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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 2018)
SPORTS WEEKEND, JANUARY 13-14, 2018 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS Vikings quiet Knights Umatilla hands Irrigon fi rst loss of season By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian UMATILLA — The last time the Umatilla Vikings and Irrigon Knights met back on Feb. 17, 2017, at The Pit at Umatilla High School, the Knights used some late magic to knock off the Knights to capture the district title. The two teams met for the fi rst time in 2018 on Friday night back at The Pit and the game Basketball nearly followed the same exact script, right Umatilla down to the end result. The Vikings erased a six-point defi cit in the fi nal Irrigon three minutes of play to stun the Knights 42-39, handing the Knights their fi rst loss of the season and extending their win streak over their league rival to four straight. “Oh man this feels great,” said Umatilla junior Trent Durfey after the win, smiling from ear-to-ear. “We just wanted to come in and play our game and hopefully get the win and that’s what we did. We wanted to start off league 1-0.” The Vikings (13-3 overall, 1-0 Eastern Oregon League) led for the entire third quarter and seemed in control until the Knights (13-1, 2-1) made a run early in the fourth, tying the game at 31-31 and eventually running out to a 39-33 lead with three minutes left. It forced Umatilla to call a timeout and regroup to make one last push, where head coach Scott Bow said he used a familiar message to spark his team to the fi nish line. “Whether it’s a coincidence or not, it’s the same message we gave a few weeks ago at Nixyaawii when we were down to start the fourth quarter there,” Bow said. “I told the kids our Locals fare well at Oregon Classic East Oregonian 42 39 See UMATILLA/3B Prep Roundup Staff photo by E.J. Harris Umatilla’s Uriel Garcia drives past Irrigon’s Johnny Phillips on his way to the basket in the Vikings 42-39 win against the Knights on Friday in Umatilla. REDMOND — A handful of local schools made the trip to Redmond for the Oregon Classic, a two-day tourna- ment that features more than 80 schools from across the state. Held at First Interstate Bank Fair & Expo Center, the tournament is still up into brackets by class and then into four separate pools. Hermiston competed in the 5A Pool 4 bracket and was pitted against Rex Putnam and Bend. The Bull- dogs went on to defeat both by scores of 70-11 and 57-24, respectively. In their fi nal match, the Bulldogs defeated Wilson- ville 46-26. A handful of wrestlers fi nished 3-0, in part due to a win by forfeit in one of the three rounds. The trio of Silas Smith (138), Joey Gutierrez (195) and Sean Stewart (220) were among some of the top fi nishers. Pendleton had a tough go at fi rst, dropping matches to Crater (59-12) and Redmond (42-28). The Buckaroos were fi nally able to top Hillsboro in their last match of the day. The 48-18 win was thanks to a cast of Buckaroos pinning their opponent in the fi rst round of their bout. Alex Rendon (132), Blake Davis (145), Aiden Henderson (160) and Perry Markgraf (285) all trapped their respective opponents in under two minutes. In the 4A bracket, Mac-Hi faced Cascade, Madras and Tillamook. The Pioneers dropped two of the three matches that were split up by a bye in the second round. The Pioneers best wres- See PREPS/3B HERMISTON Dawgs returns home, handed 15-point loss By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ East Oregonian HERMISTON — It was a homecoming of sorts for the Hermiston boys basket- ball team Friday. The Bulldogs had not played a game in the Dawg House since Dec. 12, because of their extensive travel schedule and cancel- lations due to inclement weather. With the return home came an outcome that was less than favorable. Hermiston entered the matchup with the Class 6A Metro League Sunset Basketball Hermiston Sunset 61 76 “I wasn’t disappointed in the effort. I know kids played hard, a lot better than what I saw on the road the last few games, I’m just disappointed in the loss at home.” — Casey Arstein, Hermiston head coach Apollos losing four of its last fi ve games — which includes three consecutive losses — and after a 76-61 loss at the hands of the Apollos, Hermiston’s skid increases to four straight losses. “I wasn’t disappointed in the effort,” head coach Casey Arstein said. “I know kids played hard, a lot better than what I saw on the road the last few games, I’m just disappointed in the loss at home.” With the home court advantage, the Bulldogs battled back in the fi rst half to overcome a small defi cit. Sunset had a narrow lead after the fi rst quarter and was up 19-15. Hermiston answered with a 22-point second-quarter performance that put the Bulldogs (4-8) up 37-32 going into half- time. The Apollos (5-9) shot well all night long, and started the game hitting three 3-pointers in the fi rst quarter — Sunset fi nished with six total three’s on the Hermis- ton’s Ryne Andreason shoots the ball over the top of Sunset’s Colby King in the Bull- dogs’ 76-61 loss to the Apollos Friday in Hermiston. Staff photo by E.J. Harris See HERMISTON/3B Sports shorts Harman extends good play in Hawaii, takes Sony Open lead HONOLULU (AP) — Brian Harman’s game stayed with him from one island to the next in Hawaii as he made eagle on his last hole for a 7-under 63 and the early lead in the Sony Open. Harman played in the fi nal group at Kapalua last week and tied for third in a fi nal round in which no one had much of a chance against Dustin Johnson. On a far different course at Waialae, he had another stretch of three straight birdies in Friday’s second round and closed Harman with a 7-iron to 15 feet for eagle on the par-5 ninth. Harman was at 13-under 127, three shots ahead of Zach Johnson (67), John Peterson (64) and Tom Hoge (65). Defending champion Justin Thomas salvaged an otherwise pedestrian round with a birdie-bird- ie-eagle fi nish for a 67. He was seven behind. “The records on the fi eld are way more important because when you’re doing that, you’re helping the team. ... you get paid millions of dollars to do something you’ve loved since you were 4 years old. I just feel so grateful and so honored to be with this team.“ — Kris Bryant Chicago Cubs third baseman after settling with the Cubs on a 1-year, $10.85 million contract to avoid arbitration on Friday. The deal is a MLB record for fi rst-time arbitration eligible players. Former 5-star QB, Washington native Eason to leave Georgia ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Jacob Eason is leaving Georgia, an expected decision after he lost the starting job to freshman Jake Fromm. Eason announced his decision Friday on Twitter, thanking the Bulldogs for “an incredible two years.” Eason didn’t indicate where he intends to play next, but The Seattle Times reported this week that he is expected to transfer to Washington. Eason played his high school football at Lake Eason Stevens, Washington, Eason started for Georgia last season as a freshman, and he began this season as the No. 1 signal-caller ahead of Fromm. A knee injury in the opener against Appalachian State knocked Eason out of the lineup. As a freshman, Eason threw for 2,430 yards and 16 touchdowns, with eight interceptions. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1971 — Lenny Wilkens of the Seattle Supersonics, at 33, becomes the oldest All-Star MVP as he scores 21 points to give the West a 108-107 victory over the East. 2003 — Jennifer Capriati becomes the fi rst women’s Australian Open defending champion to lose in the fi rst round in the Open era. 2013 — Tom Brady becomes the winningest quarterback in postseason play, throwing for three touchdowns to beat Houston 41-28 and lift the New England Patriots into the AFC championship game. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
