East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, January 14, 2017, WEEKEND EDITION, Page 1B, Image 11

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    SPORTS
WEEKEND, JANUARY 13-14, 2017
1B
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS
Prep Roundup
STANFIELD
Tigers pull away from Mustangs Riverside
girls snap
league
drought
Stanfi eld boys
and girls beat
Heppner in
league opener
By MATT ENTRUP
East Oregonian
The Stanfi eld Tigers showed
no signs of rust Friday in their
return to the court after a three-
week layoff.
After matching the Heppner
Mustangs shot for shot in the
fi rst half, the Tigers went on a
run that was
Boys Hoops highlighted by
Brody Woods’
breakaway
dunk in middle
Heppner
of the third
quarter
and
never slowed
up to pull
away for an
81-66 win in
Stanfi eld
both
team’s
Columbia
Basin Confer-
ence opener.
It capped a strong night for the
Tigers, which watched their girls’
team steadily extend its eight-
point halftime lead for a 54-45
win the fi rst varsity game. It was
also their league opener.
The girls had waited just eight
days since their last game, though.
The boys had done nothing but
practice since beating Waldport
on Dec. 21.
“We were a little nervous
coming in, I mean it’s Heppner,
they’ve always got a tough team,”
said Stanfi eld senior Ryan Bailey.
“But our last practice was a great
one. Everyone’s playing together
really good and we were really
ready for this one.”
Despite the pre-game jitters,
Stanfi eld (10-1, 1-0 CBC) didn’t
take long to get into the fl ow of
the game as Dylan Grogan sank a
straightaway three-pointer on the
Tigers’ third fi eld-goal attempt for
a 3-2 lead.
It was the fi rst of 13 lead
changes in the game — nine of
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
those came in the fi rst half — and Stanfi eld’s Dylan Grogan grabs a rebound guarded by Heppner’s Wyatt Steagall in the Tigers’ 81-
the fi rst of a game-high 25 points 66 win against the Mustangs on Friday in Stanfi eld.
for the senior guard. Bailey added
The Mustangs were paced by Murray knotted the score on a effort.
12 points in the game and eight
the
14-point nights of posts Kevin putback as time expired.
“I thought they played hard,”
different Tigers made baskets
Murray
and
Wyatt
Steagall
while
Stanfi
eld
coach
Jason
Sperr
Sperr
said. “We didn’t rotate well
in the fi rst half as they battled
said that while he wouldn’t call on our press, but Heppner is a
Heppner (8-3, 0-1) to a 31-31 tie Jake Lindsay added 12.
Neither team led by more than it a perfect half of basketball by very disciplined and controlled
at intermission.
See TIGERS/2B
three points in the fi rst half and any means, he was happy with the
66
81
Pirates earn fi rst league
win since 2013
East Oregonian
BOARDMAN — On Feb.
12, 2013, the Riverside Pirates
girls basketball team defeated the
Umatilla Vikings 38-31 in the season
fi nale, and throughout the past three
seasons the game stood as the Pirates’
last league win.
Until Friday night, that is.
Riverside used some clutch
scoring and stout defense to defeat
the
Irrigon
Girls Hoops Knights 45-42
in an overtime
thriller, giving
the Pirates that
Irrigon
coveted
fi rst
league victory in
nearly four years.
“It’s great,”
Riverside coach
Clair
Costello
Riverside
said afterwards.
“And it’s big
to get that fi rst
league win off
our belts right away.”
Riverside (7-3, 1-0 EOL) began
the fourth quarter trailing by fi ve
and later trailed by as much as seven
points before the Pirates went on a
late run to eventually take the lead.
The Pirates tried to hang on for a
regulation victory, but Irrigon’s (7-6,
0-1) Kylie Wyant nailed a shot to tie
the game and send it to overtime.
In the extra frame, Riverside’s
defense stepped up when they
needed it the most and kept the
Knights offense at bay to help clinch
the victory.
Brenda Avalos led Riverside
(7-3, 1-0 EOL) with 14 points, while
Lacey Mashos scored 11 points, and
Skylar Wightman added 11 points.
The win is the fi fth in a row for the
Pirates.
For Irrigon (7-6, 0-1), Jada Burns
scored a game-high 20 points in the
Knights Eastern Oregon League
debut.
Riverside next heads to Burns
today for a 2 p.m. tipoff, while
Irrigon hosts Umatilla for a 3 p.m.
42
45
See PREPS/2B
NFL
A lot has changed since previous Atlanta-Seattle matchup
With Wilson healthy and
run game discovered,
Seahawks ready to go
By PAUL NEWBERRY
Associated Press
ATLANTA — As with any rematch,
there are certainly things that both teams
learned about each other the fi rst time
around.
Then again, so much will be different
when the Atlanta Falcons host Seattle
in an NFC divisional playoff game
Saturday.
Especially for the Seahawks.
Seattle found a running game in its
NFC Divisional Playoffs
Seattle
Atlanta
Seahawks
Falcons
(10-5-1)
(11-5)
• TODAY, 1:35 p.m.
• at Georgia Dome, Atlanta
• TV: FOX
playoff opener, and quarterback Russell
Wilson appears as healthy as he’s been
all season.
Yet the defense looks a lot less
imposing without safety Earl Thomas,
out for the season with a broken leg.
Most signifi cantly, this game will
be at the Georgia Dome, costing the
Seahawks perhaps the most imposing
home-fi eld advantage in the NFL. A
26-24 victory over the Falcons in Week
6 was at the Link.
“We’ve got the best fans in the
world,” said Wilson, no doubt mindful
that Seattle is 8-1 at home this season
but just 3-4-1 on the road. “We don’t
take that for granted.”
In addition to having the fans on their
side for the rematch, the Falcons look a
bit different on the fi eld.
The young defense, with as many
as four rookie starters, has grown up
considerably over the latter part of the
season, even after a season-ending
injury to its best cornerback, Desmond
Trufant.
Vic Beasley, in particular, established
himself as one of the league’s most
See SEAHAWKS/2B
AP Photo/David Goldman, File
Quarterback Russell Wilson and the Seahawks go back
to Atlanta this weekend trying to keep this trip from
being a bookend to their run among the NFC elite.
Sports shorts
Ex-Hermiston wrestler Berger
adds another win on Friday
LINCOLN, Neb. — After falling one win
shy of All-American status as a freshman,
Nebraska’s Tyler Berger is looking to bring
home a lot more than that as a sophomore.
The No. 3-ranked 157-pounder
in the nation, Berger added
another win to his season on
Friday as the No. 5 Cornhuskers
beat No. 21 Wisconsin 28-11 in a
Big Ten dual.
Berger beat the Badgers’ Jarod
Berger
Donar by major decision 14-4 to
raise his record to 21-2 and 8-1
in duals.
Berger, who won three state wrestling titles
for Hermiston High, was coming off a loss to
No. 1 Jason Nolf of Penn State.
Nebraska will be back in action on Sunday
when it hosts No. 13 Michigan.
“I’m the only guy that
can actually make the
offer and I’m actually
making a real offer: We’ll
pay (Mayweather) $25
million, we’ll pay Conor
$25 million and then we’ll
talk about pay-per-view at
a certain number. There’s
a real offer.“
— Dana White
UFC President said on Friday that
he offered each Conor McGregor
and Floyd Mayweather each $25
million on top of pay-per-view for
a boxing match. McGregor and
Mayweather each publicly said
that their price tag is $100 million.
Mariners avoid arbitration
with eight players
SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle Mariners
have agreed to terms on 2017 contracts with
infi elder Jean Segura, left-hander Drew Smyly
and outfi elder Jarrod Dyson after
acquiring them in trades earlier
this month.
The Mariners also reached
deals with outfi elder Leonys
Martin, infi elder Danny
Valencia, left-hander James Paxton and
right-handers Evan Scribner and Nick Vincent.
Segura, the centerpiece of the offseason
moves, agreed to the biggest deal of the day,
a $6.2 million, one-year contract. It’s a big
bump from his $2.6 million salary last year.
The 26-year-old batted a career-high .319
with 20 homers, 33 stolen bases last year,
leading the NL with 203 hits. He is eligible for
free agency after the 2018 season.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1973 — The Miami
Dolphins, who went 14-0 in
the regular season and won
two playoff games, beat the
Washington Redskins 14-7 in
the Super Bowl to become the
only undefeated team in NFL
history.
2003 — Pat Summitt
becomes the fi rst women’s
college basketball coach to
win 800 Division I games
when her Tennessee Lady
Vols beat DePaul 76-57.
2012 — Evgeni Nabokov
makes 23 saves against the
Buffalo Sabres as his New
York Islanders won 4-2 to
become the 26th NHL goale
to collect 300 career wins.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com