SPORTS
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2017
1B
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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.
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