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Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Friday, April 28, 2017 NBA Raptors blow 25-point lead, but beat Bucks Toronto and San Antonio advance to second round Associated Press MILWAUKEE — DeMar DeRozan scored 32 points and the Toronto Raptors squandered a 25-point lead late in the third quarter before holding on for a 92-89 victory Thursday night over the Milwaukee Bucks to take their first-round playoff series in six games. Cory Joseph had five points in a 9-0 run in the final 2 minutes, including a 3-pointer with 1:27 left, to help stave off the pesky Bucks. The Raptors move on to face the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals in a series that starts Monday. They’ll need to work on finishing off opponents in the second half. Jason Terry’s 3 with 3:06 left gave the Bucks an 80-78 lead, completing an unlikely comeback from the 25-point deficit with 5:16 left in the third quarter. The Raptors looked as AP Photo/Morry Gash Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo and Toronto Raptors’ DeMar DeRozan battle for a loose ball during the second half of Game 6 of an NBA first-round playoff series basketball game Thursday, April 27, 2017, in Milwaukee. if they were on cruise control after DeMarre Carroll’s 3 gave them the 71-46 advantage. Giannis Antetokounmpo spear- headed the second-half rally for Milwaukee. He had 34 points. But the Bucks finished one come- back short. The furious effort appeared to sap the energy of the young Bucks. Even Antetokounmpo, a renowned gym rat, looked tired with his hands on hips as he caught his breath during fourth-quarter breaks. He played 47 minutes. Antetokounmpo finished 13 of 23 from the field but was 2 of 6 in the fourth. The Raptors could finally breathe easy after DeRozan went 2 of 2 from the foul line with 3.1 seconds to play for a three-point lead. Tony Snell’s inbounds pass on the ensuing posses- sion was intercepted by DeRozan. Rebounding from 2-1 series deficit and an embarrassing 27-point loss in Game 3, the Raptors will face Cleveland a year after losing to the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals in six games. Kyle Lowry added 13 points for Toronto. SPURS 103, GRIZZLIES 96 — At Nashville, Tenn., Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points, and the San Antonio Spurs advanced to the Western Conference semifinals by beating the Memphis Grizzlies 103-96 Thursday night to take the series 4-2. The Spurs now have beaten GRITZ: Will reunite with Hermiston teammate Continued from 1B game and he fits all three.” Blue Mountain also pres- ents Gritz with a great oppor- tunity to play right away, as two of the three catchers on the Timberwolves roster are sophomores. Gritz said that Baker expects him to catch a lot of innings for BMCC in 2018. “He thinks if I work hard I’ll play a lot which is great,” Gritz said. “And hopefully I’ll be starting by the time spring rolls around, that’s my goal. I have to work hard though.” Gritz added that he is really excited about reuniting with former Hermiston teammates Tyler Sexton and Chase Root at Blue Mountain next season, both of whom were battery mates with Gritz on the Bulldogs. Root is the only one that has earned playing time this season, as he is currently second on BMCC in appearances with 14 this season, with a 4.98 ERA in 43 1/3 innings. Gritz was Root’s catcher last season for Hermiston when Root tossed 14 strike- outs in 20 1/3 innings with a 0.69 ERA in four league starts. Now Gritz is counting down the days until he is the one catching Root’s pitches again, this time in Timber- wolves gear. “That’ll be great, I’m definitely comfortable with Chase,” Gritz said, “and I think that’ll be good for us again.” And aside from joining up with friends again, Gritz was ecstatic to be staying close to home. “That’s a plus,” he said with a smile. “I didn’t want to travel that far from home.” ——— Contact Eric at esinger@ eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0839. Follow him on Twitter @ByEricSinger. ANDREASON: Opened eyes with defensive play Continued from 1B be a shooter,” she said. “Just catching and shooting from the outside.” Hermiston head coach Juan Rodriguez said he knows she’s going to repre- sent the Bulldogs well at the next level. “I’m just happy for her,” he said. “She’s worked hard, ever since she was little, and it’s a goal she’s come to realize and I just wish her the best from our program. “She’s always been a very offensively skilled individual, but she needed to work on her defensive end, and I kind of challenged her last summer, and this year she guarded pretty much everybody else’s best player. By doing that I think it kind of opened eyes for college programs that she can be a two-way player. She’s not just a shooter.” Rodriguez said the program’s past dealings with the Titans made Andreason’s recruitment process a smooth one. “We’ve been working last summer and this fall, and through the school year trying to find a good fit for her and Coach (Greg) Sheley over at Lane was really impressed with her play,” he said. “She fits their style and they really approached her and recruited her hard. “What’s really nice is with Lane we have kind of a pipeline there right now. I know the coaches really well … they understand our style, which fits well into their style. They understand that we’re never going to send a player that we don’t think will play.” There was only one thing giving Andreason pause. “I think I narrowed it down pretty quickly, the only concern was that it was far away from home,” she said of the Eugene campus. “But I felt like basketball-wise it would have been the best opportunity for me.” MARINERS: Miranda to start in series opener with Cleveland Continued from 1B marking the first time he has pitched back-to-back days during his recovery process. Cishek hopes to return to Seattle’s bullpen in early May. Tigers: SS Jose Iglesias was activated from the concussion list before the game, and LHP Kyle Ryan was optioned to Triple-A Toledo. Ryan posted a 7.94 ERA in eight relief appear- ances, allowing nine hits and seven walks in 5 2/3 innings. ... Adduci left the game after eight innings when his calf tightened up after the sixth-inning collision with Collins. K-ROD CAN’T SOLVE LEFTIES The ninth inning saw Rodriguez continue to struggle against left-handed hitting. After Seager’s double and Gamel’s single, lefties are hitting .385 with a .429 on-base percentage and .846 slugging percentage in 28 plate appearances against the Detroit closer. “I’m extremely disap- pointed,” he said. “I’m just missing my spots. I’ve got to pitch better and quickly start getting people out.” MARINERS PITCHING REBOUNDS After allowing 19 runs in the series opener and losing Felix Hernandez to a stiff shoulder, Seattle outscored the Tigers 10-1 in the final two games. James Paxton threw seven shutout innings in Wednesday’s 9-0 win before Iwakuma’s strong outing on Thursday. “We all have to step up to replace Felix,” Iwakuma said through an interpreter. “That’s what we did the last two days.” UP NEXT Mariners: LHP Ariel Miranda (1-2, 4.35) will face Indians RHP Carlos Carrasco (2-1, 1.65) to start a three- game series in Cleveland. Tigers: LHP Matthew Boyd (2-1, 3.86) takes on former teammate Mike Pelfrey (0-1, 4.15) as the Chicago White Sox visit Detroit for a weekend series. Pelfrey was released by the Tigers this spring despite being owed $8 million in the last year of his contract. NFL DRAFT: Seattle Seahawks trade down twice, out of first round Continued from 1B City gave up its first-rounder next year to go from 27th to 10th for Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes. Altogether, eight of the first dozen picks were to aid offenses, including Clemson QB Deshaun Watson to Houston — which also traded up for a passer. All of which overshad- owed the predictable at the top of the draft: Roger Goodell got booed, then Myles Garrett was picked first by the Cleveland Browns. “C’mon, Philly, C’mon,” Goodell said Thursday night amid the boos, not even wincing at the reception. Moments later, he was back onstage announcing the Texas A&M defensive end’s name. Garrett, a junior and All-American considered the best pass rusher in this crop, is the first Aggie selected No. 1 overall. Garrett was not on hand, but promised Cleveland fans “great things are coming.” Cleveland went 1-15 last season and has holes everywhere. It ranked 31st defensively and had only 26 sacks. Then the Bears sent a third-round pick, a fourth and a 2018 third to San Francisco to switch that one slot and take Trubisky, who started only 13 games for North Carolina. “It was crazy,” Trubisky said. “There was no call. I didn’t think I was going to be picked until the commis- sioner said my name.” San Francisco was up next, and new general manager John Lynch already was looking good for bringing in such a haul to drop back to No. 3. The 49ers took DE Solomon Thomas from just down the road at Stanford. One player whose status was uncertain, Ohio State cornerback Gareon Conley, was drafted by Oakland at No. 24. He has decried allegations that he raped a woman as “completely false” and no charges have been filed as police investigate claims made by a 23-year-old woman. Conley was named in a police report that details the allegations but no infor- mation has been forwarded to prosecutors. For much of the round, it was an offensive draft. “We had a lot of scenarios, but we did not have any scenarios like what’s happened here,” Eagles executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman said. LSU running back Leonard Fournette, who some scouts compared to Adrian Peterson, went to Jackson- ville; new Jaguars boss Tom Coughlin is enamored of powerful running backs. “He’s special,” Coughlin said. “We need playmakers. We need people to put the ball in the end zone. We need to do something about balance. We need to do something about creating a better situ- ation where the quarterback doesn’t have the entire game on his shoulders.” Another LSU player, safety Jamal Adams, whose father, George, was an NFLer, was taken by the New York Jets, one pick after Tennessee, needing an upgrade at wide receiver, selected Corey Davis of Western Michigan. Davis is the FBS career leader in receiving yards with 5,285 and was a key to the Broncos’ turnaround last season. Two more skill position offensive players went seventh and eighth. Receiver Mike Williams, who came off a serious neck injury in 2015 to help Clemson to the national championship last season, was taken by the Chargers. Then Christian McCaffrey, son of former NFL wideout Ed McCaffrey, wound up with Carolina. The Panthers, eager to get back to the form that won them the 2015 NFC title, got a versatile running back from Stanford who also can play receiver and return kicks. Cam Newton sure must be smiling. “Can’t wait to grind every single day for that team, the fans, for everybody there,” McCaffrey said. More picks and more offense followed. A third receiver, John Ross of Wash- ington, was taken by Cincin- nati, which desperately needs a complement to A.J. Green. Ross tore a ligament in his left knee in 2015 that didn’t slow him down much. He ran a record 4.2 in the 40 at the scouting combine. The next trade saw Buffalo’s new coach, Sean McDermott, deal with his mentor, Chiefs coach Andy Reid. The Chiefs surged up for ... a quarterback. They took Mahomes, whose stock soared in workouts this year. Mahomes comes from a spread attack and will need to learn a pro-style offense, but Kansas City has Alex Smith in place right now. Memphis four of the five playoff series between these teams, and this was San Antonio’s second straight win over the Grizzlies in the first round. Tony Parker added 27 points on 11-of-14 shooting, while LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and 12 rebounds. Patty Mills had 10 points off the bench for the Spurs. San Antonio outrebounded Memphis 46-28, with 16 of those offensive boards. That led to 17 second-chance points. Their semifinal with Houston will start Monday night in San Antonio. Mike Conley scored 26 points, leading the five Memphis starters in double digits. Marc Gasol added 18, Zach Randolph 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Vince Carter had 12 points. The Grizzlies fell to 3-10 in elimi- nation games, losing six straight. This was a taut game with 16 ties and nine lead changes, especially with four ties in the fourth quarter. The Spurs took control after the Grizzlies went up 88-81 on three free throws from Conley with 6:29 left. Then Leonard scored eight straight for San Antonio, starting a 22-8 run to finish the game. Athlete of the Week Twenty questions with Pendleton’s Payton Hergert East Oregonian PENDLETON — Pend- leton senior Payton Hergert turned in a whopper of a weekend hitting three home runs while going 6 for 8 in a doubleheader for the Buckaroo softball team. She has been named the East Oregonian Athlete of the Week for April 16-22. EO: What was the first sport you played and how old were you? PH: Either softball or basketball, and like seven. How many sports do you currently play and what’s your favorite sport to play? I only play softball. What’s your favorite thing to do in a softball game? I like getting doubles to start off a rally. Who’s your favorite team to watch? I like watching U of O play, the softball team. If you could attend any sporting event in the world what would it be? Probably the World Series. What’s your favorite thing to snack on during a game? I always have a granola bar. Who has had the largest impact on you as a player? Probably my dad (Dan Hergert). What’s your favorite piece of gear in your bag? My bat (DeMarini 33/23). What’s your intro song when you come to bat? I honestly don’t know the name of it. How many positions have you played throughout your career? I have played some outfield, second base, and short, and I used to pitch. What are your hobbies outside of sports? I like to go down with my friends and play slow-pitch or kickball down at McKay. What’s your favorite restaurant? Momiji Sushi & Hibachi What’s your favorite subject in school? Science If you could change one thing about PHS what would it be? I don’t know, it’s pretty good. What are your plans for after high school? Play softball at Weber State. What was the first job you ever had? I was a babysitter. What’s your favorite part about living in Eastern Oregon? I like to be outdoors, I just like all the different trails and stuff we can go to. Where’s your favorite place to go on vacation? Hawaii What’s the last book you read? 1984 (George Orwell) Do you have any pets? A dog (German wire- hair). ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Payton Hergert Pendleton Softball, Senior Hergert collected six hits in eight at-bats in Saturday’s doubleheader against Hood River, including three home runs and a double while driving in eight. Proudly Sponsored By: 2220 SE Court Ave. Pendleton saddlerestaurant.com 541-276-1075