Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Men’s College Basketball
Unfinished: UNC, Oregon try to get it right this time
In this
March 26,
2016, file
photo,
members of
the Oregon
team walk
off the court
at half time
in an NCAA
college
basket-
ball game
against
Oklahoma
in the re-
gional finals
of the NCAA
Tournament
in Anaheim,
Calif.
By EDDIE PELLS
Associated Press
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Roy
Williams could hear his own
footsteps as he padded through the
near-silent locker room, still trying
to wrap his mind around a question
that couldn’t be answered: What do
you say to a group of players who
did nothing wrong, but lost anyway?
In some form or other, that ques-
tion has lingered at North Carolina
all season. With a win over Oregon
in the Final Four on Saturday, the
Tar Heels (31-7) will be back to
the title game, where, last year,
Villanova unraveled their dreams
with one dagger of a shot — a
game-winning 3 with the buzzer
sounding.
“The most inadequate feeling
I’ve ever had in my life,” Williams
called the aftermath of the game.
“What I did is, I tried to tell them,
let’s focus on using this feeling
as fuel, as motivation, to work
extremely hard in the offseason.”
Most of the key players from
last year’s Tar Heels — among
them, Joel Berry II, Isaiah Hicks
and Justin Jackson — are back.
They have a group-texting channel
named, simply, “Redemption.”
The North Carolina players have
walked the fine line this season
between the natural inclination to
dwell on the painful loss, and the
impossible task of forgetting it.
“A dream was to get here,”
Jackson said. “It wasn’t necessarily
AP Photo/Mark J.
Terrill, File
to get back here and get back what
we thought we won last year.”
Oregon (33-5) had title dreams
last year, too.
The Ducks were a No. 1 seed,
but in an NCAA Tournament that
veered off the rails, guard Dillon
Brooks got upbraided by the losing
coach in the Sweet 16, Duke’s Mike
Krzyzewski, who lectured him in the
handshake line for jacking up (and
making) an uncontested 3 while the
teams were running out the clock.
Then, the top-seeded Ducks ran into
Buddy Hield in the Elite Eight .
They looked primed for another
run this season, then big man Chris
Boucher went down with a torn-up
knee in the Pac-12 tournament, and
thoughts of Oregon repeating as a 1
seed went out the window.
Instead, the Ducks were seeded
third and largely overlooked coming
into this year’s tournament. But
now, they’re two wins away from
the team’s second championship.
The first came in 1939, the first year
of the tournament.
“It was stunning when we found
out that day that Chris was not
going to be with us,” Ducks coach
Dana Altman said. “We just had
each of our guys step up and try to
do a little more.”
Some things to watch when
the Ducks meet the Tar Heels in
Saturday night’s semifinal:
MAYE DAY: Could sophomore
Luke Maye be North Carolina’s
new go-to guy? Maye hit the game-
winner with 0.3 seconds left against
Kentucky in the regional final last
weekend. It marked the first time
a North Carolina player made a
game-winning shot in the last 10
seconds of an NCAA Tournament
game since 1990 (Rick Fox vs.
Oklahoma). That game-winner
came two days after Maye had 16
points and 12 rebounds — his first
career double-double — in a win
over Butler.
HOT SHOT: Oregon’s Tyler
Dorsey is shooting 65 percent (17 for
26) from 3-point range in the tour-
nament. He said teams haven’t been
stepping out to challenge his shot as
much in the tournament, and that’s
even more the case as he’s extended
his range over the last few weeks.
The key to keeping a hot hand?
“Nothing to figure out, really,” he
said. “I’m just getting a lot of shots.
I’m probably getting more than
anyone, and I’ve got the hot hand.”
REBOUNDING: One reason
the Tar Heels are here: Rebounding
. They average 13 more rebounds a
game than their opponents, a margin
unseen in Division I since Michigan
State made the Final Four in 2001.
It’s resulting in 17.5 second-chance
points a game, more than eight
more than their opponents. Ducks
coach Dana Altman said limiting
North Carolina’s advantage will be
a “priority for everyone who is on
the floor,” but one made more diffi-
cult by the absence of Boucher, the
team’s second-leading rebounder.
BERRY: Berry has been battling
two sprained ankles, the last of
which was suffered in the Kentucky
game. On Friday, he participated
in North Carolina’s closed practice
and said he’s feeling about 85
percent — a virtually certain sign
that he’ll play. “I think I’ll be
effective,” he said. “It’s a matter of
just getting into the game and not
worrying about it. Once I do that, it
will be good.”
South Carolina and Gonzaga on the defensive in Final Four
Gonzaga’s
Przemek
Karnowski
shoots over
Josh Per-
kins during
a practice
session for
their NCAA
Final Four
tournament
college
basketball
semifinal
game Fri-
day, March
31, 2017, in
Glendale,
Ariz.
By JIM O’CONNELL
Associated Press
GLENDALE, Ariz. —
South Carolina and Gonzaga
have a lot more in common
than just being in their first
Final Four.
Experience has been a
key word around the two
programs this week in
advance of their national
semifinal game on Saturday.
A bigger word that applies
is defense. They don’t play
the same style but they both
are effective in holding down
an opponent.
Guard Duane Notice is
the defensive focal point for
seventh-seeded South Carolina.
“Just as your point guard
initiates your offense, your
on-ball defender initiates
your defense,” Gamecocks
coach Frank Martin said
Friday. “When your point
guard’s good offensively,
your team is good offensively.
When your on-ball guard is
good defensively, your team
is good defensively. They go
hand in hand.”
The man top-seeded
Gonzaga (36-1) relies on to
#7 S. Carolina #1 Gonzaga
Gamecocks
Bulldogs
(26-10)
(36-1)
• Today, 3:09 p.m. (CBS)
• at Glendale, Arizona
lead its defense is 7-foot-1
center Przemek Karnowski.
“The rim protection
that we have this year is
different than anything we’ve
been able to put out there,”
Bulldogs coach Mark Few
said. “We got the bulk, the
strength, size of Karnowski
which allows us to not have to
double-team. So then we’re
not forced into rotations. But
then we also can combine
that with the athleticism, the
shot-blocking of Zach Collins
and Killian Tillie helps.”
Ask the Gamecocks
(26-10) about Gonzaga’s
defense and rim protection is
mentioned again and again.
“Their bigs are huge,”
South Carolina’s Sindarius
Thornwell said. “They
rebound well and we are big
on offensive rebounding. We
are big on attacking the rim.
BELL: Scoring up in March
Continued from 1B
fingers with God in the
Sistine Chapel.
The photo was from
Oregon’s Elite Eight win over
Kansas, a game in which Bell
blocked eight shots to send
the Ducks to the Final Four
for the first time since 1939.
Bell has embraced the
account in his name and his
now-bigger role for Oregon.
The Ducks seemed to have
their Final Four bid derailed
in the semifinals of the Pac-12
Tournament, when senior
forward Chris Boucher went
down with a torn left ACL.
The Ducks led the nation
in blocked shots during the
regular season and Boucher
led them — along with the
Pac-12 — so it seemed like a
drop-off was coming.
Instead, Oregon made a
few tweaks, leaned on Bell
inside a little more and kept
winning.
Always
an
intimi-
dating force, the 6-foot-9,
225-pound
junior
has
asserted himself even more
while finding a way to avoid
fouls. The Ducks need his
presence at the rim, but also
can’t afford to have him
in foul trouble now that
Boucher is out and he has
done both well.
“He’s risen to the occa-
sion,” Oregon coach Dana
Altman said. “I think he
knew when Chris went down
that there was going to be
more pressure on him to
perform. And fortunately for
us, he’s handled that pressure
very well.”
A top recruit out of Long
Beach, California, as a high
school player, Bell had an
immediate impact on the
Ducks. He arrived in Eugene
swatting shots, finishing
first in the Pac-12 with 2.69
per game while shooting 59
percent from the floor.
Bell became Oregon’s
career leader in blocked
shots — 147 at the time —
as a sophomore in his 50th
career game and blocked 84
more this season. Heading
into Saturday’s Final Four
game against North Carolina,
Bell leads Oregon with 8.6
rebounds per game, is its
fourth-leading scorer at 10.9
points and is shooting 63
percent from the field.
Bell has been at his best
when the Ducks have needed
him the most, picking up his
play even more in the NCAA
Tournament.
He has upped his scoring
average to 12.5 points and
his rebounding to 12.5 while
becoming the first players
since Houston’s Hakeem
Olajuwon in 1983-84 to
grab at least 12 rebounds in
five straight NCAA Tourna-
ment games (spanning two
seasons).
“I think I’m just probably
playing harder knowing
that I have to do more and
knowing the stage we’re on
and it’s win or go home,” he
said. “I don’t think I’ve been
playing different, I think
I’ve just been doing my role
better.”
Bell’s
stronger
role
also has a nice sidelight; it
allows him to block nuclear
weapons, the Hindenburg,
LaVar Ball (the mouthy
father of UCLA’s Lonzo
Ball), and even Janet Jack-
son’s wardrobe malfunction
at the Super Bowl.
Oh, the things Jordan can
block.
AP Photo
David J. Phillip
They do a great job keeping
you out of the rim and make
you take pull-up jumpers. We
must do a good job moving
their defense so we can get
easier shots.”
Freshman Maik Kotsar
will have the main responsi-
bility of handling Karnowski.
“They have huge bodies
and they are tall,” the 6-10
Kotsar said. “Just the physi-
cality of it, we have to guard
and not let them get easy
paint touches.”
Gonzaga, which has
allowed 60.9 points per
game, has kept three of its
four opponents under 60
points in the NCAA Tourna-
ment, while South Carolina’s
scrambling zone has kept its
opponents off balance and
out of sync. The Gamecocks
allow 64.9 points per game.
“We have been working
on it all week, just trying to
find ways to exploit their
defense,” Gonzaga’s Johna-
than Williams said. “I feel
like we’ll be fine. We just
need to follow the game.”
EXPERIENCE
MATTERS: Before this
tournament, South Carolina’s
last NCAA win was in 1973.
Gonzaga has been one of
the tournament’s mainstays
winning 21 games in the 18
consecutive years the Zags
have reached the NCAA
under Few.
“I’ve always felt that
experience helps to get back.
Experience doesn’t help
the game you’re playing,”
Martin said. “The game
you’re playing is a game.
And how you manage your-
self day to day to day allows
you to be prepared to succeed
when the game starts.”
FEELING
GOOD:
Thornwell, the Southeastern
Conference player of the
year, missed Thursday’s prac-
tice when he wasn’t feeling
well. He practiced Friday and
sounded good to go.
“I had a headache, fever
and stuff like that. I am fine
now. Everything is going
good,” he said Friday. “We
were glad it occurred on
Wednesday so I could get
it over with. Everything
worked out and I am glad to
be here with my teammates.”
FOCAL POINT: The
distractions of the Final
Four are everywhere for the
players, from media commit-
ments to fans being there
every time they turn around.
“That is what you are
always worried about. People
come up to you when you’re
on top,” Gonzaga’s Josh
Perkins said. “That’s just
what it is. You have to focus
on the right things and stay
focused. I am glad my dad
and the people around me
keep my head in the game.”
BMCC: Bonner slugs two home runs, drives in six
and then two batters later,
Ulrey ripped an RBI single
into left field to make it a
6-2 game. In the seventh,
BMCC loaded the bases on
three walks and Cagle hit
into a sacrifice fly for the
third run and then Sydney
Saxton Siaki followed up
with a two-RBI single into
right field for the final runs
of the game.
Siaki led the Timber-
wolves with four combined
hits on the day with two runs
scored and two RBI, while
Cagle and Ulrey each had two
hits apiece. Overall, the top 5
batters of Blue Mountain’s
lineup went 12 for 30 on the
day with 10 runs scored and
12 RBI while the bottom four
went just 1 for 15.
“Our top five in the lineup
are seriously strong hitters
and most of our games we
typically score with those
fist five kids,” Richards said.
“The bottom of the lineup
can get going and turn it on
a little more ... Brooke Kral-
man’s been getting herself
on base or finding a way to
turn the lienup over.
“But again, consistency
has been the key issue.
———
Continued from 1B
in practice with the pitchers
is to just move on to the next
pitch and she did that and
did a great job today.”
Bonner backed up her
pitcher with not only her
support on the field, but
her performance on offense
as well. From her leadoff
spot in the lineup, Bonner
went 2 for 4 with a pair of
three-run home runs in the
second and third innings to
contribute half of the team’s
runs herself. It gives her the
team lead with seven home
runs on the season, and now
has six home runs and 20
RBIs in eight league games.
“I was just looking for
my pitch ... that up-and-in
pitch to drive there and I just
took it,” she said. “The first
one I knew (it was gone)
the instant I hit it but the
second one not so much ... I
was little nervous and didn’t
quiet get the whole bat on it
but it traveled out.”
In Game 2, Yakima
Valley again struck for two
runs in the first inning with
a home run from Kathy
Cousins off of Timberwolf
pitcher Tiffany Snyder. In
the bottom of the inning,
Bonner started the Timber-
wolves off by just missing
her third home run of the
day as she crushed a double
that caromed off the left
field fence, though she was
left stranded in the inning.
After that at-bat, the
Timberwolves had a tough
time figuring out Yakima
Valley pitcher Sammie
Cooper, as she continuously
fooled the Timberwolves
with her rise ball and chan-
geup. Cooper finished with
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
BMCC’s Megan Ulrey winds up for a pitch during Fri-
day’s home game against Yakima Valley College.
nine strikeouts in the game
and just six hits allowed.
“We practiced yesterday
for her combination because
it takes a lot of discipline as
a hitter to lay off of those,”
Richards said. “And today it
took four, five innings until
we were finally able to get
into our rhythm and make
the pitcher throw more
pitches. We’ve just got to get
there sooner.”
BMCC finally broke its
goose egg on the scoreboard
with a solo home run off
the bat of Lauryn Cagle
in the bottom of the sixth
Game 1
R H E
YVCC
200 01 —
3 5 2
BMCC
075 0X — 12 6 3
(YV) H. Neff, M. Atwood (2), H. Neff (4)
and A. Allen. (BM) M. Ulrey and S. Bonner.
2B — K. Cousins (YV). 3B — A. Daubert
(BM). HR — S. Bonner 2 (BM).
Game 2
R H E
YVCC
201 021
3 — 9 17 0
BMCC
000 002
3 — 5 6 1
(YV) S. Cooper and T. Kies. (BM) T. Sny-
der, S. Bonner (7) and C. Ringnalda.
2B — C. Figueroa, K. Cousins, T. Kies,
H. McCracken (YV); S. Bonner, S. Saxton
Siaki (BM). HR — K. Cousins, S. Cooper,
S. Starkovich (YV); L. Cagle (BM).
———
Contact Eric at esinger@
eastoregonian.com
or
541-966-0839. Follow him
on Twitter @ByEricSinger.