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SPORTS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS HERMISTON ATHENA TigerScots take down Rockets Eagles breeze by Bulldogs Hood River’s veteran team deliveres tough loss By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ East Oregonian HERMISTON — The Hermiston volleyball team hasn’t had the easiest go this season. The young squad with many fi rst time varsity players have been up against well-seasoned and veteran teams that Volleyball have both the mental and physical part of the game down. That was the tale Hood River again Thursday when Hermiston hosted Hood River Valley. The Bulldogs faced the Eagles once this season already, and it Hermiston was only a week ago that they were handed a 0-3 loss. This time, on their court, it was no different. Hood River Valley dominated in all three sets, winning 25-8, 25-5, 25-11. The Eagles (8-4 overall, 4-1 CRC), who are ranked No. 13 in the OSAA, had a group of upperclassmen running the show. Junior Katie Kennedy and seniors Shae Duffy and Kennedy James were too much for the Bulldogs (2-11, 0-5) to contain. But it was for a lack of effort, or even talent. “Right now it’s not a physical thing,” head coach Amy Dyck said. “It’s a mental thing and we’ll get there.” While attack errors and a break down in communication plagued Hermiston’s offense, there were moments where the girls shined. After coming out of a timeout in the fi rst set with Hood River up 1-19, Hermiston started one of its only runs of the night. The Bulldogs quickly got their second point of the day and then went on a 6-0 run highlighted by back- to-back aces from sophomore Halee Stubbs. The Eagles didn’t take long to bounce back and won the fi rst set on a 5-2 run of their own. Stubbs led the Hermiston, fi nishing with fi ve digs and the two aces. The Bulldogs continued to struggle throughout the night. In the second set, four of its fi ve points were due to Hood River’s errors. However, for the fi rst time of the night Hermiston opened the third set up 2-0. The score remained close, and the two teams traded the lead until the Eagles broke away on a 12-4 run to push their lead to a comfortable 20-10. 3 0 Staff photo by E.J. Harris Weston-McEwen’s Hailey Weaver, Alyssa Finifrock and Amie Jo Coffman go up to block a shot from Pilot Rock’s Grace Austin in the TigerScot’s win against the Rockets on Thursday in Athena. Finifrock leads Weston-McEwen to key league victory By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian ATHENA — With the Columbia Basin Conference being stacked with four high- quality teams, every single match is important as the four — Culver, Weston-McEwen, Heppner and Pilot Rock — try to battle for the CBC’s two automatic playoff berths. Those circumstances made Thursday’s match between Weston-McEwen and Pilot Rock nearly a must-win for both sides. Coming into the match, the TigerScots and Rockets were tied for third in the league, one game behind Heppner and two behind Culver. The two teams battled hard and showed their respec- tive talents, but in the end the TigerScots prevailed on their home fl oor in four sets, winning 25-18, 20-25, 25-16 and 25-18. “This was huge,” Weston- McEwen coach Shawn White said of the win. “Our league is ridiculous this year and on our home fl oor, we needed this. I’m really proud of the Volleyball Pilot Rock W-McEwen 1 3 Weston-McE- wen’s Hailey Weaver spikes the ball over Pilot Rock’s Abby Rig- by in the TigerScot’s win against the Rockets on Thursday in Athena. Weaver, a ju- nior, tallied 7 kills, a team- high 8 blocks and 4 digs in the game. girls, it’s homecoming week and some of the girls are exhausted, most of us are sick but I was super, super proud of the effort out there tonight.” Alyssa Finifrock was outstanding for the TigerScots (13-7, 2-2 CBC), as the tall, lanky senior put up a team- high 12 kills with eight digs, fi ve blocks and four aces. “This was super important for us,” Finifrock said. “We needed this and it’s a confi dence boost for us and it shows what we can do. Our crowd was going crazy and we were all super intense and it’s always fun playing Pilot Rock.” Behind Finifrock, Hailey Weaver had seven kills and a team-high eight blocks. Bryce Thul had six kills with a team-high 20 assists, while Ellie Scheibner had 11 assists. See VOLLEYBALL/2B Staff photo by E.J. Harris See BULLDOGS/2B Prep Football New-look CBC opens play on Friday with no clear-cut favorite East Oregonian In 2016, the Columbia Basin Conference was a two-horse race in football, with Stanfi eld and Heppner running away with the league’s two automatic playoff berths. But this season the CBC has a vastly different landscape. Through four weeks, the four teams in the league — Heppner, Weston- McEwen, Stanfi eld, Culver — have combined for a record of 2-12, with the lone wins coming for Heppner (46-6 win over Toledo) and Weston-McEwen (17-0 over Union) each last week. And now as the teams begin CBC play this weekend, it is set up to be an exciting few weeks of football with no clear favorite set to run away with the league title — at least as of yet. The league kicks off Friday with Heppner (1-3) Heppner W-McEwen Mustangs TigerScots (1-3) (1-2) • Friday, 7 p.m. • at Weston-McEwen HS traveling to Athena to take on Weston-McEwen (1-2) and Stanfi eld (0-3) going to Central Oregon to take on Culver (0-4). With the Mustangs and Stanfi eld Culver Tigers Bulldogs (0-3) (0-4) • Friday, 7 p.m. • at Culver HS TigerScots, Heppner has dominated the series over the last 10 years with a 9-1 record and an average score of 36-10. Weston-McEwen’s last win came in 2010 when it beat Heppner 38-8. But the TigerScots have a more experienced quarterback in senior Brett Speed and some defensive talent in the trenches to combat a Mustangs’ rush attack that has struggled to fi nd consis- tency, which should make for a fun game. And keep an eye on Heppner’s Wyatt Steagall on defense, as the senior has 28 tackles, 13 tackles-for- loss and eight sacks in four games. For Stanfi eld and Culver, both teams are hungry to get its fi rst win of the season, with Stanfi eld coming off a 19-8 loss at Regis and Culver lost 25-12 at Vernonia. Stanfi eld comes in scoring more than 10 points just once in three games while the defense has allowed a total of 98 points. Culver, meanwhile, has scored less See PREP FOOTBALL/2B Sports shorts Rodgers, Packers beat Bears GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers threw four touchdown passes and the injury-rid- dled Green Bay Packers converted three turnovers into scores in an eventful 35-14 victory over the mistake-prone Chicago Bears on Thursday night. Rodgers connected with Davante Adams and Randall Cobb on short touchdown passes to help build a 21-0 lead in the second quarter of a game delayed 45 minutes by light- ning between the fi rst two quarters. The Packers overpowered the Bears down the stretch to slog out a win Rodgers as intermittent rain fell at Lambeau Field. The Packers (3-1) lost two more key players to injuries. Adams left the fi eld on a stretcher after getting hit in the head during a tackle by Danny Trevathan in the third quarter. Running back Ty Montgomery was knocked out in the fi rst quarter with a chest injury. “It’s a lot better than losing 100. I’ve been on that team before ... I’ve been on the teams where, no matter what you do, you’re going to lose. This is one of those teams where, no matter what you do, it feels like you’re going to win.“ — Jason Kipnis Cleveland Indians infi elder after Cleveland defeated Minnesota 5-2 on Thursday for the teams’ 100th victory of the season. Cleveland is 31-3 since Aug. 24 and get 100 wins for just the third time in franchise history. NBA passes new rules on draft lottery, resting players NEW YORK (AP) — NBA owners have passed rules designed to prevent healthy players from sitting out games, and teams from losing games on purpose to improve their draft position, which was fi rst reported by ESPN.com Under the new draft lottery rules, the teams with the three worst records will all have 14 percent odds to land the No. 1 pick. The team with the worst record previously had 25 percent odds to win the lottery. Also Thursday, the Board of Governors voted to allow Commissioner Adam Silver to fi ne teams who violate the league’s new guidelines about resting players. They are discouraged from resting multiple healthy players on national TV games, and are encour- aged to rest them during home games when necessary. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1954 — Willie Mays makes his over-the-shoulder catch of Vic Wertz’ long drive to center fi eld and pinch-hitter Dusty Rhodes homers off Bob Lemon in the 10th inning to lead the New York Giants to a 5-2 victory over Cleveland in Game 1 of the World Series. 2002 — Seattle’s Shaun Alexander scores an NFL-re- cord fi ve touchdowns in the fi rst half of a 48-23 rout of Minnesota. 2004 — Major League Baseball announces the Montreal Expos will move to Washington to begin play at RFK Stadium in the 2005 season. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
