SPORTS
WEEKEND, JANUARY 13-14, 2018
1B
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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.
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