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Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian BOARDMAN Wednesday, February 22, 2017 MLB Rockwell, Kernal Dyson to play key roles with Mariners win district titles By JOSE M. ROMERO Associated Press 14 locals qualify for 3A state finals East Oregonian Riverside seniors Aris- totle Rockwell and Anthony Kernal won district titles on Saturday at the 3A Special District 3 tournament to lead a contingent of 14 local wrestlers to earn state berths out of the brackets in Nyssa. It was the third district title for Rockwell, who beat No. 2 seeded Nyssa senior Gavin Hartley 14-4 in the finals. He won his first two matched by pin over Burns’ Dawson Williams (:49) and Nyssa’s Brandon Martinez (3:06). Kernal won his second district championship with a 6-3 decision over No. 2 Nyssa junior Edgar Rivera in the 220 final. He had received a bye in the first round, and pinned Nyssa’s Michael Duenas in 40 seconds in the semifinals. Nyssa would go on to win the team title by a wide margin with 457.5 points. Riverside was second with 202 and Irrigon was third with 177. Both Riverside and Irrigon sent seven wrestlers to state with top-three placings. Placing second were Riverside’s Andrew Barker (120 pounds), Kevin Altami- rano (126), and Ruben Villa (285), and Irrigon’s Brady Harrington (170) and Tucker McAllister (195). In third were Riveride’s Fernando Oretga (106) and Jordy Mendoza (220), and Irrigon’s Jose Romero (138), Josue Aguilera (145), Franco Sanchez (160), Colby Krogh (170) and Luke Meyers (285). The state meet begins Friday in Portland at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. ———— Team Scores Nyssa Riverside Irrigon Burns Vale Echo/Stanfield 457.5 202 177 137.5 84 26 PEORIA, Ariz. — Soon enough, Jarrod Dyson will be a vocal and emotional presence in the Seattle Mari- ners clubhouse. He’s just working on getting to know his new teammates first. Dyson has the credentials and experience to back up his history of good-natured ribbing, jokes and holding teammates accountable. A former 50th-round pick, he spent the past seven seasons carving out a speed and outfield versatility role for himself on the Kansas City Royals. Dyson is a career .260 hitter with 176 stolen bases. He’ll have the green light to take off when he likes, at least in spring training, and also brings 11 outfield assists and only two errors in 95 games from last season. “It’s just my personality,” Dyson said. “I’m a big guy that likes to joke on people or whatever, once I get to know them. Being in here (with Seattle) is something different, but I’m all for it and I love it. I can’t be shy around here. I can’t expect nobody to come over to my locker and say, ‘Hey, I’m such-and-such,’ so I’ve to got to get up and introduce myself to the Dyson guys.” Dyson also has a World Series champion- ship ring from his KC days, something not lost on the Mariners, who traded for the him in the offseason. “It just means a lot of hard work paid off,” Dyson said. “When I first got traded over here, I was like, I got a chance at winning. I watched these guys play last year and they missed it by a series or two. That’s impressive, man.” Dyson is slated for at least a frequent role as a corner outfielder, which would be an expansion of how he was deployed in Kansas City. He’ll help set the table for the heart of the Mariners’ lineup — Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager. “If I can get on base and steal a base, that makes it much easier for the guys behind me,” Dyson said. “It’s all about trying to do your job. Jean (Segura) and myself at the top of the lineup, we’re just trying to get it done.” Dyson was close with the late Yordano Ventura, the Royals pitcher who died in an auto accident last month in the Dominican Republic. Dyson tells a story about a side of Ventura many did not know, opposite from the hard-throwing hurler who backed off hitters with inside pitches and was demonstra- tive on the mound. Dyson traveled to the island to pay his respects with former teammates at Ventura’s funeral. He recalled how Ventura, when the team went on the road, would at times seek out Dyson for encouragement. “That was family to me,” Dyson said, his voice lowered. “We built a rela- tionship that money couldn’t buy or break up. Everybody knew him as a firecracker on the mound, but he was a really nice guy. “The majority of every loss he had last year, he’d cry about it because he felt he let the team down,” Dyson said. “He’d want to know if everybody was mad at him or anything like that, and I’d tell him all the time, we got your back, no matter what.” With the Mariners, Dyson said, he’ll respect that the clubhouse belongs to those who have already been with the team but won’t stop being the guy who looks to fire up his teammates or lighten the mood when the time is right. “Even though he wasn’t always a regular everyday player, he was not afraid to speak his mind,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “I think it’s a great fit for us, what he does on the field. We’ve got to get him more comfortable in the clubhouse. He’s not quite there yet.” BOYS BASKETBALL: Stuvland anchors defense with four blocks Continued from 1B an early edge with its athleti- cism attacking the lanes. The Bulldogs were up 12-8 after the first quarter and seemingly in control, which didn’t sit well with the tightly-packed BUCKing Chutes. “It was a great night overall, but we weren’t composed as we wanted to be to start,” said Bucks senior guard Caden Smith, who finished with a game- high 15 points. There was no wavering in the Bucks’ huddle, though, and the team responded to the exit of its star player early in the second quarter in a manner now typical during their 10-game winning streak. When Smith picked up his third foul just a minute and 20 seconds into the second quarter, Pendleton was still trailing 12-10. When Bucks coach Kyle Tedder brought Smith to the bench the team responded with a 15-4 run to close the half up 25-16. “Everything we did started on the defensive end,” Tedder said, and the Bucks scored 21 points off turnovers while also having eight blocks. “We have guys that aren’t afraid to step up any time against any opponent. We take pride in the fact that the next guy is going to step up no matter who we have on the floor.” “There’s not better feeling than watching the guys do their thing,” Smith said of his viewpoint from the bench. “We’ve really worked hard on defense and focusing on that and really trusting each other.” After Xavier Rambo gave Hermiston a 13-10 lead by hitting one of his free throws from Smith’s foul, Stuvland got it to a one-point game by converting both on his own trip to the line. Then after a miss at the other end, Shaw Jerome found Stuvland down low for two to make it 14-13 with 5:51 to play. Tyler Newsom and Wyatt Morris added buckets to extend the lead, and then Morris scored three layups in a 100-second spurt for a 25-15 lead when he grabbed his own rebound and put it back with 2:48 left in the first half. “We just got in a groove and just kept on going,” Morris said. “We really stressed defense and to always be contesting shots.” “I thought we were a little Staff photo by E.J. Harris Pendleton Caden Smith drives on Hermiston’s Jordan Ramirez in the Bucks’ 62-42 win against the Bulldogs’ on Tuesday in Pendleton. emotional in the first quarter, myself included,” Tedder said. “But again, we reacted to that. We gave up four points in the second quarter, that’s a response for you.” PENDLETON: Shot 57 percent in second half Continued from 1B so awesome,” Pendleton’s Maureen Davies added. “We got to honor our seniors and give them a victory, it’s just so awesome and a great way to end the league just No. 1.” Pendleton (11-7, 7-1 CRC) had its work cut out for them coming into the game, as Hermiston (12-10, 6-2) dominated the Bucks 62-31 in the lone game in Hermiston on Feb. 9. Buckaroos coach Kevin Porter said that his team played too sluggish in that previous match-up, while Herm- iston “played like beasts,” but worked hard in the days of practice leading up to the game. “I told them we have to match their (Hermiston’s) energy and we have to be the aggressive team,” Porter said. “It’s just a testament to the girls. They work hard every day, do everything we ask of them and they came out and balled tonight.” Hermiston began the game looking like a future champion, hitting three of their first five shots to take a quick 7-0 lead on Pendleton with 5:07 left to play in the first quarter. However at that point, Hermiston hit a metaphoric wall and scored just four points over the final 13-plus minutes of the half and trailed the Buckaroos 15-11 at the break. The Buckaroos defense deserved some credit for the stretch, too, as they played aggressive inside and limited Hermiston’s quality looks at the basket. “We’ve been focused on defense the entire year because it’ll win these types of games,” Greb said. “We all knew who we were guarding, we all knew the offenses and what we needed to do and we executed tonight.” The Buckaroos came out of the halftime break and sparked their offense immediately. going on a 11-0 run in 3-plus minutes to open up a double-digit lead. Hermiston finally broke into the score column on a drive and lay-in by Kynzee Padilla Hermiston’s Kyn- zee Padilla tries to pass the ball guarded by Pendle- ton’s Maureen Da- vies (24) and Kalan McGlothan in the Bucks’ 59-37 win against the Bull- dogs on Tuesday in Pendleton. Staff photo by E.J. Harris Stuvland also picked up the first of his four blocked shots during that span and added 14 points, 10 rebounds and three assists despite also playing much of the way in foul trouble himself. He had three straight rejections at the start of the fourth quarter. “When I swat somebody I get really pumped up for the team,” he said, then later added it wouldn’t compare to the feeling he’s got from his climb of the ladder to snip a bit of net from the rim. “It was a great feeling, and I’m just glad I got to do it twice.” Despite not re-entering in the first half, Smith came out hot in the third with 13 of his points and also had six rebounds, three assists, three steals and pair of blocks. Morris tallied 14 points and pair of steals, Newsom had seven points and seven rebounds, and Kyle Curtis finished strong with all seven of his points in the fourth quarter. Rambo and Chance Flores were connecting in the first quarter to get Hermiston off to its start, but cooled from there as the Bulldogs were limited to a single field goal in the second quarter. Rambo had six of his 13 points in the Local slate PREP BOYS BASKETBALL Thursday Pendleton at Hood River, 7 p.m. Friday #9 Horizon Christian, Tualitin at #8 Umatilla (Class 3A first round), 6 p.m. #15 Oakland at #2 Stanfield (Class 2A first round), 6 p.m. #13 Irrigon at #4 Salem Academy (Class 3A first round), 7 p.m. #13 Weston-McEwen at #4 Santiam (Class 2A first round), 7 p.m. Hermiston at Hood River, 7 p.m. PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL Today North Clackamas Christian at Arlington (Class 1A first round), 6 p.m. Thursday Hood River at Pendleton, 7 p.m. Friday Hood River at Hermiston, 7 p.m. Saturday #11 Grant Union at #6 Pilot Rock (Class 2A first round), 5 p.m. #13 Weston-McEwen at #4 Faith Bible (Class 2A first round), TBD Nixyaawii vs. TBD (Class 1A second round), TBD COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL Today Warner Pacific at Eastern Oregon (CCC Tournament), 7 p.m. Blue Mountain at North Idaho, 8 p.m. COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Today Blue Mountain at North Idaho, 6 p.m. COLLEGE BASEBALL Friday Columbia Basin at Blue Mountain, 11 a.m./2 p.m. from the field in the second half, eventually building the lead to the 20 point threshold. Greb was the only other Bucakroo to reach double-digits with 16 points and five assists. Hermiston shot just 22 percent (14-62) for the game, though they did a slightly better 31 percent (10-33) in the second half. Kynzee Padilla led all scorers in the game with 19 points to go with eight rebounds, while Maddy Juul and Rileigh Andreason both had seven points. ———— HHS 9 2 10 16 — 37 PHS 6 9 20 24 — 59 HERMISTON — K. Padilla 19, M. Juul 7, R. Andreason 7, J. Thomas 4, S. Gilbert, J. Romero, H. Thompson, H. Meyers, S. Stefani, M. Wheeler. PENDLETON — M. Davies 17, H. Greb 16, K. McGlothan 9, L. Richards 8, H. Porter 3, K. Bradt 3, K. Broker 2. 3-pointers — HHS 1, PHS 0. Free throws — HHS 8-11, PHS 15-23. Fouls — HHS 17, PHS 15. Fouled out — R. Andreason (HHS). HHS 12 4 15 11 — 42 PHS 8 14 23 14 — 62 HERMISTON — X. Rambo 13, C. Flores 11, H. Walls 7, R. Andreason 3, A. James 3, J. Ramirez 3, K. Moss 2, A. Earl, C. Ortiz, A. Mendez, T. McCullough. PENDLETON — C. Smith 15, J. Stuvland 14, W, Morris 14, K. Curtis 7, T. Newsom 7, S. Jerome 2, J. Szumski 2, R. Russell 1, S. Machado. 3-pointers — HHS 4; PHS 3. Free throws — HHS 4-10; PHS 10-15. Fouls — HHS 15; PHS 15. SCOREBOARD PREP WRESTLING Friday-Saturday Hermiston, Pendleton, Mac-Hi, Irrigon, Riverside, Heppner/Ione at OSAA State Championships with 4:35 left in the third — the first field goal since the 1:01 mark of the first quarter and ending a 7-minute, 20-second scoring drought for the Dawgs. Hermiston then got the lead under 10 points at 26-15, but the Buckaroos kept pounding away with their inside game and started to pull away. Davies was an enormous factor for the Bucks in the quarter, tallying 11 points and helping the Bucks to a 35-21 lead after three. Davies finished the game with a team-high 17 points and added nine rebounds. “When she plays with confidence and that kind of aggression, Maureen can absolutely dominate games,” Porter said. The Buckaroos shot 57 percent first quarter and Flores had five of his 11 in the frame. The last time Hermiston had Pendleton’s lead down to single digits was after a fading jumper by Flores that made it 31-22 with 5:28 left in the third quarter. But Smith answered with a three-pointer and took over Pendleton’s offense during 10-4 run that lasted three minutes. The closest Hermiston got in the in the fourth quarter was after a three by Ryne Andreason cut it to 50-38 with 4:43 to play. Curtis scored seven of the next 12 for the Bucks, which are guaranteed a home playoff game but must first close out the regular season at Hood River on Thursday at 7 p.m. Hermiston also has its postseason berth secured and will host a play-in round game after wrapping up CRC play at Hood River on Friday at 7 p.m. ——— COLLEGE SOFTBALL Friday Eastern Oregon vs. Northwestern Nazarene (at Nampa, ID), 2/4 p.m. Saturday Eastern Oregon vs. Northwest Nazarene (at Nampa, ID), 12/2 p.m. Blue Mountain at Walla Walla, Noon/2 p.m. Sunday Prep Standings BOYS BASKETBALL 5A Columbia River Conference Conf. Ovr Rank Pendleton 8-0 13-4 9 Hermiston 5-3 15-7 11 Hood River 1-5 6-12 27 The Dalles 1-7 4-15 28 GIRLS BASKETBALL 5A Columbia River Conference Conf. Ovr Rank Hermiston 6-1 12-9 9 Pendleton 6-1 10-7 12 The Dalles 3-6 8-11 22 Hood River 0-7 6-11 30 Basketball NBA Monday-Wednesday No games scheduled. Thursday’s Games Portland at Orlando, 4 p.m. Charlotte at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Houston at New Orleans, 5 p.m. New York at Cleveland, 5 p.m. Denver at Sacramento, 7:30 p.m. L.A. Clippers at Golden State, 7:30 p.m. NCAA Men’s Top 25 Tuesday’s Games No. 9 Baylor 60, Oklahoma 54 No. 11 Kentucky 72, Missouri 62 No. 13 Florida 81, South Carolina 66 No. 14 Purdue 74, Penn State 70, OT No. 25 Wichita State 109, Evansville 83 Wednesday’s Games No. 2 Villanova vs. No. 22 Butler, 6 p.m. No. 3 Kansas vs. TCU, 4 p.m. No. 6 Oregon at California, 6 p.m. No. 7 Louisville at No. 8 N. Carolina, 6 p.m. No. 10 Duke at Syracuse, 4 p.m. No. 23 Creighton vs. Providence, 6 p.m. No. 24 Maryland vs. Minnesota, 5:30 p.m. Women’s Top 25 Tuesday’s Game Kansas State 79, No. 16 Oklahoma 71 Wednesday’s Game No. 1 UConn vs. No. 23 Temple (at XL Center, Hartford, Conn.), 4 p.m. Thursday’s Games No. 3 Miss. St. at No. 22 Kentucky, 4 p.m. No. 5 Notre Dame vs. Boston Coll., 4 p.m. No. 7 South Carolina at Texas A&M, 6 p.m. No. 8 Stanford at No. 10 Oregon St., 8 p.m. No. 8 Florida State vs. Pittsburgh, 4 p.m. No. 11 Washington vs. Colorado, 8 p.m. No. 14 Louisville vs. Virginia, 4 p.m. No. 17 Miami at Virginia Tech, 4 p.m. No. 18 N.C. State vs. North Carolina, 4 p.m. No. 20 Syracuse vs. Wake Forest, 4 p.m. No. 24 Missouri vs. Mississippi, 5 p.m. No. 25 Michigan vs. Nebraska, 5 p.m. Hockey NHL Tuesday’s Games Ottawa 2, New Jersey 1 Pittsburgh 3, Carolina 1 Montreal 3, N.Y. Rangers 2, SO Tampa Bay 4, Edmonton 1 Toronto 5, Winnipeg 4, OT N.Y. Islanders 3, Detroit 1 Calgary 6, Nashville 5, OT Chicago 5, Minnesota 3 Los Angeles 2, Colorado 1 Wednesday’s Games Edmonton at Florida, 4:30 p.m. Washington at Philadelphia, 5 p.m. Boston at Anaheim, 7:30 p.m. Golf PGA Tour Upcoming Schedule Feb. 23-26 — Honda Classic, PGA National (Champion GC), Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. World Golf Rankings Through Feb. 19 1. Dustin Johnson 2. Jason Day 3. Rory McIlroy 4. Henrik Stenson 5. Hideki Matsuyama 6. Jordan Spieth 7. Adam Scott 8. Justin Thomas 9. Sergio Garcia 10. Alex Noren 11. Patrick Reed 12. Justin Rose 13. Danny Willett 14. Rickie Fowler 15. Bubba Watson USA AUS NIR SWE JPN USA AUS USA ESP SWE USA ENG ENG USA USA 10.28 9.77 9.13 8.64 8.59 8.47 5.80 5.52 5.18 5.07 5.07 4.83 4.61 4.54 4.36