Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
BRIEFLY
Men’s College Basketball
Bell adding more offense to reputation
Oregon
for-
ward
Jordan
Bell
reacts
after
mak-
ing a
basket
against
UNLV
during
the
first
half
of an
NCAA
college
bas-
ketball
game
in Port-
land on
Sat-
urday,
Dec. 17,
2016.
Oregon junior now
more than just a
defensive specialist
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
Jordan Bell is expanding his
game by keeping it simple.
Known for his defense, the
junior forward for No. 20 Oregon
is becoming more multidimen-
sional. It was on display this past
weekend against UNLV when he
had a career-high 16 points and a
season-high 12 rebounds for his
first double-double of the season.
The Ducks defeated the Rebels
83-63.
Oregon (10-2) hosts Fresno
State on Tuesday night for the
team’s final nonconference game
before the start of the Pac-12
season. The Ducks will be chal-
lenged at the start of league play at
home by No. 2 UCLA on Dec. 28.
Bell is averaging 9.3 points and
8.3 rebounds per game, both career
highs, along with 2.5 blocks. He’s
been in double-figures in points
five times this season. And he’s
playing more minutes.
“I think I am getting into a
groove now, things are coming
easier for me now and I am keeping
it simpler,” Bell said. “Last year, I
figured out what to do when I came
in. This year I have a set role of
what to do so I can just focus on
rebounding, defense and blocking
shots.”
Last season, when Oregon went
to the Elite Eight as a No. 1 seed
in the NCAA Tournament for the
AP Photo/
Craig Mitch-
elldyer
first time ever, the 6-foot-9 Bell
averaged seven points and 5.4
rebounds.
“He is almost a reluctant scorer
in there. He doesn’t demand the
ball and doesn’t post up a lot.
He has never been a great scorer
in high school or AAU, he has
always kind of been a defender,
rebounder and facilitator,” coach
Dana Altman said. “Now in his
third year, you expect that to be
part of the growth, to take a more
aggressive position on offense and
try to score.”
A native of Los Angeles, Bell
worked his way into the starting
lineup early in his freshman
season and finished with a
conference-leading average of
2.69 blocks per game. His 94 total
blocks gave him the single-season
record for the Ducks.
As a sophomore last season, he
topped Oregon’s career block list.
He drew attention in the Ducks’
Sweet 16 win over Duke with
13 points, seven rebounds, three
blocks and two steals.
“When I first came here, we had
Joe (Young),” Bell said. “He took
care of the scoring. Every year,
I’ve try to expand my role and see
what I need to do exactly. This
year, we don’t really have an inside
post player, so I’m really focused
on that.”
Bell emerged this weekend
against the Rebels in the absence
of senior forward Chris Boucher,
who was on crutches and wearing a
boot on his right foot on the Ducks’
bench. Altman said Boucher
sprained his ankle in practice and
X-rays were negative. Boucher
won’t play against Fresno State
and instead will heal up for Pac-12
season.
The 6-foot-10 Boucher is aver-
aging 14.1 points, 7.8 rebounds
and 3.2 blocks per game for
Oregon this season. He ranks 10th
nationally in blocks.
Boucher played in Oregon’s
81-67 victory at home over
Montana last Tuesday night,
scoring 23 points with 19
rebounds. He was a rebound short
of becoming the Ducks’ first player
since 1977 with 20 or more points
and rebounds.
Bell says he’s willing to step up
whenever — and however — he’s
needed. Against UNLV, he was 7
of 8 from the field, including four
left-handed layups.
“I’m actually left-handed,” he
shrugged. “For some reason, I
don’t go to it. I don’t know why.”
LeBron moves into 8th
on NBA scoring list
MILWAUKEE (AP) —
LeBron James buried a go-ahead
3-pointer with 24 seconds left
in overtime and the Cleveland
Cavaliers held on for a 114-108
victory over the Milwaukee
Bucks on Tuesday night to
avenge a late November loss
James moved past Moses
Malone (27,409 points) into
eighth place on the NBA career
scoring list with his first basket
of the game. Next up is Shaquille
O’Neal with 28,956 points.
Earlier this season, James passed
Hakeem Olajuwon and Elvin
Hayes.
Jagr now tied for 2nd
on NHL points list
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) —
Jaromir Jagr isn’t even thinking
about retiring.
Jagr had three assists to pull
into a tie for second place on
the NHL’s career points list,
Aleksander Barkov and Vincent
Trocheck scored in the shootout,
and the Florida Panthers beat the
Buffalo Sabres 4-3 on Tuesday
night.
Jagr pulled even with Mark
Messier with 1,887 points,
trailing only Wayne Gretzky
(2,857). Jagr received a long
ovation from the fans after tying
Messier and acknowledged the
crowd.
“When I retire, I’ll look back
at what I did, maybe I’m going
to think about it a little more,
but right now I just enjoy every
moment I get a chance to play in
this league,” the 44-year-old Jagr
said. “I love it so much.”
BUCKS: Tuesday was team’s first game in two weeks
Continued from 1B
“She played great defense,”
Mayhue said of Greb. “I mean,
it was frustrating at some points,
but at the same time you just
have to take a step back and just
let the game come to you.”
It wasn’t until a trip to the
charity stripe with 24 seconds
left that Mayhue was able to
escape Greb’s persistent pursuit
and notch her first points of the
second half.
Meanwhile, Greb and junior
post Kalan McGlothan paced a
21-4 quarter-spanning run for the
Bucks that gave them their first
lead since the game’s opening
minutes.
“She (Greb) was in charge
of making sure that once she
(Mayhue) gave up the ball she
didn’t get it back,” Porter said.
“She worked her tail off the
entire game. Number 3’s a hell
of a player. What do you say?”
After McGlothan gave them
the lead with just over four
minutes to play, a pair of free
throws by junior Lauren Richards
put Pendleton up 50-47 with nine
seconds left in the fourth quarter.
But South Albany senior Rachel
DeVyldere was able to get the
ball down the floor and over to
Mayhue with just enough time
for a hurried shot that glanced
high off the glass and in.
McGlothan recorded her
fourth straight double-double to
start the season and finished with
17 points and 12 rebounds, and
scored on a putback with 2:33
left in the overtime period to
give Pendleton a 52-50 lead. The
teams then traded free throws
with a putback by South Alba-
ny’s Abby Sadowsky mixed in to
get to 56-all with 53 seconds left.
Pendleton missed its chance
to go back ahead, and South
Albany was off the mark as
well, but grabbed the offensive
rebound with 11.9 seconds on the
clock and called a timeout.
The pass came in to senior
Journee Schlabach out of the
break, who then passed to
Mayhue as she popped out of
traffic and made her way to the
top of the arc.
Greb finished with 13 points
for Pendleton, which was playing
its first game in 14 days and
trailed 43-29 with less than two
minutes left in the third quarter.
“We hadn’t played in a such a
long time, it was kind of like our
first game and we had to work
through some things,” McGlo-
than said. “The second half we
were like, ‘OK we know what
we’re doing.’”
“It was the tale of two
halves,” Porter said. “I told my
girls at halftime, ‘I don’t care
what the score says, if you come
out and play with some heart and
some passion, and you compete,
I don’t care what the scoreboard
says, you won’t go out of here a
loser today. And that’s what they
did and that’s what I told them at
the end of the game. I said, ‘You
found yourself, you found your
passions, you found your drive.’”
Senior Paige Diller added
18 points for South Albany but
fouled out with 3:15 left in the
fourth quarter. The Rebels’ only
loss this season was 43-34 to
No. 1 Crater. Pendleton is the
first team to top 50 against the
Rebels. Pendleton shot 40.4
percent (19 of 47) from the field
including 0-for-6 from three-
point range, and went 18-of-27
at the free throw line. South
Albany shot just 35.6 percent
(21 of 59) from the field, but
was 8-of-21 (38.1 percent) from
distance and 9-of-11 at the line.
Next up for the Bucks is a
three-day tour at the Summit
Holiday Tournament which
begins with a 7:45 p.m. game at
Bend on Dec. 28.
———
SA
16 17 10
7 9 — 59
PHS
13 8 14 15 6 — 56
SOUTH ALBANY — K. Mayhue 27, P. Diller 18,
R. DeVyldere 6, A. Sadowsky 6, G. Lawson 2.
PENDLETON — K. McGlothan 17, H. Greb 13,
L. Richards 6, J. Lemberger 6, M. Davies 6, K.
Bradt 6, H. Porter 2, T. Fell, E. Nirschl.
3-pointers — SA 8; PHS 0. Free throws — SA
9-11; PHS 18-27. Fouls — SA 22; PHS 16. Fouled
out — P. Diller (SA).
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
PendletonLauren Richards shoots the ball
over South Albany’s Journee Schlabach in
the Bucks’ 59-56 overtime loss to the Reb-
els on Tuesday in Pendleton.
PREPS: Zacarias nets 17 points as Irrigon girls beat Mac-Hi
Continued from 1B
high 32 points to lead Stanfield
to a 75-67 win over the Toledo
Boomers at the Toledo Tourna-
ment.
“Dylan was great tonight,”
Stanfield coach Jason Sperr said.
“He played like a post, he posted
up more and worked inside to grab
some offensive boards and get
some putbacks and Toledo played
real tough inside.”
Stanfield (8-1), who now holds
the No. 1 OSAA ranking for Class
2A, played without usual starters
Jose Garcia and Ryan Bailey for
much of the game, as Garcia did
not play due to a broken bone in
his hand and Bailey played limited
minutes due to an illness. Garcia’s
injury is one he origianlly suffered
during football season, and Sperr
said that it is not yet known how
much time Garcia will miss, but
they will know more once he sees
a specialist on Thursday.
Stanfield next plays Waldport
today at 10:30 a.m. to round out its
Toledo Tournament play.
————
SHS
20 19 17 19 — 75
THS
19 10 21 17 — 67
STANFIELD — D. Grogan 32, T. Flores 13, T. Monkus
10, J. Galarza 10, E. Angel 5, R. Bailey 3, B. Woods 2.
TOLEDO — C. Marchant 20, N. Cross 18, K. Otis
10, D. Werder 5, J. Spangler 2.
3-pointers — SHS 10, THS 5. Free throws — SHS
11-16, THS 10-15. Fouls — SHS 20, THS 16. Fouled
out — B. Woods (SHS).
WESTERN MENNONITE
53, HEPPNER 43 — At Heppner,
the Heppner Mustangs had its
four game win streak snapped
with a hard fought battle against
the Western Mennonite Pioneers
53-43 on Tuesday afternoon in
Heppner.
“This was a very good
preseason test for us,” Heppner
coach Jeremy Rosenbalm said.
“(Western Mennonite) is an
extremely good team and this
shows us what we need to work on
and do to reach our goals.”
Logan Grieb scored a game-
high 19 points to lead Heppner
(5-2) on an efficient 7-13 shooting
and knocked in three 3-pointers.
Western Mennonite outscored
Heppner 18-8 in the first quarter,
which proved to be just too big of
a hole for the Mustangs to dig out
of.
“We did start slow, but I’m
very pleased with the way we
responded,” Rosenbalm said. “We
just kept chipping away at the lead
and our defensive effort was great
again. To hold that team to 53
points and only have seven fouls,
I couldn’t ask of more from my
kids.”
Heppner next heads to the
Irrigon Invitational on Dec. 30,
where it will take on Mac-Hi.
————
WM
18 13 18
4 — 53
HHS
8 11 12 12 — 43
WESTERN MENNONITE — S. Hess 10, C. Nofziger
10, P. Richardson 9, K. Hull 7, J. Williams 3, D. Berkey
3, A. Nicoli 2.
HEPPNER — L. Grieb 19, J. Lindsay 7, C. Hedman
5, K. Murray 5, K. Smith 3, N. Dias Martins 3, W.
Steagall 1.
3-pointers — WM 7, HHS 5. Free throws — WM
2-3, HHS 10-16. Fouls — WM 18, HHS 7.
IRRIGON 45, MAC-HI 34
— At Irrigon, the short-handed
Knights couldn’t make the
Pioneers speed up the pace, but
proved they could win a defensive
battle in a non-league game on
Tuesday.
Irrigon (4-3) led 21-16 at half-
time and took control with a 12-4
third quarter.
“We were just playing sound
man-to-man defense and we were
able to get a few turnovers there
and create some points,” said
Irrigon coach Davie Salas.
Johnny Philips led the way with
14 points, and Eric Carillo and
Keith Fleming each added 10 for
Irrigon.
Alec Earls paced Mac-Hi (4-4)
with seven points.
Both teams will be back in
action on Dec. 29 at the Irrigon
Invitational.
Mac-Hi
plays
Heppner at 1:30 p.m. and Irrigon
hosts Waitsburg (WA) at 6 p.m.
———
M-H
6 10
4 14 — 34
IHS
8 13 12 12 — 45
MAC-HI — A. Earls 7, A. Delgado 6, M. Garcia 6, M.
Armenta 5, A. Pio 4, A. Martinez, A. Ruiz, Z. Hodgen,
J. Vela, R. Walton, Team 6.
IRRIGON — J. Philips 14, K. Fleming 10, E. Carillo
10, D. Vera 5, A. Rice 2, L. Covarrubia 2, A. Gomez 2,
A. Roa, O. Vera.
3-pointers — M-H 5-15; IHS 1-3. Free throws —
M-H 6-10; IHS 8-11. Fouls — M-H 15; IHS 12.
From Monday
STANFIELD 80, WESTERN
MENNONITE 77 (OT) — At
Stanfield, the Tigers erased a four
point deficit with one minute left
in regulation, and then pulled
away in overtime to defeat a very
talented Western Mennonite team
on Monday night 80-77 at Stan-
field High School.
Ryan Bailey scored 25 points to
lead Stanfield (7-1), while Brody
Woods finished with 15 and Dylan
Grogan with 13.
————
WM
23 9 11 23 11 — 77
SHS
16 16 19 15 14 — 80
WESTERN MENNONITE — S. Hess 21, J. Williams
18, K. Hull 15, P. Richardson 12, M. Hull 6, C. Nofziger
2, I. Rush 2, A. Nicoli 1.
STANFIELD — R. Bailey 25, B. Woods 15, D.
Grogan 13, T. Flores 9, J. Garcia 7, T. Monkus 7, J.
Galarza 4.
3-pointers — WM 3, SHS 5. Free throws — WM
24-32, SHS 22-35. Fouls — WM 25, SHS 22.
Girls Basketball
IRRIGON 43, MAC-HI 29 —
At Irrigon, the Knights bounced
back from Monday’s loss with a
decisive win over Mac-Hi, beating
the Pioneers 43-29 on Tuesday
afternoon.
Ana Zacarias led Irrigon (5-3)
with a game-high 17 points, while
also adding six rebounds and four
steals. Jada Burns also hit double
digits for Irrigon, with 11 points
as well as four assists. For Mac-Hi
(1-7) Brianna Hernandez had 10
points and Sydney Richwine had
eight points.
Irrigon next hosts Waitsburg
(WA) on Dec. 29, and Mac-Hi will
head back to Irrigon on Dec. 29
to take on Heppner in the Irrigon
Invitational.
————
MHS
0 9
5 15 — 29
IHS
8 9 13 13 — 43
MAC-HI — B. Hernandez 10, S. Richwine 8, B.
Jones 4, M. Yensen 3, S. Earls 2, B. Smiley 2.
IRRIGON — A. Zacarias 17, J. Burns 11, M. Davis 4,
L. Mills 3, T. Davis 2, N. Romero 2.
3-pointers — MHS 3, IHS 2. Free throws — MHS
10-23, IHS 3-11.
WESTERN MENNONITE
51, HEPPNER 34 — At Heppner,
the Mustangs dropped their fourth
straight game with a 51-34 loss to
Western Mennonite on Tuesday
afternoon.
Jacee Currin led Heppner
(2-5) with 11 points and made
Heppner’s only 3-pointer, and
Madison Combe pitched in 10
points on 4-10 shooting.
Heppner next travels to Irrigon
to take on Mac-Hi in the Irrigon
Invitational on Dec. 29.
————
WM
11 12 16 12 — 51
HHS
8 8
6 12 — 34
WESTERN MENNONITE — M. Hull 24, A. Hess 16,
P. Hopper, L. Pack 4.
HEPPNER — J. Currin 11, M. Combe 10, J.
Mahoney 8, R. Dompier 2, N. Propheter 2, J.
McCullough 1.
3-pointers — WM 3, HHS 1. Free throws — WM
16-23, HHS 7-19. Fouls — WM 18, HHS 21.
TAFT 49, STANFIELD 37
— At Toledo, Brittin Braithwaite
had a double-double but the Tigers
couldn’t overcome its slow starts
to each half in a non-league loss
on Tuesday at the Toledo Beach
Bash.
Stanfield (1-8) outscored Taft
(2-4) 20-19 in the even quarters,
but lost the odds 31-17.
Braithwaite finished with
12 points and 12 rebounds, and
Natalia Esquivel added 10 points
for Stanfield, which plays its next
game today against De La Salle at
8 a.m.
Audra Zook scored 15 to pace
Taft, and Naomi Rini added 12.
———
THS
21 8 10 11 — 49
SHS
15 7
2 13 — 37
TAFT — A. Zook 15, N. Rini 12, S. Russo 9, A. Mon-
ticelli 6, M. Clanton 5, J Reyes-Cornejo 2, C. Fletcher,
M. Evenson, E. Coulter, M. Smith.
STANFIELD — B. Braithwaite 12, N. Esquivel 10, S.
Connell 5, S. Sharp 4, A. Lemmon 2, A. Griffin 2, K.
Hart 2, A. Carrillo, J. Garcia, C. Neasham.
3-pointers — THS 4; SHS 1. Free throws — THS 3-8;
SHS 4-15. Fouls — THS 18; SHS 14.
BLAZERS:
Continued from 1B
world can see now what’s going
on out here because it’s getting
ridiculous. It’s really ridiculous.”
Earlier in the day, the Kings
fined Cousins for his tirade last
week against Sacramento Bee
columnist Andy Furillo. The
newspaper reported the fine was
$50,000.
CJ McCollum scored 36 points
and Plumlee had a career-high
27 points to go with 13 rebounds
for the Blazers, who have lost
three straight and dropped seven
of eight. Damian Lillard had
24 points and eight assists, and
Maurice Harkless had 11 points
and 10 rebounds.
Reserve guard Ty Lawson had
16 points and both Anthony Toll-
iver and Arron Afflalo scored 11
for the Kings, who played without
second-leading scorer Rudy Gay.
Cousins put the Kings ahead
119-117 with a 3, but Plumlee
countered with a dunk at the other
end to tie it with 46 seconds left.
Trailing by six to open the
fourth quarter, the Kings outscored
Portland 17-4 to take a seven-
point lead midway through the
period. Lawson put Sacramento
in front for the first time, 102-101,
with a baseline jumper.
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: McCollum
had 14 points in 8 first-quarter
minutes. ... Al-Farouq Aminu
(bruised back) has not played in
five of the past six games. ... The
Blazers shot 65 percent in the first
half and led 72-60 at halftime.
... Portland is 5-13 on the road.
... This was the final game of a
three-game road trip and the last
leg of difficult December stretch
in which the Blazers played eight
of nine games and spent 16 of 17
days on the road.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: Host the Dallas
Mavericks on Wednesday.