
W L
T Pct PF
New England 11 2
0 .846 349
Miami
8 5
0 .615 281
Buffalo
6 7
0 .462 325
N.Y. Jets
4 9
0 .308 229
South
W L
T Pct PF
PA
230
301
301
324
PA
Houston
Tennessee
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
North
Pittsburgh
Baltimore
Cincinnati
Cleveland
West
7 6
7 6
6 7
2 11
0 .538 229
0 .538 321
0 .462 328
0 .154 240
274
306
333
338
W L
8 5
7 6
5 7
0 13
T Pct PF
0 .615 317
0 .538 279
1 .423 268
0 .000 207
PA
256
237
269
375
W L
T Pct PF PA
Kansas City 10 3
0 .769 302 255
Oakland
10 3
0 .769 358 320
Denver
8 5
0 .615 296 242
San Diego
5 8
0 .385 350 347
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
East
W L
T Pct PF PA
x-Dallas
11 2
0 .846 340 238
N.Y. Giants 9 4
0 .692 255 244
Washington 7 5
1 .577 330 317
Philadelphia 5 8
0 .385 290 272
South
W L
T Pct PF PA
Atlanta
8 5
0 .615 428 345
Tampa Bay 8 5
0 .615 293 296
New Orleans 5 8
0 .385 358 351
Carolina
5 8
0 .385 311 337
North
W L
T Pct PF PA
Detroit
9 4
0 .692 295 268
Green Bay
7 6
0 .538 333 312
Minnesota
7 6
0 .538 258 225
Chicago
3 10
0 .231 221 290
West
W L
T Pct PF PA
Seattle
8 4
1 .654 274 232
Arizona
5 7
1 .423 299 277
Los Angeles 4 9
0 .308 194 304
San Francisco 1 12
0 .077 251 393
x-clinched playoff spot
———
Week 14
Kansas City 21, Oakland 13
Cincinnati 23, Cleveland 10
Detroit 20, Chicago 17
Tennessee 13, Denver 10
Pittsburgh 27, Buffalo 20
Washington 27, Philadelphia 22
Minnesota 25, Jacksonville 16
Houston 22, Indianapolis 17
Carolina 28, San Diego 16
Miami 26, Arizona 23
Tampa Bay 16, New Orleans 11
N.Y. Jets 23, San Francisco 17, OT
Green Bay 38, Seattle 10
Atlanta 42, Los Angeles 14
N.Y. Giants 10, Dallas 7
New England 30, Baltimore 23
Week 15
Thursday’s Game
Los Angeles at Seattle, 8:25 p.m.
NCAA
Bowl Game Lineup
Saturday, Dec. 17
Celebration Bowl
At Atlanta
NC Central (9-2) vs. Grambling State
(11-1), 9 a.m. (ABC)
New Mexico Bowl
Albuquerque
UTSA (6-6) vs. New Mexico (8-4), 11
a.m. (ESPN)
Las Vegas Bowl
San Diego State (10-3) vs. Houston (9-3),
12:30 p.m. (ABC)
Camellia Bowl
Montgomery, Ala.
Toledo (9-3) vs. Appalachian State (9-3),
2:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Cure Bowl
Orlando, Fla.
UCF (6-6) vs. Arkansas State (7-5), 2:30
p.m. (CBSSN)
New Orleans Bowl
Southern Miss. (6-6) vs. Louisiana-Lafay-
ette (6-6), 6 p.m. (ESPN)
FCS Playoffs
Quarterfinals
No. 4 James Madison 65, No. 5 Sam
Houston State 7
No. 1 North Dakota State 36, No. 8
South Dakota State 10
Youngstown State 30, Wofford 23
No. 2 Eastern Washington 38, Richmond
0
Semifinals
Friday
No. 4 James Madison at No. 1 North
Dakota State, 4 p.m. (ESPN2)
Saturday
Youngstown State at No. 2 Eastern
Washington, 3:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
NAIA
Championship
Saturday
At Municipal Stadium
Daytona Beach, Fla.
Saint Francis (Ind.) (11-2) vs. Baker (Kan.)
(14-0), 3 p.m.
Basketball
NBA
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
W
L Pct
Toronto
17
7 .708
New York
14 10 .583
Boston
13 11 .542
Brooklyn
6 17 .261
Philadelphia
6 18 .250
Southeast Division
W
L Pct
Charlotte
14 11 .560
Atlanta
12 12 .500
Orlando
10 15 .400
Washington
9 14 .391
Miami
8 17 .320
Central Division
W
L Pct
Cleveland
17
5 .773
Chicago
13 10 .565
Indiana
13 12 .520
Detroit
13 13 .500
Milwaukee
11 12 .478
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Southwest Division
W
L Pct
San Antonio
19
5 .792
Houston
18
7 .720
Memphis
17
8 .680
New Orleans
8 17 .320
Dallas
6 18 .250
Northwest Division
W
L Pct
Oklahoma City
15
9 .625
Utah
15 10 .600
Portland
12 14 .462
Denver
9 16 .360
GB
—
3
4
10½
11
GB
—
1½
4
4
6
GB
—
4½
5½
6
6½
GB
—
1½
2½
11½
13
GB
—
½
4
6½
Minnesota
Pacific Division
6
18 .250
9
W
L Pct GB
Golden State
21
4 .840 —
L.A. Clippers
18
7 .720
3
Sacramento
9 15 .375 11½
L.A. Lakers
10 167 .370 12
Phoenix
7 17 .292 13½
Sunday’s Games
Philadelphia 97, Detroit 79
Golden State 116, Minnesota 108
Oklahoma City 99, Boston 96
New Orleans 120, Phoenix 119, OT
New York 118, L.A. Lakers 112
Monday’s Games
Indiana 110, Charlotte 94
Miami 112, Washington 101
Toronto 122, Milwaukee 100
Houston 122, Brooklyn 118
Dallas 112, Denver 92
Sacramento 116, L.A. Lakers 92
L.A. Clippers 121, Portland 120
Tuesday’s Games
Memphis at Cleveland, 4 p.m.
Orlando at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m.
Golden State at New Orleans, 5 p.m.
Minnesota at Chicago, 5 p.m.
New York at Phoenix, 6 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Portland, 7:30 p.m.
NCAA
Men’s Top 25
Monday’s Game
Seton Hall 67, No. 16 South Carolina 64
Tuesday’s Games
Temple at No. 1 Villanova, 4 p.m. (FS1)
Texas Southern at No. 25 Cincinnati,
4 p.m.
Montana at No. 22 Oregon, 7 p.m.
(PAC12)
Women’s Top 25
Monday’s Games
No. 25 Oregon 87, Clemson 59
No. 4 Maryland 79, Loyola (Md.) 60
Today’s Games
No. 5 Mississippi State at Arkansas-Little
Rock, 4:30 p.m.
No. 23 Arizona State at Middle Tennes-
see State, 4:30 p.m.
Hockey
NHL
Sunday’s Games
Anaheim 5, Ottawa 1
Philadelphia 1, Detroit 0, OT
Washington 3, Vancouver 0
Minnesota 3, St. Louis 1
Colorado 3, Toronto 1
N.Y. Rangers 5, New Jersey 0
Chicago 3, Dallas 1
Edmonton 3, Winnipeg 2
Monday’s Games
Pittsburgh 7, Arizona 0
Boston 2, Montreal 1, OT
Tuesday’s Games
Los Angeles at Buffalo, 4 p.m.
Washington at N.Y. Islanders, 4 p.m.
Vancouver at Carolina, 4 p.m.
Chicago at N.Y. Rangers, 4 p.m.
Arizona at Detroit, 4:30 p.m.
San Jose at Toronto, 4:30 p.m.
St. Louis at Nashville, 5 p.m.
Florida at Minnesota, 5 p.m.
Anaheim at Dallas, 5:30 p.m.
Columbus at Edmonton, 6 p.m.