SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2016
1B
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PENDLETON
Prep Roundup
Bucks’ fi rst loss a heartbreaker Hermiston
Mayhue hits clutch
lets one
3-pointers to lift South
Albany in overtime
slip away
By MATT ENTRUP
East Oregonian
As soon as the ball left her fi ngertips,
South Albany’s Katie Mayhue was calling
her shot.
“I said, ‘Swish,’” said the junior guard.
“And it was swish.”
Mayhue’s prescience Girls Hoops
didn’t earn her any extra
points, but the three
she did get brought her
game-high total to 27 South Albany
and were enough to make
the difference in a 59-56
overtime win over Pend-
leton on Tuesday at Blue
Mountain
Community
Pendleton
College.
Pendleton still had four
seconds to try and force
another extra period, but
turned the ball over on the inbound pass to
seal its fi rst loss of the season.
Mayhue was the thorn in Pendleton’s
side most of the game, and even more
impressive than her called shot was the off
balance buzzer-beating bank shot at the end
of regulation to knot the game at 50-all.
It came from the same spot on the fl oor
in front of the South Albany (6-1) bench as
her game-winner, and was her only fi eld
goal of the second half.
“We had it,” said fi rst-year Pendleton
coach Kevin Porter. “Number three
(Mayhue) hits a great shot at the end of the
game, she probably doesn’t hit one of those
in 400, but she did today so tip your hat to
her.”
After lighting the Bucks up for 19 points
by halftime, there were none at Mosby
Court doubting Mayhue’s ability to put the
ball in the hoop. But with Pendleton (3-1)
senior Haley Greb fastened to her hip for
the second half, it appeared her ability to
impact the game had been neutralized.
Late turnovers prove
costly for Bulldog boys
East Oregonian
CORVALLIS — The Hermiston Bull-
dogs had win No. 7 within their reach on
Tuesday night, but ultimately the victory
slipped right through their fi ngers.
Hermiston turned the ball over four
straight times down the stretch of the game,
leading Crescent Valley to a 55-50 victory
over the Bulldogs at the Crescent Valley
Tournament.
“It was defi nitely a winnable game, but
we just didn’t take care of the ball enough,”
Hermiston coach Casey Arstein said. “We
were solid defensively, but we have some
things to work on offensively with our
execution and things like that.”
Chance Flores paced Hermiston (6-2)
with 18 points and Xavier Rambo added
14 points. Hermiston had its hands full with
Crescent Valley’s Talanoa Hufanga, who
netted a game-high 19 points. Arstein said
that Hufanga, who holds scholarship offers
from numerous Power Five colleges, is one
of the best athletes that his Bulldogs will
face all year.
The Bulldogs will play Ashland today
at 1:30 p.m. to wrap up the Crescent Valley
Tournament.
————
59
56
See BUCKS/2B
HHS
13 9 16 12 — 50
CV
12 10 15 18 — 55
HERMISTON — C. Flores 18, X. Rambo 14, J. Ramirez 6, H.
Walls 5, C. Ortiz 3, A. James 3, A. Earl 1.
CRESCENT VALLEY — T. Hufanga 19, T. Harris 15, K. Killen 8, P.
Heede 6, AJ Sandvig 5, C. Gray 2,
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pendleton’s Maureen Davies and South Albany’s Katie Mayhue go up for a re-
bound in the Bucks’ 59-56 overtime loss to the Rebels on Tuesday in Pendleton.
NBA
STANFIELD 75, TOLEDO 67 — At
Toledo, the Stanfi eld Tigers extended their
win streak to seven games on Tuesday
afternoon, as Dylan Grogan scored a season-
See PREPS/2B
Men’s College Basketball
Cousins’ 55 sends Kings past Blazers
Bell’s career-high
23 carries Oregon
over Fresno State
Portland led by 12 at the
half, couldn’t hang on late
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO,
Calif.
—
DeMarcus Cousins returned from
a brief ejection and fi nished with a
season-high 55 points, capping a wild
day for the hot-tempered big man and
sending the Sacramento Kings past
the Portland Trail
Blazers 126-121
on Tuesday night.
Hours
after
Portland
he was fi ned by
the Kings for his
profanity-laced
tirade
against
a
newspaper
columnist
last
Sacramento
week,
Cousins
pulled down 13
rebounds
and
rallied Sacramento
in the fourth quarter.
He made two huge 3-pointers
and scored 17 points in the fourth to
avenge an earlier overtime loss this
season at Portland. The win snapped
Sacramento’s seven-game losing
streak to the Blazers.
It appeared Cousins’ night was
over before the game even ended.
In the fi nal minute, he put the
By RON RICHMOND
Associated Press
121
126
Ducks fl y to victory
AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli
Sacramento forward DeMarcus Cousins, left, goes to the basket
against Portland’s Meyers Leonard during the fi rst half of Tuesday’s
game in Sacramento, Calif.
Kings back in front when he drove
the lane for a layup and was fouled by
Mason Plumlee.
Cousins initially was given a
second technical foul and thus ejected
for spitting his mouth piece in the
direction of Portland’s bench after
making the shot. He ran into the
tunnel toward the locker room, but
the offi cials huddled and changed the
call.
In a most unusual scene, Cousins
then returned to the court and made
the free throw for a three-point play,
giving the Kings a 122-119 lead with
35 seconds left.
“It’s ridiculous. It’s obvious what’s
being done out here. It’s on a nightly
basis,” Cousins said. “I hope the
See BLAZERS/2B
EUGENE — Jordan Bell
scored a career-high 23 points
and No. 20 Oregon beat Fresno
State 75-63 on Tuesday night
for its ninth straight victory.
Dylan Ennis added 13
points for the Ducks (11-2),
who fi nished nonconference
play on a 33-game home
winning streak.
Paul Watson scored 15
points and Karachi Edo had
12 for the Bulldogs (8-4), who
pulled within 53-50 midway
through the second half before
fi ve straight points by Bell
gave Oregon some cushion.
The Ducks played their
second game without scoring
leader Chris Boucher, who
sprained his left ankle in
practice last Thursday but has
since shed his walking boot.
In Boucher’s absence, Bell
shot 8 of 11 after going 7 of 8
and scoring 16 points against
UNLV on Saturday.
Fresno State
Oregon
63
75
Bell also had eight
rebounds as the teams battled
to a 31-31 draw on the glass.
The Ducks used a 9-0 run
to take control at 31-17 late in
the fi rst half. They made only
1 of 9 3-point attempts but
were 16 of 21 from inside the
arc to lead 39-25 at halftime.
Fresno State opened the
second half with a 15-6 run
to get within fi ve points but
fi nished 6 of 22 from 3-point.
Fresno State’s Jahmel
Taylor, second in the nation
in 3-point shooting at 59.3
percent, went 0 for 7 from
long range and fi nished with
four points, nine below his
average.
UP NEXT
Oregon plays its eighth of
nine games without leaving
the state this month when No.
2 UCLA comes to Eugene on
Dec. 28. That would make
the Bruins the highest-ranked
team to play in Matthew
Knight Arena since it opened
six years ago.
Sports shorts
Oregon’s Horton named USA
Baseball Coach of the Year
EUGENE. — University of Oregon head
coach George Horton was selected by USA
Baseball as the Rod Dedeaux Coach of the Year
award, as announced on Tuesday.
Horton, who has coached the
Ducks since 2009, received the
award after leading the College
National Team on a tour of three
countries over the summer that
included Team USA’s fi rst-ever
series win in Cuba.
“His (Horton’s) ability to
Horton
handle the unique challenges of
the summer tour was fi rst-class; and leading
that group of young men to a series win in Cuba
was remarkable,” said Eric Campbell, USA
Baseball’s General Manager of National Teams.
The team fi nished 11-7-1 on the summer
tour, which also led to its selection as USA
Baseball’s Team of the Year.
“Gus was very cordial
about it. Spoke with
everybody. Came through
the plane shaking hands.
Gus has always been
a great person in that
aspect, but I don’t think
we as players were in the
mood or were ready to
actually see that at that
moment.”
— Sen’Derrick Marks
Jacksonville Jaguar said that play-
ers were uncomfortable that coach
Gus Bradley still fl ew back with the
team after getting fi red following
the loss to Houston Sunday.
EOU’s McGriff named CCC
Player of the Week for 2nd time
LA GRANDE — For the second time this
season, Eastern Oregon’s Bryan McGriff has
been named the Red Lion Cascade Collegiate
Conference Player of the Week.
McGriff, a senior forward from
Las Vegas, averaged 26.5 points
and 14 rebounds to lead his No.
16 Mountaineers to a pair of wins
over Corban and No. 7 Northwest
Christian over the weekend.
For the season, McGriff is
averaging more than 21 points
McGriff
and nine rebounds per game
— both team highs — and has recorded six
double-doubles in 13 games so far.
McGriff also took home Player of the Week
honors on Dec. 5, after netting a double-double
to lead EOU past No. 8 College of Idaho.
The Mountaineers next hit the court on Dec.
30 on the road at Northwest.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1997 — Barry Sanders of
the Detroit Lions becomes the
third player to rush for 2,000
yards in a season when he
gains 184 in a 13-10 win over
the New York Jets. Sanders
fi nishes with 2,053 yards,
second to Eric Dickerson’s
2,105 in 1984.
2010 — The No. 1-ranked
Connecticut women’s basket-
ball team tops the 88-game
winning streak by John
Wooden’s UCLA men’s team
from 1971-74, beating No. 22
Florida State 93-62. The win
gives the Huskies the record
for the longest winning streak
in all of college basketball
history.
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sports@eastoregonian.com