SPORTS
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017
1B
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HERMISTON
Parity permeates district brackets
Hermiston prepares
to host SD4
championships
By MATT ENTRUP
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
When wrestlers arrive at the Dawg
House on Friday for the Special District 4
championships, they’ll be greeted by the
sight of a banner-fi lled wall that signifi es a
decade of dominance by their hosts.
Hermiston’s 10 state championships
might intimidate some of the freshmen
and fi rst-timers, but should only serve as
motivation for the many state hopefuls on
the nine teams represented.
Eight wrestlers will be looking to defend
SD4 titles, but just 24 of the district’s 56
state qualifi ers are back from last season.
The top four in each weight class move on,
and eight of the district’s nine teams come
into the meet with a serious title contender
in at least one weight.
“I think each team has their individual
front-runners that are going to go out and
score a lot of points, that they expect to get
in the fi nals and score a lot of points,” said
Hermiston coach Kyle Larson. “Throughout
the district it seems like everybody’s going
to come and fi ght, so we’re just getting
ready to get in there and score a lot of bonus
Hermiston’s Kenny Bevan wrestles Greg Lee, of Pendleton, in the 195-pound class during a dual meet at the Dawg House on
Feb. 1 in Hermiston.
Prep Basketball
See DISTRICTS/2B
Men’s College Basketball
League races come down to the wire
CBC boys have
three teams tied
for second
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
Mother nature has not
been kind to prep basketball
teams this season, especially
in Eastern Oregon, throwing
down snowstorm after
snowstorm and sprinkling in
enough freezing rain and ice
to cancel numerous games
throughout the season.
And as the spring season
creeps closer and Eastern
Oregon grows more and
more anxious to dethaw, the
end of the prep basketball
season is nearly upon us. The
local teams at the 3A/2A/1A
level each are fi nishing out
the regular season schedules
and while some are ready
for the end to come, many
are scrambling to qualify
for their respective district
tournaments or playing for
a better seeding.
Though, none of the
races may be closer than
what is happening in
the 2A Columbia Basin
Conference’s boys league
currently, where four teams
are competing for the three
berths into the district tour-
nament.
The Stanfi eld Tigers
(15-1, 5-0) have all but
clinched the No. 1 seed
with three games left to
play, though the current-No.
1 ranked team is favored
to win each of those three
games. But behind the
Tigers, Heppner, Weston-
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
In
this
fi le
photo,
Stanfi eld’s
Dylan
Grogan lays the ball in guarded by Grant Union’s Bil-
ly Copenhaver Dec. 8, 2016 in Umatilla.
McEwen, and Pilot Rock
are all deadlocked with a
3-3 league record with two
games left to play for all
three.
Depending on how things
play out this weekend, two
of those three teams could
easily clinch those fi nal two
spots, or the CBC could end
up with a three-way tie for
the fi nal two berths to force
a tiebreaker.
On the girls side of the
CBC,
Weston-McEwen
(5-1), Pilot Rock (4-2),
and Culver (3-2) are the
likely three teams to make
the district tournament this
year, but all three teams
are still fi ghting for the No.
1 seed and the bye to the
fi nals.
Weston-McEwen
has the easiest road to No.
1, just needing to win out
against Stanfi eld and Culver
this weekend to clinch it.
Let’s take a look at the
rest of the district races:
3A
EASTERN
OREGON LEAGUE
The boys EOL race has
been much more interesting
this season with the addi-
tion of Irrigon and Burns,
and currently four teams
have clinched their spots
in the district tournament.
However, the order of those
four teams could change
dramatically depending on
this weekend’s games.
As it stands now, Umatilla
sits atop the EOL with a 6-2
record, one game ahead of
both Burns and Irrigon at
5-3 and then Nyssa coming
in at 5-4. It’s been quite the
turnaround for Umatilla,
who fi nished the 2015-16
season in third place with a
3-6 league record.
Umatilla has the easiest
road to the No. 1 seed, as
it takes on Riverside and
Vale this weekend, both of
which sit in the basement of
the league with a combined
4-13 record. Meanwhile,
Irrigon fi nishes up with
a tougher slate at home
against Nyssa on Friday
night and then hits the road
to Burns on Saturday.
On the girls side, only
Irrigon (5-3) will advance
into the district tournament
from the local schools,
joining Vale (6-1), Nyssa
(6-3) and Burns (5-3).
Irrigon, which has put
together a solid season in
its fi rst go-round at the 3A
level, could help its seeding
this weekend as it faces
Nyssa at home on Friday
and then Burns on the road
on Saturday.
See LEAGUE RACES/2B
AP Photo/Young Kwak
Gonzaga forward Killian Tillie (33) dunks in front of
Santa Clara forward Nate Kratch during the second
half of an NCAA college basketball game in Spokane,
Wash., Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017.
Maturity helps Gonzaga’s
rise to top of rankings
Transfers making
the difference
By NICHOLAS K.
GERANIOS
Associated Press
SPOKANE, Wash. — If
there is a single word that
sums up No. 1 Gonzaga this
season, it is maturity.
Coach Mark Few and his
players talk often about the
poise of this year’s Zags,
who have blown out many
of their opponents and are
on pace to fi nish the regular
season undefeated.
Gonzaga (24-0, 12-0 West
Coast Conference) starts
three transfer students from
power conference programs,
along with veterans Przemek
Karnowski and Josh Perkins.
All those players have
plenty of college basketball
experience, and it shows.
“There are a lot of leaders
in this group,” Perkins said.
“We get everybody’s best
shot. This group is ready for
it.”
Guard Nigel Williams-
Goss, who leads a balanced
Gonzaga attack that averages
85 points per game, said the
Zags are mature enough to
avoid being swallowed up by
hype.
“We don’t feel any pres-
sure,” Williams-Goss said.
“Our motto is: ‘Get better
every week.”’
The Zags have a big game
this weekend at No. 20 Saint
Mary’s, which is shaping
up as the biggest remaining
obstacle to an undefeated
regular season. The last team
to do that was Kentucky in
2015.
Gonzaga is also just
one win away from its 10th
consecutive 25-win season,
See GONZAGA/2B
Sports shorts
Oakley ejected from MSG
NEW YORK (AP) Former Knicks star
Charles Oakley was forcefully removed
from his seats at Madison Square Garden
and arrested after an altercation near team
owner James Dolan.
Oakley shoved security
guards before they pulled
him away from his seat
behind the baseline during
the fi rst quarter of the
Knicks’ 119-115 loss to
the Los Angeles Clippers
on Wednesday night. Fans
Oakley
chanted “Oakley! Oakley!”
in support of the popular power forward.
The 53-year-old Oakley played for
the Knicks from 1988-98, helping them
reach the NBA Finals, but has a poor
relationship with the team because of his
criticism of Dolan, the Madison Square
Garden chairman.
“We’re looking at a
tremendous number of
teams and the difference
between the top teams
and bubble teams is
really thin. … It is going
to be an extremely
diffi cult process for the
committee this year
because of the parity.“
— Bruce Rasmussen
NCAA Tournament selection com-
mittee vice chair at a meeting to
determine the top 16 seeds in the
men’s tournament, which will be
announced Saturday. The entire
fi eld will be announced March 12.
No. 9 Arizona holds off Stanford
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Allonzo Trier
scored 22 points, including 12 of 12 from the
free throw line, and No. 9 Arizona escaped
with a 74-67 victory over Stanford on
Wednesday night.
Trier’s biggest offensive
output since he returned to the
team six games ago came in his
fi rst start of the season.
Lauri Markkanen emerged
from a three-game shooting
slump to make a 3-pointer that gave the
Wildcats the lead for good, 70-67, with
1:40 to go.
Trier added two free throws with 23.7
seconds to go.
Arizona (22-3, 11-1 Pac-12) led most of the
game but never by more than four points.
Reid Travis led Stanford (12-12, 4-8) with
26 points. Arizona beat the Cardinal by 39 at
Stanford on Jan. 1.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1912 — The U.S. Tennis Associ-
ation amends the rules for the men’s
singles championship play. The
defending champion is required to
play through the tournament instead
of waiting for the tournament to
produce a challenger.
1992 — Magic Johnson, playing
for the fi rst time since announcing his
retirement on Nov. 7, scores a game-
high 25 points and hands out nine
assists to lead the West to a 153-113
win over the East in the NBA All-Star
Game at the Orlando Arena.
2011 — The Cleveland Cava-
liers’ losing streak reaches 26,
matching the 1976-77 NFL Tampa
Bay Buccaneers’ record for consec-
utive incompetence with a 103-94
loss to the Detroit Pistons.
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