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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 2017)
SPORTS TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS Prep Basketball Tigers fend off TigerScots Stanfi eld’s Dylan Grogan shoots the ball over Weston- McEwen’s Shaw Broncheau in the Tigers’ 88-68 win against the TigerScots on Sat- urday in Pendleton. Grogan powers Stanfi eld with game- high 31 points Rockets cruise to district title By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian PENDLETON — The Weston-McEwen TigerScots gave the Stanfi eld Tigers every- thing they had on Saturday afternoon, even posing as a threat to snap the No. 1 ranked team in the state’s long win-streak to an end. However, the TigerScots’ best shot was still no match for the depth and skill of Stanfi eld. After CBC Title Weston-McEwen cut the lead to just six points with 4:32 left to play, Stanfi eld fi nished the game on a W-McEwen 20-5 run to capture the Columbia Basin Confer- ence district championship with a 88-68 victory over the TigerScots at the Pend- leton Convention Center. Stanfi eld With the regular season league championship already in the Tigers’ (19-1) back pocket, the district title is the second of the three major goals the team had set for itself. “The second game of the year, coach asked what we wanted out of our season,” Stanfi eld senior Enoel Angel said following Saturday’s game. “The fi rst was league champs, next was districts and then third was the ultimate Staff photo by E.J. Harris 68 88 Staff photo by E.J. Harris Pilot Rock’s Kayla Deist shoots the ball over Weston-McEwen’s Sara Von Borstel in the Rocket’s 65-39 win against the Ti- gerScots on Saturday in Pendleton. Pilot Rock clinches home playoff game By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian See TIGERS/2B Prep Swimming Jennings fi nishes with two silver medals Pendleton senior caps off stellar career at state swim meet By MIKE WEBER For the East Oregonian GRESHAM — A large, 13-member group of Pendleton swimmers competed in Friday’s preliminaries of the OSAA Swimming State Champion- ships at Mt. Hood Community College. On Day 2 of the state meet though, only one Buckaroo swimmer advanced to compete in Saturday’s fi nals and that was standout senior Jon Jennings. Jennings, who qualifi ed for state all four years of his high school career, competed for the fi nal time in the state meet and he couldn not have asked for better way to conclude his Pendleton career as he was runner-up twice to earn a pair of silver medals Saturday. “You always hope to do better, but you just have to take whatever you can get and I’m happy with the time’s I had in both events,” said Jennings, who has been swimming competi- tively since age fi ve. “I was a little disappointed second place though. However, I can’t really feel too bad racing against a guy (Casey McEuen) who breaks the state record twice and is just a See JENNINGS/3B PENDLETON — The Pilot Rock and Weston-McEwen girls basketball teams met for the fourth time this season on Saturday afternoon, though this time there was more on the line. It was for a district championship and a guaranteed fi rst round CBC Title playoff game at home. In each of those previous three meetings, the most recent one a 46-40 win on Tuesday, W.-McEwen the margin of victory was an average of just fi ve points. This time, however, the Rockets played one of their most Pilot Rock complete games of the season and sprinted away from the TigerScots for a 65-39 victory to capture the district championship at the Pendleton Convention Center. “We executed through all four quarters and the girls followed the game plan to near perfection,” Pilot Rock coach Butch Wilson said after the game. “But if we played them See ROCKETS/2B 39 65 East Oregonian photo by Mike Weber Pendleton’s John Jennings, second from right, stands on the podium after accepting his silver medal in the 50 yard free- style swim at the OSAA state swimming championships on Saturday at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham. Jen- nings also took second in the 100 yard freestyle. MLB Mariners adopt ‘Whatever It Takes’ mantra for upcoming season Seattle Mari- ners players stretch before a spring train- ing baseball practice on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017, in Peoria, Ariz. Raised expectations after narrowly missing playoffs in 2016 By JOSE M. ROMERO Associated Press PEORIA, Ariz. — The words are displayed prominently inside the Seattle Mariners’ spring training clubhouse. In two languages. Whatever It Takes. Lo Que Sea Necesario. It’s a sign of raised expectations for the Mariners after coming close to a wild-card spot and fi nishing 86-76 last season. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) “We’ve got to stay on the process. It’s controlling the zone. It’s how we play. If you stay with that, the results kind of take care of themselves,” manager Scott Servais said before meeting with the team Sunday, when the fi rst full-squad workout of spring training was held. “Chasing the numbers of wins, chasing your ERA, chasing how many homers, that stuff, it takes care of itself. “Pressure’s a privilege,” Servais added. “Expectations are great. They should be. That’s what we’re shooting for. That’s what (GM) Jerry (Dipoto) spent all offseason working on, was to get our team a little bit better. It’s a good thing.” Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz are two of the team’s leaders, and both fi gure to miss considerable bonding time with their many new teammates at camp while playing in the World Baseball Classic. They’ll join the Dominican Republic team the fi rst week of March and could be gone a couple of weeks if the team makes another deep run in the WBC. “For all the guys that go there and represent their countries, we take a lot of pride in that,” Cruz said. “The whole country is excited. Wherever you go, kids to adults, everybody’s looking forward to the moment.” Another main presence in club- house, ace Felix Hernandez, will head off to join Venezuela’s team. “It’s not great, but important for them, they’re not going to be on those teams sitting on the bench,” Servais said of the three. “They’re going to be playing and getting their at-bats. They’ll be in very competi- tive situations. It should help them See MARINERS/4B Sports shorts Kings trade Cousins to Pelicans NEW ORLEANS (AP) — DeMarcus Cousins is on his way out of Sacramento — and right into an All-Star frontcourt pairing with Anthony Davis. The New Orleans Pelicans acquired Cousins in a fi ve-player, two-draft pick deal with the Kings late Sunday night, the same night the center was playing in the All-Star Game in their arena. The Kings dealt one of the most talented but temperamental big men in the game along with Omri Cousins Casspi to New Orleans for Tyreke Evans, 2016 fi rst-round draft pick Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway and fi rst- and second-round draft picks this summer. Cousins is averaging 27.8 points and 10.6 rebounds this season. But he is to become a free agent in 2018 unless the Pelicans can sign him to an All-Star caliber extension. “For the record. I know this is going to sound absolutely crazy, but athletes are humans, and not properties of the team they work for.“ — Dexter Fowler St. Louis Cardinals outfi elder tweeted the above statement on Sunday in response to harsh criticism he received on Twitter after stating that President Don- ald Trump’s travel ban executive order was “unfortunate.” Fowler’s wife, Darya, was born in Iran and his wife still has family in the country, which was one of seven singled out by Trump’s order. Miami upsets No. 18 Virginia CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Bruce Brown made a 3-pointer with 23.8 seconds left in overtime and Miami beat No. 18 Virginia 54-48 on Monday night for the Cavaliers fourth straight loss. Brown scored 14 points to lead the Hurricanes (19-8, 9-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) to their third consecutive victory. Kamari Murphy and Dejan Vasiljevic added 10 points each. Devon Hall scored 15 points to lead Virginia (18-9, 8-7), which last lost four straight in 2009-10, Tony Bennett’s fi rst season as coach. Isaiah Wilkins added 10 points and 10 rebounds, including two free throws with four seconds left in regulation to tie it. A putback by Marial Shayok with 39 seconds left gave the Cavaliers a 48-47 lead, but Brown made his only 3-pointer of the game on the Hurricanes’ ensuing possession, and Miami sealed it at the free-throw line. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1931 — The Chicago White Sox meet the New York Giants in the fi rst major league night game. The 10-inning exhibition is played in Houston. 1992 — Kristi Yamaguchi wins America’s fi rst Olympic gold medal in women’s fi gure skating since 1976. Midori Ito of Japan takes the silver and Nancy Kerrigan of the United States wins bronze. 2003 — Michael Jordan becomes the fi rst 40-year-old in NBA history to score 40 or more points, getting 43 in the Wash- ington Wizards’ 89-86 win over the New Jersey Nets. 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