SPORTS
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2017
1B
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HERMISTON
Pro Basketball
Bucks run by Trail Blazers
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
PORTLAND
—
Khris
Middleton had 26 points while
Eric Bledsoe had 25 and the
Milwaukee Bucks beat the Trail
Blazers 103-91 on Thursday night
to snap a three-game Portland
winning streak.
Giannis
Antetokounmpo
added 20 points, nine rebounds,
and
three
blocked shots
NBA
for the Bucks,
who have won
their last four
games against Milwaukee
the Blazers.
The Bucks
led by as many
as 24 points in
the third quarter
and the Blazers
Portland
struggled to keep
up. Portland was
also vexed by
turnovers, with
19 compared to Milwaukee’s
nine.
Jusuf Nurkic led Portland with
25 points and 11 rebounds, while
Damian Lillard added 18 points.
Lillard’s layup closed Portland
within 94-81 with 5:52 left and it
appeared the Blazers may rally,
but Middleton answered with
an 11-foot jumper. Portland’s
frustration was clear when Nurkic
and coach Terry Stotts both
earned technicals for a foul call
on Nurkic on a block.
Portland was coming off a 4-1
trip, including a 103-91 victory
over the Knicks on Monday. The
Blazers also saw the return of
forward Al-Farouq Aminu, who
missed 13 games with a right
ankle injury.
But they struggled with the
Bucks from the start.
Middleton hit a 3-pointer at
the buzzer to give the Bucks a
33-21 lead at the end of the fi rst
quarter. Portland went on a 10-2
run to close within 35-31, but
Middleton slowed the rally with a
long jumper.
John Henson’s short jumper
put the Bucks up 46-33 as the
Trail Blazers struggled to fi nd
much offensive fl ow. Lillard went
up for a layup to end the half
and he was blocked by Antetok-
ounmpo.
Milwaukee led 60-45 at
the break, led by Bledsoe with
17 points. Bledsoe’s jumper
stretched the lead to 69-49 in the
third quarter.
Bledsoe’s layup made 83-59
and boos could be heard among
the hometown fans.
UP NEXT
The Trail Blazers host the
Pelicans on Saturday night.
Hermiston
celebrates
with the
Bulldogs
Community shares
evening with the
state champions
By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ
East Oregonian
103
91
AP Photo/Steve Dykes
Milwaukee Bucks guard Tony Snell dunks in front of Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum during
the fi rst quarter of Thursday’s game in Portland.
HERMISTON
—
On
Thursday night in Hermiston
High’s main gym, the entire
community was able to congratu-
late the new 5A state champions.
Although the stands were full of
fans in purple Saturday in Hills-
boro, many others weren’t able
to make the trip 200-plus miles
west. For some, the win was seen
from an entirely different view.
Eric White, one of the many
seniors who will leave a lasting
legacy in Hermiston, had one of
the most diffi cult years of any
Bulldog.
On the bus ride home from
camp before the season began, he
and head coach David Faaeteete
made a pit stop to the emergency
room as White suffered a back
injury. Then, in the season
opener — a 35-21 loss to Union
(WA) — he broke his collarbone
in the fi rst quarter. Then, as his
injury was healing he got in a
car accident, and re-broke his
collarbone.
On Thursday, before the
community celebration, White
was given the Mr. Never Quit
team award. Faaeteete praised his
ability to comeback against all
odds, and his persistences to suit
up one last time. In White’s fi nal
start as a Bulldog, he recorded
two total tackles, 0.5 sacks, and
a fumble recovery — which
proved to be a game changer.
White had added motivation.
“A lot of people don’t know
that my grandpa passed away,”
he said. “So, throughout the
year I had an angel looking out
for me, and that’s why I think I
was — because when I came
back from my broken collarbone
there was a 50-percent chance I
would break it for the rest of the
year and I think he was up there
looking out for me.
White’s grandfather passed
a week after he had suffered his
fi rst collarbone break. Through
his recovery, and in his fi nal
game where he and the rest of the
See HERMISTON/2B
College Football
Smith welcomed in Corvallis, happy to be ‘home’
OSU alum ready
to start dream job
Associated Press
CORVALLIS — Jona-
than Smith introduced
himself as head coach of the
Oregon State Beavers with a
simple message.
“It is great to be home,”
Smith said to applause
from boosters gathered at a
news conference on campus
Jonathan Smith
coaching fi le
• 2002-03 Oregon State
(Graduate Assistant)
• 2004-09 Idaho (QBs)
• 2010-11 Montana (Of-
fensive coordinator)
• 2012-13 Boise St. (QBs)
• 2014-17 Washington
(offensive coordinator)
Thursday, a day after he was
named to the job.
Smith, a former Oregon
State quarterback who
led the team to a Fiesta
Bowl victory following the
2000 season, comes to the
Beavers from Washington,
where he was quarterbacks
coach under coach Chris
Petersen.
“Now I’m sitting here in
front of you with my dream
job, in my dream town, at
my dream school,” Smith
said .
Oregon State President
Ed Ray called Smith the
“perfect person in the
perfect moment.” A rally
was scheduled for fans
Thursday evening at Reser
Stadium.
Smith fi lls the vacancy
left by Gary Andersen, who
surprisingly parted ways
with the Beavers in early
October after a 1-5 start.
The Beavers promoted
cornerbacks coach Cory
Hall as interim head coach.
Hall appeared to inspire
the team, which challenged
See SMITH/2B
Andy Cripe/The Corvallis Gazette-Times via AP
Jonathan Smith listens to a question at a news con-
ference Thursday in Corvallis announcing his hiring as
football coach at Oregon State.
Sports shorts
Pitino suing Louisville over fi ring
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Rick Pitino has
sued the University of Louisville Athletic Asso-
ciation for $38.7 million, saying it breached his
contract by placing him on unpaid administrative
leave without notice and fi ring him last month
with no legally justifi ed “cause.”
The ULAA fi red the Hall of
Fame coach on Oct. 16, weeks after
he was placed on leave when Louis-
ville acknowledged it was being
investigated in a federal bribery
probe of college basketball. Pitino is
Pitino
not named in the federal complaint
and has denied participation in and knowledge of
alleged payments to a recruit’s family.
Pitino’s lawsuit fi led Thursday in U.S. District
Court seeks liquidated contract damages of
$4.307 million through 2026. It says the ULAA
did not give him 10 days advance notice before it
“effectively fi red” him and insists that he followed
suggestions to improve oversight.
“I think I can do everything
that’s within my power
to do. Anything that I’ve
done before and anything
that I haven’t done,
hopefully I can achieve it.
I think the sky is the limit. I
feel that I’m in great shape,
and if I can just help out
there and try to make a
play and try to put us in
position to win.“
— Josh Gordon
The Cleveland Browns WR will take
the fi eld in a regular season game for
the fi rst time since 2014 on Sunday in
Los Angeles after missing two years to
suspensions for substance abuse.
Dallas breaks out of slump,
thumps Washington 38-14
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Dak Prescott
threw two touchdown passes, including a
franchise record-breaker to Dez Bryant, and
the Dallas Cowboys fi nally won
without suspended star running
back Ezekiel Elliott, beating
Washington 38-14 on Thursday.
Prescott shook off a hand
injury and found Bryant on
a 13-yard leaping grab in the end zone for
Bryant’s fi rst score in six games and 72nd of his
career, one more than Hall of Famer Bob Hayes.
The Cowboys (6-6) started quickly thanks
to three fi rst-half turnovers and four overall
by Washington (5-7) and kept it going after
halftime with a 21-7 scoring edge after getting
outscored 72-6 in the second half of three
straight losses without Elliott.
Alfred Morris ran for 127 yards and one
touchdown.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1984 — Boston College
quarterback Doug Flutie is
named the 50th Heisman
Trophy winner.
2012 — Landon Donovan
scores the tiebreaking goal
on a penalty kick in the 65th
minute, and David Beckham
leaves the MLS as a two-time
champion with the Los
Angeles Galaxy’s 3-1 victory
over the Houston Dynamo in
the MLS Cup.
2015 — The Philadelphia
76ers end the longest losing
streak in the history of
major professional sports
in the U.S., topping the Los
Angeles Lakers 103-91 to
snap a 28-game skid.
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