Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 17, 2017)
SPORTS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS Prep Roundup Cougars advance to district semifi nals Echo next plays Powder Valley today in Baker East Oregonian BAKER CITY — It was never pretty, but the Echo boys basketball team completed its mission on Thursday with a 41-34 win over Wallowa in the fi rst round of the Men’s College Basketball Gonzaga cruises to victory Old Oregon League district tourna- ment at Baker High School. The teams evenly split the game’s 48 turnovers, but Echo grabbed an early lead and never let it go. “The team’s motto is ‘Finish Strong’, and that’s what they did,” said Echo coach Kreig Mueller. “We were somewhat in control. (Wallowa) made a few runs, and were a pretty emotional team, but we got back into it and we fi nished the game.” Devan Craig led Echo (9-15) in Boys Hoops Wallowa Echo 34 41 scoring with 14 points, and Morgan Marcum added eight points and 12 rebounds. Christopher Nobles accounted for most of the offense for Wallowa (5-18) with 20 points. Echo was ahead 29-15 at half- time, thanks mostly to its defense Mueller said, and the Cougars know they’ll need to bring a more even performance into the semifi nals against No. 1 Powder Valley. “We’ve focused on defense in the practice the last three weeks, because we knew defense has to come up big this weekend,” Mueller said. “We got this win. If we show up like that (against Powder Valley) it’s not going to end the same way. But our guys always bounce back well.” The win guarantees Echo two WHS 5 10 11 8 — 34 EHS 18 11 9 7 — 41 WALLOWA — C. Nobles 20, G. Ramsden 5, S. Hilliard 4, B. Melville 3, A. Brockamp 2, A. Lindros, Z. Mallory, R. Hafer. ECHO — D. Craig 14, M. Marcum 8, T. Mulder 7, K. Jensen 5, C. Medrano 4, Caldera 2, Z. Gehrke 1, N. Scott, B. MacPherson, R. Post. 3-pointers — WHS 0; EHS 1. Free throws — WHS 10-15; EHS 16-29. Fouls — WHS 19; EHS 15. See PREPS/2B Ducks continue winning ways Oregon just one game back of Pac-12 lead Bulldogs improve to a perfect 27-0 By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS Associated Press SPOKANE, Wash. — Unde- feated Gonzaga struggled in the fi rst half against San Francisco, and looked nothing like the nation’s top-ranked basketball team. But Nigel Williams-Goss helped the Zags dominate the second half and coast to a 96-61 victory Thursday night. Williams-Goss scored 30 points as Gonzaga extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 27 games. “We’re not going to beat every single team by 20 points in the fi rst half,” said Przemek Karnowski, who added 23 points and seven rebounds for Gonzaga (27-0, 15-0 West Coast). San Francisco “We’ve got to play our d e f e n s e like we’re supposed to.” #1 Gonzaga Gonzaga, which is seeking to become the fi rst team since Kentucky in 2015 to go undefeated in the regular season, let San Fran- cisco shoot 50 percent and take the lead midway through the fi rst half. But they held the Dons to 23.5 percent shooting in the second half, and outscored them 54-26 for the win. “I like how we adjusted,” Karnowski said. “We altered a lot of shots.” Chase Foster had 15 points and Matt McCarthy added 11 for San Francisco (18-10, 8-7). The Dons have dropped 11 straight to Gonzaga and 28 in a row in Spokane dating to 1989. Williams-Goss, a junior guard, added six rebounds and seven assists as he torched the Dons for at least 30 points for the second time this season. He was 10 of 14 from the fi eld. “He’s a really, really focused individual,” Gonzaga coach See GONZAGA/2B more games at districts and a shot at a state tournament berth. The top three teams will advance to the state Round of 24. Echo and Powder Valley tip off today at 8:15 p.m. ——— EUGENE — Dillon Brooks scored 20 points and No. 7 Oregon defeated shorthanded Utah 79-61 on Thursday night to extend the Ducks’ home winning streak to 41 games. Jordan Bell added 17 points for the Ducks (23-4, 12-2 Pac-12), who wore new neon green uniforms that glowed under blacklights during player introductions. Jayce Johnson Utah had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Utah (17-8, 8-6), playing without top scorer Kyle Kuzma because of #7 Oregon a sprained ankle. Kuzma appar- ently was injured during practice on Wednesday. The 6-foot-9 junior starter is averaging 15.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. His rebounding averaging ranked second in the Pac-12 and 17th in the nation. He has 15 double-doubles this season. Oregon, sitting second in the Pac-12 standings behind Arizona, led by as many as 26 points. Leading the nation with an average of 6.9 blocks a game, Oregon fi nished with 10 against the Utes. It was Oregon’s ninth straight win over Utah. The Ducks jumped out to an 18-8 61 79 61 96 AP Photo/Chris Pietsch Oregon’s Tyler Dorsey shots a 3-pointer over Utah’s Lorenzo Bonam during the fi rst half of an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, in Eugene, Ore. See DUCKS/2B Beavers come up short Eubanks’ 14 not enough to take down Buffaloes By KYLE ODEGARD Associated Press CORVALLIS — Derrick White had 20 points and three steals as Colorado held on to beat Oregon State 60-52 on Thursday night. Xavier Johnson added 17 points for the Buffaloes (16-11, 6-8 Pac-12). Drew Eubanks had 14 points, eight rebounds and four blocks and JaQuori McLaughlin scored 16 points for the Beavers (4-23, 0-14). White made a contested fl oater to Colorado Oregon St. 60 52 give Colorado a 55-52 lead with 1:18 remaining, and then stole the ball on Oregon State’s possession. Johnson sank a corner 3-pointer to stretch the Buffaloes’ lead to 58-52 with 36 seconds left. The Beavers turned the ball over the next time down the court and were forced to foul. At the half, Oregon State led 25-24. The Buffaloes went on a 12-2 surge See BEAVERS/2B AP Photo/Timothy J. Gonzalez Colorado’s Dominique Collier, left, reaches for the ball while being guarded by Oregon State’s JaQuori McLaughlin (0) and Kendal Manuel (24) during the fi rst half of Thursday’s game in Corvallis. Colorado won 60-52. Sports shorts NFL bars Kelly from combine Liberty moving to FBS in 2019 BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A person familiar with the NFL’s decision tells The Associated Press that Mississippi quarterback Chad Kelly has had his invitation to the league’s scouting combine revoked because of charges stemming from a bar fi ght, and for being dismissed by Clemson in 2014. The person spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity on Thursday because the NFL has not revealed the reason Kelly was not included on the list of participants. The decision to exclude Kelly is Kelly based on a memo the league issued to teams last month outlining reasons draft-eli- gible prospects will not be permitted to participate in the weeklong combine in Indianapolis that opens Feb. 28. The memo says prospects will be excluded if background checks reveal past convictions for violence or sexual offenses, or if they were dismissed by their school or the NCAA. LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) — Liberty University says the NCAA has approved its request for a waiver to begin reclassifying into the Football Bowl Subdivision. The school says it received the notifi cation Thursday. It had requested a waiver into the two-year process in January even though it does not have an invitation to join an FBS conference. The Flames will compete as an independent when they begin the process starting with the 2017-18 academic year. Liberty will have three FBS homes games in the 2018 season. They will be bowl eligible and required to have at least fi ve FBS home games in the 2019 season. Liberty says the waiver approval came because the school demonstrated its readiness to begin the process and the university’s ability to satisfy FBS requirements. “They need to take their career away from them because this is ridiculous.“ — Deontay Wilder Unbeaten WBC heavyweight champion (37-0, 36 knockouts) calling for harsher punishments for boxers who are caught using performance enhancing drugs. In each of his last two fi ghts, Wilder’s original opponent tested positive for a banned substance and had to be replaced. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1924 — Johnny Weissmuller sets a world record in the 100-yard freestyle swim with a time of 52.4 seconds. 1967 — Philadelphia’s Wilt Chamberlain hits the fi rst of what would become an NBA record 35 consecutive fi eld goals without a miss. 1994 — San Antonio’s David Robinson records the fourth quadru- ple-double in NBA history with 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 blocks in the Spurs’ 115-96 win over Detroit. 2001 — Arnold Palmer, 71, becomes the fi rst player to shoot his age in a PGA Tour event since Sam Snead did 22 years ago. Palmer fi nishes the fourth round of the Bob Hope Classic with a 1-under 71. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
