SPORTS
WEEKEND, DECEMBER 9-10, 2017
1B
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PENDLETON
College Football
Blue Devils bump Bucks
Pendleton scores just
9 points in second
half as offense stalls
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — During
the fi rst week of practice in mid
November, Pendleton boys
basketball coach Kyle Tedder
said he liked his new group
of Buckaroos but described
the team as a “project” and
a “work-in-progress” due to
a small number of varsity
returners.
Through the fi rst two
weeks of the
Boys
season, it’s
easy to see Basketball
what Tedder
m e a n t .
Pendleton
started its
Pendleton
non-league
schedule
with three
wins
in
four games,
k n o c k i n g Walla Walla
off
some
quality
t e a m s
including
Crescent Valley and Baker.
But now the team has lost two
straight, most recently a 54-37
clunker to Walla Walla on in
the Buckaroos’ home opener
Friday evening at Warberg
Court.
Pendleton started Friday’s
game having the appearance
of a team that was starting to
jell together on the court. The
offense had a good fl ow with
ball movement all the way
around the court, the passes
were crisp, and the Bucks
were consistently working
into effi cient shot attempts that
resulted in easy points. The
Buckaroos and Blue Devils
traded leads and bursts of
momentum throughout the fi rst
half, with Walla Walla holding
a slim 29-28 lead at the break.
However, in the second
half the Buckaroos came out
looking like a completely
different team. The smooth
fl ow of the offense disappeared
into a stagnant unit, where
defensive adjustments by the
Blue Devils led to less ball
See BUCKS/3B
Ducks
choose
Cristobal
as head
coach
Spent 2017 season as
Oregon’s offensive
coordinator
By RALPH D. RUSSO
Associated Press
37
54
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pendleton’s Tyler Newsom shoots the ball over Walla Walla’s Taylor Hamada in the Bucks’ 54-37 loss to
the Blue Devils on Friday in Pendleton.
Oregon
has
promoted
offensive coordinator Mario
Cristobal to head coach.
The Ducks made the formal
announcement early Friday
afternoon. A news conference
was set for 4 p.m. local time.
Cristobal was co-offensive
coordinator
and offensive
line
coach
at
Oregon
this
past
season
and
was named
interim coach
on Tuesday
when Willie Cristobal
Taggart left to
become head coach at Florida
State. He becomes the 34th
coach in Oregon history.
“Mario’s leadership skills,
work ethic, and experience
makes him a perfect fi t to lead
the Oregon football program,”
Oregon athletic director Rob
Mullens said in a statement.
“He has a passion for Oregon
and a vision for our future
success, and has made a signifi -
cant impact on our student-ath-
letes during his time here. We
look forward to a great future
on the horizon for the Ducks
under Mario’s leadership.”
Before coming to Eugene,
Oregon, with Taggart, Cris-
tobal had spent four seasons
as offensive line coach at
Alabama. He has six seasons
of head coaching experience
at Florida International, where
he went 27-47, including 20-26
in conference, with two bowl
appearances from 2007-12. He
was also an assistant at Miami,
his alma mater.
See CRISTOBAL/4B
HERMISTON
Bulldogs stand tall against Chiawana
BY ALEXIS MANSANAREZ
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Entering Friday’s
game, head coach Casey Arstein knew
Chiawana would have the size advan-
tage. But a late addition to the group,
Matthew Kroner — the 6-foot-9 center
who was only cleared to play earlier
that day — made things interesting for
the Bulldogs.
His presence in the paint wreaked
havoc as Hermiston was out rebounded
32-22, but the Bulldogs stuck to their
game plan and pulled off a 76-67 win
over the Riverhawks (0-5).
“They defi nitely tried to stick to
their game plan and we had to stick to
ours,” Arstein said. “(The) kids battled.
Things didn’t go our way and they still
kept battling, didn’t pout their heads, I
was proud of them.”
Boys Basketball
Hermiston
Chiawana
76
67
The boys played in the second
game of Friday’s doubleheader, and
things were interesting from the jump.
The match up didn’t start with
the usual tipoff. Instead, junior Ryne
Andreason stepped up to the free-
throw line for two shots as Chiawana
earned a technical foul during warm
ups. After Andreason successfully
made one of his two attempts, the
Bulldogs (3-2) got the ball back and
increased their early lead thanks to
Andreason.
The fi rst quarter had eight lead
changes before Hermiston ended it
with a 21-18 lead. Chiawana, with
the help of Kroner and its other top
shooter, senior Austin Penny, battled
back to force two ties during Hermis-
ton’s 12-8 run at the end of the fi rst.
Junior Cesar Ortiz got the packed
house on their feet at the buzzer as he
nailed a deep 3-pointer to secure the
lead.
Both teams ended the game
combined for 19 threes with Ortiz
knocking down the most for Herm-
iston and Kroll coming up big for
Chiawana.
Late in the game, Kroll’s buckets
gave Hermiston a scare as the River-
hawks began to chip away at the lead
the Bulldogs would end up holding
until the fi nal buzzer.
Hermiston’s
Andrew
Earl goes
up for a
shot during
Friday’s
non-league
game
against Chi-
awans in
Hermiston.
Staff photo by
Kathy Aney
See DAWGS/3B
Sports shorts
Blazers’ Nurkic to miss Saturday’s
game with ankle injury
PORTLAND (AP) — Trail Blazers center
Jusuf Nurkic has been ruled out of Saturday’s
game against the Houston Rockets with an
ankle injury.
Nurkic was hurt midway
through the fi nal quarter of
Portland’s 106-92 loss Tuesday
night to the Washington Wizards.
He limped off the court and went
straight to the locker room after
appearing to injure his right ankle
Nurkic
on a drive to the rim. He had 15
points and nine rebounds before
leaving.
Portland said X-rays on the ankle were
negative, but said he was ruled out of the home
game against Houston.
Nurkic is averaging 15.1 points and 7.8
rebounds per game for the Blazers.
NHL expects 2018 salary cap
to rise by $3-7 million
“We have some
shooters too, but, man,
for a while there I was
like, ‘someone get a stop.’
Preferably us.”
— Casey Arstein
Hermiston boys basketball
coach on back-and-forth
scoring in second half of
Hermiston’s 76-67 win over
Chiawana on Friday night.
MANALAPAN, Florida (AP) — NHLs
team will be allowed to spend more next
season.
Commissioner Gary Bettman
told reporters at the conclusion of
the league’s board of governors
meeting Friday that the projected
salary cap for 2018-19 will be
somewhere between $78 million
and $82 million, up from the current $75
million.
“The league has never been healthier,”
Bettman said in a ballroom at the Eau Palm
Beach Resort & Spa. “The game has never
been healthier. Our franchises have never been
healthier. Our fan base has never been better.”
Bettman said hockey-related revenue will be
around $4.54 billion this season, an 8.2 percent
increase.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
2007 — Peyton Manning
of Indianapolis becomes
the fi fth quarterback in NFL
history to throw 300 touch-
down passes, getting four and
going 13-for-17 for 249 yards
in a 44-20 win over Baltimore.
2012 — Lionel Messi
breaks German soccer great
Gerd Mueller’s 40-year-old
record for most goals in a
year by scoring for the 86th
time in 2012.
2016 — James Harden
scores 21 points, and the
Houston Rockets overcome
Russell Westbrook’s seventh
consecutive
triple-double
to beat the Oklahoma City
Thunder 102-99.
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