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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2017)
SPORTS WEEKEND, FEBRUARY 18-19, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS UMATILLA Umatilla’s Kaden Webb shoots the ball between Irrigon’s Johnny Phil- lips and Hayden White in the Vikings’ 61-59 win against the Knights on Friday in Umatilla. Vikings shock Knights Sebastian Garcia plays hero with last- second shot to give Umatilla EOL crown By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian Sebastian Garcia was a quiet contributor to Umatilla’s offense through three quarters of their district championship game against Irrigon on Friday night. But once the fi nal buzzer sounded at The Pit, Garcia had elevated himself to hero status. Garcia hit a 3-pointer in transition from the left wing with just 8.3 seconds to play which proved to be break lay-in opportu- the game-winning Boys Basketball nity that would have shot, as the Vikings put the Knights up by pulled out a 61-59 three points. Irrigon victory over Irrigon to Irrigon Umatilla (15-8, 7-3) then had claim the district title. “All I was thinking a chance for a last- is man I have to make second shot to tie or this,” Garcia, who win, but the Vikings fi nished with 12 points, said after the defense didn’t give the Knights a game with a enormous smile on his good look. face. “And when it went through, it Daniel Vera’s desperation shot was just a great feeling.” from just inside halfcourt missed Umatilla (17-7, 8-2) junior guard wide at the buzzer, and the standing Kaden Webb said he had no doubt room-only crowd at the pit exploded that the shot was going in. into a pandemonium. “Sebastian’s a great shooter and “I just can’t believe we won,” we’ve always got confi dence in him,” Webb said. “It was a lot harder than Webb said. “He may miss fi ve in a we wanted it to be, but these are the row, but there’s no doubt he’s going games we live for and it’s amazing ... to make the big ones and he did.” it’s just indescribable.” The shot came just seconds after “This was the fi rst time I’ve seen some luck fell the Vikings’ ways, as See VIKINGS/4B Irrigon’s Hayden White missed a fast- 59 61 Staff photo by E.J. Harris OSAA State Swimming Championships Jennings speeds through prelims Pendleton senior has top spot going into freestyle sprint finals By MIKE WEBER For the East Oregonian East Oregonian photo by Mike Weber Pendleton’s Rylan Headley competes in the 100-yard baskstroke preliminaries at the OSAA state swimming championships on Friday at Mount Hood Community College in Gresham. PENDLETON HERMISTON Bucks clinch third straight CRC title Bulldogs grind out victory Pendleton turns in strong second half for rout East Oregonian THE DALLES — The Buckaroos claimed their third-straight Columbia River Conference boys basketball title on Friday with a 72-49 win over The Dalles. It was the second time this week the teams had met after Pendleton won in a 41-point rout on Monday, but a determined Riverhawks had Pendleton a little on its heels going into halftime with the Bucks up 34-25. See BUCKS/5B Hermiston overcomes sluggish pace to down Hood River GRESHAM — One of the largest combined contingents of swimmers in recent years from Pendleton High School and Hermiston High participated in the OSAA Swimming State Championships Friday at Mount Hood Community College. The highlight of course, is that one out of 21 total Buckaroo and Bulldog Class 5A preliminary state qualifi ers earned a prestigious position in the Class 5A fi nals. That standout swimmer is Pendleton High senior Jon Jennings. Jennings, the defending 5A state champ in the boys 50-yard freestyle, swam to victories in both preliminaries of the 50 and 100 free to earn a spot in Saturday’s 8 a.m. fi nals. Jennings swam to personal-best times twice in winning the 50 at 21.43 seconds and in the 100 at 47.61. If he continues swimming as strong as he did in Friday’s prelims, there’s a very good chance See SWIMMING/5B Boys Basketball Hood River Hermiston 52 75 East Oregonian Friday night’s Hermiston boys basketball game against Hood River was not one of the more entertaining games of the season. Sure, it was a high-scoring affair with 127 combined points scored, but there were also a whopping 49 fouls called in the game which slowed the game down for the spectators, and affected any rhythm and momentum for both Hermiston and Hood River. “It’s kind of tough to get in a rhythm ... you start to get on a run and then a foul’s called and on and on,” Hermiston coach Casey Arstein said. “But I thought the kids did a good job holding their composure.” In the end, Hermiston’s supe- rior talent shined through as the Bulldogs put away Hood River Valley for the second time this season with a 75-52 victory on senior night at The Dawg House. “I thought we played pretty hard defensively and smart for the most part,” Arstein added. “I was proud of the kids that we got See BULLDOGS/4B Hermis- ton’s Xavi- er Rambo shoots the ball over Hood River’s Tan- ner Wells in the Bulldogs’ 75-52 win against the Eagles on Friday in Hermiston. Staff photo by E.J. Harris Sports shorts Ex-NFLer Richardson arrested HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — Former NFL player Trent Richardson is facing a misdemeanor domestic violence charge in Alabama. Police in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover say the 26-year-old Richardson was jailed Friday with bond set at $1,000. A police statement says offi cers received a call about yelling coming from a guest room at a hotel Thursday night. It says police responded and found a woman with scratches and bruises on her face. Richardson The statement says the two argued earlier at a Walmart store, and the dispute continued at the hotel. Paramedics treated the woman, but she didn’t require further medical attention. Richardson played football at Alabama before turning pro. He spent four seasons total in the NFL at Cleveland and Indianapolis. “It was just to (expletive) with everybody, because that is what I do ... You’ve got to have some fun with all of this. You can’t take yourself too seriously. Some people do. I don’t.“ — Mark Cuban Dallas Mavericks owner after the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game. Cuban wore jersey No. 46 — the number of the next U.S. President — as a tongue-in-cheek response to President Donald Trump, who tweeted on Feb. 12 that Cuban “is not smart enough to run for president!” World squad beats US in NBA’s Rising Stars Challenge NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Jamal Murray scored 36 points and Buddy Hield, a New Orleans Pelicans rookie, added 28 to the delight of the locals as the World squad beat the U.S. 150-141 on Friday night in the Rising Stars Challenge. The game featuring top rookies and second-year pros is the main event on the fi rst night of NBA All-Star weekend. Murray, a Canadian and Denver Nuggets rookie out of Kentucky, went 9 of 14 on 3-pointers and was voted the game’s MVP. Hield, a Bahamian, was 11-of-22 shooting overall, but just 3 of 12 from deep. Frank Kaminsky of the Charlotte Hornets scored 33 for the U.S. team and Karl-Anthony Towns added 24, highlighted by his dunk of Devin Booker’s half-court lob. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1995 — Utah guard John Stockton becomes the fi rst NBA player with 10,000 assists in a 108-98 victory over the Boston Celtics. 2001 — Dale Earnhardt, the greatest stock car star of his era, is killed in a crash on the last turn of the last lap of the Daytona 500 as he tries to protect Michael Waltrip’s victory. 2006 — Shani Davis becomes the fi rst black athlete to win an individual gold medal in Winter Olympic history, capturing the men’s 1,000-meter speedskating race. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
