SPORTS
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2017
1B
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NBA
Portland’s road woes continue
Prep Swimming
Dawgs
ready
to fi nish
dream
season
Hermiston,
Pendleton prepare
for state fi nals
By MATT ENTRUP
East Oregonian
AP Photo/Rick Bowmer
Utah Jazz guard Dante Exum (11) and Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) reach for a loose ball during the second half of
an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017, in Salt Lake City. The Jazz won 111-88.
Trail Blazers fall to 9-20 on road following blowout from Jazz
By KAREEM COPELAND
Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY — Gordon
Hayward was presented with
his All-Star jersey at halftime
Wednesday night and will play
in the game for the fi rst time on
Sunday. He had some unfi nished
business, though, before heading to
New Orleans.
Hayward scored 22 points and
George Hill added 19 as the Utah
Jazz ended a three-game losing
streak to the Portland Trail Blazers
with a 111-88
victory.
The Jazz also
Portland
ended a three-game
overall
losing
streak heading into
the All-Star break.
“We had a bad taste in our mouth
and didn’t want to go into the break
losing four straight,” Hayward
said. “This was one we needed to
have and I think we played like that
a little bit tonight. We need to be
able to play like that more often.”
Utah used a 20-4 third-quarter
88
run to take a
15-point lead after
Hayward warmed
Utah
up following a
2-for-9 fi rst half.
He scored 13 in the
quarter.
Joe Ingles scored 18 for the Jazz,
and Rudy Gobert had 13 points and
12 rebounds.
“I told (Hayward) don’t you
dare change anything you’re doing
after he had a really tough night
against Boston,” Jazz coach Quin
Snyder said. “It’s just a question of
111
See BLAZERS/2B
HERMISTON
MLB
Mariners
pitcher
Hisashi
Iwakuma
throws
during
spring
training
practice,
Wednes-
day Peo-
ria, Ariz.
him continuing to play his game.
If the ball’s not going in, he can
think about other things he can do.
Maybe get a more open shot, but
not to ever stop attacking.
“That’s who he is. That’s who
he’s worked to become. That’s the
guy we have confi dence in.”
Damian Lillard and CJ McCo-
llum had torched Utah the six
previous games against the Jazz,
but were fairly contained most of
the night. Lillard fi nished with 13
PENDLETON — There
were plenty of reasons the
Hermiston boys swim team
could have chosen to leave a
district championship off their
list of preseason goals.
The Bulldogs weren’t consid-
ering any of them when picking
out the accomplishments they
hoped to achieve this season,
however, because the Bulldogs
didn’t consider themselves a
realistic contender.
That changed as soon as the
team was fi nally able to get
into a pool against some live
competition, and following a tie
with Pendleton for fi rst place at
mid-January meet in Madras,
Hermiston realized it had better
raise its expectations.
“We knew at that point that
we had a competitive team this
year and we had a chance to win
our district,” said Hermiston
sophomore Ryan Barnard, who
swims the individual medley as
well as freestyle relays.
With its readjusted goals
the Bulldogs won their next
meet, then placed second to La
Grande in their fi nal tune-up
for districts. Going into Hood
River Aquatic Center last Friday
See SWIMMING/2B
Crossley fourth in barrel racing
slack at The American Semi-Finals
East Oregonian
AP Photo/Char-
lie Riedel
Iwakuma ready to shoulder
load again for M’s if needed
Former All-Star
posted double-digit
wins in three of six
seasons with M’s
By JOSE M. ROMERO
Associated Press
PEORIA, Ariz. — Pitcher
Hisashi Iwakuma was a major
reason the Seattle Mariners
stayed in the race for an American
League wild-card playoff spot
until the second-to-last day of the
2016 season.
The big right-hander led the
Mariners with 16 wins, and he got
the start on Oct. 1 with Seattle in a
must-win situation at home against
Oakland in order to have a chance.
Iwakuma faltered, however, and
gave up fi ve runs on nine hits in 3
2-3 innings.
The Mariners wound up losing
9-8 and were eliminated. But
Iwakuma was their workhorse
in a season that saw ace Felix
See IWAKUMA/2B
Photo by Andy Watson
Callahan Crossley, of Hermiston, competes for a fourth-place time of
13.928 during The American Semi-Finals barrel racing slack on Tuesday
at Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas.
It was a very sweet Valen-
tine’s Day for Hermiston’s
Callahan Crossley after the
barrel racer placed fourth in
the slack at RFD TV’s The
American Semi-Finals at
Cowtown Coliseum in Fort
Worth, Texas.
Crossley’s time of 13.928
seconds was just .16 off
the time of leader Brianna
Trepainer. For her efforts
Crossley earned a check
for $7,632 and a spot in
the three-day rodeo starting
Wednesday evening.
Top 10 fi nishers in
Fort Worth will advance
to The American on Feb.
19 at AT&T Stadium in
Arlington, Texas, where
top competitors from the
PRCA, ERA, WPRA and
PBR will compete on the
same stage for $1 million in
bonus money.
Sports shorts
Lesnar calls it a career with UFC
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former UFC
heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar has
informed the mixed martial arts promotion that
he is retired from competition.
The UFC confi rmed the 39-year-old Lesnar’s
decision Wednesday.
Lesnar returned from a 4½-year
MMA absence last July to beat
Mark Hunt at UFC 200, but the
result was overturned after Lesnar
failed two doping tests. He was
subsequently suspended from
competition for a year by the
Lesnar
U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which
administers the UFC’s doping policy.
Lesnar’s decision to retire means he has been
removed from USADA’s drug-testing pool,
which monitors the fi ghters year-round.
Lesnar fought for the UFC just eight times,
but he became one of the biggest pay-per-view
stars in the sport’s history during his brief run.
“You doing it for me,
it’s all good. You doing
it against me — you
speaking out against my
organization — it’s not
good anymore? That’s a
slave mentality. A slave
master mentality. That’s
ridiculous.“
— Draymond Green
Golden State Warriors forward
commenting on the handling
of former New York Knicks star
Charles Oakley by team owner
James Dolan. Green made the
comments during his “Dray Day”
podcast on Uninterrupted.
Anthony gets 10th All-Star nod
NEW ORLEANS (AP) Carmelo Anthony of
the New York Knicks is an All-Star again.
The NBA announced Wednesday night that
Anthony has been picked to replace Cleveland
forward Kevin Love on the Eastern Conference
roster Sunday for the All-Star
Game in New Orleans.
It’s the 10th All-Star selection
for Anthony, and his eighth
consecutive.
Love is expected to miss six
weeks after undergoing surgery
on his left knee Tuesday. Injury
Anthony
replacements are chosen by NBA
Commissioner Adam Silver.
Anthony entered Wednesday night’s game in
Oklahoma City averaging 23.2 points and 6.1
rebounds this season. Among players on this
year’s All-Star rosters, Anthony’s 10 trips to the
showcase are second-most to only Cleveland’s
LeBron James an All-Star for the 13th time.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1972 — Wilt Chamberlain
of the Los Angeles Lakers
becomes the fi rst player in
NBA history to reach the
30,000 point mark during a
110-109 loss to Phoenix.
1997 — Jeff Gordon, 25,
becomes the youngest winner
of the Daytona 500 after Dale
Earnhardt crashes 12 laps
from the end to prolong his
Daytona 500 jinx.
2005 — The NHL cancels
what was left of its schedule
after last-gasp negotiations
failed to resolve differences
over a salary cap. It’s the fi rst
time a major sports league in
North America lost an entire
season to a labor dispute.
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