SPORTS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2017
1B
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HERMISTON
Ena signs with Western Oregon
Former Bulldog helps
bring Hermiston
senior to WOU
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Eric Singer
Hermiston’s Vaemu Ena poses with his mother Kate-
lina and father Eti during a signing party Thursday at
Hermiston High School. Ena signed a national letter of
intent to play football at Western Oregon University.
For the past three years, Vaemu Ena
has been a stud in the Hermiston defen-
sive backfi eld.
And now for the next four or fi ve
years Ena will still roam the football
fi eld, but fi rst he will trade in the Herm-
iston purple and black for the red and
black of Western Oregon University. On
Wednesday, Ena joined 31 other high
school seniors and signed a National
Letter of Intent to play football for the
Wolves, and celebrated the achievement
with his family, friends, teachers, and
coaches at a small party at Hermiston
High School on Thursday.
Ena, who will major in criminal
justice or computer science, said that
he chose Western Oregon, a team that
is coming off of a 4-6 season, over an
opportunity to play at FCS Eastern
Washington because of a better chance
of playing time with the Wolves on
top of a love for the small campus in
Monmouth.
“I feel like the environment over there
is similar to here at home (Hermiston),”
Ena said Thursday, “The community is
very similar to here just with a univer-
sity instead of a high school. And I feel
really good about the coaches and facil-
ities over there. With what I’ve seen and
my experiences over there, I’ve really
enjoyed it.”
In 24 career games for the Bulldogs,
Ena tallied 119 total tackles and 10
interceptions originating from his safety
position atop the defensive sets. His best
season came in 2015 as a junior, when
See ENA/2B
ECHO
Golden Eagles outlast Cougars in OT
Schimmel scores
27, Nixyaawii boys
win 10th straight
East Oregonian
ECHO — With time running out,
the Echo Cougars grabbed a rebound
and hustled up the court to sink a game-
tying layup at the buzzer on Thursday
night against Nixyaawii.
Down four on its fi nal possession in
overtime, there would be no heroics this
time.
Shayden Hoisington snagged a steal
going the other way and the Golden
Eagles hit a three-pointer at the buzzer
to give them a fi nal tally of 65-58 in
their 10th straight win that kept them
undefeated in Old Oregon League play.
Mick Schimmel carried the game for
Nixyaawii (13-4, 10-0 OOL) with 27
points, and Joseph St. Pierre and Noah
Enright each added 10.
Schimmel sank the two-pointer that
made it 62-58 late in overtime.
Nixyaawii coach Shane Rivera said it
was closely contested game throughout,
with the teams trading big buckets in
the fourth quarter. The Golden Eagles
led 29-23 at halftime and Rivera said
that was probably their largest lead of
the game.
Nixyaawii was hampered by the
absence of senior post Chandler Case
as he battled foul trouble throughout
the game and fi nished with six points in
limited action.
Morgan Marcum scored 19 points
to lead Echo (6-14, 5-6), Klay Jenson
Nixyaawii’s
Joseph
St. Pierre
goes up
for a lay-in
guarded
by Echo’s
Devan
Craig
and Chris
Medrano
(23) in the
Golden
Eagles’
65-58 win
in over-
time on
Thursday
in Echo.
Boys Basketball
Nixyaawii
Echo
65
58
added 14 and Devan Craig chipped in
10.
Nixyaawii has four games left in
the regular season and hosts Helix on
Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
“We’re inching up on the district
tournament so trying to retain that No.
1 seed is huge,” Rivera said.
Echo plays at Powder Valley on
Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
———
Staff photo by
E.J. Harris
NCS
12 17 14 12 10 — 65
EHS
13 10 15 17 3 — 58
NIXYAAWII — M. Schimmel 27, J. St. Pierre 10, N. Enright
10, D. Barkley 6, C. Case 6, S. Hoisington 4, A. Matamoros
2, J. Church.
ECHO — M. Marcum 19, K. Jensen 14, D. Craig 10,
Caldera 9, Z. Gehrke 5, T. Mulder, C. Medrano.
3-pointers — NCS 4; EHS 1. Free throws — NCS 7-12;
EHS 9-19. Fouls — NCS 17; EHS 12. Fouled out — C. Case
(NCS); T. Mulder (EHS).
See GOLDEN EAGLES/2B
Echo’s Morgan Marcum draws
contact from Nixyaawii’s Chandler
Case in a boys basketball game on
Thursday in Echo.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Men’s College Basketball
Brooks helps Oregon hold off Arizona State
Victory extends
Ducks home win
streak to 39 games
By RON RICHMOND
Associated Press
AP Photo/Chris Pietsch
Oregon’s Dillon Brooks, right, celebrates after shoot-
ing a 3-point shot in the closing minutes, as Arizona
State’s Torian Graham moves downcourt during Thurs-
day’s game in Eugene. Oregon won 71-70.
EUGENE — Dillon
Brooks scored 27 points,
including the last 12 of the
game for No. 13 Oregon,
and the Ducks escaped with
a 71-70 victory over Arizona
State on Thursday.
Brooks hit the go-ahead
3-pointer with 1:32 to
play for Oregon (20-3,
9-1 Pac-12), which trailed
60-59 before its preseason
All-America took over in the
fi nal 3 minutes.
Jordan Bell had 13 points
and 11 rebounds for the
Ducks, who outrebounded
the Sun Devils 40-30.
Oregon made 7 of 13 from
3-point range in the second
half.
Pac-12
Arizona St.
Oregon
70
71
Shannon Evans II led
Arizona State (10-13, 3-7)
with 28 points and Tra
Holder had 17.
Despite a decided height
advantage, Oregon struggled
to fi nd any rhythm against
Arizona State’s four-guard
lineup. The Ducks were just
1 of 10 from 3-point range
in the fi rst half and trailed
28-25.
It was the fewest points
Oregon had scored in a fi rst
half since early season losses
to Baylor and Georgetown.
UP NEXT
Oregon plays its third
ranked opponent when it
hosts No. 5 Arizona on
Saturday. The Ducks beat
UCLA and USC, both
ranked, earlier this season.
Sports shorts
McCollum heading to All-Star Weekend
PORTLAND — While no Portland Trail
Blazer players were selected to the NBA All-Star
team, the team will still have one representative
on hand.
The NBA announced on Thursday that guard
C.J. McCollum was named as one
of eight players to participate in
the 3-point contest. It’s the second
consecutive year that McCollum
has been selected to the contest,
though he failed to make it out of
the preliminary round last season.
McCollum will compete against
McCollum
Eric Gordon (Houston), Kyrie
Irving (Cleveland), Kyle Lowry (Toronto),
Wesley Matthews (Dallas), Klay Thompson
(Golden State), Kemba Walker (Charlotte) and
Nick Young (L.A. Lakers).
McCollum is shooting 42.3 percent from
3-point range, 10th best in the NBA, and is
averaging a career-best 23.4 points per game.
“In 2017, where
professional sports are
so ruthless and cutthroat,
survival rates and people
that can last are rare. He
would say, `Well, that
must mean I’m old.’ I
think it means he’s good,
really good.“
— Brett Brown
Philadelphia 76ers coach on San
Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popo-
vich, who tied Jerry Sloan of Utah
for the NBA record for the most
career wins with a single franchise,
earning his 1,127th in the Spurs’
102-86 victory over the 76ers.
Briles drops defamation suit
WACO, Texas (AP) — Former Baylor
football coach Art Briles has dropped the
defamation lawsuit fi led against four university
offi cials he accused of making false statements
against him, according to attorneys
in the case.
Briles in December sued the
three regents and a university vice
president for libel and slander,
claiming they falsely stated that
he knew of reported assaults and alleged gang
rapes by players and didn’t report them.
Rusty Hardin, an attorney for the regents,
told the Waco Tribune-Herald that the suit was
dropped Wednesday.
The lawsuit that was fi led in Llano County
also asserted that Baylor offi cials conspired to
damage Briles’ reputation and keep him from
getting another coaching job. It sought damages
for emotional distress and likely ending his career
as a coach “on any level.”
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1980 — Larry Bird hits the
fi rst 3-point shot in the history
of the NBA All-Star Game.
Bird’ 3 came in overtime as
the East team outscores the
West 16-8 in the overtime for
a 144-136 win.
2000 — World Wrestling
Federation mastermind Vince
McMahon unveils his latest
creation: the XFL, a new pro
football league.
2015 — Women’s coach
Geno Auriemma reaches
900 wins faster than any
other college basketball
coach when No. 2 UConn
routs Cincinnati 96-36. It
takes him 1,034 games to
do it.
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sports@eastoregonian.com