SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2017
BOARDMAN
Pro Basketball
Grizzlies
hold off
Blazers
1B
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Pirates are going to the ‘ship
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Tyreke
Evans scored 21 points off the
bench, Mike Conley had 20 —
all in the second half — and
the Memphis
Grizzlies
NBA
held off the
Portland Trail
Blazers 98-97
on
Tuesday
Memphis
night.
M a r c
Gasol added
16 points as
the Grizzlies
improved to
Portland
2-1 on their
fi ve-game road
trip.
Memphis
wrestled with the Blazers for
the lead in the fi nal quarter after
neither team was able to put
together a double-digit advan-
tage through the fi rst three.
Dillon Brooks stripped Port-
land’s Ed Davis and got a layup
with a free throw that gave the
Grizzlies a 96-91 lead with 39
seconds left. But the Blazers
weren’t out of it. CJ McCollum
hit a 3-pointer with 13 seconds
remaining to pull Portland to
98-97.
After a video review, offi -
cials reversed an out-of-bounds
call with 12.1 seconds left,
giving the ball to the Blazers.
McCollum missed a pull-up
jumper and got his own rebound
but couldn’t get another shot off
in time.
McCollum led Portland with
36 points.
Brooks, starting for the Griz-
zlies as a rookie, went to college
at Oregon and was treated to
hearty applause during pregame
introductions. Ducks coach
Dana Altman had courtside
seats for the game.
Brooks was a second-round
pick by Houston and was sent to
Memphis in a draft-night trade.
He was last season’s Pac-12
player of the year and helped
take the Ducks to the team’s
See BLAZERS/3B
98
97
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Riverside’s Jose Peralta, second from right, celebrates scoring a goal with his teammates in the Pirates’ 4-0 win against De La Salle on
Tuesday in Boardman. Riverside will play for the state championship on Saturday in Hillsboro.
Riverside advances to first state championship game since 2011
By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ
East Oregonian
BOARDMAN — Entering
the semifi nal match on Tuesday
afternoon, the Riverside Pirates had
a few goals in mind. The fi rst, to
defend their home turf and remain
undefeated. The second, to make it
back to the state championship.
The last time the Pirates played
for a state title was in 2011 when
they defeated St. Mary’s 2-0 to
cap of a perfect season. They are
looking to repeat that fate Saturday
after defeating De La Salle 4-0 to
punch their ticket to the 3A/2A/1A
championship game.
Riverside entered the postseason
as the No. 1 and hosted each round
of the 3A/2A/1A playoffs. Its
latest victim, De La Salle, came
3A/2A/1A Semifi nals
#5 De La Salle
#1 Riverside
0
4
to Boardman, and like those who
came before fell prey to the Pirates
aggressive style of play and ability
to fi nd the net in almost any circum-
stance.
It was Riverside’s ninth shutout
of the season, and pushed its overall
record to 16-0-1. There was never
any doubt that the game wouldn’t
end that way.
“This is our house,” assistant
coach Jose Duenas said. “I told the
boys, this is our house and we’re
See PIRATES/3B
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Riverside’s Misael Madrigal goes up to head the ball into the goal
challenged by De La Salle’s George Shabani in the Pirate’s 4-0 win
against the Knights on Tuesday in Boardman.
Pro Basketball
Finally healthy, Richardson becoming what Seahawks hoped
Fourth-year WR a real
weapon in the pass game
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Paul Richardson celebrates after
scoring his second touchdown of the game against the Houston
Texans on Oct. 29 in Seattle.
RENTON, Wash. — Paul Rich-
ardson believed that if he could
ever get through all the injuries
that have sidetracked his career,
he could develop into a consistent
option for the Seattle Seahawks.
It’s fi nally happening, and just in
time with Richardson in a contract
year.
“I’m pretty confi dent in myself
out there and in the offense. My
biggest focus every week is to stay
healthy,” Richardson said. “So as
long as I’m healthy, I feel like I
give us a good chance on offense
to make some plays or at least draw
some attention, take the top off or
whatever my duty calls me to do
that week, I just maximize it.”
One of the big questions entering
the season was who would become
the complementary wide receiver
opposite Doug Baldwin, especially
after Jermaine Kearse was traded to
the New York Jets before the start
of the regular season.
Richardson is fi lling that role.
He’s already set a career high
with a team-high fi ve touchdown
receptions, including two TDs and
105 yards receiving in Seattle’s win
over Houston two weeks ago. He’s
four catches away from tying his
career-best of 29 receptions in his
rookie season in 2014.
Having those second and third
options has become even more
important as Seattle’s run game
has scuffl ed through the fi rst eight
weeks and the team has relied more
on quarterback Russell Wilson’s
arm. Seattle is second in the NFL in
passing yards per game and Wilson
is on pace to attempt more than 600
passes this season for the fi rst time
in his career.
Baldwin will always be Wilson’s
primary target. But Richardson’s
improved consistency and ability
to win deep throws downfi eld has
been a boost for Seattle’s offense.
“It is really fun to see him so
confi dent now,” coach Pete Carroll
said. “He has just grown so much.
He has been very level-headed
about it as well in his work habits
and everything. His mentality has
been great, but you can see the
confi dence is really just coming out
of him.”
See SEAHAWKS/3B
Sports shorts
Ex-Phillies, Blue Jays star pitcher
Halladay dies in plane crash
HOLIDAY, Fla. (AP) — Roy Halladay, a
two-time Cy Young Award winner who pitched
a perfect game and a playoff no-hitter, died
Tuesday when his private plane
crashed into the Gulf of Mexico.
He was 40.
Pasco County Sheriff Chris
Nocco said during a news
conference that Halladay’s ICON
A5 went down around noon off
the coast of Florida. The sheriff’s
Halladay
offi ce marine unit responded
to the downed plane and found
Halladay’s body. No survivors were found.
Police said they couldn’t confi rm if there
were additional passengers on the plane or say
where it was headed.
Halladay retired in 2013 after 12 seasons with
the Toronto and four with Philadelphia.
“In order to be great at
something, you have to
have mentors, and he was
one for me ... What he
did here was something
special. You didn’t miss
those moments when he
pitched. When you had
Roy Halladay on the
mound, you didn’t miss an
inning, you didn’t miss a
pitch. You were watching
every moment. “
— Cole Hamels
MLB veteran pitcher refl ecting on for-
mer pitcher Roy Halladay, who was a
teammate of Hamels’ in Philadelphia.
Phoenix trades Bledsoe to
Milwaukee for Monroe, picks
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Phoenix Suns
have traded disgruntled guard Eric Bledsoe to
the Milwaukee Bucks for big man Greg Monroe
and two 2018 draft picks.
Bledsoe has not been with
the team since Oct. 22 when he
posted “I Don’t wanna be here”
on Twitter, the same day the
Suns fi red coach Earl Watson. He
had been averaging 15.7 points
per game, second behind Devin
Booker, and was the team’s
Bledsoe
on-court leader.
Monroe, who joined the Bucks as a free
agent in 2015, has been sidelined recently
because of a left calf strain.
Bledsoe averaged more than 20.0 points
and 6.0 assists per game in each of the last two
seasons with the Suns. Bledsoe spent the past
fi ve seasons in Phoenix.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1975 — Kansas snaps
second-ranked Oklahoma’s
28-game winning streak,
23-3, in Norman, Okla. The
Jayhawks defense holds the
Sooners’ offense to its lowest
scoring output since 1966.
1981 — Don Shula
records his 200th NFL
victory when the Miami
Dolphins edge the New
England Patriots 30-27 in
overtime.
2009 — The Indianapolis
Colts become just the fourth
team in NFL history with 17
consecutive regular-season
wins with a 20-17 victory
over Houston.
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