SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2017
1B
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Men’s College Basketball
HERMISTON
Corban
corrals
CCC title
Bulldogs come up short
KLAMATH FALLS — Chris
Martin scored 30 of his game-
high 34 points in the second half
going 10-of-12 from long range
to lead the eight-seeded Corban
Warriors over fourth-seeded
Oregon Tech 109-95 for the
Cascade Collegiate Conference
men’s basketball championship
on Tuesday.
Pendleton product Bryan
Beard scored 16 points and had
fi ve rebounds for Oregon Tech
(24-9), but couldn’t bring the
Hustlin’ Owls
back after they
went into the
break trailing
Corban
54-38.
Corban
(18-15) became
the only No.
8 seed to win
the CCC Tour-
nament title, Oregon Tech
and earned an
automatic berth
to the NAIA
National Tournament. It was
Oregon Tech’s fi rst loss at Danny
Miles Court this season.
The Warriors went on a 16-2
run led by center Joel Johnston to
take a 22-7 lead in the fi rst half.
They stretched the lead to it’s
largest margin of the fi rst half at
19 points after four three-pointers
by Jake Love.
The Owls cut the lead to eight
three times in teh second half,
but each time Martin answered
with a string of three-pointers
and hit three in a row to close
the game after OIT had pulled
within 100-92. The Warriors shot
54 percent from the fl oor and 60
percent from three-point range.
Joel Yellow Owl put up 25
points to lead Oregon Tech on
the night, followed by Mitchell
Fink with 19 points and 8 assists.
Hermiston’s
Chance
Flores and
Parkrose’s
Wilfred
Likayi go
up for a
rebound in
the Bull-
dogs’ 65-50
loss to the
Broncos on
Tuesday in
Hermiston.
Hermiston’s
season ends in
play-in round
loss to Parkrose
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
It is no secret that Hermiston’s
boys basketball team was an
undersized group this season.
With the tallest players
measuring in at 6-1, the Bulldogs
often times found themselves
in distinct height disadvantages
against teams, however the
Bulldogs
had
Boys Hoops powered through
it and fi nished the
regular
season
nine games above
Parkrose
the .500 mark.
However,
in
Tuesday’s Class
5A
postseason
play-in game the
height disadvan-
Hermiston
tage caught up
to them as the
Parkrose Broncos
used their height
and length to pull away with a
65-50 victory to end the Bulldogs’
season.
All fi ve starters for the Broncos
(11-12) registered at 6-2 or taller
and the team is anchored inside
by 6-8 senior Wilfred Likayi and
6-3 point guard Isaac Bonton — a
Divison I signee with Montana
State. They played a spaced-out
2-3 zone defense that limited
Hermiston’s (16-8) clean looks for
jump shots and the length played
into many tipped passes and altered
shots near the basket.
“I thought the kids played hard
but their length defi nitely bothered
Staff photo by
E.J. Harris
109
65
95
50
See BULLDOGS/3B
NBA
Women’s College Basketball
Morris, Pistons outlast Trail Blazers in overtime
Eastern Oregon
women garner
All-CCC honors
one assist after the start of the
fourth, however, and the Trail
Blazers were eventually done in
by turnovers.
“We’ve always been a team
By NOAH TRISTER
that takes care of the ball, but
Associated Press
that’s not happening right now,”
Lillard said. “We can’t give the
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. ball away all the time and expect
— The Detroit Pistons rallied to win games, especially on the
for another win after trailing by road.”
Smith was scoreless heading
double digits.
“That’s not a good formula,” into the fourth quarter but gave
coach Stan Van Gundy said. “I Detroit a huge lift down the
stretch. The Pistons came
applaud our resilience.
back from an 18-point
... To be good, I’d like to
defi cit to beat Charlotte
play a more solid game
Portland
on Thursday, and they
from beginning to end.”
rallied from 16 down to
Marcus Morris scored
win at Toronto on Feb.
a career-high 37 points,
12.
including Detroit’s fi rst
“We’re playing with
seven in overtime, and
a lot of fi ght,” Detroit’s
the Pistons rallied from
Detroit
Andre Drummond said.
a 13-point, third-quarter
“We’re not out of the
defi cit to beat the Portland
game, ever. When things
Trail Blazers 120-113 on
get tough, we really come
Tuesday night.
Ish Smith had 12 points, seven together.”
C.J. McCollum scored 25
assists and seven steals for the
Pistons, who pulled within one points for Portland.
The Pistons trailed 75-62 in the
game of seventh place in the
third before closing that quarter
Eastern Conference.
Damian Lillard had 34 points on a 13-4 run. It was Portland that
and 11 rebounds for Portland had to rally late in the fourth, and
while falling an assist shy of his Lillard’s driving layup with 2.8
fi rst triple-double. He had only
See BLAZERS/3B
Portland can’t hold
on to 13-point lead
Cascade Collegiate
Conference names
Weissenfl uh top coach,
Webber top defender
East Oregonian
113
120
AP Photo/Carlos Osorio
Detroit Pistons guard Reggie Jackson, left, makes a layup
defended by Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic (27)
during the fi rst half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday,
Feb. 28, 2017, in Auburn Hills, Mich.
The week continues to get better for
the Eastern Oregon women’s basketball
program.
One day after the Mountaineers
defeated
Southern
Oregon 74-69 to
capture the fourth
conference tourna-
ment championship in
school history, EOU
saw head coach Anji Weissenfl uh and
four Mountaineer players earn all-con-
ference accolades that were handed out
by the Cascade Collegiate Conference on
Tuesday.
Weissenfl uh led EOU’s haul with
the CCC Coach of the Year award, after
guiding her team to a 28-4 overall record
and a share of the conference’s regular
See EOU/2B
Sports shorts
Vikings make Peterson free agent
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Adrian Peterson,
Minnesota’s all-time leading rusher and a fi rst-
team All-Pro pick in four of his 10 seasons with
the Vikings, will be an unrestricted free agent
for the fi rst time in his career when the market
opens next week.
The Vikings as expected said
Tuesday they will not exercise
their option for 2017, which called
for him to make $18 million. That
would have been an unwieldly
hit to their salary cap and by far
the highest fi gure in the NFL.
Peterson
Pittsburgh’s decision to place the
franchise tag on Le’Veon Bell will likely mean
a $12 million-plus salary, but nobody else at the
position in the league is close.
Peterson, who turns 32 in three weeks, is
coming off a meniscus tear in his right knee that
limited him to 72 yards on 37 carries over parts
of three games in 2016.
“In offi ciating, better
is in the eye of the
beholder. But what we
should always try to
achieve is consistency,
predictability. You want
coaches, fans, players, to
have a clear expectation
of how a call is going to
be made and why.“
— Rich McKay
Atlanta Falcons president and
chairman of the NFL’s competition
committee. It was announced
Tuesday the league is considering
hiring up to 17 full-time referees.
OSAA expands live streaming
of basketball championships
Oregon high school basketball fans can enjoy
expanded live video streaming of the state cham-
pionships this March as Table Rock Sports, Plays
Action Sports Media and The Oregon
Pulse Network team up with the
NFHS Network and OSAA to produce
live game action available online and
on your favorite mobile devices.
The $9.95 subscription fee allows
fans one month to view games beginning with the
3A boys and girls tournaments from Marshfi eld
and North Bend high schools March 2-4.
All 6A boys and girls championship round
games, March 8-11, will stream from the Chiles
Center in Portland.
Coverage also includes the semifi nals and fi nals
of the 5A boys and girls tournaments at Oregon State.
Register for a subscription and fi nd the
scheduled broadcast events at http://www.
nfhsnetwork.com/associations/osaa.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1955 — Allen Field-
house, home of the Kansas
Jayhawks, hosts its fi rst
basketball game
1988 — Wayne Gretzky
of the Edmonton Oilers
becomes the NHL’s all-time
assist leader, breaking the
longtime mark of Gordie
Howe. In his ninth season,
Gretzky picked up assist No.
1,050, taking just 681 games
to surpass the record that took
Howe 1,767 games to set.
1994 — NBA referee
Steve Javie ejects Portland
radio analyst Mike Rice
in the third quarter of the
Pacers’ 106-94 victory over
the Portland Trail Blazers.
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