SPORTS
WEEKEND, JANUARY 6-7, 2018
1B
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Team on a mission
Nixyaawii clobbers top-ranked Powder Valley, keeps unbeaten streak rolling
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
MISSION — It is no
secret that the Nixyaawii
Golden Eagles’ ultimate goal
is to again go undefeated and
win the 1A state champion-
ship.
And now halfway through
the season, it’s getting harder
to imagine any name other
than the Golden Eagles’ on
that 2018 championship
trophy.
The Golden Eagles hosted
the Powder Valley Badgers
on Friday evening, a team
that came in undefeated
and at No. 1 in the OSAA’s
1A rankings, and made
Nixyaawii
24
71
the Badgers look like an
ordinary team. A suffocating
half-court defense and an
offense in rhythm combined
to give Nixyaawii a 71-24
victory over Powder Valley,
holding the Badgers to a new
season-low in points scored
and a new season-high in
points allowed.
“We’re just operating at
another level than anyone
else right now,” Nixyaawii
coach Jeremy Maddern said
afterward. “If we can keep
that up and keep playing well
then it’s a lot less stress for
me.”
It’s the sixth straight game
the Golden Eagles (13-0, 4-0
Old Oregon League) have
scored more than 70 points
and allowed less than 35
points, and the ninth time
they have won by at least
40 points. But senior guard
Mary Stewart, who fi nished
with a game-high 25 points,
says that they’re not getting
tired of winning games in
these ways.
“What we get tired of is
being pulled out at the end,”
Stewart joked. “We just like
to run, run, run the whole
game.”
There was a good amount
of pre-game hype leading up
to Friday, with the Badgers
knowing this was a chance to
make a statement and knock
off the defending state cham-
pions and the Golden Eagles
knowing that the Badgers
See NIXYAAWII/3B
Rockets
snap skid
with big
victory
Heppner, Echo’s
boys team also
come up big
East Oregonian
PILOT ROCK — Back
at home after losing its last
four games, three of which
were on the road, Pilot Rock
got back to
Boys Basketball its winnings
ways.
Behind
a 20-point
Imbler
performance
from senior
B r y s o n
Pierce, the
Rockets
Pilot Rock d e f e a t e d
the Imbler
Cougars
53-31.
“It was a good win
against a (Class 2A) team,”
head coach Eric Smidt said.
“It’s the fi rst (2A) team
we’ve played in weeks.”
The Rockets (7-6) domi-
nated from the start, and got
off to an early 18-5 lead after
the fi rst quarter. The Cougars
(1-11) tried to claw their way
back in the second quarter,
matching Pilot Rock’s
11-point performance but
the Rockets came out of the
break and put up 20 points to
cement its victory.
Behind Pierce, senior
Chris Weinke scored 17
points.
Leading Culver was
sophomore Jayce Burnette
with 12 points.
Pilot Rock will host
Union on Saturday before
traveling to Culver next
week to open Columbia
Basin Conference play.
Tipoff
for
Saturday’s
matchup is 5:30 p.m.
———
31
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Powder
Valley
Prep Roundup
53
IHS
5 11
5 10 — 31
PR
18 11 20
4 — 53
IMBLER — J. Burnette 12, C. Goodman
7, W. Coston 4, W. McDonald 4, G. Slater
2, W. Whitaker 2.
PILOT ROCK — B. Pierce 20, C. Weinke
17, R. Lankford 6, B. Key 6, L. Thieme 4.
3-pointers — IHS 1, PR 1. Free throws
— IHS 10-16, PR 6-16. Fouls — IHS 10,
PR 14.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Nixyáawii’s Milan Schimmel drives past Powder Valley’s Autumn Davis in the Golden Eagle’s 71-24 win against
the Badgers on Friday in Mission.
More inside
Nixyaawii boys win 53-51 as buzzer-beater falls short for Powder Valley. Page 3B
ECHO 53, JOSEPH
49 — At Echo, the Cougars
held on for a 53-49 win over
Joseph. The efforts were led
by junior Devan Craig, who
fi nished with a game-high
20 points.
See PREPS/3B
Men’s College Basketball
Tinkle scores 19 with 12 boards as Beavers topple Ducks
By KYLE ODEGARD
Associated Press
CORVALLIS — Tres
Tinkle had 19 points, 12
rebounds and fi ve assists as
Oregon State took control
of the game in the second
half to beat archrival Oregon
76-64 on Friday night.
Stephen Thompson Jr.
Pac-12
Oregon
Oregon State
64
76
scored 16 points and had six
assists and Drew Eubanks
added 15 points and eight
rebounds for the Beavers
(10-5, 2-1 Pac-12).
Paul White came off
the bench for 16 points, six
rebounds and fi ve assists, and
Victor Bailey Jr. scored 11
points, for the Ducks (11-5,
1-2).
Oregon State shot 53
percent compared to 36
percent for Oregon, and
outrebounded the Ducks
43-36.
Neither team was at their
sharpest early on offense.
The Ducks went four-plus
minutes without scoring
late in the fi rst half, but the
Beavers scored only fi ve
points during the drought.
Oregon State led 30-29 at
halftime.
The Beavers surged ahead
45-38 after a 9-2 run, capped
by a Thompson 3-pointer
with 12:44 left. Oregon
stormed back with fi ve
straight points.
But Oregon State went
on another 12-1 run, capped
by a Seth Berger layup, to
go ahead 57-44 with eight
minutes to play. The Beavers
led by as many as 17 points
in the second half.
This was the 349th battle
between the two schools,
making it the most-contested
rivalry in college basketball.
The series dates to 1903, and
Oregon State has a 187-162
edge over the Ducks, who
have won seven of the last
nine games between the
schools.
Sports shorts
Heisman winner, Louisville QB
Jackson declares for NFL Draft
Lamar Jackson is leaving Louisville to enter
the NFL draft, one season after becoming the
youngest Heisman Trophy winner.
The 20-year-old junior quarterback tweeted
Friday that he talked with his
family before announcing the
decision, which was confi rmed by
the school.
His decision was somewhat
expected after he compiled some
statistics that were better than
those from his Heisman-winning
Jackson
numbers as a sophomore. He
fi nished third in this year’s vote.
Jackson, 6-foot-3 and 212 pounds, is a
dynamic player but it’s uncertain how high
he’ll be drafted this spring. Despite accounting
for 5,261 offensive yards and 45 touchdowns,
questions remain about his accuracy and size.
“We played a big game
in Seattle a couple
weeks ago. We played
a big game two weeks
ago against Tennessee.
We played a big game
against the Eagles ...
we had a bunch of
big games against top
teams this year and so I
think that experience will
translate mostly to this
game.”
— Jared Goff
Rams quarterback on fi rst round
playoff matchup against Falcons
Canada claims 3-1 gold-medal
win over Sweden in world juniors
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Tyler Steenbergen
re-directed in Connor Timmins’ pass to break a
tie with 1:40 left and Canada beat
Sweden 3-1 to win the world
junior hockey championship
Friday night.
Alex Formenton then sealed
Canada’s 17th gold medal
victory by scoring into an empty
net 26 seconds later.
Canadian captain Dillon
Dube also scored in a game Canada never
trailed. Carter Hart stopped 35 shots, a year
after he was in the net in a 5-4 shootout loss to
the United States in the championship game.
Tim Soderlund scored for the Swedes, who
settled for winning their 11th silver medal.
Sweden is 0-4 against Canada in the champi-
onship game, including consecutive losses in
2008 and `09.
Gustavsson stopped 25 shots.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1980 — The Pittsburgh
Steelers advance to their
fourth Super Bowl appearance
since 1974 by eliminating the
Houston Oilers for the second
consecutive year with a 27-13
triumph in the AFC title game.
1999 — The NBA lockout
fi nally ends on its 191st day
after a divisive struggle that
costs the owners and players
hundreds of millions of
dollars.
2016 — Ken Griffey Jr. is
elected to the baseball Hall of
Fame with the highest voting
percentage ever, and Mike
Piazza makes it in his fourth
year on the ballot. Griffey is
on 437 of 440 votes in his
fi rst appearance on the Base-
ball Writers’ Association of
America ballot.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com