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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 2017)
SPORTS WEEKEND, JANUARY 21-22, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS PENDLETON PENDLETON Buckaroos return red hot Pendleton squeaks out a win Pend- leton’s Caden Smith (23) pow- ers up above Carson Orr (32), of Hood River, on Fri- day at Warberg Court. After long break, Bucks start league play with rout By MATT ENTRUP East Oregonian The Pendleton boys basketball team had a long time to stew in its three-game losing streak when the fi nal four games of the non-league slate were wiped out by weather cancellations. The Buckaroos were fi nally able to release that frustration Boys Hoops on Friday night when they hosted Hood River Valley Hood River for each team’s Columbia River Conference opener, and P e n d l e t o n ’s Pendleton fi rst game in 17 days. The Bucks took the lead less than three minutes into the game and never let it go, making nearly half their shot attempts and allowing their second-fewest points this season for a 69-40 rout. “I thought we did a really good job of coming out and really just harassing early,” said Pendleton coach Kyle Tedder, “and the game plan was take care of yourself on the defensive end and everything else will fall into place.” Hood River (5-8, 0-1 CRC) turned the ball over 24 times (13 in the fi rst half) as it struggled to deal with Pendleton’s frequent scheme shifts, and was just 9-of-30 from the fi eld. The Bucks (4-4, 1-0) were prepared for the possibility of a similar night from their offense, but had no need to worry. Pendleton senior Wyatt Morris paced the team in the fi rst half with all 15 of his points on 6-of-8 shooting including 2 for 2 from three-point range as the Bucks used runs of 11-2, 9-3 and 8-1 to build a 21-point cushion at the break. He said the long layoff was tough, but the team felt well prepared coming into the game. Staff photo by Kathy Aney Greb leads Buckaroos with 18 points East Oregonian HOOD RIVER — The Pendleton Buckaroos girls basketball team opened up league play in a big way as they traveled to Hood River Valley and squeaked out a 51-48 victory on Friday night. Pendleton (4-5, 1-0 CRC) had to Girls Hoops overcome a fi ve point defi cit with just two minutes left in the game, deploying Pendleton a high-pressure defense that led to a few steals and some timely baskets to be able to pull out the Hood River win. “It was a great come-from-behind win and this team never quits no matter how the chips fall,” Pendleton coach Kevin Porter said following the game. “In the end we were able to handle the last few minutes a little better than they did and that’s a great quality to have in a team.” Haley Greb had a big game for Pendleton with 18 points, which Porter 51 40 48 69 See PENDLETON/2B Prep Wrestling “We hadn’t had a game in three weeks, and it’s kind of hard on the players,” he said. “There’s always (jitters) every game, but I mean just practice, preparation, Tedder works us hard in practice.” Shaw Jerome also helped them get off to a fast start with fi ve points in the fi rst quarter, and seven players would get into the scorebook by the end of the frame. Caden Smith fi nished with a team-high 16 points and six rebounds, and Jerome and Kyle Curtis each fi nished with seven points. Pendleton shot 46.5 percent (27 for 58) from the fi eld in the game and 52.5 percent (21 for 40) from inside the arc. “It was big time,” Smith said. “Everyone stepped up in every place. A lot of guys off the bench came in and gave some good minutes, so it was a good all-around win for us.” “It was a great effort one through 11, so I’m pretty happy with it,” Tedder said. Dakota Kurahara scored a game-high 20 points for Hood River. He went 13 for 14 at the free throw line and added six rebounds. Pendleton out-rebounded Hood River by a slim margin 26-23. Despite the lack of preseason games the Bucks said they feel like the team is progressing at the right pace. “We’re just trying to come together through this tough time,” See BUCKAROOS/2B NBA Sixers sink Blazers with last-second 3-pointer Portland led by 13 at the break, falter in second half By DAVE ZEITLIN Associated Press AP Photo/Matt Slocum Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid, from left, Robert Cov- ington, and T.J. McConnell celebrate after Covington scored the go-ahead 3-pointer during the fi nal seconds of Friday’s game against Portland in Philadelphia. PHILADELPHIA — Robert Covington scored 22 points and made two 3-pointers in the fi nal 40 seconds to lead the streaking Philadelphia 76ers to a come-from-behind 93-92 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night. Ersan Ilyasova scored 24 points and Joel Embiid added 18 points, 10 rebounds and fi ve assists before leaving the game with an injury for the Sixers, who have won four straight Portland Philadelphia 92 93 and eight of their last 10. Embiid, who sparked the recent surge, suffered a bruised left knee in the second half and didn’t play the fi nal 8:50 of the game. But the Sixers rallied for the victory without their prized center as Covington drilled the winner with 4.5 seconds left before Mason Plumlee missed a shot at the buzzer on the other end. See BLAZERS/3B Five Dawgs reach semis at Reser’s Hermiston tied for fi fth at Tournament of Champions East Oregonian HILLSBORO — Five Bulldogs remain in the title hunt after the fi rst day of wrestling at the Reser’s Tournament of Champions on Friday at Liberty High School. After receiving byes in the fi rst round, Hermiston’s C.J. Hendon, Valen Wyse, Julio Leiva, John-Henry Line and Beau Blake all won their next two matches to reach today’s semifi nals. As a team the Bulldogs scored 83 points and are tied with Crook County for fi fth. Roseburg holds a healthy lead in fi rst with 144.5, followed by Dallas with 99, Crater with 86.5 and Newberg with 86. Wrestling at 138 pounds, Hendon was the fi rst Bulldog to win in the quarterfi nals when he pinned Sandy’s Brody Diaz de Leon in 5 minutes, 58 seconds. He also scored a third-round pin in his other win in 5:02 over Centu- ry’s Terrell Jackson. Wyse also won both of his bouts at 160 by pinfall, though neither made it out of the fi rst round. He beat Sandy’s Abe Mitchell in 1:46 and then pinned Dallas’ Cody Janssen in 1:03 in the quarterfi nals. See DAWGS/3B Sports shorts Southern Oregon football coach passes away at age 64 ASHLAND — Southern Oregon University football coach Craig Howard passed away unexpectedly at his home on Thursday night. He was 64. Howard was hired as the SOU Raiders head coach on Feb. 9, 2011 and led the team to a school-record 13 wins and a NAIA national champion- ship in 2014 — the fi rst in school history. He compiled a 50-23 record in his six seasons, giving him the best winning percentage Howard (.685) in school history. Born and raised in Grants Pass, Howard, got his head coaching career started at Oregon Tech in 1991 before moving to Florida to coach high school football at Nease High from 2003 to 2010. There, he coached future Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow before moving back to Oregon to take the SOU job. “It is what it is. That’s the nature of the business, the game. I just play. I don’t play for All- Star bids, I play to win championships and every night I compete at a high level, and it’ll work out.“ — Russell Westbrook The Oklahoma City Thunder point guard speaking Friday on his omission from the Western Confer- ence starting lineup for the NBA All-Star Game. Westbrook leads the NBA in scoring and is averag- ing 30.6 points, 10.4 assists, and 10.6 rebounds per game Trier passes NCAA test, can play against UCLA TUCSON, Ariz. — The Arizona Athletic Department says it has received word that Allonzo Trier tested negative for a performance-enhancing drug in his latest test and will be eligible to play when the No. 14 Wildcats face No. 4 UCLA in Los Angeles on Saturday. The NCAA’s blessing has long been awaited as Trier sat out the entire season, able to practice and travel with the team but unable to play in games. The school refused to say why Trier wasn’t playing until the player released a statement this week saying he had inadvertently taken a substance with a trace amount of PED in it. He said the NCAA would not allow him to play until his system was completely cleared of the drug. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1990 — John McEnroe becomes the fi rst player thrown out of the Australian Open. McEnroe’s tantrum comes while leading Mike Pernfors 6-1, 4-6, 7-5, 2-4. 2007 — Lovie Smith becomes the fi rst black head coach to make it to the Super Bowl when his Chicago Bears win the NFC cham- pionship. Tony Dungy joins him when his Indianapolis Colts take the AFC title. 2010 — Los Angeles guard Kobe Bryant becomes the 15th player in NBA history to reach 25,000 career points and the youngest to hit the milestone. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
