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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 16, 2017)
SPORTS WEEKEND, DECEMBER 16-17, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS PENDLETON Buckaroos put away Kingsmen Newsom’s double-double paces Buckaroos ORLANDO, Fla. — The Portland Trail Blazers quietly have been one of the best defensive teams in NBA the NBA this season, something Portland they have reminded opponents of the last two games. Portland Orlando limited Orlando to 38.6 percent shooting and made enough plays in the fi nal minute to hold on for a 95-88 victory on Friday night. Damian Lillard led the winners with 21 points and C.J. McCollum had 20. Al-Farouq Aminu added 15 points and Jusuf Nurkic had nine points and 11 rebounds. “We had certain games where the defense wasn’t good, but the second half against Miami (Wednesday) and tonight it was pretty solid throughout,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said. It was the second straight game that Portland held the opponent under 100 points. Those two victories followed a fi ve-game losing streak during which opponents averaged 113.4 points against the Trail Blazers. “Every year, for every team, adversity hits at some point and I feel like it was just hitting for us,” Lillard said. “We hadn’t been defending well, we hadn’t been playing good offensively.” Nikola Vucevic led Orlando with 26 points and 14 rebounds. Johnathon Simmons had 15 points for the Magic, who have lost four straight and 15 of their last 18. See BLAZERS/3B 95 36 88 59 See BUCKAROOS/3B Blazers hold off Magic Associated Press By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian PENDLETON — One week ago, the Pendleton boys basket- ball team left Warberg Court on Friday night a bit dejected Boys following an Basketball unsightly loss to Walla Walla. The Buckaroos fell out of a Putnam rhythm and communication wained as they scored all of seven points in the second Pendleton half, resulting in their second consecutive loss and dropping themselves to .500 on the season. But after a few days of prac- tice, the Buckaroos got some swagger back. And one week later, the same Buckaroo team walked out of Warberg Court on Friday night with smiles on their faces and more bounce in their step following a 59-36 victory over Rex Putnam, the team’s second straight victory. “We kind of got punched in the mouth there and had to look ourselves in the mirror and fi gure out who we are and what we’re going to be,” Pendleton coach Kyle Tedder said after the game. “By no means are we there yet, but we’ve defi nitely made some strides and guys are stepping up and starting to fi gure it out and trust each other.” And Friday’s game was a night where the Buckaroos (5-3) really had to come together. The team did not shoot well from outside the paint, with 36 of the 59 points coming inside the paint after going ice cold from 3-point range (3 of 17). What the Buck- aroos did do well was show the trust that is developing amongst the group, highlighted by solid ball movement throughout the Pro Basketball Staff photo by Kathy Aney Tyler Newsome, of Pendleton, goes up for a shot Friday at Warberg Court as Putnam’s Brady Miller reaches for the ball. Prep Roundup Rockets snap skid with win over Outlaws Boys Basketball Weinke scores 20 points, helps Pilot Rock end two-game losing streak East Oregonian PILOT ROCK — The Pilot Rock Rockets started out their season as good as any team could. They were riding a fi ve-game winning streak going into the second weekend of December. That’s when the Rockets dropped back-to-back games. But Pilot Rock was able to turn things around the fi rst day of the tour- nament it’s hosting with a 52-37 (5-2) victory over Enterprise. The Rockets were led by senior captain Chris Weinke, who notched a game-high 20 points. Weinke’s coun- terpart, senior captain Bryson Pierce, chipped in 13 of his own. Enterprise Pilot Rock 37 52 “They played well, under control basketball,” head coach Eric Smidt said. Smidt also praised the Rockets’ defensive efforts as Pilot Rock held the Outlaws (3-3) to single-digit quar- ters in the fi rst half. Weinke and Pierce’s efforts go beyond just being the top scorers, as Smidt said they are mostly likely averaging double-doubles. For Enterprise, junior Dylan Marr knocked down a team-high 11 points. ——— EHS 5 9 10 13 — 37 PR 11 13 12 16 — 52 ENTERPRISE — D. Marr 11, J. Even 8, R. Hayward 8, J. Wells 4, B. Locke 2, R. Masters 2, C. Bathke 1, B. Greenshields 1. PILOT ROCK — C. Weinke 20, B. Pierce 13, L. Weinke 4, R. Lankford 4, B. Key 2, A. Drake 1, C. Munkers 1. 3-pointers — EHS 7, PR 2. Free throws — EHS 4-6, PR 24-35. Fouls — EHS 20, PR 12. NIXYAAWII 86, WALLOWA 40 — At Mission, Noah Enright scored a game-high 21 points as Nixyaawii earned its fi rst league win of the season by thumping Wallowa on Friday evening. Four Golden Eagles (5-1, 1-0) in all fi nished in double fi gures, with Deven Barkley adding 17 points, Quanah Picard adding 12 and Mick Schimmel with 11. Christopher Nobles led Wallowa (4-3, 0-1) with 19 points. ———— Pilot Rock’s Logan Weinke (0) shoots the ball in the Rockets’ 52-37 win against Enterprise on Friday in Pilot Rock. Staff photo by E.J. Harris WHS 8 11 8 10 — 40 NCS 31 22 17 12 — 86 WALLOWA — C. Nobles 19, M. Moore 7, W. Prince 6, S. Hilliard 2, R. Hafer 2, C. Goebel 2, F. DeVore 2. NIXYAAWII — N. Enright 21, D. Barkley 17, Q. Picard 12, M. Schimmel 11, Moses Moses 5, D. Sigo 5, T. Burns 4, L. Ortega 3, Magi Moses 2, R. Bronson 2, L. Penney 2. 3-pointers — WHS 1, NCS 6. Free throws — WHS 5-12, NCS 12-18. Fouls — WHS 15, NCS 10. See PREP ROUNDUP/3B Sports shorts Angels stay busy, sign All-Star infi elder Cozart to 3-year deal ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — All-Star infi elder Zack Cozart has agreed to a $38 million, three- year contract with the Los Angeles Angels and is likely to shift from shortstop to third base. Cozart gets $13,666,000 next season and $13,667,000 in each of the fi nal two years of the deal announced Friday. The 32-year-old was a fi rst-time All-Start this year. He hit .297 with 24 homers and 63 RBIs. Cozart Cozart has a .254 average in seven big league seasons, all with Cincinnati. Gold Glove winner Andrelton Simmons is at shortstop for the Angels. Los Angeles reached an agreement last week with Japanese pitcher/ outfi elder Shohei Ohtani and acquired second baseman Ian Kinsler from Detroit this week. “I was telling him, `Go home’ ... I’m not about to get in a back-and- forth with him. I’m not about to give him my energy.” — Russell Westbrook The Oklahoma City Thunder star was tired of Philadelphia 76er Joel Embiid as Embiid irked Westbrook earlier in the game. Westbrook got the last laugh, and capped his triple-double, 52-minute effort with the fi nal as- sist of the game, and the Thunder pulled out a 119-117 victory on Friday night. Former employee says ESPN was a hostile workplace BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — A former ESPN personality is accusing the network of trying to silence her and other women who assert they were subjected to a sexually hostile work environment. Adrienne Lawrence made the accusation in a tweet Friday after ESPN published a friendly text message exchange between her and an anchor she had accused of misconduct. Lawrence fi led a complaint this summer with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. She alleges, among other things, that she was not offered a permanent job at ESPN after complaining that anchor John Buccigross had sent her unsolicited shirtless photos and used inappropriate nicknames for her. The network says it investigated Lawrence’s complaints and found them without merit. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 2006 — Morten Andersen becomes the greatest scorer in NFL history. The 46-year-old Andersen breaks Gary Ander- son’s career scoring record of 2,434 points with the second of four extra points in the Atlanta Falcons’ 38-28 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. 2007 — Brett Favre passes for 227 yards in Green Bay’s 33-14 win over St. Louis, eclipsing Dan Marino to become the NFL career leader in yards passing. Favre, in his 17th season, fi nishes the game with 61,405 yards. Marino had 61,361 in 17 seasons. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com