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SPORTS TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS Pro Soccer Weekend Prep Roundup Timbers’ Valeri named MLS MVP Bucks come up short at home East Oregonian Pete Christopher/The Oregonian via AP, fi le In this April 2, 2017, fi le photo, Portland Timbers’ Diego Valeri celebrates after scoring a goal in a game against the New England Revo- lution in Portland. Valeri has been named Major League Soccer’s Most Valuable Player. The 31-year-old native of Argentina had 21 goals and 11 assists this season for Portland, which fi nished atop the Western Conference. Midfi elder fi nished season with 21 goals, 11 assists in regular season By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press PORTLAND — Even when Portland’s Diego Valeri is recog- nized for his own play, he somehow fi nds a way to turn the focus back on the team. That’s no different now that he’s been named Major League Soccer’s Most Valuable Player. “Since I arrived here I wanted to make an impact on the league and my club, and that’s made me happy,” he said. “Any reward is part of that. That’s been important for me.” The 31-year-old native of Argentina had 21 goals and 11 assists this season for the Timbers, who fi nished atop the Western Conference. He is the fi rst midfi elder in league history with 20 or more goals in a single season and just the second player overall with at least 20 goals and 10 assists in a single season. His 32 combined goals and assists were the most of any player this season, and rank him fi fth in MLS history. Valeri was named the league’s 2017 Landon Donovan MVP award recipient on Monday by vote of the league’s club managers, media members and current players. The other nominees included Atlanta’s Miguel Almiron, Toronto’s Sebas- tian Giovinco, NYCFC’s David Villa and Chicago’s Nemanja Nikolic. “You fi ght hard all season, and to be named player of the year is amazing,” he told The Associated Press. “You work hard for the team and to be recognized from your own people, it’s awesome.” Valeri has scored 58 goals since joining the Timbers in 2013, most for Portland since the team’s inception in 1975. He also won the league’s Newcomer of the Year following his fi rst season, and was named MVP of the MLS Cup in 2015, when the Timbers defeated the Columbus Crew for the league title. He set a new league record with a goal in nine consecutive games this season from July 29 to Sept. 24. Valeri’s talent — as well as his humility — has endeared him to soccer fans and non-fans alike See VALERI/2B NFL It’s December, which means time for a Seahawks surge Seattle 25-10 in December, January under Pete Carroll By TIM BOOTH Associated Press RENTON, Wash. — It’s December which means it’s time for the Seattle Seahawks to get on a roll. That’s been the formula for most of Pete Carroll’s tenure with the Seahawks, always building toward the conclusion of the regular season. And it’s a feeling that was rekindled after Seattle’s convincing 24-10 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. What was deemed to be a challenging beginning to the fi nal month of the season could in turn become a catalyst for yet another fi nal push by the Seahawks that’s become so common. “I contemplated in my head whether I wanted to say that out loud, whether I wanted to jinx it, but I do. I believe that this is the start of something that we’ve seen in the past,” Seattle wide receiver Doug Baldwin said after the victory. AP Photo/John Froschauer Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, left, scrambles as Philadelphia Eagles’ Corey Graham (24) moves in during the fi rst half of Sunday’s game in Seattle. “Again, like I said I told Russell (Wilson), whatever this is we need to capture it, we need to hold onto it and continue to push forward to get better because the truth of the matter is we still have so much left in the tank.” Seattle’s impressive win over the Eagles was a boost the Seahawks needed. They had lost two straight at home. They were on the fringe of the NFC playoff race. The long list of key injuries suffered by the Seahawks had led some observers to no longer consider them legit contenders. Yet those concerns were muted seeing Russell Wilson put in another memorable performance and Seattle’s defense holding the No. 1 offense in the NFL to just 10 points. Seattle is 25-10 in December and January regular-season games under Pete Carroll going back to 2010. They are 20-5 in those games with Wilson at quarterback. “It’s the fourth quarter and we have the opportunity to control everything,” Carroll said on Monday. “That’s all we could hope for. Every game we have is a cham- pionship match and we’ve got to play them all the way out and fi gure that you’ve got to win every one of them the week you play them. “This was a really good test this week, this was a great test for us at home just because of the level See SEAHAWKS/3B PENDLETON — Jaiden Lemberger scored 19 of her game-high 27 points in the second half, but it was not quite enough as Pendleton fell just short against Summit 54-51 on Saturday afternoon. The Buckaroos (0-2) were down by 14 at halftime but outscored Summit 15-3 in the third quarter to get back in the game. They eventually held a lead in the fourth quarter and traded it back and forth a few times with the Storm, but in the end the Storm hit just one more shot than the Buckaroos could. “I couldn’t be more proud of the way they fought back to get in it,” Pendleton coach Kevin Porter said. “This game was a coin fl ip and we called heads, and it was tails and that’s what happened.” Behind Lemberger, Maureen Davies fi nished with nine points and both Carissa Cooley and Hunter Kiele added four. Hailee Neibauer led the Storm (1-0) with 20 points and Olivia Loberg added 14. Pendleton next plays on Tuesday at Southridge (WA) at 7 p.m. ———— SHS 14 21 3 16 — 54 PHS 10 11 15 15 — 51 SUMMIT — H. Neibauer 20, O. Loberg 14, T. West 6, Ho. Neibauer 5, T. West 4, P. Gordon 3, O. Treu 2. PENDLETON — J. Lemberger 27, M. Davies 9, C. Cooley 4, H. Kiele 4, H. Porter 2, Scott 2, U. Guerrero 2, Wilson 1. 3-pointers — SHS 6, PHS 2. Free throws — SHS 10-15, PHS 13-25. Fouls — SHS 20, PHS 15. PILOT ROCK 44, MONU- MENT/DAYVILLE 26 — At Fossil, Grace Austin earned a double-double with 10 points and 16 rebounds to help Pilot Rock fi nish off a 2-0 mark at the Paul Humphrey’s Tip-Off Tour- nament on Saturday afternoon. Behind Austin, Rhyanne Oates scored nine points with fi ve assists and Kayla Deist added seven points for the Rockets (2-0). Faythe Schafer led Monument/Dayville (0-1) with 10 points. Pilot Rock next hosts Helix on Tuesday at 6 p.m. ———— PR 15 11 6 12 — 44 M/D 5 8 7 6 — 26 PILOT ROCK — G. Austin 10, R. Oates 9, K. Deist 7, K. Evans 5, S. Weinke 4, L. Brewer 4, B. Howland 3, A. Aguilar 2, B. Baleztina, M. Sutherland. MON./DAYVILLE — F. Schafer 10, D. Rhoda 5, A. Bowlus 4, K. Emerson 3, C. Buckmaster 2, M. Cook 2, A. Werner. 3-pointers — PR 3, M/D 0. Free throws — PR 5-7, M/D 8-15. Fouls — PR 19 (Weinke fouled out), M/D 13 (Bowlus fouled out). CULVER 51, STANFIELD 27 — The Stanfi eld Tigers (0-3) wrapped things up at the Sherman Tournament on Saturday with a 51-27 loss to the Culver Bulldogs (2-1. They move to 0-3 on the season and hope to bounce back when Stanfi eld hosts Nixaaywii on Monday. “We struggled with pres- sure,” head coach Daniel Sharp said, “and we turned the ball over too much.” Stanfi eld was led by Kendra Hart and Jessica Wallace, who scored a team-high 7 points See PREP ROUNDUP/3B Sports shorts Giants fi re head coach, GM EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — The New York Giants made a rare in-season house cleaning, fi ring coach Ben McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese on Monday, less than a year after the team made the playoffs for the fi rst time since 2011. Giants co-owner John Mara confi rmed the moves at a hastily called news conference on Monday, saying no one incident led to the changes but that something had to be done with the team mired with a 2-10 record in a season where they McAdoo expected to compete for a Super Bowl. The dismissals came a day after the Giants lost in Oakland, with quarterback Eli Manning benched and the offensively inept team performing badly again. The fi rings cap an injury-marred season highlighted by the loss of catalyst wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. on Oct. 8. “It’s much more than just two people. It’s a whole city. On my side, it’s over 200,000 people who donate money to help rebuild the city. It’s an award that’s so much bigger than sports.“ — J.J. Watt The Houston Texans’ defensive end after being selected by Sports Illustrated as the maga- zine’s prestigous Sportsperson of the Year along with Houston Astros’ second baseman Jose Altuve. Fisher gets 10-year, $75 million contract from Texas A&M COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Jimbo Fisher says the opportunity to coach Texas A&M was one he simply couldn’t pass up. Fisher was lured away from Florida State, where he won a national championship in 2013, with a 10-year, $75 million contract at Texas A&M. Fisher was formally introduced at Texas A&M on Monday. Fisher takes over for Kevin Fisher Sumlin, who was fi red Nov. 26 after the Aggies fi nished the regular season 7-5 and 4-4 in the Southeastern Conference. The 53-year-old Sumlin, who went 51-26 and led the Aggies to a bowl game in each of his six seasons, is still owed $10 million for the remaining two years on his contract. Fisher went 83-23 in eight seasons at FSU. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1981 — Southern Califor- nia’s Marcus Allen, who set an NCAA record for yards rushing in a season with 2,342, wins the Heisman Trophy. 1995 — Dan Marino completes 35 of 50 passes for 343 yards with two touch- downs and in leading Miami to a 21-20 comeback victory over the Atlanta Falcons. It was his 52nd 300-yard game of his career, breaking the league record he had shared with Dan Fouts. 2012 — Kobe Bryant scores 29 points, making him the fi fth player in NBA history to score 30,000. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com