Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 23, 2017)
East Oregonian Page 3B SPORTS VIKINGS: Cranston led with 17 points Saturday, December 23, 2017 Pro Basketball Continued from 1B AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, right, shoots past Portland Trail Blazers center Zach Collins, left, and forward Ed Davis, center, duringFriday’s game in Portland. Jokic leads Nuggets to first win in Portland since 2013 By NICK DASCHEL Associated Press PORTLAND — Nikola Jokic scored 27 points and the Denver Nuggets won for the first time in Portland since 2013, beating the Trail Blazers 102-85 on Friday night. Jokic hit 12 of 21 shots and grabbed eight rebounds as the Nuggets ended a nine-game losing streak to the Blazers in Portland. Wilson Chandler scored a season-high 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Gary Harris scored 17 points for Denver. C.J. McCollum led Port- land with 15 points, while Shabazz Napier had 14. Rookie Zach Collins scored a career-high 10 points, but fouled out after playing 18 minutes. Portland played without Damian Lillard, who strained a hamstring strain in Wednesday’s game against San Antonio. Lillard is the Blazers’ leading scorer at 25.2 points a game. The Blazers, who lost NBA Denver Portland 102 85 their sixth consecutive home game, heard scattered boos from the crowd during the fourth quarter. Denver, establishing its offense in the paint, shot nearly 50 percent (42 of 85) from the floor. Portland couldn’t get untracked offensively, particularly from 3-point range, where it was just 5 of 21. The Nuggets led 52-41 at halftime as Jokic scored 18 first-half points. They separated themselves from Portland late in the second quarter with a 10-0 run. Denver continued to punish Portland inside during the third quarter, as Chandler scored eight points and Jokic seven in taking an 80-66 lead. The Nuggets led by as many as 19 points during the third quarter. Portland was unable to get closer than 10 in the fourth. TIP-INS Nuggets: Denver scored its first 16 baskets in the paint. ... Harris returned to the starting lineup after missing one game (elbow contusion). ... Denver avoided its first three-game losing streak of the season. It was also just the Nuggets’ third win over Portland in the past five seasons. Trail Blazers: Lillard is unlikely to play in Saturday’s game at the Los Angeles Lakers, though Portland coach Terry Stotts said he would make the trip. ... Jake Layman, who has played the fewest games (13) and minutes (83) on the roster, made his first start of the season, and second of his two-year career. ... Maurice Harkless played for the first time in five games, scoring four points in 19 minutes. UP NEXT Nuggets: Saturday at Golden State. Trail Blazers: Saturday at Los Angeles Lakers. PREP WRESTLING Saturday Hermiston at Best of the West (Pasco, WA) Basketball NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division W L Pct GB Boston 26 9 .743 — Toronto 22 8 .733 1½ New York 17 15 .531 7½ Philadelphia 14 17 .452 10 Brooklyn 12 19 .387 12 Southeast Division W L Pct GB Miami 17 15 .531 — Washington 17 15 .531 — Charlotte 11 21 .344 6 Orlando 11 22 .333 6½ Atlanta 7 25 .219 10 Central Division W L Pct GB Cleveland 24 9 .727 — Milwaukee 17 13 .567 5½ Indiana 18 14 .563 5½ Detroit 18 14 .563 5½ Chicago 10 21 .323 13 WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest Division W L Pct GB Houston 25 6 .806 — San Antonio 22 11 .667 4 New Orleans 16 16 .500 9½ Memphis 9 23 .281 16½ Dallas 9 24 .273 17 Northwest Division W L Pct GB Minnesota 19 13 .594 — Oklahoma City 17 15 .531 2 Denver 17 15 .531 2 Portland 16 16 .500 3 Utah 15 18 .455 4½ Pacific Division W L Pct GB Golden State 26 6 .813 — L.A. Clippers 13 18 .419 12½ L.A. Lakers 11 19 .367 14 Sacramento 11 20 .355 14½ Phoenix 12 22 .353 15 ——— Friday’s Games Detroit 104, New York 101 New Orleans 111, Orlando 97 Brooklyn 119, Washington 84 L.A. Clippers 128, Houston 118 Miami 113, Dallas 101 Milwaukee 109, Charlotte 104 Oklahoma City 120, Atlanta 117 Denver 102, Portland 85 Golden State 113, L.A. Lakers 106 Saturday’s Games Philadelphia at Toronto, 2 p.m. Brooklyn at Indiana, 4 p.m. Milwaukee at Charlotte, 4 p.m. Orlando at Washington, 4 p.m. Chicago at Boston, 4:30 p.m. Dallas at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m. L.A. Clippers at Memphis, 5 p.m. New Orleans at Miami, 5 p.m. Oklahoma City at Utah, 5 p.m. Denver at Golden State, 5:30 p.m. Minnesota at Phoenix, 6 p.m. Portland at L.A. Lakers, 6:30 p.m. San Antonio at Sacramento, 7 p.m. Sunday’s Games No games scheduled. Monday’s Games Philadelphia at New York, 9 a.m. Cleveland at Golden State, Noon Washington at Boston, 2:30 p.m. Houston at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m. Minnesota at L.A. Lakers, 7:30 p.m. NCAA Men’s College Basketball Top 25 Friday’s Games No. 1 Villanova 95, Hofstra 71 No. 3 Arizona State 104, Pacific 65 No. 9 Xavier 77, Northern Iowa 67 No. 11 Wichita St. 75, Florida Gulf Coast 65 No. 13 Virginia 82, Hampton 48 No. 15 TCU 86, William & Mary 75 No. 17 Oklahoma 104, Northwestern 78 No. 21 Texas Tech 74, Abilene Christian 47 Saturday’s Games Manhattan at No. 23 Seton Hall, 9 a.m. Fordham at No. 10 West Virginia, 9 a.m. No. 21 Tennessee at Wake Forest, 9:30 a.m. (ESPN2) OSU at No. 5 UNC, 10:30 a.m. (CBS) No. 7 Kentucky at UCLA, 1 p.m. (CBS) Sunday’s Games No games scheduled. Monday’s Games No games scheduled. Pac-12 Friday’s Games Arizona State 104, Pacific 65 USC 84, Akron 53 Iowa 80, Colorado 73 Washington State 86, Bethune-Cookman 58 Washington 66, Montana 63 Saturday’s Game No. 7 Kentucky at UCLA, 1 p.m. (CBS) Middle Tennessee at USC, 1:30 p.m. (ESPN2) Sunday’s Games No games scheduled. Monday’s Games No games scheduled. Women’s College Basketball Top 25 Friday’s Games No. 1 UCONN 104, Duquesne 52 No. 10 Oregon 85, Hawaii 44 No. 16 Missouri 72, Illinois 55 Saturday’s Games No games scheduled. Sunday’s Games No games scheduled. Monday’s Games No games scheduled. Pac-12 Friday’s Games Washington St. at Nebraska, 11 a.m. No. 10 Oregon at Hawai’i, 12 p.m. Saturday’s Games No games scheduled. Sunday’s Games No games scheduled. Monday’s Games No games scheduled. Hockey NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Tampa Bay 34 25 7 2 52 130 87 Toronto 36 21 14 1 43 119 102 Boston 33 18 10 5 41 98 88 Montreal 35 16 15 4 36 97 110 Detroit 34 13 14 7 33 95 110 Florida 35 14 16 5 33 102 119 Ottawa 33 11 14 8 30 92 113 Buffalo 35 9 19 7 25 76 116 Metropolitan Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Washington 36 22 12 2 46 114 104 New Jersey 34 20 9 5 45 109 102 Columbus 36 21 13 2 44 103 98 N.Y. Rangers 35 19 12 4 42 115 101 N.Y. Islanders 35 18 13 4 40 125 125 Pittsburgh 36 18 15 3 39 104 114 Carolina 34 15 12 7 37 95 107 Philadelphia 35 15 13 7 37 98 101 WESTERN CONFERENCE Central Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Nashville 34 21 9 4 46 113 95 Winnipeg 36 20 10 6 46 119 100 St. Louis 37 22 13 2 46 110 93 Dallas 36 19 14 3 41 106 103 Chicago 34 17 12 5 39 102 90 Minnesota 35 18 14 3 39 102 103 Colorado 34 16 15 3 35 106 111 Pacific Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Los Angeles 36 22 10 4 48 109 83 Vegas 33 22 9 2 46 116 100 San Jose 33 18 11 4 40 93 84 Calgary 36 18 15 3 39 101 106 Anaheim 36 15 13 8 38 97 108 Vancouver 36 15 16 5 35 97 118 Edmonton 35 16 17 2 34 104 112 Arizona 37 8 24 5 21 83 127 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. ———— Friday’s Games Buffalo 4, Philadelphia 2 Florida 4, Minnesota 2 Montreal 3, Calgary 2 Arizona 3, Washington 2, OT Saturday’s Games Detroit at Boston, 10 a.m. Winnipeg at N.Y. Islanders, 10 a.m. Montreal at Edmonton, 4 p.m. Anaheim at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m. Chicago at New Jersey, 4 p.m. Minnesota at Tampa Bay, 4 p.m. Ottawa at Florida, 4 p.m. Buffalo at Carolina, 4 p.m. Philadelphia at Columbus, 4 p.m. Toronto at N.Y. Rangers, 4 p.m. Colorado at Arizona, 5 p.m. Nashville at Dallas, 5 p.m. Washington at Vegas, 5 p.m. Los Angeles at San Jose, 7 p.m. St. Louis at Vancouver, 7 p.m. Sunday-Monday No games scheduled Staff photo by E.J. Harris Umatilla’s Sebastian Garcia drives past Nixyáawii’s Tyasin Burns in the Vikings’ 61-57 win against the Golden Eagles on Friday in Mission. in the third quarter, Bow challenged his group to give every last ounce they had if they wanted to add another ‘W’ to the schedule. And they did, as the defense did enough to keep Nixyaawii scoreless in the fourth quarter until Tyasin Burns nailed a 3-pointer at the final buzzer with the game out of reach. “I told the kids we have to score more than 54 to win so it’s got to come down on defense,” Bow said. “So it was nice that with three seconds left on the clock and they were still at 54 ... To give up only those three points at the buzzer an that’s it in the fourth quarter talks about the defense we’ve played all year right there, being able to step up and do what they need to do to win.” Umatilla finished with four players in double figures including Cranston, followed by Trent Durfey with 15 points, Kaden Webb with 12 points, and Uriel Garcia with 11 points. Durfey led the team with eight rebounds and Garcia had six, while Webb led with five assists. While the loss stings for the Golden Eagles, Rivera said that he is proud of the way his team played.. “We were right there,” Rivera said. “Umatilla’s a good team, they play phys- ical, they’re strong and it was a good test for us. It was one of those games where you hate to lose, but you’re glad to get to play them because it’s a good test for the team and it’ll help us in the long run.” Mick Schimmel led the Golden Eagles with 20 points and Quana Picard had 14. ———— UHS 14 14 18 15 — 61 NCS 14 20 20 3 — 57 UMATILLA — S. Cranston 17, T. Durfey 15, K. Webb 12, U. Garcia 11, S. Garcia 4, C. DeLoera 2. NIXYAAWII — M. Schimmel 20, Q. Picard 14, T. Burns 8, Ma. Moses 6, D. Barkley 5, D. Sigo 2, N. Enright 2. 3-pointers — UHS 6, NCS 6. Free throws — UHS 10-13. Fouls — UHS 7, NCS 13. GOLDEN EAGLES: Defense forced 30 turnovers by Vikings in game Continued from 1B SCOREBOARD Local slate pull our heads out of our butts after that first half.” Cranston was a clutch performer for the Vikings in the game, leading the team with 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting with five rebounds, three assists and three steals. He utilized his quickness on several occasions to dribble around defenders and drive towards the basket for easy close-range shots, which made up the bulk of his attempts. Cranston played a lot of minutes on last year’s team, but was known more for his defense than a scoring ability, something that Umatilla coach Scott Bow has had to pry out of his senior wing this season. “He’s a motor, man,” Umatilla coach Scott Bow said of Cranston. “His ability to keep going is special. He didn’t want to be a scorer (tonight), he wanted to play good defense and I told him I’m not going to play him in the second half if he’s not going to step up and shoot the shots your supposed to shoot ... He came in the second half and decided to take the shots and he did it really well.” The Vikings got the best start of the two teams and held an early 9-3 lead before Nixyaawii settled in and tied the game up at 14-14 at the end of the first quarter. The Golden Eagles stayed hot shooting the ball in the second half to take a 34-28 lead at the break after missing on four of their 13 shot attempts. It was a frus- trating game at that point for Bow and his Vikings, as they played solid defense, but just couldn’t shut them down. “Any time we would start to chip away, they would seem to hit a shot or two and kept it going, so we have to give it up to them,” Bow said. And after the Vikings still couldn’t chip away Football NFL AMERICAN CONFERENCE East W L T Pct PF PA y-New England 11 3 0 .786 395 274 Buffalo 8 6 0 .571 264 306 Miami 6 8 0 .429 252 342 N.Y. Jets 5 9 0 .357 285 342 South W L T Pct PF PA x-Jacksonville 10 4 0 .714 374 209 Tennessee 8 6 0 .571 296 319 Houston 4 10 0 .286 319 380 Indianapolis 3 11 0 .214 225 368 North W L T Pct PF PA y-Pittsburgh 11 3 0 .786 344 278 Baltimore 8 6 0 .571 345 256 Cincinnati 5 9 0 .357 233 305 Cleveland 0 14 0 .000 207 362 West W L T Pct PF PA Kansas City 8 6 0 .571 359 302 L.A. Chargers 7 7 0 .500 311 255 Oakland 6 8 0 .429 281 324 Denver 5 9 0 .357 254 328 NATIONAL CONFERENCE East W L T Pct PF PA y-Philadelphia 12 2 0 .857 438 279 Dallas 8 6 0 .571 336 311 Washington 6 8 0 .429 305 359 N.Y. Giants 2 12 0 .143 228 355 South W L T Pct PF PA New Orleans 10 4 0 .714 401 282 Carolina 10 4 0 .714 331 286 Atlanta 9 5 0 .642 318 282 Tampa Bay 4 10 0 .286 285 336 North W L T Pct PF PA y-Minnesota 11 3 0 .786 343 242 Detroit 8 6 0 .571 358 339 Green Bay 7 7 0 .500 309 333 Chicago 4 10 0 .286 234 294 West W L T Pct PF PA L.A. Rams 10 4 0 .714 438 272 Seattle 8 6 0 .571 321 294 Arizona 6 8 0 .429 246 337 San Francisco 4 10 0 .286 253 337 x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division ——— Week 16 Saturday’s games Indianapolis at Baltimore, 1:30 p.m. Minnesota at Green Bay, 5:30 p.m. Sunday’s Games Cleveland at Chicago, 10 a.m. Atlanta at New Orleans, 10 a.m. Denver at Washington, 10 a.m. Tampa Bay at Carolina, 10 a.m. Miami at Kansas City, 10 a.m. L.A. Rams at Tennessee, 10 a.m. L.A. Chargers at N.Y. Jets, 10 a.m. Detroit at Cincinnati, 10 a.m. Buffalo at New England, 10 a.m. Jacksonville at San Francisco, 1:05 p.m. N.Y. Giants at Arizona, 1:25 p.m. Seattle at Dallas, 1:25 p.m. Monday’s Games Pittsburgh at Houston, 1:30 p.m. Oakland at Philadelphia, 5:30 p.m. NCAA Bowl Schedule FRIDAY Bahamas Bowl Nassau Ohio 41, UAB 6 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Boise Wyoming 37, Central Michigan 14 Saturday, Dec. 23 Birmingham (Ala.) Bowl South Florida (9-2) vs. Texas Tech (6-6), 9 a.m. (ESPN) Armed Forces Bowl (ESPN) Fort Worth, Texas San Diego St. (10-2) vs. Army (9-3), 12:30 p.m. Dollar General Bowl (ESPN) Mobile, Ala. Appalachian St. (8-4) vs. Toledo (11-2), 4 p.m. SUNDAY Hawaii Bowl Honolulu Fresno State (9-4) vs. Houston (7-4), 5:30 p.m. (ESPN) TUESDAY Heart of Dallas Bowl West Virginia (7-5) vs. Utah (6-6), 10:30 a.m. (ESPN) Quick Lane Bowl Detroit Northern Illinois (8-4) vs. Duke (6-6), 2:15 p.m. (ESPN) Cactus Bowl (ESPN) Phoenix Kansas State (7-5) vs. UCLA (6-6), 6 p.m. But aside from the three leaders, Nixyaawii (9-0) continues to see big steps taken each game by its secondary players including junior forward Ermia Butler, senior guard Ella Mae Looney and the rest of the Golden Eagles’ young bench. Looney knocked down two 3-pointers and finished with eight points and Butler played strong defense inside and turned in four points. “They’ve been huge,” Maddern said. “Ermia’s really taken a huge step and Ella Mae’s always given us defensive tenacity and just invaluable. And this year she’s shooting the ball and shooting it well, better than most girls actually at a high percentage. She’s kept getting better every year and I’m happy to see her take that big step.” The game was all Golden Eagles (9-0) as they led 24-5 after the first eight minutes were played. Nixyaawii used a 2-2-1 full-court press for most of the first quarter, helping force 10 Umatilla (3-7) turnovers before falling off into a match-up 2-3 zone for the remainder of the game. Overall, Nixyaawii forced 30 Umatilla turnovers and Staff photo by E.J. Harris Umatilla’s Charlene Alvarez wrestles for the ball with Nixyáawii’s Kaitlynn Melton in the Golden Eagles’ 78-29 win against the Vikings on Friday in Mission. turned a numerous amount of those into points. “Defensively we came in and did a lot of good things tonight,” Maddern said. “Our defense can lead to a lot of easy lay-ins and that match-up zone we run, we preach about trying to make teams skip-pass a lot so we can jump the lanes. And the girls are really instinctive where they almost anticipate that next pass.” Umatilla’s best quarter came in the second when they scored 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting to make it a 45-19 game at the break. But in the second half, the Golden Eagles’ defense kept the Vikings from getting many good looks at the basket and by the time they did, the rhythm was gone and shots couldn’t seem to fall. Umatilla shot just 4-of-22 from the floor in the second half. Lauryn Journot led the Vikings with nine points, Charlene Alvarez had eight points and Katelyn Lorence added five points. ———— UHS 5 14 2 8 — 29 NCS 24 21 21 12 — 78 UMATILLA — L. Journot 9, C. Alvarez 8, K. Lorence 5, A. Reyes 3, A. Ford 2, L. Leon-Leon 2. NIXYAAWII — M. Schimmel 24, M. Stewart 20, K. Melton 13, E. Looney 8, E. Butler 4, L. Moses 3, K. Mountain Chief 2, T. Melton 2, Team 2. 3-pointers — UHS 3, NCS 4. Free throws — UHS 2-8, NCS 4-10. Fouls — UHS 11, NCS 12. ———— Contact Eric at esinger@ eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0839. Follow him on Twitter @ByEricSinger.