Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
BRIEFLY
Clemson makes big
winners out of bettors
LAS VEGAS (AP) —
Bookmakers were feeling
so good about things with
Alabama up 14-0 midway
through the second quarter of
the College Football Cham-
pionship that they offered 19
points to get bettors to wager on
Clemson.
They weren’t feeling so
good later when Clemson’s
comeback win made big losers
out of sports books up and
down the Las Vegas Strip.
“It was a terrific college
football season for the books,”
said Jay Kornegay, oddsmaker
at the Westgate Las Vegas. “But
it certainly ended on a sour note
for us.”
Bettors scored a rare victory
in a big game, jumping on
Clemson when betting opened
a week earlier and staying
with the Tigers until finally
bookmakers stopped taking bets
in the second half of Monday
night’s game.
Northwestern player’s
death ruled suicide
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) —
The Cook County medical
examiner says Northwestern
women’s basketball player
Jordan Hankins killed herself
in her dorm room earlier this
week.
The office released the
results of an autopsy on
Tuesday, a day after the body
of the 19-year-old Hankins was
found.
Hankins was recruited out of
Lawrence North High School in
Indianapolis. She averaged 3.6
points in 11 games this season.
Coach Joe McKeown
called the 5-foot-8 sophomore
a “remarkably dynamic
young woman.” Because of
the tragedy, Northwestern’s
game against Minnesota on
Wednesday has been canceled.
Mighigan’s Peppers
to enter NFL draft
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP)
— Jabrill Peppers has decided
to enter the NFL draft and skip
his senior season at Michigan.
The Heisman Trophy finalist
announced his plans Tuesday.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound
Peppers is projected to be a
first-round pick in April.
He did not play for the
sixth-ranked Wolverines in a
33-32 loss to No. 10 Florida
State on Dec. 31 in the Orange
Bowl because of an injured left
hamstring.
Peppers usually played
linebacker, one of 15 positions
the team says he played last
season on defense, offense and
special teams. Peppers won the
Hornung Award as the nation’s
most versatile college football
player.
Michigan (10-3) finished
No. 10 in the final Associated
Press college football poll.
Knicks fine Rose for
missing game
NEW YORK (AP) —
Derrick Rose has returned to
practice with the New York
Knicks after missing their game
the night before for what he
described as family reasons.
The Knicks’ public relations
department posted a photo on
Twitter on Tuesday that showed
Rose in his No. 25 practice
jersey, standing with his team-
mates at their training facility in
Greenburgh, New York.
The team later announced
he had been fined for missing
the 110-96 loss to New
Orleans on Monday and said
he was expected to be in
uniform Wednesday night in
Philadelphia.
Rose told reporters he had
returned to Chicago for family
reasons and that his absence
had nothing to do with basket-
ball. He said he apologized
to his teammates and Knicks
management, telling them it
wouldn’t happen again.
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
NFL
Falcons’ Ryan looking to fill void on resume
By CHARLES ODUM
Associated Press
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. —
Matt Ryan’s poise under pressure
has produced 25 fourth-quarter
comebacks, a “Matty Ice” nick-
name and his first All-Pro selection.
The Atlanta Falcons’ quarterback
also is a leading MVP candidate .
The glaring void on Ryan’s
resume is his 1-4 postseason record.
At 31, Ryan may not have many
more chances to change his reputa-
tion as a quarterback who comes up
short in the playoffs.
Ryan’s only playoff win came
against Seattle after the 2012 regular
season, and he’ll have another shot
at the Seahawks in Saturday’s NFC
divisional round game.
Ryan said Tuesday he has never
been better prepared for the play-
offs.
“I feel like as you get experience
throughout your career, you try to
learn from all of it and you try to
use it to make you better,” Ryan
said. “I feel like I’ve done that
throughout my career. Both positive
and negative, I’ve learned from all
of those experiences and ... I feel
like I’m just playing my best and
playing better than I ever have.”
No matter his stats, Ryan ulti-
mately will be judged by his team’s
success. The Falcons led the NFL
in scoring while winning the NFC
South, but a loss in their playoff
opener would lead some critics to
conclude they were just another
regular-season fad that was not built
AP Photo/David Goldman, File
In this Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017, file photo, Atlanta Falcons quarterback
Matt Ryan, right, huddles with his teammates before an NFL foot-
ball game against the New Orleans Saints in Atlanta.
for the postseason.
A loss also would leave an even
larger void on Ryan’s record.
Falcons coach Dan Quinn said
he talked with Ryan about the extra
playoff pressure placed on the
quarterback.
Quinn said this is a different
Ryan than the one who lost to the
49ers in the NFC championship
game after the 2012 season and
also suffered one-and-done playoff
losses to Arizona in his 1998 rookie
season, to Green Bay in 2010 and to
the Giants in 2011.
Quinn believes Ryan is ready for
postseason success.
“For him I think you can’t truly
be relentless until you’ve been right
close to it and you didn’t get it,”
Quinn said Tuesday. “I know from
my experience you learn so much
from a loss and what you gain from
it. What I can tell you is Matt’s a far
different quarterback today than he
was a few years ago.”
Quinn said Ryan’s “ability to
attack, his ability to be ready” in
this season’s offense “has nothing
to do with” past playoff failures.
BLAZERS: Head home to host Cleveland
Continued from 1B
Luol Deng led the Lakers with 14 points, but
did not make a field goal after the first half.
Russell was 4 of 14 on the night, finishing with
nine points, eight rebounds and six assists.
“A little incident happened and then they
turned up the pressure,” he said. “They started
making shots, started getting stops and we didn’t.”
The Blazers shot 50.6 percent. Harkless hit all
but one of his six field goal attempts and blocked
three shots. Al-Farouq Aminu had 15 rebounds,
and Evan Turner added seven assists off the
bench.
“I was really pleased with our defensive effort
in the second half,” Portland coach Terry Stotts
said. “Particularly in the third quarter, we did a
really nice job in a lot of different areas.”
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: When guard Allen Crabbe scored
30 points Sunday against Detroit, he became the
first Portland player to score 30 off the bench since
Jamal Crawford went for 34 on April 11, 2012. ...
Mason Plumlee’s 10 rebounds and 12 assists vs.
the Pistons made him the first Blazers forward or
center to have a double-double in those categories
since Mychal Thompson on Jan. 6, 1984.
Lakers: G Lou Williams leads the team in
scoring (17.9 points per game) off the bench. He
could become only the second Lakers reserve
to lead the club in scoring. The other was Nick
Young, three seasons ago. ... Los Angeles’ bench
remains the NBA’s best offensive unit (49.1
points per game).
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: Play on back-to-back nights
when they host Cleveland on Wednesday. The
Blazers have won the last three matchups in
Portland.
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
Portland Trail Blazers center Mason Plumlee, right,
shoots as Los Angeles Lakers center Timofey Mozgov,
of Russia, defends during the first half of an NBA bas-
ketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017, in Los Angeles.
Ryan said he doesn’t dwell on
past playoff letdowns.
“I don’t worry about it too
much,” he said. “One thing I’ve
learned throughout my career is if
you spend time worrying about that,
you’re not spending time worrying
about the things that are going to
make a difference on Sunday.”
The approach is working for
Ryan. He had a career-high 38
touchdown passes and a low with
only seven interceptions this season.
He finished second in the league in
TD passes and yards passing. His
117.1 passer rating leads the NFL.
Seattle coach Pete Carroll said
Ryan’s success following a startling
dip in production in 2015 is a natural
progression for his second season
with offensive coordinator Kyle
Shanahan. The success has made
Shanahan a target for at least four
teams looking for head coaches.
“The word we use is chemistry
between throwers and catchers,”
Carroll said in a telephone interview.
“There really is a lot to that. You
can see just the benefit of the years
together and the benefit of being in
the same scheme for two years.”
Carroll said the Falcons offense led
by Ryan is “as good as you can get.”
Ryan wouldn’t say if this offense
will be a better fit for the postseason.
“I know this team that we’re
a part of right now,” Ryan said.
“We’re good enough to get the job
done every week. I really feel that
way. We just need to continue to do
the same things we’ve done up to
this point.”
Men’s College Basketball
West Virginia
upsets Baylor
MORGANTOWN, W.Va.
(AP) — Baylor’s euphoria over
its ascent to the No. 1 ranking
lasted just one day.
Nathan Adrian broke out of
a shooting slump with a career-
high 22 points, and No. 10 West
Virginia beat the sloppy Bears
89-68 on Tuesday night in the
program’s first game with the
top ranking.
Baylor defeated Iowa State
and Oklahoma State last week
by a combined six points at
home to overtake Villanova for
the No. 1 spot when the AP poll
came out on Monday.
Against West Virginia, Baylor
(15-1, 3-1 Big 12) committed
a season-high 29 turnovers the
school record is 31 and never led
in its second true road game of
the season. The loss means No.
5 Gonzaga is the only remaining
unbeaten team in Division I.
“They just took us out of
everything,” Baylor coach Scott
Drew said. “We weren’t overcon-
fident. They just kicked our butt.”
West Virginia (14-2, 3-1)
started the second half with an
11-3 run and kept pouring it on,
leading by as many as 26 points
down the stretch.
OSAA: Mac-Hi, Pilot Rock could move down in football
Continued from 1B
“From our perspective, football
is something we will have to look
at sooner or later,” he said. “We
are having more and more schools
having trouble fielding teams at
all levels, and with that plus injury
concerns, I think we have to look
at it separately and try to even the
playing field.”
In this football-only proposal,
which can be found at OSAA.com,
schools were evaluated by various
criteria such as total games played,
games won, winning percentage,
and average number of participants.
Two local teams would be affected,
as Mac-Hi was bumped down to the
3A level and Pilot Rock to the 1A
level after scoring near the bottom
in each of their respective classifi-
cations for those criteria.
Of course, nothing is final as
of now as the OSAA committee
has seven remaining meetings
remaining before a final proposal
will be made to the OSAA Exec-
utive Committee in October, so a
lot can change. The next meeting is
scheduled for Jan. 30 at the OSAA
offices in Wilsonville.
Here is a rundown of the current
proposals on the table from the
December meeting:
● SIX CLASSIFICATIONS:
With Hermiston moving up to
6A, Pendleton will be the lone 5A
school in Eastern Oregon. The
Buckaroos would move into the
six-team Intermountain Conference
made up of Crook County, Hood
River Valley, Redmond, Ridgeview
and The Dalles. At the 2A level,
the Columbia Basin Conference
combines with the Wapiti League
to form an eight-team league
comprising of Enterprise, Grant
Union, Heppner, Imbler, Pilot
Rock, Stanfield, Union, and
Weston-McEwen. The 4A Greater
Oregon League, 3A Eastern Oregon
League, 1A Big Sky League and 1A
Old Oregon League remain intact.
● FIVE CLASSIFICATIONS:
With 5A becoming the highest
class, Pendleton moves into the
4A Intermountain Conference
with five other teams including
Crook County, Madras, Redmond,
Ridgeview and The Dalles. Mac-Hi
would move down to the 3A level
and join Baker, Burns, La Grande,
Nyssa, Ontario, Umatilla and Vale
in the Greater Oregon League. At
the 2A level, the Wapiti League is
comprised of 10 teams including
Enterprise, Grant Union, Heppner,
Imbler, Irrigon, Pilot Rock, River-
side, Stanfield, Union, and Weston-
McEwen. Everything at the 1A
level remains the same.
● FOOTBALL-ONLY SIX
CLASSIFICATIONS: At the 6A
level, Hermiston goes into Special
District 1 with the likes of Barlow,
Centennial, Central Catholic,
Clackamas, David Douglas, and
Liberty. At the 5A level, Pendleton
moves into the 10-team Special
District 1 with Century, Glencoe,
Gresham, Hillsboro, La Salle,
Putnam, Redmond, Reynolds, and
Sandy. Mac-Hi drops into Class
3A in this proposal, and joins 3A
Special District 3 with Burns,
Irrigon, La Pine, Nyssa, Umatilla,
and Vale.
At 2A, Special District 3 is
comprised of Culver, Enterprise,
Grant Union, Heppner, Imbler,
Riverside, Stanfield, Union, and
Weston-McEwen. Pilot Rock is a
notable mover, dropping down to
the 1A level in this proposal due
to lack of recent success as well as
lower average turnout compared to
the rest of the class. The Rockets
would join 1A Special District 1
with the likes of Echo, Cove, Enter-
prise, Powder Valley, and Wallowa,
while Ione, and Arlington/Condon’s
Special District 4 remains intact.
————
Contact Eric at esinger@
eastoregonian.com
or
(541)
966-0839. Follow him on Twitter
@ByEricSinger.
SEAHAWKS: Wagner says loss gave team the motivation to work even harder
Continued from 1B
left after a 2-yard TD run by
Marshawn Lynch.
Wilson finished that day
throwing for 385 yards, still
a career best, but Atlanta hit
two long pass plays in the
final 30 seconds and Matt
Bryant’s 49-yard field goal
with 8 seconds left won the
game for the Falcons.
“We felt like we were far,
but we still had a long way to
go,” Seattle linebacker Bobby
Wagner said. “Kind of like
woke us up, but it definitely
made us hungry too because
when you feel like you have
a great team that should win
it all and you lose … and you
sit there in the offseason and
watch the other teams win,
it gives you that hunger to
come into the next season
prepared and I think that’s
what happened.”
K.J. Wright
echoed
Wagner’s feeling about the
game. Wright is among
a handful of key players
that remain on Seattle’s
roster despite the Seahawks
constant churn. He believes
Seattle doesn’t get to a Super
Bowl without that loss.
“I believe that we weren’t
quite ready yet to take it all
the way,” Wright said. “I’m
kind of glad that happened to
us because we learned from
it. We won the Super Bowl
the following year so we
learned from that moment.”
While their experience
and knowledge has grown
in the seasons since, the
memory of that game
remains fresh, especially this
week when the scenario is
very similar.
Atlanta is again the
higher-seeded team with a
multifaceted offense that was
among the best in football,
and Matt Ryan directing the
charge. The Falcons are the
rightful favorites then and
now.
But the situation is signifi-
cantly different for Seattle.
The Seahawks were the
upstarts then; young, brash
and looking to prove they
belonged.
Now, they’re trying to
continue their legacy and
prove even with a resume
that includes five straight
appearances in the divisional
round of the playoffs, they
are still the powerhouse of
the NFC.
“I still remember that
game, me and (Bruce Irvin)
sitting at the end, watching,”
Wagner said. “It wasn’t
a great feeling. We want
to make sure that doesn’t
happen again.”
NOTES: RB C.J. Prosise
practiced on Tuesday for the
first time since suffering a
broken shoulder blade in
November. Carroll said it
would go all week before a
decision is made if Prosise
will play. “He’s going to
have to go full speed and
let it rip. If he’s holding
back, he won’t play,” Carroll
said. … FB Marcel Reese
should be able to play after
suffering a foot injury in the
opening-round win against
Detroit.