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@
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or
541-966-0839. Follow him
on Twitter @ByEricSinger.