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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 2016)
SPORTS TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2016 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS Hermiston Dawgs can’t hold off Braves girls lose Hermiston falters down the stretch in 4th straight fi rst loss of season HERMISTON Bulldogs come up short against Kamiakin By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian For one half on Saturday night, everything went the Hermiston Bull- dogs way. The Bulldogs were driving to the basket with ease and fi nishing at the rim. They were defensive stalwarts at the other end of the fl oor, keeping their hands in the passing lanes and forcing turnovers that kept the opposing Kamiakin Braves off the board more Boys Hoops often than not. But then in the second half, the two Kamiakin (WA) schools effectively switched places. It was the Braves that were the ones scoring with ease and playing stout defense Hermiston while Hermiston struggled to keep its offense trending upwards. In the end, the Bulldogs didn’t have enough in the tank as Kamiakin left town with a 58-51 victory, the fi rst loss for Hermiston this season. “I give it up to Kamiakin,” Herm- iston coach Casey Arstein said after the game. “They’ve got athletes, they’re smart, they’re well-coached and it was a good game to have for our preseason for sure. It was kind of a playoff atmosphere with a good crowd, we just have to be able to execute in the half court and get stops, which are things to build on now.” Hermiston (5-1) was boosted by a especially strong fi rst quarter on See DAWGS/2B By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian The Hermiston Bulldogs girls basketball team was handed its fourth straight loss on Saturday night, as the Kamiakin (WA) Braves came to The Dawghouse and left town with a 59-40 victory. But even with those Girls Hoops circumstances, Bulldogs coach Juan Rodriguez wasn’t all that disap- pointed. Kamiakin (WA) “Actually I’m pretty happy with the perfor- mance tonight,” he said. “This last week has been kind of rough and it hasn’t been anything Hermiston basketball-wise, we’ve just been lacking leadership when we get to the tough moments. Yesterday we challenged the girls to come out and be leaders and play and compete hard and I thought they did that very well. “I know the scoreboard doesn’t refl ect it and it’s not something fans might see, but they came out and turned the corner psychologi- cally and that’s what’s been affecting us the last few games. Sure there’s lots of basketball mistakes out there, but our main concern was making sure that psychologically we are ready to play for the rest of the season.” The Bulldogs (2-4) started the game playing well, displaying great ball movement on offense and giving great efforts on the defensive end of the fl oor. Hermiston led for the entire fi rst quarter and held a 9-7 See GIRLS/2B 59 58 40 51 Staff photo by Kathy Aney Kamiakin’s Garrett Paxton (11) and Thomas McCullough (32), of Hermiston, fi ght for a rebound Saturday during a non-conference game at the Dawg House. Prep Roundup Mustangs coast by Knights Heppner uses aggressive defense to earn victory East Oregonian HEPPNER — The Heppner Mustangs and Condon/Wheeler Knights fi nally squared off on the basketball court Monday night after last week’s snow storm canceled the previously scheduled Thursday night contest. And the Mustangs were ready for it, using strong Boys Hoops defense to get a good jump on the Knights early to cruise to the victory 70-33. “We were really active Heppner defensively,” Heppner coach Jeremy Rosenbalm said. “We worked on that in practice and the inten- sity was there all game and Con./Wheeler the defensive effort led to a lot of steals and easy shots in our favor.” Logan Grieb led Heppner (2-1) with 19 points while Nikalos Dias Martins had 13 and Jake Lindsay had 12. For Condon/Wheeler (4-1), Bryce Harrison led with 12 points. Heppner has a quick turnaround as it hosts Irrigon tonight at 7:30 p.m. and Condon/ Wheeler plays Enterprise on Friday at the Pilot Rock tournament at 3 p.m. See PREPS/2B 70 59 Soccer Sounders win MLS Cup on penalty kicks By PAUL ATTFIELD Associated Press MLS Cup TORONTO — Roman Torres scored in the sixth round of penalty kicks to give the Seattle Sounders their fi rst MLS Cup title, 5-4 over Toronto FC after 120 scoreless minutes Saturday night. It was the fi rst MLS Cup fi nal to fail to produce a goal in regulation, setting the stage for a dramatic tiebreaker. While Toronto’s Michael Bradley and Alvaro Fernandez for Seattle had both seen their shots saved, the game went to sudden-death spot kicks. Mark Blinch/The Canadian Press via AP Toronto’s Justin Morrow could Sounders midfi elder Osvaldo Alonso (6) hoists the only clatter his shot off the Seattle MLS Cup with teammates after defeating Toronto FC in the crossbar, setting the stage for MLS Cup soccer fi nal over in Toronto, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2016. Torres to win it with a high shot down the middle of the goal. Former Toronto FC goal- minutes of regulation, extra Torres. Toronto coach Greg Vanney keeper Stefan Frei was named time produced a number of the game’s most valuable opportunities, but even with removed former MLS most Toronto enjoying a 7-0 shot valuable player Sebastian player. Seattle became the fi rst team advantage in the 30-minute Giovinco in the 103rd minute in MLS Cup fi nal history to period, no breakthrough could in favour of Tosaint Ricketts. The gutsy call almost paid off. fail to produce a shot on target be found. Seattle’s lone chance to Following Ricketts’ cross throughout the game. Addi- tionally, the Sounders’ three score in extra time came from fi ve minutes after coming on, shots overall were the fewest a defensive error. Toronto’s it looked as if Altidore was in an MLS title game, the fi rst Steven Beitashour saw Brad going to give Toronto the lead to feature two expansion fran- Evans’ cross defl ect goalward in the 108th minute with a chises. Toronto was the fi rst off his leg in the 112th minute, looping header, but an athletic but Clint Irwin bravely dove save from Frei kept it scoreless. Canadian MLS Cup fi nalist. After a fairly subdued 90 on the ball to take it away from Leaping to his left, he scooped Seattle Toronto FC 5 4 the ball off the line with his left hand, allowing his defense to clear the ball to safety. A minute earlier, Ricketts had had a great chance of his own wen a defensive clearance fell to him 16 yards out, but with Frei fl at-footed he could only drive his right-footed shot wide of the right post. At the end of regulation, Toronto had a chance to win it in stoppage time when Nick Hagglund headed a Bradley corner kick toward Altidore in the 6-yard box, but Frei reacted bravely to punch the ball clear to end the threat and send the fi nal to extra time. Before that the game was very much in Toronto’s control, with the home side unleashing 12 shots, three of which hit the target. Seattle couldn’t even muster a shot until the 76th minute, when Osvaldo Alonso’s effort from 25 yards out was charged down by Bradley, and though the Sounders fi nished the 90 minutes with three, none required Irwin to make a save. Sports shorts Rams fi re head coach Jeff Fisher LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jeff Fisher has been fi red Monday by the Los Angeles Rams. The team’s coach since 2012, Fisher compiled a 31-45-1 record with the Rams and oversaw the move from St. Louis to Los Angeles this past offseason. The lack of success on the fi eld, capped by a 42-14 home rout at the hands of Atlanta on Sunday, spelled the end for Fisher. The Rams are 4-9 this season and have scored a league-low 194 Fisher points. “Making a decision such as this, especially during the season, is one of the most diffi cult in sports,” Rams owner Stan Kroenke said. Long respected in league circles for his work on the NFL’s competition committee, Fisher never found success or a franchise quarterback with the Rams, who went 7-8-1, 7-9, 6-10 and 7-9 in his four full seasons. “I’d be lying to you if I told you none of this bothered me. Of course it did. I’m human ... My dream is to be a Pirate my whole career. My dream is still to win multiple World Series. We all have those dreams.“ — Andrew McCutchen Pittsburgh Pirates outfi elder speaking at Pittsburgh’s PirateFest over the weekend about the trade rumors involving himself during MLB’s Winter Meetings. Louisville’s Lamar Jackson wins Heisman Trophy NEW YORK (AP) — Sophomore quarter- back Lamar Jackson became the fi rst Louisville player to win the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night, beating out preseason favorite Deshaun Watson of Clemson despite some late-season struggles. Baker Mayfi eld fi nished third and Oklahoma teammate and fellow fi nalist Dede Westbrook was fourth. Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers was fi fth. Jackson In his fi rst season as Louis- ville’s full-time starter, Jackson accounted for 51 touchdowns and averaged 410 yards per game in total offense. He ultimately won going away, with 2,144 points to Watson’s 1,524. By percentage of possible points, Jackson’s victory was the sixth largest in history, and he became the youngest winner at 19 years, 352 days. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1983 — Detroit beats Denver 186-184 in triple overtime in the highest-scoring game in NBA history. Isiah Thomas scores 47 and John Long adds 41 for the Pistons. 1997 — Michigan’s Charles Woodson becomes the fi rst predominantly defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy in the 63 years of the award. 2010 — Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre, 41, is sidelined by a throwing shoulder too damaged for even him to overcome. The injury ended Favre’s streak of 297 consecutive starts over 19 seasons. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
