SPORTS
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2017
1B
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OSAA 5A CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
Men’s College Basketball
Dawgs sticking to script
against unbeaten Lancers
Hermiston preps
for fi nal OSAA
game in Hillsboro
By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The only
sure thing about Saturday’s 5A
state championship game is
that it will be the last time this
Hermiston football team suits
up as a group, and as a member
of the OSAA.
The Bulldogs (10-2) are
getting ready for a unprece-
dented move to the WIAA, but
not before they take one last
run at an Oregon state title.
“We’re one of two teams
left,” head coach David Faae-
teete said.
He also preached the same
message that has led to Herm-
iston’s success on its ‘Farewell
Tour,’ and what will help the
Bulldogs with a win Saturday
in Hillsboro.
“The message is going to be
and continue to be focus on the
details,” Faaeteete said. “Dot
our i’s, cross out t’s, fi nish,
take care of the little things so
they can take care of the big
things in the end.”
But a victory will be no
easy task. Churchill remains
unbeaten after taking down No.
1 Mountain View for it’s fi rst
fi nals appearance in program
history, and with a win the
Lancers (12-0) could be one
of fi ve teams in the entire state
with a perfect record.
The Bulldogs punched their
own ticket to the state cham-
pionship after holding off a
strong second half effort from
Wildcats and coming away
with a 35-27 win, and now
have to prepare to face an even
greater threat in Churchill.
“They are a very explosive
team,” Faaeteete said. “They
have got multiple plays for
80-plus yards this season.”
Leading the impressive
offense is quarterback Jack
Blackburn, who is the master-
mind behind some ridiculously
See DAWGS/3B
St. John’s
fends off
Oregon St.
By MARK DIDTLER
Associated Press
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. —
Guards Shamorie Ponds and Marcus
LoVett helped St. John’s get off to its
best start in years.
Ponds scored 26 points and LoVett
added 18 as St. John’s rallied from a
double-digit second-games half defi cit
to beat Oregon State 82-77 Thursday in
fi rst round of the Advocare Invitational.
“If the guards set the tone, then it sets
the tone for the game,” Ponds said. “So I
feel like if we come out there hungry with a
dog mentality, it changes
NCAA
the whole game.”
After trailing by 10
midway through the
second half, St. John’s
St. Johns
went up 69-67 with 4
minutes left on Kassoum
Yakwe’s rebound slam.
Marvin Clark II added
10 points, including a
Oregon State 3-pointer shortly after
Yakwe’s go-ahead basket,
for St. John’s (5-0), which
last opened a season with
fi ve straight wins in 2009-10.
“We train to play forty minutes of
pressure defense,” St. John’s coach Chris
Mullin said. “Be active and energetic ...
we feel that’s going to wear down on
people in the long haul.”
Oregon State (2-2) got 22 points
from Stephen Thompson Jr. and Ethan
Thompson had 19. Both players made
four 3-pointers as the Beavers hit 11 of
24 from distance.
“They’re certainly a tough group,”
OSU coach Wayne Tinkle said of St.
John’s. “Their perimeter players, those
guards can hawk you defensively and are
really good at getting to the rim.”
Stephen Thompson had 13 of his
points in the fi rst half, helping Oregon
State go up 40-37. The Beavers turned
it over 12 times, compared to St. John’s
two during the opening 20 minutes.
Oregon State fi nished with 21 turn-
overs, while St. John’s had six.
COMING BACK: Oregon sophomore
forward Tres Tinkle, who received a medical
redshirt year after missing 26 games due to a
broken wrist in 2016-17, scored 14 points on
3 of 9 shooting. He had 20 or more points in
each of his fi rst three games.
BIG PICTURE: Oregon State:
Stephen Thompson entered 1 for 15 from
3-point range. He has 109 in his career
and needs 23 to break into the Beavers
top-10 after going 4 for 8 Thursday.
82
77
Photo courtesy of Chase Allgood/The Oregonian
Hermiston’s Jonathan Hinkle carries the ball during the Bulldogs’ 35-27 win over Wilsonville in
the 5A semifi nal on Saturday in Hillsboro.
Collin Andrew/The Register-Guard
Churchill quarterback Jack Blackburn celebrates his touchdown run with teammate Quinn Park-
er in the fi rst-half during Churchill’s 63-21 win over Crater to go 9-0 in league play on Oct. 27.
Cousins rules Thanksgiving night
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) —
Kirk Cousins threw two touchdown
passes to compensate for a pick-6,
and the Washington football team
beat the New York Giants 20-10 on
Thursday night on a drab fi eld in a
drab game between two injury-de-
pleted teams that did not look ready
for prime time.
The two NFC East rivals
combined for more punts (nine)
than points (six) in the fi rst half,
which ended 3-all on a pair of
short fi eld goals — from 30 yards
by New York’s Aldrick Rosas, and
28 by Washington’s Nick Rose.
The big play on Washington’s
lone scoring “drive” of the half? A
37-yard fl ag for pass interference
on New York’s Ross Cockrell; the
entire possession covered 38 yards.
But Cousins led Washington
Thurs. Night Football
New York
Washington
10
20
(5-6) on two TD drives in the
second half, connecting with
Jamison Crowder on a 15-yarder
in the third quarter that broke a
3-all tie, and with Josh Doctson
on a 14-yarder with 3 1/2 minutes
remaining in the game.
In between, cornerback Janoris
Jenkins intercepted Cousins’ pass
and returned the ball 53 yards to
make it 10-all.
That one play involved more
yardage than Eli Manning and the
Giants (2-9) generated in the entire
second half. They gained 47 yards
and one solitary fi rst down. One
possession end with an intercep-
tion by Manning, four ended with
punts, and another dissolved they
turned the ball over on downs.
This was the fi rst time Washington
had hosted a game on Thanksgiving,
and they and the Giants didn’t exactly
treat the national TV audience to a
thriller. More of a snoozer.
Given the ugliness, perhaps it
was fi tting that it was contested
on a terrible-looking fi eld. A large
swath of brown ran down the
middle, all the way from one end
zone to the other.
Route-runners stumbled and
fell for no apparent reason. Wash-
Photo/Mark Tenally
ington back Samaje Perine gained Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins celebrates wide AP
receiver Josh
3 yards on fi ve carries in the fi rst Doctson’s touchdown as he walk past New York Giants defensive end
half.
Olivier Vernon during the second half on Thursday.
Sports shorts
Barcelona saves Messi for
crucial Valencia match
MADRID (AP) — Barcelona started
preparing for a key Spanish league match
against Valencia even before stepping out onto
the fi eld to face Juventus in the Champions
League.
They put Lionel Messi on the
bench. The Argentina forward,
who is rarely rotated out of the
starting lineup, did end up playing
in Wednesday’s 0-0 draw, coming
on in the 56th minute.
Barcelona holds a four-point
Messi
lead over Valencia, which is
coming off eight-straight victories.
Barcelona has won 11 of its 12 league games.
The few times Messi had been left out of
Barcelona’s starting 11 in recent years came
after injury layoffs or long trips with Argentina’s
national team.
“I think it’s fi tting today
to be thankful we’re still
right there. Each game
is going to be bigger
and bigger. It will be a
fun December if we do
what we’re supposed to
do the next few weeks.“
— Phillip Rivers
The Los Angeles Chargers quarter-
back, after the 28-6 win over the
Dallas Cowboys on Thursday. The
Thanksgiving Day victory helped
the Chargers boost their playoff
hopes as they now sit at 5-6 on the
season and are a half-game out of
the wild-card picture.
Four bowl play-in games this
weekend, 8-of-78 spots open
(AP) — There are 70 teams already bowl
eligible, having won at least six games, and
eight more spots to fi ll in 39 bowl games.
The past two seasons teams
with 5-7 records have received
bowl bids because there were not
enough teams eligible with the
minimum six victories. Those
teams are selected using the
most recent Academic Progress Ratings. The
fi ve-win teams with the highest APR scores
are fi rst to be invited to fi ll open slots. The way
things stand, there is a good chance there will
be enough bowl-eligible teams and no fi ve-win
teams will be needed.
Four games this weekend are bowl play-in
games, with each team sitting at 5-6: California
at UCLA, Colorado at Utah, Indiana at Purdue
and Middle Tennessee at Old Dominion.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1960 Wilt Chamberlain
of the Philadelphia Warriors
sets an NBA record with 55
rebounds in a 132-129 loss to
the Boston Celtics. Boston’s
Bill Russell held the record
with 51 rebounds against
Syracuse on Feb. 5, 1960.
2000
LaDainian
Tomlinson caps the fourth-
best rushing season with
174 yards and a touchdown
in Texas Christian’s 62-7
victory
over
Southern
Methodist. Tomlinson, who
also won his second straight
NCAA rushing title, fi nishes
the season with 2,158 yards.
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