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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 2017)
SPORTS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS 5A Boys Basketball Tournament Lancers outlast Buckaroos in quarterfi nals Pendleton bumped to consolation bracket 5A boys basketball second-half points. Quarterfi nals state semifi nals Wilson fi nished with a 58-49 win on with 15 points, 10 Tuesday at Oregon rebounds, six assists State University’s #7 Pendleton #2 Churchill and four blocks. Gill Coliseum. Pendleton (15-5) Six-foot-10 senior Caden Smith Churchill (22-4) post carried the Bucks Spencer Hoffman was a force in the with 25 points and four rebounds. fi rst half with 15 of his team-high 20 Smith’s three-pointer with 3:54 points, and 6-5 guard Lucas Wilson left in the game pulled Pendleton guided them down the stretch 10 within 45-41, and after a pair of free 49 East Oregonian PENDLETON — The No. 7 Pendleton Buckaroos hung around, but in the end No. 2 Churchill’s height was too much to overcome as the Lancers advanced to the 58 throws by Wilson, a Wyatt Morris layup made it 47-43 with 2:54 left on the clock. But the Bucks went more than two minutes without scoring again as Churchill stretched its lead to 55-43 by going 5-for-6 at the free throw line. Smith’s three-pointer with :38 seconds left came too late to spark another push. Churchill never pulled away until late, and had its largest of the fi rst half when Quinn Warshafsky hit a three to make it 18-11 at the end of the fi rst quarter. Pendleton opened the next frame on a 10-0 run to regain the lead on a Smith trey. Kyle Curtis started the run with a three on the fi rst shot of the second quarter, then after a block by Johnny Stuvland and a steal by See BUCKAROOS/2B NBA Blazers overcome Westbrook’s career night Portland wins third straight despite 58 from Thunder guard By CLIFF BRUNT Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY — Portland countered NBA scoring leader Russell Westbrook’s onslaught with strength in numbers. Seven Trail Blazers scored in double fi gures, and Port- land overcame Westbrook’s career-high 58 points to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 126-121 on Tuesday night. “When you see the stats, Russ got like 60 or what- ever,” said Portland center Jusuf Nurkic, who scored 17 points. “I give him 80, we still have to win. I respect what he does, but I’m happy for our team.” Allen Crabbe scored 23 points, Damian Lillard had 22 and C.J. McCollum 21 for the Trail Blazers, who won their third straight. Portland shot 55 percent and forced Westbrook to keep producing. “We’re not good enough to take nights off defen- sively,” Westbrook said. Westbrook shot 21 of 39, but just 6 of 15 in the fourth quarter. He entered the game as the league leader in points and plus/minus score in the last fi ve minutes of regulation AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) goes up for a shot between Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J McCollum, left, and forward Al-Farouq Aminu (8) in the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, March 7, 2017. Portland won 126-121. and overtime. He missed four shots in the fi nal 83 seconds that could have tied the game or given the Thunder the lead. “Yeah, just missed them,” Westbrook said. “Made them all game.” Westbrook also fi nished with nine assists and made 13 of 16 free throws. “He’s incredible,” Port- land center Meyers Leonard said. “With that being said, sometimes, it becomes a one-man show. Now, he’s capable of that, but I think it’s to our credit, from top to bottom, that we had a lot of guys contribute.” Victor Oladipo scored 16 points and Enes Kanter added 11 for Oklahoma City, which dropped its fourth straight. Oklahoma City lost Portland OKC 126 121 despite shooting 52 percent. Westbrook scored 28 points in the fi rst half to give the Thunder a 67-61 lead. The Thunder shot 68 percent before the break. The Trail Blazers outscored the Thunder 38-25 in the third quarter to take a 99-92 lead into the fourth. Portland pushed its lead to 12 early in the fourth quarter, and the Trail Blazers led 106-97 when Westbrook checked back in after a rest. The Thunder rallied to tie the score at 116, but Nurkic scored in close twice to put Portland up 120-116. Westbrook missed a 3 with the Thunder trailing 122-119, and Nurkic made two free throws with 9.8 seconds remaining. West- brook scored a quick layup to make it a three-point game with 4.5 seconds to go. Portland got the ball in, and Lillard made two free throws with 1.4 seconds remaining to clinch the win. “We were sharing the ball,” Leonard said. “We believed in what we were doing. We believed in each other, and that was key, espe- cially when it comes down to the end of the game, trusting the next guy. This was a very big win for us.” UMATILLA Webb named EOL Player of the Year East Oregonian The Umatilla boys basket- ball team had quite the turn- around in 2016-17, fi nishing 17-8 overall and 8-2 in the Eastern Oregon League to help clinch both league and district championships for the Vikings. The continued growth and improvement of Vikings’ junior guard Kaden Webb was a big reason for the dominant season, and the EOL coaches realized that as well as Webb was named as the league’s Player of the Year. Webb was a fi rst team all-league member last season, but took his game to a new level as Umatilla’s leading scorer, go-to ball handler and the top perimeter defender. Webb was joined by three teammates on the all-league teams, as junior wing Seth Cranston earned fi rst team honors while senior wing Justin Maret and sophomore guard Sebastian Garcia earned second team honors. Irrigon, who fi nished second in the league in the school’s fi rst season at the Class 3A level, earned three selections with senior Austin Rice and Hayden White on the fi rst team and junior post Johnny Philips on second team. Riverside senior Eon Castillo was the Pirates’ lone all-league selection. On the girls side, two locals earned fi rst team selec- tions as Umatilla’s do-it-all player Aleesha Watson and Irrigon’s go-to scorer Jada Burns both earned top votes from the coaches. Watson was Umatilla’s lone represen- tative, while Burns was joined by teammates Taylor Davis (second team) and Aliya Munoz (honorable mention). Riverside landed two players on the all-league teams, with sophomore Lacey Mashos cracking the second team and sophomore Alondra Caldera earning an honorable mention. Vale senior Abby Hamilton was the girls Player of the Year. ——— Eastern Oregon League All-League Teams Boys Player of the Year — Kaden Webb, jr., Umatilla Coach of the Year — Derrek Lete, Umatilla First team Hayden White, sr., Irrigon Scott Davies, sr., Burns Andres Gonzalez, sr., Nyssa Boston Thompson, jr., Nyssa Seth Cranston, jr., Umatilla Austin Rice, Irrigon Second team Sebastian Garcia, soph., Umatilla Justin Maret, sr., Umatilla Eon Castillo, sr., Riverside Bryce Goss, jr., Burns Sam McLaughlin, jr., Vale Johnny Philips, jr., Irrigon Girls Player of the Year — Abby Hamilton, sr., Vale First team Aleesha Watson, sr., Umatilla Carli Feist, sr., Burns Lindsey Taylor, sr., Burns Madison Mitchell, sr., Nyssa Jada Burns, jr., Irrigon Amanda Trenkel, sr., Vale Second team Oakley West, jr., Burns Sailor Hartley, jr., Nyssa Kierra Hernandez, jr., Nyssa Taylor Davis, jr., Irrigon Dallie Johnson, jr., Vale Lacey Mashos, soph., Riverside Honorable mention Alondra Caldera, soph., Riverside Sydnee Shelman, sr., Burns Charlie Lancaster, sr., Nyssa Bo Bourasa, sr., Vale Britney Arredondo, jr., Nyssa Aliya Munoz, jr., Irrigon Alisa Burkhardt, sr., Vale Staff photo by Eric Singer In this Feb. 25 fi le photo, Umatilla’s Kaden Webb (1) directs the offense during a 3A boys basketball fi rst- round state playoff game against Horizon Christian of Tualatin on in Umatilla. Sports shorts Second former Bulldog wrestler qualifi es for NCAA Championships A second former Hermiston Bulldog will be joining Oregon State’s Joey Delgado at the NCAA wrestling championships. Nebraska 157-pound sophomore Tyler Berger punched his ticket by placing third at the Big 10 Championships on Sunday in Bloomington, Indiana. Berger’s only loss was to Michigan’s Brian Murphy by sudden victory in the quarterfi nals. He would win his next four matches and got to avenge his loss by beating Berger Murphy 5-2 in the third-place match to qualify for his second NCAA Championships. Nebraska placed fourth as a team, matching its best placing since joining the conference in 2011. Delgado qualifi ed for the NCAAs the week earlier by placing third at 149 pounds at the Pac-12 Championships. “What we personally like about the Raiders is the offensive line. They haven’t been playing around.“ — Nelson Peterson Father of free agent NFL run- ning back Adrian Peterson, 31, confi rming his son’s interest in playing for Oakland. The elder Peterson told the St. Paul-Pioneer Press that the New England Patri- ots are his son’s fi rst choice, and the Seattle Seahawks are also a team he’s interested in. NFL free agency begins on Thursday. Oregon paid ex-football assistant $63,000 for one-day tenure EUGENE (AP) — University of Oregon football co-offensive coordinator David Reaves spent little more than a day on the job but was paid more than $60,000. The Register-Guard reported Tuesday that Reaves received $3,750 for 26 hours of work when he resigned Feb. 3 after being arrested on suspicion of driving under the infl uence. According to UO documents obtained through a public records request, he also received a payment of $60,000. UO announced it hired Reaves on Jan. 17. Reaves had a two-year contract with an annual salary of $300,000. On Jan. 22, Reaves was arrested and charged with DUI, reckless driving and reckless endangerment. UO put Reaves on leave and was termi- nating his contract when he resigned. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1971 — Joe Frazier wins the world heavyweight title with a unanimous 15-round decision over Muhammad Ali. 2008 — Lindsey Vonn wins her 10th career World Cup downhill to break the U.S. record held by Picabo Street and Daron Rahlves. Vonn breaks the record in 1:23.57 on the 1.4-mile course. 2013 — The Big East Conference announces the departure of DePaul, George- town, Marquette, Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Villanova, allowing them to separate from the football schools and create their own conference on July 1. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
