SPORTS
WEEKEND, DECEMBER 23-24, 2017
1B
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MISSION
Prep Basketball
Vikings come back for victory
Nixyaawii
goes cold as
Umatilla earns
comeback win
East Oregonian
DALLAS — The Herm-
iston boys basketball team
heads into Christmas break
on a positive note as it ended
a two-game losing streak
with a 72-52 victory on the
road against Dallas on Friday
night.
“It was a real good win
for us going into break,”
Hermiston coach Casey
Arstein said. “The kids
played very hard and well on
defense in the second half ...
and on offense we got in a
groove and got a lot of easy
buckets off of our half-court
defense.”
The Bulldogs (4-4) had
only two scorers in double
fi gures, but had a very
balanced night as the second
half cushion allowed Arstein
to empty his bench quite
a bit. Ryne Andreason led
the Bulldogs with 14 points
which include three made
3-pointers, while Jordan
Ramirez followed with
11 points. Three Bulldogs
fi nished with eight points
including Andrew James,
who played more minutes
after getting full clearance
from a back injury he had
suffered during the football
state championship game.
Evan Courtney led the
Dragons (1-7) with nine
points.
————
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
MISSION — For the fi rst
three quarters on Friday night,
the Nixyaawii Golden Eagles
couldn’t miss a shot, hitting on
60 percent of their attempts.
That success gave the Golden
Eagles a 54-46 lead heading
into the fi nal
eight minutes Boys Basketball
against
the
r e d - h o t
Umatilla
Vikings. But
Umatilla
in that fi nal
quarter, Nixy-
aawii suddenly
went ice cold.
Close-range
lay-ins didn’t
Nixyaawii
fall in, and
wide-open
looks always
rimmed out.
The Golden Eagles were 0 for
their fi rst nine from the fl oor,
which allowed the Umatilla
Vikings to come back and steal a
61-57 win.
“We had some good looks
but I think our youth and some
fatigue we just came up a little bit
short,” Nixyaawii coach Shane
Rivera said. “We had about three
or four shots that probably go in
most days, and would’ve made
a big difference in the game I
think.”
The Golden Eagles (7-2) led
for the entire third quarter and
most of the fourth quarter until
Umatilla’s Seth Cranston swished
a mid-range jumper from the left
baseline to put the Vikings on top
55-54 with just two minutes left
to play. It was the fi rst lead for
the Vikings (9-1) since a 28-27
advantage at the 1:10 mark of the
second quarter.
“It was a relief,” Cranston
recalled of his go-ahead shot.
“We feel like we should’ve done
a lot better than we did, but I’m
glad we were able to scratch it
out. We had to come together
61
57
See VIKINGS/3B
Dawgs
beat up
Dragons
HHS
15 11 23 23 — 72
DHS
13 15
8 16 — 52
HERMISTON — R. Andreason 14, J.
Ramirez 11, A. Earl 8, A. James 8, C. Ortiz
8, A. Mendez 7, P. Wicks 6, C. Smith 6, T.
McCullough 2, B. Davis 2.
DALLAS — E. Courtney 9, C. Weisensee
8, J. Fennell 7, T. Dimick 6, J. Anderson 5,
B. Hicks 4, C. Kiner 4, D. Woolner 2, W.
Button 2.
3-pointers — HHS 8, DHS 3. Free throws
— HHS 10-17, DHS 13-20. Fouls — HHS
20, DHS 17.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Umatilla’s Trent Durfey shoot the ball over Nixyáawii’s Magi Moses in the Vikings’ 61-57 win against the
Golden Eagles on Friday in Mission.
WEST VALLEY (WA)
54, HERMISTON 31 — At
West Valley, the Hermiston
Bulldogs’ losing streak
extended to four games on
Friday with a non-league loss
to West Valley.
The Bulldogs next play on
Wednesday against Oregon
City in the Lake Oswego
Tournament.
MISSION
Golden Eagles smother Vikings
Nixyáawii’s
Milan
Schimmel
drives past
Umatilla’s
Ayana
Reyes in
the Golden
Eagles’
78-29 win
against the
Vikings on
Friday in
Mission.
Staff photo by E.J.
Harris
Schimmel, Stewart
help Nixyaawii remain
unbeaten on season
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
MISSION — For most prep
basketball teams, the non-leauge
portion of the schedule is for teams
to learn how to come together to be
at their best come time for league
play and the postseason. However,
the Nixyaawii girls basketball team
has proved there is no early-season
learning curve as the defending 1A
state champs have cruised to eight
straight wins to start the season.
Girls Basketball
Umatilla
Nixyaawii
29
78
Friday night cruise control was
still in effect for Nixyaawii, as
they used a smothering defense
and fast-paced offense to thump
the Umatilla Vikings 78-29 to
remain undefeated. Nixyaawii has
now scored at least 63 points in
all nine games this season, and are
averaging 71.3 points per game, a
testament to the talent and experi-
ence of the group.
“Most importantly, we’re
starting four seniors and a junior so
they’ve had those years o playing
together and playing in the system,
so we’ve basically just picked up
where we left off last year,” Nixy-
aawii coach Jeremy Maddern said.
“Obviously we’re very blessed
with a lot of talented players, but
we’re executing really well.”
Nixyaawii’s big three of Mary
Stewart, Milan Schimmel and Kait-
lynn Melton were excellent again
on Friday as they combined for 57
of the team’s 78 points. Schimmel
had a game-high 24 points and
added eight steals, fi ve blocks and
fi ve assists and Stewart had 20
points with six rebounds and fi ve
assists. Melton fi nished with 13
points and nine boards.
See GOLDEN EAGLES/3B
Sports shorts
Durant leads Warriors to 11th
consecutive victory
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Kevin Durant had
33 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four
blocks, and the Golden State Warriors held off the
Los Angeles Lakers 113-106 on Friday night for
their 11th straight victory.
Rookie Jordan Bell recorded
his fi rst career double-double with
season bests of 20 points and 10
rebounds, making a key layup with
2:45 to go and dunking a minute
later. Klay Thompson scored 16
Durant
points and Draymond Green added
13 points, 11 rebounds and seven
assists as he came back from a shoulder injury for
the defending champs.
Kyle Kuzma scored 27 points and fellow rookie
Lonzo Ball had 24 points with fi ve 3-pointers in
his fi rst visit to Oracle Arena. Julius Randle added
21 points off the bench for Los Angeles.
“Since returning from
China, they have done
everything asked of them
and continued to work hard
in the classroom and in their
own personal workouts.
I’ve told our players all
along that actions have
consequences, and the
season-long suspension
shows how seriously we
take their misconduct.“
— Steve Alford
UCLA men’s basketball coach announced
that Cody Riley and Jalen Hill were sus-
pended for the remainder of the season
after being arrested for shoplifting on a
team trip to China in November.
Oregon women thump Hawaii
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Sabrina Ionescu had
19 points and eight rebounds to lead No. 10
Oregon to an 85-44 victory over Hawaii on
Friday in the Duel in the Desert.
Ruthy Hebard hit 8 of 10 shots and fi nished
with 18 points and six rebounds,
while Lexi Bando scored 14 for
the Ducks (11-2).
Ionescu, who has a share of
the NCAA record with seven
career triple-doubles, was named MVP of the
Desert Division, which also included Hawaii
and Texas A&M.
The Rainbow Wahine (6-6) were led by
Julissa Tago, who had 11 points.
The Ducks, who won both their games in
the event, shot 66.7 percent (8 of 12) in the
third and 47.6 percent (30 of 63) for the game.
Hawaii couldn’t keep pace, shooting 17 of
52 (32.7 percent) from the fl oor, including 27.3
percent (3 of 11) in the fourth quarter.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
2007 — The New England
Patriots set an NFL record
with their 15th win, the best
start in league history, with a
28-7 victory over the Miami
Dolphins 28-7.
2011 — Doug Martin
rushes for 151 yards and
returns the opening kickoff
100 yards for a touchdown,
giving Boise State a lead 14
seconds into the Las Vegas
Bowl on the way to a 56-24
win over Arizona State. Boise
State quarterback Kellen
Moore fi nishes with 266
yards and two touchdowns,
ending his career with 50 total
wins the NCAA’s winningest
player at the position.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com