Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Friday, October 27, 2017
Basketball
MLS Playoffs
Griffin’s buzzer-beater sinks Blazers Houston wins in extra
time to advance
By NICK DASCHEL
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Blake
Griffin made a 3-pointer as
time expired and the Los
Angeles Clippers remained
unbeaten
with
a
NBA
104-103
victory over
the
Port-
L.A. Clippers land Trail
Blazers on
Thursday
night.
Griffin,
who scored
16 of his
Portland
25 points
d u r i n g
the fourth
quarter, got
the ball on the left side of the
floor and hit the 3-pointer just
inside the line, the game’s
sixth lead change during the
final two minutes.
DeAndre Jordan had
seven points and 18 rebounds
for Los Angeles, which at
4-0 is one of two unbeaten
teams remaining in the NBA.
Danilo Gallinari and Austin
Rivers had 16 points apiece
for the Clippers.
Damian Lillard scored
14 of his 25 points during
the third quarter for Portland
(3-2). C.J. McCollum had 23
points, but missed one of two
free throws with five seconds
remaining that could have
given the Blazers a three-
point lead.
All five Portland starters
Dynamo to face
Timbers in semis
Associated Press
104
103
AP Photo/Steve Dykes
Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin drives to the basket on Portland Trail
Blazers forward Ed Davis during the first quarter of Thursday’s game in Portland.
scored in double figures. Ed
Davis had 10 rebounds.
Neither team led by
more than five points in the
fourth quarter was a tight
battle where neither team
led by more than five points.
Portland wiped out an 89-84
deficit when a clear-path foul
led to a five-point possession
for Al-Farouq Aminu.
Griffin gave the Clippers
a 101-100 lead with a minute
to play, but McCollum put the
Blazers in front when he hit an
uncontested 12-foot jumper
with 44 seconds remaining.
Following an offensive foul
by Rivers with five seconds
left, McCollum made 1 of 2
free throws, opening the door
for Griffin’s winner.
The
Clippers
never
trailed in the first half after
Gallinari hit two free throws
for a 14-13 lead. Portland’s
shooting problems were part
of the issue, as the Blazers hit
just 10 of their first 35 shots.
The
Blazers
closed
within two points twice
during the second quarter,
but Los Angeles always had
an answer. The Clippers
outscored Portland 9-3 during
the final three minutes to take
a 62-53 halftime lead.
TIP-INS
Blazers: Forward Meyers
Leonard sat out after spraining
his right ankle during Wednes-
day’s practice. Portland has
lost seven consecutive games
to the Clippers . Before the
game, Lillard was honored as
the 2016-17 Magic Johnson
Award winner, given by
the Professional Basketball
Writers
Association
to
a player who combined
on-court performance with
dignity and cooperation in
dealing with the public and
media.
UP NEXT:
Blazers: Hosts Phoenix on
Saturday.
HOUSTON — Alberth
Elis scored his 11th goal of
the season in the 94th minute
and the Houston Dynamo
made it stand in the second
extra period for a 1-0 victory
over Sporting Kansas City
on Thursday night.
Houston,
which
is
undefeated in its last seven
games, advanced to the
Western Conference semi-
finals to face the Portland
Timbers.
Vicente Sanchez dribbled
alone along the right side,
cut back his defender to get
inside the 18-yard box near
the end line and found Elis
alone at the penalty spot for
a calm finish.
The Dynamo improved
to 13-1-4 at home this
season.
Sporting KC, winless
in its last six matches, was
again without one of its best
players in goalkeeper Tim
Melia, who went down with
a hamstring injury on Oct.
7. Backup Andrew Dykstra
started his fourth game
of the season and denied
Sanchez’s penalty kick on
the final play of the game.
Houston was without
30-game
starter
A.J.
DeLaGarza due to an injury
last Sunday.
Eastern Conference
CREW
BEAT
ATLANTA
UNITED
—
Twenty-two-year-old
Zack Steffen made a career-
high eight saves and the
Columbus Crew advanced
in the MLS Cup playoffs
by besting expansion club
Atlanta United 3-1 on
penalty kicks after a 0-0
draw on Thursday night in
front of a MLS playoff-re-
cord crowd of 67,221.
It was the second knock-
out-round game to reach
extra time in MLS history
after Portland and Sporting
Kansas City went to penalty
kicks in 2015.
Steffen dove to his right
to deny the opening penalty
kick and Federico Higuain
scored for the Crew. Atlan-
ta’s second attempt went
directly to Steffen as he
stood tall in the middle of
the goal and Jeff Larento-
wicz hit the post on United’s
fourth try. Adam Jahn won it
for the Crew after entering
as a substitute in the 120th
minute.
Columbus, which is
unbeaten in its last 11
games, advanced to play
New York City FC in the
Eastern Conference semifi-
nals. Atlanta was the third
expansion team to qualify
for the playoffs in its first
season.
CROSS COUNTRY: Pendleton boys, girls teams both finish in fourth place
Continued from 1B
race.”
Hood River Valley won
the boys team title with
33 points and The Dalles
finished in second place with
40 points. Hermiston missed
out on a team qualification
to state with a third place
finish with 53 points and
Pendleton finished in fourth
place with 119. However,
senior Emmanuel Ibarra will
join Sanchez at state after
finishing in fifth place indi-
vidually on Thursday with a
time of 16:49.4. Pendleton’s
top finishers were senior
Nick Oja in 21st with a
time of 18:04.2 and senior
Richard Scott in 23rd with a
time of 18:28.2.
On the girls side,
Hermiston senior Melany
Solorio (19:34.1), and
freshmen Amanda Nygard
(19:42.7) and Julianna Joyce
(20:03.80) all earned top-10
finishes to help the Bulldog
girls team finish second in
the district and qualify as
a team for the state meet.
Solorio, who finished in
fourth place with a time of
19:34.1, said that qualifying
for state was one of their
biggest goals of the season
in Hermiston’s final year in
the OSAA.
“It feels really great,
wonderful,” Solorio said
happily. “Since the start
we’ve said ‘We have to go’
and we really wanted to
because we haven’t been in
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pendleton’s Rylee Harris competes during the Columbia
River Conference district meet on Thursday in Mission.
a few years and it feels really
good.”
All three Bulldogs also
improved their times from
last week’s meet, though
it wasn’t enough to catch
the Hood River Valley trio
of Josephine Dickenson
(19:18.7), Frances Dick-
enson (19:20.9), and Lottie
Bromham (19:27.2) who
took the top three spots indi-
vidually. Hood River Valley
also won the girls team title
with 23 points, while Herm-
iston was second with 46,
The Dalles third with 55 and
Pendleton fourth with 108.
Pendleton’s top two
finishers were junior Rylee
Harris in 17th with a time
of 21:16.0 and freshman
Jordyn Murphy with a time
of 21:26.2.
The OSAA 5A State
Championship will take
place on Nov. 4 at Lane
Community College in
Eugene.
————
District Meet Results
Boys Team Scores
1. Hood River Valley, 33; 2. The Dalles, 40;
3. Hermiston, 53; 4. Pendleton, 119.
Girls Team Scores
1. Hood River Valley, 23; 2. Hermiston, 46;
3. The Dalles, 55; 5. Pendleton, 108.
Hermiston Individual
(BOYS) 1. Isaac Sanchez, 16:11.1; 5. Eman-
uel Ibarra, 16:49.4; 12. Gregory Anderson,
17:22.2; 16. Angel Benites, 17:38.3; 19.
Freddy Ibarra, 17:53.2; 20. Martin Heredia,
17:57.9; 22. Nicholas Breshears, 18:24.3.
(GIRLS) 4. Melany Solorio, 19:34.1; 5.
Amanda Nygard, 19:42.7; 10. Julianna
Joyce, 20:03.8; 11. Sheila Solorio, 20:17.4;
16. Sidney Tovey, 21:08.7; 22. Faith Bartch,
22:02.2; 25. Morgan Hancock, 22:11.7.
Pendleton Individual
(BOYS) 21. Nick Oja, 18:04.2; 23. Richard
Scott, 18:28.2; 24. Michael Brooks, 18:50.2;
25. Vitor Pedrosa, 19:05.2; 26. Curtis
Simons, 19:09.7; 27. Wylie Wyant, 19:10.0;
28. Leighton Redcrane, 19:30.8. (GIRLS) 17.
Rylee Harris, 21:16.0; 18. Jordyn Murphy,
21:26.2; 23. Katie Beach, 22:05.4; 24.
Ashlee Zaugg, 22:07.0; 26. Kendall Bonzani,
22:39.5; 27. Sidney Schreier, 22:47.2; 28.
Starr Redcrane, 22:57.4.
————
Contact Eric at esinger@
eastoregonian.com
or
541-966-0839.
FOOTBALL: Hermiston has its eyes on Top-4
spot in 5A, Buckaroos need win to clinch playoffs
Continued from 1B
AP Photo/Timothy J. Gonzalez
Oregon State running back Ryan Nall (34) tries to get
past Stanford’s Justin Reid (8) during the first half of
Thursday’s game in Corvallis.
BEAVERS: Face Cal next
Continued from 1B
Stanford was flagged for
roughing Garretson on the
Beavers’ first series of the
second half. On the same
play, Cardinal cornerback
Alijah Holder left the game
with an apparent knee injury
and inside linebacker Joey
Alfieri was ejected from the
game for targeting.
The Beavers went on to
cap the drive with Thomas
Tyner’s touchdown run to go
up 14-6.
The mistakes continued
for Stanford on the next
possession when Oregon
State’s Omar Hicks-Onu
intercepted Chryst’s pass.
But the Beavers missed a
52-yard field goal attempt
that would have extended
their lead.
Toner kicked a 40-yard
field goal to narrow the score
to 14-9 at the end of the third
quarter.
A
midseason
AP
All-American, Love has run
for 1,387 total yards this
season and is averaging 10.27
yards per carry — both also
national bests. He ran for 147
yards and two touchdowns
in Stanford’s 49-7 victory at
home over the Ducks.
The Cardinal are facing
a challenging stretch, on the
road at No. 15 Washington
State next week, followed by
No. 12 Washington at home.
The leading rusher for
Stanford in Love’s place was
Cameron Scarlett, who grew
up in Portland, Oregon, and
went to Central Catholic High
School — the same school as
Oregon State running back
Ryan Nall. Scarlett finished
with 72 yards rushing.
Chryst completed 16 of
33 passes for 141 yards with
the final touchdown and the
interception, but Stanford
managed just 222 yards of
total offense.
The
Beavers
have
played with spirit in the two
games since the departure
of Andersen. Oregon State
challenged Colorado but
ultimately fell 36-33 on Oct.
14, five days after the school
parted ways with Andersen.
THE TAKEAWAY:
Oregon State: Nall has
moved into 10th place for
career rushing yards at
Oregon State. He finished
with 84 yards against the
Cardinal ... The Beavers have
an eight-game losing streak
in the series.
UP NEXT:
Stanford plays at Wash-
ington State next Saturday.
Oregon State visits Cali-
fornia next Saturday.
another football game. We
respect the tradition, respect
the rivalry.”
Historically, the rivalry
has been one-sided toward
Pendleton as the Bucka-
roos won 69 of the first
72 meetings between the
schools. But Hermiston has
overtaken Pendleton over
the past decade and has
won five straight games
and Pendleton’s senior class
would love nothing more
than to snap that streak and
clinch a playoff spot in the
same night.
“It would mean every-
thing to every senior,”
Pendleton senior defensive
back Brendan Bedolla said.
“All through our high school
career we haven’t beaten
Hermiston in football and
to go out on top one last
time would be a lifelong
memory.”
“It’d be huge,” added
senior wide receiver Tanner
Stephan. “It’s the last time
we get to play them (Herm-
iston), we’re the last people
to get to play them and that
means we have to win this
game. We have to bring it
home for our parents and all
the previous generations of
Buckaroos, we have to bring
it home for everybody.”
A loss to Hermiston will
not completely dash Pend-
leton’s playoff hopes, but
it would require some help
from a few teams. Currently,
Pendleton and Bend are
tied at 4-2 in the district,
with Pendleton in third and
Bend in fourth with the
Buckaroos’ head-to-head
tiebreak, and Summit sits
just one game back at 3-3. If
a Pendleton loss is coupled
with a Summit loss to Hood
River Valley, the Buckaroos
would still be in. A Pend-
leton loss with a Bend upset
over Mountain View and
a Summit win would push
Pendleton out.
The most complicated
scenario would be a Pend-
leton loss, plus a Bend loss
to Mountain View and a
Summit win would make
a three-way tie for third at
4-3. The tiebreaker for third
place will be the team with
the highest OSAA ranking,
and then the fourth place
team will be decided with a
head-to-head tiebreak. The
only way Pendleton misses
out in that case, is if Bend
has the highest ranking and
takes third, giving Summit
the fourth spot.
But the Buckaroos know
the easiest way for them is to
just go out and win.
“We just have to stay
focused and think that if we
don’t win this, then it’s over
in a sense,” Stephan said.
“You just have to go in with
your hair on fire, play every
play like it’s our last and
give it our all and make sure
we win.”
Hermiston is looking to
do the same, but a win for
the Bulldogs will simply
boost their seed entering the
postseason. Their fate has
been sealed, as Hermiston
has maintained its hold on to
second place in the league.
However, the Bulldogs
won’t enter this game
lightly. That’s just not their
style.
“We’ve been telling the
guys that every single game
is a playoff game,” head
coach David Faaeteete said
at the Linebackers Club
luncheon on Thursday. “In
order to get seeded where
we want to, we have to win
all of our games.”
With a win Hermiston
can jump as high as No. 4
in the OSAA’s 5A rankings,
and host a playoff game —
possibly two, and that’s all
the Bulldogs can hope for.
“That’s what the kids
want,” Faaeteete added.
“They want to play at home
one more time, they want to
host.”
It is unlikely that the
Bulldogs will be able to
break into the top three but
again, if there’s an upset it
could be possible. Herm-
iston currently sits at No.
5 in the rankings. In front
of the Bulldogs are No. 1
Mountain View, No. 2 Cres-
cent Valley, No. 3 Churchill
and No. 4 Wilsonville.
An undefeated No. 1
and 2 team will likely come
away with a victory, but
Churchill and Wilsonville
face teams that may give
each a run for their money. If
either losses, and Hermiston
tops Pendleton then the
Bulldogs can inch up the
rankings before they freeze
at 10 p.m. Friday.
Hermiston will need
every advantage it can get
if the Bulldogs want to end
their Farewell Tour with
their last Oregon state title.
The trip won’t be easy,
though. The Bulldogs have
only made it past Round 1
five times since 1991 — the
most notable was during its
2014 championship season.
“Their
mantra
this
week — they see it as a big
rivalry, but they understand
they have bigger goals than
this game,” Faaeteete said.
“Their mantra has been
prepare like we prepare for
any other game and practice
like we practice for any
other game.”
————
Contact Eric Singer at
esinger@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0839.
Contact Alexis Mansanarez
at amansanarez@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4542.
GO BULLDOGS!
GO BUCKS!
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