SPORTS
WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 1, 2017
1B
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PENDLETON
Buckaroos rally, stop rivalry skid
LEFT:
Pendleton’s
Lauren
Richards,
Elli Nirschl
and Haley
Greb cele-
brate after
the Bucks’
53-48
comeback
win against
Hermiston
on Tuesday
in Pendle-
ton.
Pendleton girls beat
Hermiston for fi rst
time since 2006
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
For the past 11 years, the Hermiston
girls basketball team has reigned
supreme over the Pendleton Bucka-
roos, winning each
and every one of the Girls Hoops
previous 28 meetings.
But the Buckaroos
wiped away that
Hermiston
decade of misery on
Tuesday night, as
Pendleton outscored
Hermiston 30-11 in
the fourth quarter to
stun the Bulldogs
Pendleton
with a 53-48 victory
at Warberg Court —
the fi rst win for Pend-
leton since Feb. 17,
2006. Haley Greb hit a 3-pointer with
44.2 seconds left to give Pendleton a
49-48 lead and its fi rst since 2-0, and
the Buckaroos (7-6, 3-0 CRC) were
able to hang on the rest of the way.
“The excitement is just crazy,” Greb
said after the game with a wide smile
on her face. “My teammates found me
the ball, it went in and every single play
contributed to this win and I couldn’t be
more proud of my teammates tonight.”
“You like to tell kids that Hermiston
is just another ball game, but it isn’t for
those kids,” Pendleton coach Kevin
Porter added. “Hermiston is the gold
standard around here and we’re trying
to get there. I’m so proud of my team,
I’m just speechless.”
A comeback victory didn’t seem
feasible for Pendleton throughout the
early part of the second half, as the
Bucks scored just fi ve points in the
BELOW:
Hermiston’s
Hannah
Thompson
and Pendle-
ton’s Hallie
Porter dive
for a loose
ball on
Tuesday in
Pendleton.
48
53
Staff photos by
E.J. Harris
third quarter on 2-15 shooting and
Hermiston held a commanding 37-23
lead after three quarters. Hermiston
(8-9, 2-1) was able to boost that lead
to as much as 16 early in the fourth
quarter, but the Buckaroos soon began
to chip away.
“Our motto is we’re never giving
up, no matter how much we’re down
we’re going to give as much effort as
we can every single play,” said Greb,
who fi nished with a game-high 20
points and added fi ve boards, “and we
kept chipping away, chipping away
there in the fourth. We didn’t look at
the scoreboard and we just kept going
PENDLETON
and it turned out in our favor.”
Pendleton also turned to some crafty
rotations in the fourth quarter, rotating
in Tatum Fell, Jaden Lemberger and
Ellie Nirschl for defensive purposes
and then Lauren Richards, Hallie
Porter, and Katie Bradt for offensive
purposes. Coach Porter said he had to
get creative because Hermiston was
content just holding on to the ball.
“We subbed the girls in for defense
because they’re all quick, athletic, and
have ability to tip some passes and that
was the strategy because we had to do
something,” he said. “You could see
See GIRLS HOOPS/2B
Jerome guides Pendleton to victory
Boys Hoops
Junior’s career
night pushes Bucks
past Hermiston
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
Photo courtesy of Oregon Tech Athletics
OIT’s Beard named
NAIA Player of Week
Oregon Tech senior forward Bryan Beard (43),
seen here going for a rebound against College
of Idaho in a game this season in Klamath Falls,
has been named the NAIA National Player of
the Week for Division II men’s basketball. Beard,
a 2012 Pendleton High graduate, averaged 22.5
points and 10.5 rebounds in a pair of wins for
the Hustlin’ Owls. It is the fi rst time Beard has
earned the distinction. Beard fi nished with eight
points, six rebounds, two steals and block in Or-
egon Tech’s 99-85 win over Southern Oregon on
Tuesday night.
Pendleton junior Shaw
Jerome was all smiles
following Tuesday night’s
game against the Hermiston
Bulldogs, and he had a good
reason to be.
Pendleton’s starting point
guard scored a career-high
16 points on 5-8 shooting
and dished out fi ve assists as
his Buckaroos knocked off
their rival Bulldogs 64-43 to
claim sole possession of fi rst
place in the Columbia River
Conference.
“Yeah something must’ve
gotten into me before the
game,” Jerome said with a
big grin, “but it feels great to
get the dub. We had a couple
tough days of preparation
and we brought it tonight.”
The Buckaroos (8-4,
3-0 CRC) put together a
very balanced and effi cient
scoring effort in the game as
star senior Caden Smith was
held to single digits (eight
points) for the fi rst time
all season. Wyatt Morris
followed Jerome with 14
points and Tyler Newsom
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pendleton’s Shaw Jerome cuts through the lane in
the Bucks’ 64-43 win against Hermiston on Tuesday in
Pendleton.
added nine points for the
Buckaroos, who shot 48
percent as a team.
“It’s great to have more
people on our team than just
one guy,” Jerome said. “We
can all shoot it and can all
handle the ball, and it’s nice
to play like this.”
“We had contributions all
over the place,” Pendleton
coach Kyle Tedder added. “It
takes guys stepping up in big
games like this and I’m real
proud of this group. They’re
kind of fi guring it out now
Hermiston
Pendleton
43
64
and the commitment’s there
and it was a good win for
us.”
After a fast-paced fi rst
quarter that saw the Buck-
aroos holding an 18-12
advantage, the game swung
mightily into Pendleton’s
in the second quarter. The
Bucks outscored Hermiston
15-1 in the second to sprint
to a 33-13 halftime lead, as
the Bulldogs went an ice
cold 0-10 from the fl oor.
Their lone point came on a
made free throw by Thomas
McCullough.
“Scoring one point in a
quarter isn’t going to win you
many games,” Hermiston
coach Casey Arstein said. “I
thought we were impatient
there, jacking up shots early
when we could’ve gotten
to the rim or a ball reversal
... but scoring one point we
were going to have to play
extremely well in the second
half and we played average
at best so we’ll have to make
some adjustments.”
Tedder added that while
he was ecstatic with his
See BOYS HOOPS/2B
Sports shorts
No. 22 Creighton back on track
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Creighton spent
the last two weeks looking for ways replace
their star point guard.
Coach Doug McDermott found the perfect
solution Tuesday night.
Justin Patton, Marcus Foster
and Khyri Thomas all scored 15
points Tuesday night and No. 22
Creighton regained its 3-point
shooting touch as it ran away
from No. 16 Butler, 76-67.
Initially, the Bluejays (20-3, 7-3 Big East)
struggled without Maurice Watson Jr ., who tore
the ACL in his left knee Jan. 16.
But after losing three of their previous four and
sliding from the top 10 almost out of the Top 25,
Creighton has reverted to its early season form.
It has won two straight and moved into
second place in the conference standings after
going 13 of 21 from 3-point range, a season-
high 61.9 percent.
MLS considers spurned cities
“I’m not the one who
threw somebody through
a window. I never spit on
a kid. I never had unpaid
debt in Las Vegas.“
— LeBron James
Cleveland Cavaliers forward respond-
ing to criticism from TNT analyst
Charles Barkley that the NBA superstar
was being “whiny” by airing his frus-
trations with the team’s roster. Barkley
laughed off James’ comments during
a radio appearance Tuesday saying,
“Some of the stuff he said about me is
correct — doesn’t make the message I
said about him incorrect.”
NEW YORK (AP) — Dropped by the NFL,
St. Louis and San Diego are among bidders
from 12 areas applying for four Major League
Soccer expansion teams.
Two of the teams, which have
$150 million expansion fees, will
start play in 2020. MLS Commis-
sioner Don Garber said Tuesday
that having stadium fi nancing in
place is a condition for selection.
“In the past, we weren’t in a position to
demand that every new market came in with all
their I’s dotted and T’s crossed,” Garber said.
“Now we’re at a point where there are so many
cities looking for so few market opportunities
that we can do the right thing by everyone and
ensure that every aspect of their expansion plan
is fully in place.”
The expansion committee, led by New
England’s Jonathan Kraft, will start to review
applications in February.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1913 — Jim Thorpe, star
of the 1912 Olympics, signs
to play baseball with the
New York Giants.
1995 — Utah guard
John Stockton becomes the
NBA’s career assist leader,
setting up Karl Malone with
6:30 left in the fi rst half of
the Jazz’s 129-88 victory
over Denver. Stockton’s
9,922nd assist moves him
ahead of Magic Johnson.
2010 — UConn is No.
1 in The Associated Press
women’s basketball poll for
a record 37th straight week,
surpassing Louisiana Tech
(1980-82) for the longest
run atop the Top 25.
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