Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 2018)
SPORTS Saturday, January 6, 2018 East Oregonian Page 3B NIXYAAWII: Stewart scores 25, grabs 6 boards, 6 steals Continued from 1B were going to come at them hard. However, once the game tipped off the Golden Eagles zapped the energy right out of the Badgers players and their group of fans that made the trip over the Blue Mountains. Nixyaawii outscored Powder Valley 17-1 in the first quarter, with Powder’s lone basket on a made free throw at the 2:44 mark. The Badgers’ first made field goal did not come until one minute into the second quarter when Megan Bingham sank a 3-pointer to make it a 19-4 game. The Golden Eagles’ defense simply frustrated the Badgers for all 32 minutes. The Badgers averaged 52.5 points per game coming in, but shot a dreadful 15 percent (9-of-61) from the floor and just 5-of-16 from the free throw line with 20 turnovers. “Our defense, wow,” Maddern said. “We were just rotating correctly and they put so much pressure on (Powder) without fouling and that’s just hard to deal with. We just wear teams down eventually, like tonight. As long as we play defense like that, we’ll beat anybody.” Stewart added “Our length on the court and our ability to work together is what makes us special,” she said. “If someone’s not in their spot, someone will fill in, we just work together in a cycle.” To go along with her 25 points, Stewart also added six rebounds, six steals and five assists. The other half of Nixyaawii’s 1-2 punch, Milan Schimmel was also exceptional as she finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, eight steals, eight assists and three blocks. Katilynn Melton added 10 points to round out their leading scorers. “We knew they were going to give us a big effort so we’ve been preparing for them,” Schimmel said. “We’ve been counting down the days and eventually it came and we were ready for them and we played a great game tonight.” BOYS HOOPS NIXYAAWII 53, POWDER VALLEY 51 — It is easy to see how increased offensive depth has the Nixyaawii boys basketball team looking like a postseason contender. No longer needing to rely on star guard Mick Schimmel to carry the offense, the Golden Eagles have reaped the benefits of players such as Deven Barkley, Quanah Picard and Dazan Sigo step- ping in and stepping up to help spark the hot start. That depth was put to the test on Friday night, and the Golden Eagles passed. Barely. Nixyaawii overcame foul trouble and another ice cold shooting night as they pulled Staff photo by E.J. Harris Nixyáawii’s Mick Schimmel shoots the ball over Pow- der Valley’s Dawson Smith in the Golden Eagles’ 53-51 win against the Badgers. Staff photo by E.J. Harris Nixyáawii’s Mary Stewart drives up court guarded by Powder Valley’s Kim Williams in the Golden Eagle’s 71-24 win against the Badgers on Friday in Mission. out a 53-51 victory over Powder Valley on Friday night for the Golden Eagles’ fourth consecutive victory. Powder Valley had a chance to win at the buzzer, but a 3-pointer by Tanner Eubanks clanked off the backboard and rim to seal the win for Nixyaawii. “We’re for sure relieved,” Nixyaawii coach Shane Rivera said. “It’s nice to get a win and it keeps us atop of the league right now. Powder’s a good team and it’s nice to come out on top even when we didn’t play our best.” The Golden Eagles (11-2 overall, 4-0 Old Oregon League) shot just 31 percent (21-of-67) in the game, including numerous attempts from close-range and wide- open jumpers. Schimmel finished with 14 points as he was the primary focus of the Badgers’ defense with numerous doubleteams throughout. And Picard and Barkley, who have been the Golden Eagles’ No. 2 and No. 3 scoring threats, combined for just seven points as both battled foul trouble in the first and second half. But that brought out big performances from the likes of Sigo and senior Noah Enright when their team needed them the most. Enright scored a huge 14 Staff photo by E.J. Harris Nixyáawii’s Noah Enright shoots the ball guarded by Powder Valley’s Roper Bingham in the Golden Eagles’ 53-51 win against the Badgers. points and played solid defense, while Sigo scored 10 including a pair of key 3-pointers. “It just feels amazing,” Enright said of his game. “When you’re hot, you gotta keep shooting and I felt good out in that game.” Added Rivera, “They each had their moments for sure and we needed that. To be competitive at the end of the season, we need every- body to step up and we can’t be relying on one or two guys. Obviously it’s nice to have those one or two, but when they’re off you need guys that are capable and we do have guys that are capable.” After a slow first quarter that saw the Golden Eagles trailing 11-8, they battled through the shooting woes to take a 21-17 lead into the halftime break. After half- time, it was Powder Valley (7-4, 2-1) that made the first move to take a 22-21 lead before the Golden Eagles took it right back and then started to find a groove. Nixyaawii outscored the Powder Valley 17-8 over the final 6:30 of the third quarter, and carried that momentum into the fourth where they built a lead as large as 13 points at 43-30 just 30 seconds into the final frame. However, the Badgers were not done. They turned up their defensive pressure and locked in their offense to go on a 13-4 run to get the game within four points at 47-43 with just 4:43 left. Eventually the Badgers wittled the lead to three points at 53-50 and drove down the court with 20 seconds remaining and a chance to get closer or tie the game. The Badgers missed a pair of 3-pointers but got offensive rebounds on both, later setting up what looked like a 3-point shot attempt in the corner by Omar Benites with under five seconds left and then controversy ensued. As Benites rose for the shot, he was fouled by Enright which seemingly gave Benites a chance to tie the game with three free throw attempts. However, one of the two game offi- cials, positioned under the basket on the baseline, ruled that Benites’ foot was on the 3-point line which meant it was a two-shot foul rather than a three-shot foul, much to the displeasure of the Powder Valley faithful. Benites made the first and intentionally missed the second, which was rebounded by a teammate and kicked out to Eubanks for the final shot, which bounced the Golden Eagles’ way. “It wasn’t great, but it just feels amazing the way our team came together,” Enright said. “It was a good win.” ———— Girls PV 1 8 9 6 — 24 NCS 17 20 13 21 — 71 POWDER VALLEY — J. Ash 8, S. Kerns 5, M. Bingham 5, A. Davis 4, J. Krieger 2. NIXYAAWII — M. Stewart 25, M. Schim- mel 21, K. Melton 10, T. Melton 6, E. Butler 6, E. Looney 3. 3-pointers — PV 1, NCS 4. Free throws — PV 5-16, NCS 7-11. Fouls — PV 9, NCS 13. Boys PV 11 6 13 21 — 51 NCS 8 13 19 13 — 53 POWDER VALLEY — D. Smith 18, H. Da- vis 9, M. Nesser 8, O. Benites 6, T. Eubanks 5, R. BIngham 5. NIXYAAWII — N. Enright 14, M. Schimmel 14, D. Sigo 10, D. Barkley 6, Ma. Moses 4, W. Oatman 3, Q. Picard 1. 3-pointers — PV 5, NCS 6. Free throws — PV 6-16, NCS 4-11. Fouls — PV 15, NCS 15. ———— Contact Eric at esinger@ eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0839. Follow him on Twitter @ByEricSinger. PREPS: Irrigon tops rival Riverside in wrestling dual Continued from 1B Echo entered Friday’s game winning only two of its last five matchups. A high-scoring first quarter gave the Cougars (5-9 overall, 2-2 Old Oregon League) an early advantage. Echo remained in control and led 26-21 at halftime. After the break, the Eagles (6-3, 2-1) tried their hand at a comeback but were never able to caught up to the Cougars. Freshman Chase Murray led Joseph with 11 points. ——— JHS 11 10 13 15 — 49 EHS 17 9 11 16 — 53 JOSEPH — Ch. Murray 11, T. Homan 11, Ca. Murray 10, M. Ferre 6, J. Palma 6, K. Kilgore 3, H. Miller 2. ECHO — D. Craig 20, M. Marcum 18, T. Mulder 4, Z. Gerhke 3, D. Curiel 3, C. White 3, N. Scott 2. 3-pointers — JHS 5, EHS 4. Free throws — JHS 8-14, EHS 9-18. Fouls — JHS 18, EHS 14. HEPPNER 67, UNION 48 — Heppner hit the road for its first game of the new year. After an extended break, the Mustangs didn’t hesitate to start 2018 with a bang. Heppner handed Union a 67-48 loss on its home court, and improved to 3-6 on the season. The Mustangs were led by junior Trent Smith, who scored a game-high 18 points. For the Bobcats (5-6), freshman Keegan Glenn finished with a team-high 16 points. ——— HHS 10 19 23 15 — 67 UHS 14 12 10 12 — 48 HEPPNER — T. Smith 18, T. Carter 11, K. Smith 9, W. Steagall 6, A. Lindsay 6, H. Nichols 4, B. Wolters 4, L. Burright 3, Da. Howard 2, J. McAninch 2, De. Howard 2. UNION — K. Glenn 16, R. Schoemaker 9, L. Cloutier 8, J. Phillips 7, T. Lantis 4, H. Coon 2, C. Kirkland 2 3-pointers — HHS 6, UHS 4. Free throws — HHS 3-7, UHS 2-6. GIRLS BASKETBALL PILOT ROCK 44, IMBLER 34 — The Pilot Rock Rockets were finally back home after two tough road losses, and with their return came a 44-34 victory over Imbler. The struggling Panthers moved to 3-9 on the season after the 10-point defeat. “It was a well balanced game,” head coach Dan Deist said. Senior Kayla Deist led Pilot rock with 10 points. For Imbler, senior Hannah Kilpatrick knocked down a game-high 17 points. The Rockets (9-5) will host one more game this week, a 4 p.m. matchup on Saturday against Imbler. ——— IHS 6 3 15 10 — 34 PR 12 7 14 11 — 44 IMBLER — H. Kilpatrick 17, C. McGinness 10, S. Combe 3, K. Barry 2, A. McDonald 2. PILOT ROCK — K. Deist (10), G. Austin 9, S. Weinke 7, R. Oates 7, B. Howland 5, K. Evans 4, L. Brewer 2. 3-pointers — IHS 2, PR 2. Free throws — IHS 16-8, PR 4-6. Fouls — IHS 8, PR 11. JOSEPH 46, ECHO 43 — Echo was hoping to end its skid as the Cougars wrapped up their three-game homestand Friday. They came close with an 18-point fourth quarter to chip away at their deficit, but the streaking Joseph Eagles held on to the lead to pull off a 46-43 win. The Eagles (8-2) were led by senior Alexis Sykora, who scored 22 points. For the Cougars (5-9), senior Marti Huff knocked down 22 points of her own to lead Echo. Behind Huff, sophomore Rachel McCarty scored 11 — the duo accounted for all but one of Echo’s total points. ——— JHS 14 8 8 16 — 46 EHS 9 8 8 18 — 43 JOSEPH — A. Sykora 22, S. Albee 12, E. Hite 8, H. Miller 4. ECHO — M. Huff 22, R. McCarty 11, L. Cox 1. 3-pointers — JHS 2, EHS 3. Free throws — JHS 12-23, EHS 6-19. Fouls — JHS 22 (A. Syko- ra fouled out), EHS 24 (A. Putname fouled out). NYSSA 47, RIVERSIDE 35 — Riverside opened league play Friday at Nyssa, where the Bulldogs snapped the Pirates’ six-game winning streak. It’s only Riverside’s third loss of the season, and the Pirates now sit at 11-3 overall and 0-1 in the Eastern Oregon League. They will have a chance to turn things around Tuesday when their road trip continues in Irrigon. For the Bulldogs (7-6, 1-0), they will start a three-game away stretch Jan. 13. WRESTLING RIVERSIDE — On Friday, Irrigon defeated Riverside 42-30 in a duals meet. In six of the seven bouts the Knights came on the winning side of, each wrestling pinned their opponent anywhere from 0:45 to 4:27. Irrigon’s Brady Harrington had the fastest win by fall, as he finished off Adolfo Martinez in 45 seconds in the 195-pound weight class. Tucker McAllister (220) and Kaleb Kendrick (285) followed pinning their respective oppo- nents in 1:27 and 2:54. Riverside’s Yeidi Ramos (106) and Fernando Ortega (113), along with Andrew Baker (126) and Christian Reyes (132), earned 24 points for the Pirates to give them the advantage. But Silvestre Vasquez (138), Jose Aguilera (160) and Tanner Mills (182) sealed the victory for the Knights. Riverside’s Ethan Snyder (145) and Irrigon’s Alex Miran- da-Walls (170) won by forfeit. JOSEPH — At the Jo-Hi tournament, Echo earned three points on the first day of competition. In the 145-pound weight class Mychael Pointer placed sixth. Four Cougars are slated to wrestle in Saturday’s quarter- final bouts: Kyle Ranger (126), Ethan Piercy (132), Kenneth Bevan (195) and Logan Butler (220). AP Photo/Timothy J. Gonzalez Oregon State’s Tres Tinkle (3) gets to the basket past Oregon’s Kenny Wooten (1) in Friday’s game in Corvallis. BEAVERS: Continued from 1B BIG PICTURE Oregon: Sophomore guard Payton Pritchard came into the game leading the Ducks with 15.4 points per game, but he didn’t score on Friday until there were 14 minutes remaining. He finished with nine points. . Coach Dana Altman remains two wins away from 200 for his career. Oregon State: Thompson Jr. became the 40th Oregon State player to join the 1,000 point club. The junior now has 1,012. . Berger, a transfer from UMass, scored a season-high 12 points.