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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 2017)
SPORTS TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS HERMISTON NFL Dawgs dig deep for wins Hermiston players take the court mourning classmate AP Photo/Darron Cummings New England Patriots’ Tom Brady holds the Vince Lombardi Trophy after defeating the Atlanta Fal- cons in overtime at the NFL Super Bowl 51 foot- ball game Sunday in Houston. The Patriots de- feated the Falcons 34-28. At right is Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. East Oregonian Where do Pats rank in history? New England dynasty surpasses all others in football By SCHUYLER DIXON Associated Press 62 HOUSTON — The Patriots have the biggest come- back in Super Bowl history. Cue the debate on whether it translates into the greatest dynasty in the NFL, and maybe where New England ranks among dominant pro sports franchises. Perhaps the discussion hinges on the record-setting duo of quar- terback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick. There are some numbers that aren’t debatable, like most Super Bowl appearances for a team (nine) and a quarterback (seven). Brady’s fi ve wins put him one ahead of Hall of Famers Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana for the most by a quarterback, and Belichick’s fi ve are one better than Bradshaw’s coach in Pittsburgh, Chuck Noll. Bradshaw and Montana never had a Super Bowl rally that even remotely resembled the 25-point recovery engineered by Brady in a 34-28 win over Atlanta on Sunday night in the fi rst Super Bowl to go to overtime. “We’ve got the greatest quarterback,” defensive lineman Trey Flowers said. “Calm, cool, collective and just make plays. That’s what he’s been doing all his career.” Green Bay won the fi rst two Super Bowls with Bart Starr and has four titles. Bradshaw’s Steelers became the team of the 1970s, with Roger Staubach and the Dallas Cowboys not far behind. Montana’s 49ers domi- See PATS/3B Pilot Rock’s Rachel Willingham (3) shoots over two TigerScots during Saturday’s Colum- bia Basin Conference game in Athena. Staff photo by Kathy Aney The Bulldogs were dealt a heavy blow Monday morning with the death of classmate and former teammate Brok Palmer, and so understandably were not very focused on that night’s opponent in their Columbia River Conference boys’ basketball game. That didn’t stop them from picking up the win, though, and Hermiston came Boys Hoops on strong in the second half to beat The Dalles 77-62 in boys The Dalles basketball at the Dawg House. “It was a long day for Herm- iston School District,” said Hermiston Bulldogs head coach Casey Arstein. “It’s nothing you can prepare for as a coach, I would have preferred not to have a game. I was glad for the team to be able to have that opportunity to clear their heads, but it was just a long day. I’m proud of all the kids.” Hermiston (13-5, 3-1 CRC) pulled away in the third quarter by slashing to the rim against the man defense of the Riverhawks (3-12, 0-4). Playing in his fi rst game back from injury, Chance Flores scored 11 of his 17 points in the third quarter, and Xavier Rambo added eight of his team-high 22 in the frame. “I went with fi ve guards in the third and we were able to get to the rim,” Arstein said. “I thought we were settling for too many outside shots against the man instead of driving, and in the third See DAWGS/2B 77 Staff photo by Kathy Aney Jordan Ramirez (24), of Hermiston, takes aim under pressure from Dominique Seufalema (3), of The Dalles, during Monday’s Columbia River Conference game at the Dawg House. ATHENA TigerScots outlast Rockets in OT Weston-McEwen girls take over fi rst place in CBC By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian With her Weston-McEwen team clinging to a 54-53 lead with just 12 seconds left in over- time, sophomore Katie Vescio stepped to the free throw line with a lot on her mind. “I’m just thinking about how our team had worked so hard and I really wanted to help us win this,” Vescio recalled. “Losing to Pilot Rock last time was really hard on us and we wanted to win this one tonight, especially on senior night.” The pressure didn’t get to the sophomore, though, as Vescio swished both free throw attempts to put her team up by Girls Basketball Pilot Rock Weston-McEwen 53 56 three. The TigerScots defense then responded and didn’t give the Rockets a clean look for a tying shot, holding on for a 56-53 overtime victory over the Rockets on Saturday night. “This is huge for us,” Vescio said of the win. “It feels great for all of us because we all wanted it bad and we worked hard for it. Our practices were hard this week and I think we defi nitely deserved it.” Vescio led Weston-McEwen with 15 points, and stepped up in place of point guard Chelsea Quaempts who fouled out early in the overtime period. “Katie came in and really played well,” Weston-McEwen coach Eric Jensen said. “Against Pilot Rock you have to control the ball and we can’t rely on Chelsea and Katie is a great ball handler and she did a good job controlling the ball. She stepped up and really attacked which was big for her.” Weston-McEwen (13-5, 4-1 CBC) overcame an early fl urry by Pilot Rock (14-4, 4-2) in the fi rst quarter, as the Rockets jumped out to a 17-6 lead with just over one minute left to play in the quarter. The TigerScots chipped away with a 6-0 run to end the quarter facing a 17-12 defi cit, and then kept the momentum going in the second quarter as they outscored Pilot Rock 12-5 to take a 24-22 lead at halftime. The Rockets missed 12 straight shots in the second quarter, proceeded by a short jumper from Rachel Willingham just seconds into the quarter and See TIGERSCOTS/2B Sports shorts EOU’s Jolley honored by CCC Gonzaga retains No. 1 ranking LA GRANDE — For her school-record performance at the Jacksons Invitational Eastern Oregon freshman Payton Jolley was awarded the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Red Lion Field Athlete of the Week honors it was announced on Monday. A native of Nampa, Idaho, Jolley broke a school record in the triple jump, posting a mark of 10.92m (35-10) to top Ashanna Hodge’s mark of 10.63m (34-10.5) set back in 2015. Jolley’s terrifi c day didn’t end Jolley there, as she also recorded the fi fth-best long jump in program history at 5.11m (16-9.25). EOU concludes the indoor regular season on Feb. 11 at the BSU Team Challenge in Nampa, Idaho. SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Gonzaga is No. 1 for a second straight week in The Associated Press college basketball poll following a week in which all but four of the top 10 teams lost at least one game. The Bulldogs (24-0), the only remaining unbeaten team in Division I, received 59 fi rst-place votes from the 65-member national media panel on Monday. Villanova (22-2) moved from fourth to second after receiving the other six No. 1 votes. Kansas, which saw its 51-game winning streak at Allen Fieldhouse end over the weekend, held at third while Louisville jumped from sixth to fourth. Oregon, coming off its impressive win over Arizona, went from 13th to fi fth. Baylor, which lost twice last week, dropped from second to sixth. “You better look online.“ — Robert Kraft New England Patriots owner to quarterback Tom Brady when told Brady’s game-worn jersey had gone missing from his locker following the Patriots’ record-setting 34-28 comeback overtime victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1958 — Ted Williams signs a contract with the Boston Red Sox for $135,000, making him the highest paid player in major league history. 1970 — The NBA expands to 18 teams with the addition of franchises in Buffalo, Cleveland, Houston and Portland. 2011 — New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady becomes the fi rst unanimous choice for The Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player Award. Brady gets all 50 votes since the AP began using a nationwide panel of media members who cover the league. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
