SPORTS
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2016
1B
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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.
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