SPORTS
FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2017
1B
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HERMISTON
HERMISTON
Dawgs Bulldogs oulast Eagles
win big
Clutch shooting, solid
bench play helps
Hermiston win
Juul, Romero pace
HHS for league win
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
The fi rst 16 minutes of Thursday’s
contest between Hermiston and Hood
River Valley looked
Boys Hoops more like a track meet
than a basketball game.
Both teams’ offenses
were effi cient in the
Hood River
half, as the Bulldogs
(14-25 FG, 56 percent)
and Eagles (12-26, 46
percent) spent most of
the game action simply
running up and down the
Hermiston
court as the teams traded
baskets left and right. In
total, there were 14 lead
changes and three ties
just in that fi rst half alone.
But the Bulldogs were able to tighten
up some weak spots on defense at the
halftime break, which helped boost
them to a 69-61 victory over the Eagles
to remain unbeaten in Columbia River
Conference play.
East Oregonian
HOOD RIVER — The Hermiston
girls basketball team earned another
lopsided league win on Thursday and
beat Hood River
Valley 55-25 on its Girls Hoops
own court.
Junior post Maddy
Juul had a double-
Hermiston
double with 11 points
and 12 rebounds,
and freshman guard
Jazlyn Romero added
11 more points to lead
the Bulldogs (8-8, 2-0
CRC). Senior forward Hood River
Kynzee Padilla added
10 rebounds to go
with six points, and
Hermiston coach Juan Rodriguez said
his team’s ability to control the boards
was a big factor in the outcome.
“They (the posts) are coming out of
their shell and they’re dominating like
they’re supposed to,” he said.
Rodriguez said the game also seems
to be slowing down for Romero as the
season progresses.
“She’s reading the game and she’s
61
55
69
25
See BULLDOGS/2B
See DAWGS/2B
ATHENA
Hillmick
signs with
Willamette
for softball
Weston-McEwen senior
plans to pursue degree
in excercise science
By MATT ENTRUP
East Oregonian
Throughout a life spent largely on
playing fi elds and softball diamonds,
Weston-McEwen High School senior
Bailey Hillmick
has also expe-
rienced her fair
share of injuries.
Because of that
she’s also spent a
large chunk of her
formative years in
the company of
athletic trainers
and physical ther-
Hillmick
apists, so much
that when asked
to estimate the total amount of time a
coy laugh and the words, “A lot,” are
the only reasonable answers possible.
Those trainers and therapists have
never failed in getting her back to doing
the things she loves, and Hillmick said
that’s inspired her to pursue a degree in
Exercise Science after graduating from
Weston-McEwen.
“I’ve been around the physical
therapy area and I felt like that’s some-
thing that really interested me,” she
See HILLMICK/2B
Staff photos E.J. Harris
ABOVE: Hermiston’s Kody Moss puts up a shot guarded by Hood River’s Erick Siekkinen
and Carson Orr (32) in the Bulldogs’ 69-61 win on Thursday in Hermiston.
RIGHT: Hermiston’s Andrew Earl drives past Hood River’s Zack Moore on Thursday.
Men’s College Basketball
Brooks returns from injury to lead Oregon over Utah
By MATTHEW COLES
Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY — Dillon
Brooks returned from missing a
game with a foot injury to score 17
points and lead No. 10 Oregon over
Utah, 73-67 on Thursday night.
The Ducks (19-2, 8-0 Pac-12)
led by as many as
13 points in the
second half, but
Devon Daniel’s #10 Oregon
dunk off Lorenzo
Bonam’s steal
sliced the defi cit
to fi ve and then
Kyle Kuzma’s
3-pointer made it
Utah
70-66 with 1:40
to play.
But the Utes
(14-6, 5-3) were denied multiple
chances at the rim, including Chris
Boucher’s block of Kuzma’s shot
with 31 seconds left.
Brooks and Payton Pritchard
made free throws to clinch the
game in the waning seconds.
Jordan Bell had 15 points and
73
67
AP Photo/Rick Bowmer
Oregon forward Dillon Brooks (24) goes to the basket as Utah’s
Jayce Johnson (34) and Kyle Kuzma (35) defend during the
fi rst half of an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Jan.
26, 2017, in Salt Lake City.
Dylan Ennis added 13 for the
Ducks, who extended the longest
winning streak in Oregon history to
17 games.
Kuzma scored 18 points and
Daniels had 11 for Utah, which is
still searching for a signature win
after a soft nonconference schedule.
David Collette had 10 in limited
minutes.
After trailing by two early in the
second half, Oregon went on a 13-2
run, capped by Jordan Bell’s dunk,
to take a 52-43 lead with 11:38 to
play. The Ducks made their big
move while Collette was on the
bench with foul trouble.
Utah led for much of the
fi rst half until Brooks lobbed an
alley-oop pass for Boucher for a
dunk and then hit a 3-pointer to give
the Ducks a 33-31 halftime lead.
Oregon hasn’t had a close game
since nipping UCLA 89-87 in the
conference opener and struggled by
going the fi nal 3:26 without a fi eld
goal but the defense carried the day
again.
Oregon has won eight straight
games against Utah.
BIG PICTURE
Oregon: Brooks, who was a
game-time decision, proved to be
the difference in an uneven offen-
sive performance. The Ducks, who
lead the nation is blocks, had six
rejections and forced 15 turnovers
and showed again they stay in any
game with their consistent pressure
on the defensive end.
Sports shorts
Woods struggles in return
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Tiger Woods
had a rough return to the PGA Tour on
Thursday at the Farmers Insurance Open.
A slow one, too.
Woods, playing in a PGA
Tour event for the fi rst time
in 17 months, fell apart on the
back nine of the South course
at Torrey Pines. He dropped
six shots in a six-hole stretch
and fi nished with a birdie for a
4-over 76.
Woods
That put him 11 shots
behind Justin Rose, who had a 65 on the
shorter North Course.
Woods made his fi rst birdie on the 10th
hole. He followed with another one on the
par-3 11th to get under par. And it was all
downhill from there. The big blow was on
the 15th, when he snap-hooked his drive
over the gallery and into a ravine.
“You see owners putting
their money where their
mouth is. That’s what
makes this so intriguing.
You have people taking a
shot and that’s what horse
racing is all about.“
— Eddie Olczyk
ESPN racing analyst on Saturday’s
inaugural Pegasus World Cup,
which is offering the largest purse in
thoroughbred racing of $12 million.
Twelve owners paid $1 million each
to get their horses to the starting
gate, and the winner will take more
than $7 million in purse money and
a share of wagering on the race.
Clemson football hands out
$2.8 million in bonuses to staff
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Winning a
national title pays well at Clemson.
Head coach Dabo Swinney
and the football staff earned more
than $2.8 million in bonuses
with the team’s run to a national
championship and Atlantic Coast
Conference crown. The school
gave a list of bonuses to The AP on Thursday.
Swinney led the way, getting $1.45 million
in bonus pay for Clemson’s fi rst national
championship since 1981, 35-31 over Alabama.
Each of Clemson’s nine on-fi eld assistant
coaches received $95,000 in extra pay for the
team’s 14-1 season. Strength coach Joey Batson
and associate athletic director for football
administration Woody McCorvey also received
and extra $95,000.
In all, 16 football staffers received at least
$70,000 in bonuses.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1991 — The New York
Giants survive the closest
Super Bowl ever when Scott
Norwood’s 47-yard fi eld goal
attempt with 8 seconds left in
the game goes wide. The Giants
win their second title in fi ve
years, 20-19 over the Buffalo.
2010 — Washington
Wizards players Gilbert
Arenas and Javaris Crittenton
are suspended without pay for
the remainder of the season by
the NBA. Both players admit
to bringing a gun or guns into
the Wizards’ locker room a
violation of the collective
bargaining agreement after a
dispute stemming from a card
game on a team fl ight.
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