SPORTS
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017
1B
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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.
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