SPORTS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
1B
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HERMISTON
Bulldog trio to continue respective careers
Line, Nitz, Garcia sign to
play collegiate athletics
Herimston seniors (seated
left to right) John-Henry Line,
Clarissa Nitz and Alysia Gar-
cia sign National Letters of
Intent with college programs
on Thursday at Hermiston
High School. Line signed with
Eastern Oregon football, Nitz
joined Warner Pacifi c volley-
ball and Garcia signed her let-
ter with Southwest Oregon
Community College soccer.
The players’ high school
coaches are standing behind
them (left to right) David
Faaeteete, Elizabeth Fleming
and Danielle Turner.
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
Hermiston senior Clarissa Nitz cele-
brated her birthday on Thursday, and she
earned herself perhaps one of her best gifts
ever.
A college scholarship.
Nitz along with fellow Hermiston
seniors John-Henry Line and Alysia Garcia
signed their letters of intent to play college
Staff photo by Eric Singer
athletics at a signing party at the Hermiston
High School commons. Nitz signed to play
volleyball at Warner Pacifi c University,
while Line signed with Eastern Oregon
football and Garcia with Southwest Oregon
Community College women’s soccer.
“This is really exciting,” Nitz said while
grinning ear-to-ear on Thursday. “I’ve
wanted to play in college since the sixth
grade ... I’ve just always loved the sport.”
Warner Pacifi c was Nitz’s fi rst choice
and the only school she really considered
because of the school’s Christian affi liation.
“It was really important to me because
I’ve gone to church all my life,” Nitz said,
See BULLDOGS/2B
PENDLETON
PENDLETON
Buckaroos grind past Eagles
Bucks go
undefeated
in CRC
Pendle-
ton’s Kalan
McGlothan
grabs a
rebound
in front of
Hood Riv-
er’s Emily
Curtis (4)
and Lau-
ren Orr in
the Bucks’
48-39 win
against the
Eagles on
Thursday in
Pendleton.
Pendleton closes league slate
with win over Hood River
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
Tuesday’s league title-clinching win over
Hermiston was one of the most effi cient,
complete, and emotional games the Pendleton
girls basketball team had put together all
season.
Thursday’s regular season fi nale against
Hood River Valley was the
opposite of that.
Girls’ Hoops
Pendleton shot just 27
percent from the fl oor and
turned the ball over 19 times
en route to a sluggish 48-39 Hood River
victory over Hood River at
Warberg Court. Buckaroos
(12-7, 8-1 CRC) coach
Kevin Porter said after the
game that he was bracing for
Pendleton
a possible emotionally-fl at
effort coming into this one.
“You’re always worried
about it,” Porter said,
“because when you have a game like (Herm-
iston) with the signifi cance that it had, some
times it’s hard to follow up. But we knew and
talked about it ahead of time.”
Porter also credited some disjointedness
to a shakeup in rotations and playing time,
as he started the three seniors Tatum Fell,
Haley Greb and Kale’a Broker — as well as
sophomore guard Elli Nirschl and junior guard
Jaiden Lemberger — giving the seniors as
much playing time as possible in their fi nal
home regular season game.
“Sometimes when you change lineups it
causes some struggles and that’s what it did
tonight I think,” he said. “The girls knew we
were going to do a senior-heavy game and they
prepared for it, but for some reason we had a
Staff photo by E.J.
Harris
Pendleton cruises
past Hood River
East Oregonian
HOOD RIVER — The
Buckaroos started fast, then
put it in cruise
to
Boys Hoops control
hold off Hood
River 51-41
on Thursday in
Pendleton
their Columbia
River Confer-
ence fi nale.
Pendleton
coach
Kyle
Tedder said he
Hood River
wasn’t quite
sure what led
to the Bucks’
fall-off after
outscoring the Eagles 22-5
through the fi rst eight minutes,
but suspected it had something
to do with Pendleton’s 29- and
17-point wins over Hood River
in their prior games this season.
“We came out hot, forcing
the issue and creating turnovers,
and it just went away in the
See BUCKS/2B
51
39
41
48
NBA
Lillard rallies
Trail Blazers
See BUCKAROOS/2B
By TERRANCE HARRIS
Associated Press
Prep Basketball
Arlington’s Hauner, Patnode named to fi rst team All-BSL
East Oregonian
Three locals were named to the
All-Big Sky League girls basketball
fi rst team the league announced on
Thursday.
Arlington
seniors
Megan
Hauner and Joely Patnode, and
Condon/Wheeler senior Brooke
Dyer were the selections, as
voted on by league coaches. Four
more locals were honored with
placement on the second team and
honorable mention list.
It was the second time making
the fi rst team for Hauner, and the
fi rst for both Patnode and Dyer, who
were second team and honorable
mention last season, respectively.
Horizon Christian junior Paulina
Finn, a second-team selection as
a sophomore, was voted the BSL
Player of the Year after leading the
Hawks to fi rst place in the district
tournament.
Also
garnering
all-league
recognition for local teams were
second-teamers Annika Reitmann
(Condon/Wheeler) and Shelby
Collins (Arlington), and honorable
mention picks Maggie Flynn (Ione)
and Rileigh McClure (Arlington).
Arlington’s four representative
were the most of any team, and
South Wasco and Horizon Chris-
tian each had three.
No locals were named to the
BSL Boys All-League fi rst team,
and Condon/Wheeler junior Bryce
Harrison was the only player on
the second team. Anthony Valdez
and Benjamin Evans of Arlington,
and Hunter Winslow of Condon/
Wheeler were honorable mention
picks.
Sherman senior Max Martin was
voted Player of the Year, and the
district-champion Huskies landed
four players on the fi rst team.
———
2016-17 Girls BSL All-League
First Team
Paulina Finn, jr., Horizon Christian (Player of the
Year)
Megan Hauner. sr., Arlington
Brooke Dyer, sr., Condon/Wheeler
Jodee Hicks, sr., Horizon Christian
Joely Patnode, sr., Arlington
Second Team
Annika Rietmann, jr., Condon/Wheeler
Kaitlin Wenz. so., Horizon Christian
Allie Noland, jr., South Wasco
Emily Hill, sr., Sherman
Shelby Collins, sr., Arlington
Alexus Outlaw, jr., Dufur
Desiree Winslow, so., Sherman
Honorable Mention
Abby Birman, so., South Wasco
Maggie Flynn, jr., Ione
Rileigh McClure, sr., Arlington
Anastasia Popchock, jr., South Wasco
Jaelyn Justesen, fr., Sherman
2016-17 Boys BSL All-League
First Team
Max Martin, sr., Sherman (Player of the Year)
Kyle Fields, sr., Sherman
Isaiah Coles, sr., Sherman
Jacob Justesen, jr., Sherman
Connor Uhalde, sr., Dufur
Second Team
Ian Walker, sr., Horizon Christian
Ty Herlocker, sr., South Wasco
Treve Martin, jr., Sherman
Bryce Harrison, jr., Condon/Wheeler
Bailey Keever, sr., Dufur
Honorable Mention
Kolbe Bales, sr., Dufur
Anthony Valdez, sr., Arlington
Derek Johnston. so., Horizon Christian
Benjamin Evans, sr., Arlington
Hunter Winslow, so., Condon/Wheeler
Haven Stephenson, sr., South Wasco
ORLANDO, Fla. — Damian
Lillard scored
33 points, C.J.
McCollum
added 22 and
Portland
the Portland
Trail Blazers
beat
the
Orlando Magic
112-103
on
Thursday night
Orlando
to snap a three-
game losing
streak.
A f t e r
trailing for much of the game,
the Trail Blazers rallied in the
fourth quarter behind Lillard’s
17 points. Recently acquired
center Jusuf Nurkic also had 12
points and 12 rebounds during
See BLAZERS/2B
112
103
Sports shorts
Broncos cut Okung after 1 season
Gonzaga clinches WCC title
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Russell
Okung bet on himself and lost.
The former fi rst-round pick signed what
basically was a one-year tryout last year with
Denver. Serving as his own agent, Okung
structured his contract so that
only his $8 million salary in
2016 was guaranteed. He needed
to have a big year to trigger the
fi nal four years and $48 million.
He didn’t, and on Thursday
the Broncos informed the former
Okung
fi rst-round pick they wouldn’t be
picking up his $1 million option
bonus next month that would have guaranteed
him another $21 million.
The Broncos’ decision not to exercise
Okung’s option saves Denver nearly $11
million against the cap this season, giving the
Broncos north of $40 million in cap space.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Josh Perkins and
Jordan Mathews scored 15 points apiece,
and Johnathan Williams had 14 points and
19 rebounds for No. 1 Gonzaga, which
overwhelmed San Diego 96-38 on Thursday
night to improve to 29-0 and
clinch the West Coast Confer-
ence title.
The 58-point victory margin
was the biggest of the season
for Gonzaga, which also has won games by
47, 46 and 39 points.
And it was merely the latest laugher for
Gonzaga (17-0 WCC), the only unbeaten
team in Division I. It has won all 17 confer-
ence games by double digits.
Nigel Williams-Goss scored 14 points
and Zach Collins had 12 for Gonzaga.
Olin Carter III scored 15 for USD (12-17,
5-12), which has lost six straight and 39 of
its last 42 games to Gonzaga.
“Obviously we have a
great deal of interest,
and we’ve said it
for a long time, in a
playmaker.“
— David Griffi n
Cleveland Cavaliers General
Manager when asked about
former All-Star guard Deron Wil-
liams, who was released by Dal-
las on Thursday and told ESPN
he intends to sign with Cleveland
after he clears waivers, which is
expected to take 48 hours.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1967 — Wilt Chamberlain of
Philadelphia shoots 18-for-18 from
the fi eld against the Baltimore
Bullets, an NBA record for fi eld
goals in a game without a miss.
1985 — Jim Kelly of the
Houston Gamblers passes for a
USFL-record 574 yards and fi ve
touchdowns in a 34-33 come-
back-win over the Los Angeles
Express. Kelly, completes 35 of 54
passes, including three for touch-
downs in the fi nal 10 minutes.
2013 — Jimmie Johnson wins
his second Daytona 500, beating
Dale Earnhardt Jr., his Hendrick
Motorsports teammate. Danica
Patrick, the fi rst woman to win the
pole, becomes the fi rst woman to
lead the race.
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