Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Friday, February 3, 2017
Nixy-
aawii’s
Ermia
Butler
shoots
the ball
sur-
round-
ed by
Echo’s
Devyn
Tarvin
(5),
Marti
Huff
and
Laci
Wig-
gins
(24)
during
Thurs-
day’s
game
in Echo.
Men’s College Basketball
Arizona breezes past Oregon State
Oregon
State
guard
Stephen
Thomp-
son Jr.
(1) is
fouled
by an
Arizona
player
during
Thurs-
day’s
game in
Corvallis.
By KYLE ODEGARD
Associated Press
CORVALLIS— Allonzo
Trier said he’s excited to
be playing basketball again
with his Arizona teammates
after missing the first 19
games of the season. He’s
still a long way from feeling
like himself on the court,
both on offense and defense.
“It’s still a step slow. I’m
still out of
rhythm.
PAC-12
I’m still not
shooting
the
ball
great,” the
Arizona
sophomore
g u a r d
said. “I’ll
be better.
I
know
that.”
Oregon State
A n d
that should
be a scary
thought for
Pac-12 opponents.
Trier scored 18 points
and No. 5 Arizona roared
to life in the second half to
defeat Oregon State 71-54
on Thursday night.
Dusan Ristic had 10
points and six rebounds for
the Wildcats (21-2, 10-0),
who have won 15 straight
games.
Stephen Thompson Jr.
had 16 points and five steals
and Drew Eubanks added
12 points for the Beavers
(4-19, 0-10).
Arizona went on a 23-2
run in the second half to
take a 55-36 lead with 8:23
remaining. The Wildcats
held the Beavers scoreless
for nearly 6 minutes during
the surge.
Trier credited a focus
on defensive details for the
Anibal Ortiz/
The Corvallis
Gazette-Times
via AP
Staff photo
by E.J.
Harris
71
54
second half turnaround.
Arizona coach Sean
Miller said that defensive
stops made it easier to push
the tempo in the second half.
“Our defense led to some
good transition baskets,” he
added.
Arizona led by eight
points early, but Oregon
State battled back and went
ahead 23-21 after a 3-pointer
by Thompson with 4:53 left
in the first half.
The Beavers lead 29-27
at halftime.
Oregon State shot 50
percent in the first half,
but was limited to 34.6
percent in the second half.
Arizona shot 53.8 percent
in the second half and outre-
bounded the Beavers 39-26
for the game.
Oregon State coach
Wayne Tinkle said that his
young squad lost its compo-
sure.
“Once a little frustration
creeps in, we’re just not
there yet maturity-wise,
toughness-wise, to get it
back,” he said.
UP NEXT
Oregon
State
hosts
Arizona State on Saturday.
GONZAGA 85, BYU 75
PROVO, Utah (AP) —
Nigel Williams-Goss scored
33 points and No. 1 Gonzaga
remains the lone undefeated
team in the country after an
85-75 victory over BYU on
Thursday night.
The Bulldogs (23-0, 11-0
West Coast Conference) now
have the longest winning
streak in school history.
They entered the night with
the No. 12 scoring offense in
the nation and looked like it.
Gonzaga took a 42-26
lead after dominating the
first half. The Bulldogs used
a 20-4 stretch early to put
BYU in a deep hole.
T.J. Haws did the heavy
lifting during the BYU rally,
as the Cougars got within
six at one point, and finished
with 26 points.
The Cougars (16-8, 7-4)
had no answer early for
the 7-foot-1, 300-pound
Przemek
Karnowski.
Gonzaga ran the offense
through the big man while
building a 17-point lead and
BYU was left to pick its
poison. Karnowski would
drop in a hook when left
1-on-1 against a defender,
before the Cougars started
sending
help.
Then
Karnowski would kick it
out and the Zags repeatedly
found open shooters for
3-pointers.
Gonzaga
shot
51.9
percent from the field and
knocked down 6 of 10
3-pointers in the first half
while BYU hit 32.3 percent
of its shots, including a
1-for-7 effort from behind
the arc.
BIG PICTURE
Gonzaga: All eyes were
on the Bulldogs to see how
they would respond to being
ranked No. 1 for the second
time in program history.
Gonzaga stormed out the
gate and looked every bit
the part of the top team in
the nation, especially on the
road in a hostile environment
against a conference rival.
ENA: Western Oregon coaches love his versatility
Continued from 1B
Ena tallied 40 tackles and
snagged five interceptions to
help boost him to a Class 5A
all-state honorable mention
nod.
Western Oregon assistant
coach and 2011 Hermiston
graduate Tim Rude said that
with the statistics that Ena
produced on top of what the
6-foot-2, 180 pound safety
showed in his game tape
made him a perfect fit for the
Wolves defense.
“He’s
very
smooth
and long with good ball
skills already,” Rude said
Thursday. “He’s not even
close to done growing, so
he has some huge physical
upside. He moves well
enough that he is capable of
playing all over the defen-
sive secondary.
“That’s what’s really
exciting about him is versa-
tility.”
Before
Ena
smiled
for numerous photos and
laughed along with some
friends while chowing down
on cupcakes at the party on
Thursday, he did admit that
not too long ago he doubted
himself on getting a chance
to play college football.
“Last year (2016) during
Staff photo by Eric Singer
Hermiston’s Vaemu Ena, back row third from left, pos-
es with some of his teammates during a signing party
at Hermiston High School on Thursday. Ena signed to
play football at Western Oregon University.
track season, (Coach David)
Faaeteete told me that some
coaches wanted to talk to
me,” Ena said, “but I never
thought that I would ever
be able to (play) and did
not think I was big enough
to play, so I never called
them back. But then after
this season just playing and
realizing when we went to
tournaments and stuff I was
just as big as other kids, I just
had to put on a little more
muscle I could play and
that’s when it broke through
my head and when I wanted
to play.”
When he looks back on
his Hermiston career, Ena
says that he’s mostly happy
with how things turned out
— from winning a state title
as a sophomore to his prolific
junior season — but he was
disappointed with how his
senior season turned out.
Ena still finished fourth on
the team with 66 tackles this
past year, put was banged
up with injuries down the
stretch.
“I feel like I didn’t do
as well as I could have,” he
said. “I felt after my junior
year I had higher stakes to
be playing with and I didn’t
compete even close to it.”
Ena conceded that the
injuries also weighed on his
mind as he considered his
options and whether or not to
continue his football career,
having dealt with nagging
injuries nearly every season.
“I already have pretty bad
knees and I was thinking
about further in life,” Ena
said. “But I think having
arthritis in my knees is worth
the fun and building relation-
ships with teammates and
winning together.”
With nearly six months
left of high school, Ena said
he is extremely anxious to
get started with the Wolves.
“I feel like I’ve always
had a kind of drive, just
never to this extreme to
where I constantly think
about it and just want to go
work for it,” he said. “For
high school, (my play) was
kind of given to me because
there was no one really set
for those positions when I
came in but now that I know
I have to work for it, it makes
me want to go harder for it.”
—————
Contact Eric at esinger@
eastoregonian.com or (541)
966-0839. Follow him on
Twitter @ByEricSinger.
SCOREBOARD
Local Slate
BOYS BASKETBALL
Today
Culver at Stanfield, 6 p.m.
Umatilla at Nyssa, 6:30 p.m.
The Dalles at Hermiston, 7 p.m.
Pendleton at Hood River, 7 p.m.
Riverside at Irrigon, 7:30 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Heppner, 7:30 p.m.
Horizon Christian at Arlington, 7:30 p.m.
Ione at Dufur, 7:30 p.m.
Condon/Wheeler at Mitchell/Spray
(Spray), 7:30 p.m.
Powder Valley at Helix, 7:30 p.m.
Mac-Hi at Baker, 8:15 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Today
Culver at Stanfield, 4:30 p.m.
Umatilla at Nyssa, 5 p.m.
Riverside at Irrigon, 6 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Heppner, 6 p.m.
Horizon Christian at Arlington, 6 p.m.
Ione at Dufur, 6 p.m.
Condon/Wheeler at Mitchell/Spray
(Spray), 6 p.m.
Powder Valley at Helix, 6 p.m.
Mac-Hi at Baker, 6:30 p.m.
Hood River at Pendleton, 7 p.m.
Hermiston at The Dalles, 7 p.m.
PREP WRESTLING
Today
Irrigon, Riverside at Echo/Stanfield, 5 p.m.
Mac-Hi at La Grande, 6 p.m.
Saturday
Hermiston, Pendleton at Oregon City
Tournament, 10 a.m.
Mac-Hi, Irrigon, Riverside, Echo/Stanfield,
Heppner at BEO Invite (Heppner), 10 a.m.
PREP SWIMMING
Saturday
Pendleton, Hermiston at Baker, Noon
COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL
Today
Eastern Oregon at Multnomah, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
Big Bend at Blue Mountain, 4 p.m.
Eastern Oregon at Warner Pacific, 7:30
p.m.
COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Today
Eastern Oregon at Multnomah, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday
Big Bend at Blue Mountain, 2 p.m.
Eastern Oregon at Warner Pacific, 5:30
p.m.
COLLEGE WRESTLING
Saturday
Eastern Oregon at Southern Oregon, TBA
Football
NFL
Super Bowl
Sunday
At Houston
Atlanta vs. New England, 3:30 p.m. (FOX)
Basketball
NBA
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
W
L Pct
Boston
31 18 .633
Toronto
30 20 .600
New York
22 29 .431
Philadelphia
18 31 .367
Brooklyn
9 40 .184
Southeast Division
W
L Pct
Washington
29 20 .592
Atlanta
29 21 .580
Charlotte
23 27 .460
Miami
20 30 .400
Orlando
19 32 .373
Central Division
W
L Pct
Cleveland
33 15 .688
Indiana
26 22 .542
Chicago
25 25 .500
Detroit
22 27 .449
Milwaukee
21 27 .438
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Southwest Division
W
L Pct
San Antonio
38 11 .776
Houston
36 17 .679
Memphis
30 21 .588
Dallas
19 30 .388
New Orleans
19 31 .380
Northwest Division
W
L Pct
Utah
31 19 .620
Oklahoma City
28 22 .560
Portland
22 28 .440
Denver
21 27 .438
Minnesota
19 30 .388
Pacific Division
W
L Pct
Golden State
43
7 .860
L.A. Clippers
31 19 .620
Sacramento
19 30 .388
L.A. Lakers
17 35 .327
GB
—
1½
10
13
22
GB
—
½
6½
9½
11
GB
—
7
9
11½
12
GB
—
4
9
19
19½
GB
—
3
9
9
11½
GB
—
12
23½
27
Phoenix
15 34 .306 27½
———
Thursday’s Games
Washington 116, L.A. Lakers 108
Atlanta 113, Houston 108
San Antonio 102, Philadelphia 86
Golden State 133, L.A. Clippers 120
Friday’s Games
Toronto at Orlando, 4 p.m.
Indiana at Brooklyn, 4:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Detroit, 4:30 p.m.
Chicago at Houston, 5 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at Boston, 5 p.m.
Memphis at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m.
Milwaukee at Denver, 6 p.m.
Dallas at Portland, 7:30 p.m.
Phoenix at Sacramento, 7:30 p.m.
College Men
NCAA AP Top 25
Thursday’s Games
No. 1 Gonzaga 85, BYU 75
No. 5 Arizona 71, Oregon State 54
No. 13 Oregon 71, Arizona State 70
No. 18 Saint Mary’s 74, Pacific 70
No. 24 Florida 93, Missouri 54
Friday’s Games
No games scheduled
College Women
NCAA AP Top 25
Thursday’s Games
No. 3 Maryland 85, Purdue 70
No. 4 South Carolina 75, No. 25 Kentucky
63
No. 5 Mississippi State 77, Auburn 47
No. 6 Florida State 85, Boston College 53
No. 7 Notre Dame 76, Virginia Tech 59
No. 15 Duke 65, Clemson 37
No. 16 Miami 79, Wake Forest 56
No. 19 NC State 72, No. 9 Louisville
70, OT
Oakland 74, No. 21 Green Bay 71
No. 24 Syracuse 93, Pittsburgh 65
Today’s Games
No. 8 Stanford vs. Southern Cal, 6 p.m.
No. 10 Washington at Utah, 7 p.m.
No. 11 Oregon State at No. 23 Arizona
State, 7 p.m.
No. 13 UCLA at California, 8 p.m.
No. 17 DePaul vs. St. John’s, 5 p.m.
No. 23 Arizona State vs. Oregon State,
7 p.m.
Hockey
NHL
Thursday’s Games
Philadelphia 3, Montreal 1
Ottawa 5, Tampa Bay 2
N.Y. Rangers 2, Buffalo 1, OT
Nashville 2, Edmonton 0
Winnipeg 4, Dallas 3
St. Louis 5, Toronto 1
Chicago 4, Arizona 3
San Jose 4, Vancouver 1
Today’s Games
Columbus at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m.
Calgary at New Jersey, 4:30 p.m.
Edmonton at Carolina, 4:30 p.m.
Anaheim at Florida, 4:30 p.m.
N.Y. Islanders at Detroit, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday’s Games
Washington at Montreal, 10 a.m.
Los Angeles at Philadelphia, 10 a.m.
Winnipeg at Colorado, 12 p.m.
New Jersey at Columbus, 4 p.m.
Carolina at N.Y. Islanders, 4 p.m.
Ottawa at Buffalo, 4 p.m.
Toronto at Boston, 4 p.m.
Anaheim at Tampa Bay, 4 p.m.
Chicago at Dallas, 5 p.m.
Detroit at Nashville, 5 p.m.
Pittsburgh at St. Louis, 5 p.m.
Minnesota at Vancouver, 7 p.m.
Arizona at San Jose, 7:30 p.m.
Golf
PGA Tour
Phoenix Open
Thursday
At TPC Scottsdale
Scottsdale, Ariz.
Purse: $6.7 million
Yardage: 7,266; Par 71 (35-36)
First Round
Matt Kuchar
33-31—64
Hideki Matsuyama 33-32—65
Brendan Steele 35-30—65
John Peterson
34-32—66
Robert Garrigus 32-34—66
Scott Brown
32-34—66
Byeong Hun An 33-33—66
Chris Kirk
33-33—66
Rickie Fowler
33-34—67
J.B. Holmes
34-33—67
Steve Stricker
34-33—67
Brooks Koepka 35-32—67
Alex Cejka
33-34—67
Martin Laird
35-32—67
Webb Simpson 33-34—67
Graham DeLaet 33-34—67
Marc Leishman 35-33—68
Louis Oosthuizen 34-34—68
Vaughn Taylor
32-36—68
Chad Collins
34-34—68
Lucas Glover
33-35—68
Ryo Ishikawa
34-34—68
Phil Mickelson
32-36—68
GOLDEN EAGLES:
Continued from 1B
NIXYAAWII
51,
ECHO 26 — At Echo,
Kaitlynn
Melton
and
Milan Schimmel finished
with double-doubles and
the Golden Eagles used a
lock-down defensive effort
in the second half to leave
no doubt about Thursday’s
outcome when they met the
Cougars for an Old Oregon
League game.
Mary Stewart scored a
team-high 15 points and
added seven assist for Nixy-
aawii (17-0, 10-0 OOL),
and Melton and Schimmel
both had 11 points and 11
rebounds. Schimmel added
six assists.
Devyn Tarin scored 14
points to lead Echo (14-6,
7-4) but the Cougars were
limited to just two points
total in the third quarter and
11 in the second half.
Nixyaawii coach Jeremy
Maddern said the Golden
Eagles didn’t give up their
second field goal of the
second half until midway
through the fourth quarter.
“I was just really
impressed
with
our
defense,” he said. “We
only had three fouls in the
second half, so we were
really D-ing it up without
fouling. When we get our
defense rolling it just leads
to easy buckets off the
press.”
Both teams are back in
action on Saturday at 4 p.m.
with Nixyaawii hosting
Helix and Echo playing at
Powder Valley.
———
NCS
15 15 13
8 — 51
EHS
5 10
2
9 — 26
NIXYAAWII — M. Stewart 15, K.
Melton 11, M. Schimmel 11, S. Fitzpatrick
6, E. Butler 4, T. Melton 2, K. Moun-
tainchief 2, E. Looney, T. Broncheau, S.
Patrick, A. Tonasket.
ECHO — D. Tarvin 14, H. McCarty 4, M.
Huff 4, L. Cox 4, T. Swaggart, R. McCarty,
L. Wiggins, B. Milbrodt.
3-pointers — NCS 3; EHS 4. Free
throws — NCS 10-20; EHS 0-7. Fouls —
NCS 18; EHS 12.
Athlete of the Week
Twenty questions with
Pendleton’s Wyatt Morris
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The
Pendleton boys basketball
team had a busy week last
week, playing three games
over a four-day span.
Senior guard Wyatt Morris
was a big reason for the
Buckaroos winning in all
three of those games, as the
senior guard averaged 13.7
points per game over that
span.
For his efforts, Morris
has been selected as the
East Oregonian’s Athlete
of the Week for the week of
Jan. 23-28.
————
East Oregonian: First
sport you played?
Wyatt Morris: Baseball
when I was seven years old.
Who is your favorite
athlete?
Derek Jeter
If you could attend any
sporting event what
would it be?
World Series
If you could try any sport
that you have not already
played, what would it be?
Rugby
Favorite sports memory?
Winning the league title in
basketball last year
What are your hobbies
outside of sports?
Hunting and fishing
What’s your favorite
wintertime activity?
Snowmobiling
Where’s your favorite
place in Oregon?
Eastern Oregon
What’s your favorite
movie?
Tombstone (1993)
What’s your go-to place
for lunch?
Big John’s Pizza
What’s your favorite
restaurant?
Mazatlan
Favorite pizza topping?
Taco pizza
What’s your favorite class
in school?
Physical Education
Are you a member of any
other clubs/groups in high
school?
No, just sports
What are your plans after
high school?
Go to Walla Walla Commu-
nity College to play baseball
Favorite US President?
Donald Trump
First job you had?
Hunting guide when I was
13
First vehicle you drove?
Ford F-150
Who will win the Super
Bowl, Patriots or Falcons?
I don’t know, can’t choose
What is one thing you
could not live without?
My girlfriend
ATH LETE
O F TH E
W EEK
W yatt M orris
Senior - Pendleton basketball
-7
-6
-6
-5
-5
-5
-5
-5
-4
-4
-4
-4
-4
-4
-4
-4
-3
-3
-3
-3
-3
-3
-3
Morris averaged 13.7 points in
three wins for the Buckaroos,
including a 4-for-6 shooting night
from three-point range for 14
points in a 63-59 win over La
Grande.
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