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Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Friday, January 20, 2017 Men’s College Basketball Arizona’s Trier tested positive for PED Associated Press TUCSON, Ariz. — Arizona sophomore Allonzo Trier, who has yet to play this season, admitted Wednesday that he tested positive for a banned performance-en- hancing drug. The 6-foot-5 Trier, who came to Arizona as the marquee player in coach Sean Miller’s recruiting class, had a strong freshman season, averaging 14.8 points. “Earlier this season, I was notified that I tested positive for a trace amount of a banned performance-en- hancing drug following an NCAA random test and I was shocked,” Trier said in a statement. “I have never knowingly taken a banned substance. After finding out that I was given a banned substance by a well-inten- tioned, but misguided person not associated with the University after an injury, I presented this information to the NCAA. “The NCAA agreed that I had no knowledge of receiving the substance and my eligibility was restored. Although I can practice and travel with the team, I am not allowed to resume playing in games until the substance completely leaves my body even at a trace amount. Unfortunately, I am unsure of when that time will be, but I hope it is soon.” The school had never said why Trier was suspended, citing privacy issues. Miller had said Trier was prac- ticing with the 14th-ranked Wildcats but never indicated when he would be back. Trier thanked his family, coaches, teammates, his attorney and the athletics department for their support. “I will not have any further comment at this time,” the statement said. “In addition, I have asked the athletics department to respect my privacy by not answering any questions or releasing any information beyond this statement.” AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File In this Jan. 12, 2017, file photo, Arizona sophomore Allonzo Trier, center, sits on the bench during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Arizona State, in Tucson, Ariz. Trier, who has yet to play this season, admitted Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017, that he tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing drug. RAMBO: Track was initial athletic passion Continued from 1B transfer to Hermiston, where he had attended school from kindergarten through freshman year of high school. “I just wanted to be with my friends, and graduate with my friends,” Rambo said. Though the jump from small-school to large-school sports can be difficult, Rambo has exceeded expec- tations. Through 13 games, Rambo has carved out a big role as a starter and go-to scorer for the Hermiston Bulldogs as the team begins its journey to capture its first Columbia River Conference title since 2014. But Rambo’s individual journey to this point began more than a decade ago, when he started playing basketball at age four. He started playing as much as he could along with his three older brothers, and later on playing in the Hermiston Youth Basketball Association and on the AAU circuit. But it was not until much later that he developed a love for the game. His first love was actually track and field, sprinting especially, as he developed his fast wheels as a sprinter. “I didn’t start taking basketball seriously until seventh, eighth grade,” Rambo said. “I was focusing on track, running the 100-meter, 200-meter dashes until some friends started getting me into basketball those years. Then I started developing and growing and started knowing I could be good at this game.” Rambo missed out on his entire freshman season due to an injury, and then transferred to Irrigon for his sophomore season for academic reasons. It was there that Rambo really found his love for the game and started to show the potential that was building up and nearly bursting at the seams of his 6-foot-tall frame, something his teammates noticed too. “X works hard and always wants to get better,” Fredy Vera said. “He brings so much to the team, he’s a scoring threat and can also knock down the jumper that’s what makes him so tough to guard, his ability to get to the rim and also shoot it.” And last season, Rambo began to show off his early-developed speed on a regular basis, easily outrun- ning defenders in transition and gaining lost ground on defense in the snap of a finger. “Honestly I wish I had the speed that he has,” Vera said. “I didn’t think I’d ever see somebody at that level with that much speed. I always told him, ‘Nobody can guard you,’ because really nobody can.” As his development continued on an upward trajectory, Rambo knew that transferring to the Class 5A level from the 2A level was not going to be an easy task to start out. “I knew I was going to have to step up my game a lot,” he said. “It wasn’t going to be like 2A basketball with some slower players, everyone is fast up here and I knew I’d have to play with a fast pace and just mesh with my teammates.” Hermiston coach Casey Arstein expected there would be an adjustment period with Rambo, and said his smooth transition has been pleasing to watch. “I knew it was going to take some time, especially since he wasn’t able to play summer ball with us over the summer due to injuries,” Arstein said. “He just needed to let the game come to him and realize he’s more of a slasher. When he is able to get out and run and use the open court to attack he’s going to excel and I think you’re seeing his basketball IQ growing.” Rambo had a very good debut for the Bulldogs. He scored 15 points — second most on the team — as Hermiston beat Walla Walla 57-48 back on Nov. 30. But then he ran into a bit of a rough patch over the next five games, hitting the double-digit mark just one time and missing a game due to a concussion. He was able to bounce back admirably as he got settled in with the Bulldogs, scoring a team-high 25 points on Dec. 13 against St. Helens and then a career-high 30 points on Dec. 20 against Ashland. On the season, Rambo is averaging 16.1 points per game. “I’ve definitely been getting a lot more comfort- able,” he said. “I was having some ups and downs early, some games I would be pure defense and some games it was offense and defense. I’ve been working on my shot more trying to score the ball more, it’s just harder work in practice and it’s paying off.” Hermiston was dealt a blow leading up to the Bulldogs’ game against AC Davis (WA) on Jan. 3 as senior guard Chance Flores broke a bone in his right hand in a team practice, leaving him out indefinitely and the Bulldogs without its leading scorer. That’s when Rambo knew he had to step up his game even more. “With Chance out it’s a big loss because he’s big on defense and offense,” he said. “We had to have a lot of younger guys step up and I had to step up more than ever.” In the three games that Flores has missed, Rambo has averaged 20 points including clutch perfor- mances in an overtime win against Dallas and a gritty win over previously unbeaten La Grande. His speed and athleticism have been on display even more in those two games, including a clutch coast-to-coast fastbreak lay-in in the waning seconds against Dallas where he blew past several defenders to tie the game and send it to the extra period. “I knew having him on the team was going to be a help just because of his athletic ability,” Flores said on Thursday. “I’m not in the games but I can tell when X gets the ball he’s just going to beat his guy, he’s just too fast.” “He reminds me of probably one of the best players to come through here J.J. Ross (Class of 2008),” Arstein added. “(Ross) had a quick first step and can explode to the rim like X, but I haven’t seen this type of athleticism for a while. Some great athletes have come through here for sure but his fast moves are a little different than most kids so it’s nice having him on the team.” With more than half his senior season expired, Rambo already has his eyes on playing basketball at the next level. He said that he has had contact with a few colleges, both community colleges and smaller universities, and hopes to commit to somewhere later in the spring. He called Eastern Oregon University his dream school, because of its close proximity to Hermiston and a campus that he loves. Rambo knows he still has work to do to reach those dreams. “It all comes down to how I finish.” ———— Contact Eric at esinger@ eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0839. Follow him on Twitter @ByEricSinger. SCOREBOARD Local Slate BOYS PREP BASKETBALL Today Culver at Heppner, 6 p.m. Weston-McEwen at Pilot Rock, 6 p.m. Hermiston at The Dalles, 7 p.m. Hood River at Pendleton, 7 p.m. Cove at Echo, 7 p.m. Vale at Irrigon, 7:30 p.m. Burns at Umatilla, 7:30 p.m. Nyssa at Riverside, 7:30 p.m. South Wasco at Ione, 7:30 p.m. Arlington at Sherman, 7:30 p.m. Joseph at Nixyaawii, 7:30 p.m. Helix at Pine Eagle, 7:30 p.m. Saturday Pilot Rock at Heppner, 4 p.m. Burns at Irrigon, 4:30 p.m. Nyssa at Umatilla, 4:30 p.m. Vale at Riverside, 4:30 p.m. Ione at Horizon Christian, 5:30 p.m. Arlington at Dufur, 5:30 p.m. Sherman at Condon/Wheeler, 5:30 p.m. Wallowa at Nixyaawii, 5:30 p.m. Echo at Helix, 5:30 p.m. Stanfield at Weston-McEwen, 7 p.m. GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL Today Culver at Heppner, 4:30 p.m. Weston-McEwen at Pilot Rock, 6 p.m. Vale at Irrigon, 6 p.m. Burns at Umatilla, 6 p.m. Nyssa at Riverside, 6 p.m. South Wasco at Ione, 6 p.m. Arlington at Sherman, 6 p.m. Joseph at Nixyaawii, 6 p.m. Helix at Pine Eagle, 6 p.m. Cove at Echo, 6 p.m. Pendleton at Hood River, 7 p.m. The Dalles at Hermiston, 7 p.m. Mac-Hi at Stanfield, 7:30 p.m. Saturday Nyssa at Umatilla, 3 p.m. Burns at Irrigon, 3 p.m. Vale at Riverside, 3 p.m. Ione at Horizon Christian, 4 p.m. Arlington at Dufur, 4 p.m. Sherman at Condon/Wheeler (Condon), 4 p.m. Wallowa at Nixyaawii, 4 p.m. Echo at Helix, 4 p.m. Stanfield at Weston-McEwen, 5:30 p.m. Pilot Rock at Heppner, 5:30 p.m. PREP WRESTLING Today Hermiston at Reser’s Tournament of Champions (at Hillsboro), TBD Mac-Hi at Parma (ID), TBD Irrigon, Heppner at Grant Union Tourna- ment, TBD Saturday Hermiston at Reser’s Tournament of Champions (at HIllsboro), TBD Mac-Hi at Parma (ID), TBD Riverside at Gervais, 10 a.m. Pendleton at Wilsonville Tournament, 10:30 a.m. PREP SWIMMING Today Pendleton at Reynolds, 4 p.m. Saturday Pendleton, Hermiston at Hood River, 10 a.m. MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL Today Eastern Oregon at Northwest Christian, 7:30 p.m. Saturday Walla Walla at Blue Mountain, 4 p.m. Eastern Oregon at Corban, 7:30 p.m. WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL Today Eastern Oregon at Northwest Christian, 5:30 p.m. Saturday Walla Walla at Blue Mountain, 2 p.m. Eastern Oregon at Corban, 5:30 p.m. COLLEGE WRESTLING Today North Idaho at Eastern Oregon (men), 7 p.m. Sunday Eastern Oregon (women) at Clackamas CC Open, TBA Football NFL Conference Championships Sunday NFC: Green Bay at Atlanta, 12:05 p.m. (FOX) AFC: Pittsburgh at New England, 3:40 p.m. (CBS) Basketball NBA Wednesday’s Late Games Golden State 121, Oklahoma City 100 Indiana 106, Sacramento 100 Thursday’s Games Cleveland 118, Phoenix 103 Miami 99, Dallas 95 Washington 113, New York 110 San Antonio 118, Denver 104 Minnesota 104, L.A. Clippers 101 Today’s Games Milwaukee at Orlando, 4 p.m. Portland at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. Toronto at Charlotte, 4 p.m. Brooklyn at New Orleans, 5 p.m. Chicago at Atlanta, 5 p.m. Golden State at Houston, 5 p.m. Sacramento at Memphis, 5 p.m. Utah at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. Indiana at L.A. Lakers, 7:30 p.m. NCAA Men’s Top 25 Thursday’s Games No. 3 UCLA 102, Arizona State 80 No. 4 Gonzaga 88, Santa Clara 57 No. 11 Oregon 86, California 63 No. 12 Louisville 92, Clemson 60 No. 14 Arizona 73, Southern Cal 66 No. 23 Saint Mary’s 62, Pacific 50 No. 25 Maryland 84, Iowa 76 Today’s Games No games scheduled Women’s Top 25 Thursday’s Games No. 3 Maryland 83, Michigan 70 No. 4 Mississippi State 67, Alabama 54 No. 5 South Carolina 65, Mississippi 46 No. 6 Notre Dame 80, Boston College 69 No. 7 Florida State 77, Syracuse 58 No. 15 Duke 84, No. 17 Virginia Tech 59 No. 16 Ohio State 70, Wisconsin 61 Missouri 78, No. 25 Texas A&M 76 Today’s Games No. 10 Stanford vs. Arizona, 7 p.m. No. 11 Oregon State vs. Utah, 8 p.m. No. 18 Arizona State at California, 8 p.m. Hockey NHL Wednesday’s Late Games Edmonton 4, Florida 3, OT San Jose 3, Los Angeles 2 Thursday’s Games Ottawa 2, Columbus 0 N.Y. Islanders 3, Dallas 0 N.Y. Rangers 5, Toronto 2 Washington 7, St. Louis 3 Minnesota 4, Arizona 3 Nashville 4, Calgary 3 Anaheim 2, Colorado 1 San Jose 2, Tampa Bay 1 Today’s Games Chicago at Boston, 7 p.m. Detroit at Buffalo, 7 p.m. Pittsburgh at Carolina, 7 p.m. Montreal at New Jersey, 7:30 p.m. Nashville at Edmonton, 9 p.m. Florida at Vancouver, 10 p.m. Tennis Australian Open Thursday At Melbourne Park Melbourne, Australia Purse: $37.4 million (Grand Slam) Surface: Hard-Outdoor Singles Men Second Round Richard Gasquet (18), France, def. Carlos Berlocq, Argentina, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1. Philipp Kohlschreiber (32), Germany, def. Donald Young, United States, 7-5, 6-3, 6-0. Pablo Carreno Busta (30), Spain, def. Kyle Edmund, Britain, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. Gilles Simon (25), France, def. Rogerio Dutra Silva, Brazil, 6-4, 6-1, 6-1. Roberto Bautista Agut (13), Spain, def. Yoshihito Nishioka, Japan, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3. Grigor Dimitrov (15), Bulgaria, def. Chung Hyeon, South Korea, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. David Ferrer (21), Spain, def. Ernesto Esc- obedo, United States, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Milos Raonic (3), Canada, def. Gilles Muller, Luxembourg, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4). David Goffin (11), Belgium, def. Radek Stepanek, Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-0, 6-3. Gael Monfils (6), France, def. Alexandr Dolgopolov, Ukraine, 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-0. Ivo Karlovic (20), Croatia, def. Andrew Whittington, Australia, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Denis Istomin, Uzbekistan, def. Novak Djokovic (2), Serbia, 7-6 (8), 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4. Alexander Zverev (24), Germany, def. Frances Tiafoe, United States, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. Benoit Paire, France, def. Fabio Fognini, Italy, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Rafael Nadal (9), Spain, def. Marcos Baghdatis, Cyprus, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3. Dominic Thiem (8), Austria, def. Jordan Thompson, Australia, 6-2, 6-1, 6-7 (6), 6-4. Women Second Round Johanna Konta (9), Britain, def. Naomi Osaka, Japan, 6-4, 6-2. Karolina Pliskova (5), Czech Republic, def. Anna Blinkova, Russia, 6-0, 6-2. Ekaterina Makarova (30), Russia, def. Sara Errani, Italy, 6-2, 3-2 (Ad-40), retired. Caroline Garcia (21), France, def. Oceane Dodin, France, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4. Jelena Ostapenko, Latvia, def. Yulia Putint- seva (31), Kazakhstan, 6-3, 6-1. Caroline Wozniacki (17), Denmark, def. Donna Vekic, Croatia, 6-1, 6-3. Dominika Cibulkova (6), Slovakia, def. Hsieh Su-wei, Taiwan, 6-4, 7-6 (8). Elena Vesnina (14), Russia, def. Mandy Minella, Luxembourg, 6-3, 6-3. Barbora Strycova (16), Czech Republic, def. Andrea Petkovic, Germany, 6-0, 7-5. Jennifer Brady, United States, def. Heath- er Watson, Britain, 2-6, 7-6 (3), 10-8. Nicole Gibbs, United States, def. Irina Falconi, United States, 6-4, 6-1. Daria Gavrilova (22), Australia, def. Ana Konjuh, Croatia, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4. Maria Sakkari, Greece, def. Alize Cornet (28), France, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1. Timea Bacsinszky (12), Switzerland, def. Danka Kovinic, Montenegro, 6-1, 7-6 (5). Serena Williams (2), United States, def. Lucie Safarova, Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-4. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Croatia, def. Ag- nieszka Radwanska (3), Poland, 6-3, 6-2. Doubles Men First Round Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah (14), Colombia, def. Ken and Neal Skupski, Britain, 6-3, 6-4. Jurgen Melzer, Austria, and Aisam-ul- Haq Qureshi, Pakistan, def. Mate Pavic, Croatia, and Alexander Peya (13), Austria, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5. Treat Huey, Philippines, and Max Mirnyi (10), Berlarus, def. Leander Paes, India, and Andre Sa, Brazil, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4. Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut (1), France, def. Adrian Mannarino, France, and Adil Shamasdin, Canada, 6-2, 6-3. Athlete of the Week Twenty questions with Umatilla’s Aleesha Watson East Oregonian UMATILLA — Umatilla High senior Aleesha Watson scored all by 18 of the Vikings’ points in a 49-44 win over Irrigon on Saturday, Jan. 14, to open league play. She has been the East Oregonian Athlete of the Week for the week of Jan. 8-14. EO: What is the best part of being a Umatilla Viking? AW: Just the community, we’re all kind of a little family. What is your favorite memory on the basketball court? Whenever Coach (Scott Bow) would tell you to do something and you’d do it, and then you look at the bench and he’ll give you a little a look like, ‘There you go,’ and that’s pretty special. If you could change one thing about your school what would it be? No school on Friday. What’s your favorite professional sports team? I like the Phoenix Mercury (WNBA). Who is your favorite athlete? Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury) If you could attend any sporting event what would you choose? WNBA Finals Game 5 What’s your favorite thing to listen to before a game? I don’t really listen to music before the game. Usually its just the girls on the team, they get a little crazy so I like to watch that. Who has had the largest impact on you as an athlete? Definitely Coach Bow, he’s always been there for me on and off the court. What’s your favorite subject in school? History What are your plans for after high school? Hopefully I’ll play college basketball and throw a little javelin in college. What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned in school this year? In my personal finance class we learned about filling out taxes, writing checks and applying for jobs. Who is the person you admire most? My mom What’s the best thing served in the UHS cafeteria? Cheesy bagels, hands down. What’s your favorite restaurant? Ye Olde Pizza Shoppe What’s the last movie you saw that made you cry? Titanic (1997) What’s your favorite book? “Moby Dick” by Herman Melville What’s your favorite thing to do in the winter? Knock snowmen down What are your hobbies outside of sports? My family, we collect agates. What’s one thing you couldn’t live without? Hats What’s your favorite dessert? Fruit Salad ATHLETE OF THE WEEK ALEESHA WATSON Senior Umatilla Basketball Watson scored 31 p oints , hitting five 3-pointers in the process, to lift Umatilla to a 49-44 win over Irrigon on Saturday in both team’s Eastern Oregon League opener. P ROUDLY S PONSORED B Y : 1411 6th Street, Umatilla, OR • 541-922-3001
