SPORTS
TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2018
1B
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS
Saturday’s Prep Roundup
Pilot Rock, Irrigon boys win big over weekend
Heppner girls earn
narrow victory,
Riverside knocks
off visiting No. 1
Burns
East Oregonian
PILOT ROCK — At
home, the Pilot Rock boys
basketball team defeated the
visiting Heppner Mustangs
45-34 on Saturday.
The
Rockets
(13-6
overall, 3-0 Columbia Basin
Conference) capitalized on
Heppner’s 25 turnovers and
got two big performances
from unexpected shooters.
They were able to hold the
Mustangs to only two points
in the second quarter, while
Pilot Rock knocked down 13.
That quarter proved to be a
game changer as both teams
scored identical fi gures in the
fi nal two quarters.
Leading Pilot Rock in its
fourth consecutive victory
were seniors Levi Thieme
and Riley Lankford. The duo
scored a combined 25 points
— Thieme with 14, Lank-
ford with 11 — to boost the
Rockets over the Mustangs
(8-7, 3-1).
Thieme also notched
10 rebounds for a double-
double. He was able to beat
Heppner’s bigs for a game-
best performance to hand
Heppner its fi rst league loss
of the year.
For the Mustangs, reliable
shooter junior Trent Smith
led with 11 points.
IRRIGON 51, NYSSA
33 — The fi rst half set
the tone for Irrigon, as the
Knights ran away with a
51-33 victory at home over
Nyssa.
They held the Bulldogs
(10-6 overall, 2-1 Eastern
Oregon League) to only two
points in the second half,
while scoring eight of their
own. After a 19-point perfor-
mance in the fi rst quarter, the
8-2 advantage in the second
set the Knights (14-2, 3-1)
for a strong fi nish.
Leading the charge was
senior Johnny Phillips with
16 points. Fellow senior Abe
Gomez chipped in 11 of his
own.
For Nyssa, senior Boston
Thompson fi nished with a
game-high 17 points.
RIVERSIDE
53,
BURNS 45 — A steady
performance from Riverside
gave the Pirates their fi rst
league win, a 53-45 victory
over Burns.
The two teams were
nearly neck-and-neck after
the opening quarter with
See ROUNDUP/3B
Prep Wrestling
Pro Basketball
Mac-Hi,
Riverside
in top three
Pendleton hits the road, Echo
earns 1A state championship
East Oregonian
AP Photo/David Zalubowski
Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum, left, tries to drive past Denver Nuggets center Mason Plumlee in the second half
of Monday’s game in Denver.
Nuggets’ late three stuns Blazers
By MICHAEL KELLY
Associated Press
DENVER — Jamal Murray
scored a career-high 38 points,
including a three-point play in
the fi nal minute, and the Denver
Nuggets beat the Portland Trail
Blazers 104-101 on Monday
night.
Nikola Jokic had 16 points
and 12 rebounds, and Will
Barton hit four free throws in
the fi nal 10 seconds to secure
the win and spoil Jusuf Nurkic’s
return to Denver.
Nurkic had 19 points, 12
rebounds and three blocks in his
fi rst game back at Pepsi Center.
Damian Lillard had 25 points
and seven assists for Portland.
NBA
Portland
Denver
101
103
Nurkic played two-plus
seasons with the Nuggets
to begin his career, and was
playing his fi rst game in Denver
since he was dealt to Portland
last season. He received a
smattering of boos when he was
introduced as a starter and a few
during the game.
He nearly had a happy return,
but the Trail Blazers couldn’t
hold a late lead.
Lillard gave Portland a 93-86
advantage with a 3-pointer, but
the Nuggets rallied to take a
97-95 lead on Mason Plumlee’s
dunk. CJ McCollum hit two free
throws and Lillard hit a running
bank shot to give Portland a
99-97 lead with 41.7 seconds
left.
Murray’s three-point play
with 33.6 seconds remaining
gave Denver back the lead. The
Trail Blazers had two chances
to go back in front but couldn’t
convert. Barton hit two free
throws, and after Nurkic’s dunk,
sealed it with two more foul
shots with 1.8 seconds left.
Nurkic got going in the third
quarter on both ends of the fl oor.
He had 11 points, six rebounds
and blocked Jokic’s shot near the
basket. Later in the possession
he stole the ball from his former
teammate, which led to a Port-
land fast break.
TIP-INS
Lillard was selected the
Western Conference player of the
week by the NBA on Monday.
He averaged 29.3 points and
eight assists as Portland swept
its three games last week. ... The
Trail Blazers had more steals
(eight) than fouls (seven) in the
fi rst half. ... Portland has scored
100 or more points in 12 straight
games.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: Host the
Minnesota Timberwolves on
Wednesday night.
HEPPNER — A number of local schools
traveled to Heppner for the Bank of Eastern
Oregon Invitational.
In the eight-team fi eld, Mac-Hi was the
host successful fi nishing in second place
with 122 points behind Baker (178). River-
side was the only other school to eclipse
100 points, and claimed third place (115).
Irrigon, Hermiston and host school Heppner
rounded out the rest of the standings.
The Knights fi nished with 64 points,
good for sixth place. The Bulldogs brought
a small team to the invitational and placed
seventh with 53 points. The Mustangs
barely made it over the 50-point mark, and
fi nished in eighth place (52).
For the Mac-Hi Pioneers, four wrestlers
fi nished in second place, one claimed fi rst
and three more fi nished in either third or
fourth place.
At the 195-weight class, Joshua Torres
and Brandyn Chaney had to face each other
for the top spot. The two teammates defeated
wrestlers from Riverside, Irrigon and
Joseph to make it to the championship bout
where Torres would come out victorious.
He’s undefeated fi nish gave the Pioneers 26
points. Chaney, then, fi nished in second.
Joining Chaney in second place was
Kyler Kelly (152), Alejandro Saldana (182)
and Alex Doherty (220). Kelly and Saldana
both went 2-1 on the day, and Doherty
opened with a bye to fi nish 1-1.
Cruz Garcia (285) was the only Pioneer
to claim a third place fi nish by pinning Grant
Union’s Toby Boatwright in 3:22. Layne
Ensey (113) and Jakob Henshew (132) each
fi nished in fourth. The two split their bouts,
fi nishing 2-2, and each added 14 points to
Mac-Hi’s total.
For Riverside, Fernando Ortega (106)
had the best performance earning a second
place fi nish after Joseph’s Steven Beckman
won by a major decision (13-2).
The Pirates also had a sixth place fi nisher
in the 106-pound weight class. Yeidi Ramos
survived the consultation rounds to face
Baker’s Alex Gross in the fi fth place match.
Ramos was pinned in 1:54 to fi nish just
outside the top fi ve.
Five of Riverside’s wrestlers fi nished in
third place: Andrew Barker (120), Christian
Reyes (126), Ethan Snyder (132), Jacob
Harris (145) and Allan Gutierrez (220).
Jose Puerta (152) was the only Pirate to
fi nish in fourth place after Heppner’s Carson
Brosnan won by fall in 3:01.
Rounding out the team’s top fi nishers
was Juan Salgado (182), Adolfo Martinez
(195) and Michael Carroll (285), all of
See WRESTLING/2B
Sports shorts
Slumping Bucks fi re coach Kidd
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee
Bucks have fi red coach Jason Kidd following a
midseason slide that left the playoff hopeful in
eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
Assistant coach Joe Prunty was serving as
head coach for Monday night’s game against
Phoenix.
It was a surprising end to
Kidd’s three-plus season tenure in
Milwaukee, when the Bucks made
the playoffs twice. Giannis Ante-
tokounmpo turned into an All-Star
under his watch. The Bucks were
Kidd
considered an emerging force in
the East at the start of the season.
But the Bucks have lost four of fi ve going
into Monday and had been prone to defensive
lapses especially on the perimeter.
General manager Jon Horst says “a fresh
approach and a change in leadership are needed
to continue elevating our talented team towards
the next level.”
“It’s the next-man-up
mentality. It also means
that you have some
veteran players that
keep things together,
and good coaching
staffs. I think it’s a tribute
to the players and
everyone involved that
they can keep things
going even through that
adversity.”
— Doug Pederson
The Philadelphia Eagles’ head
coach said of Nick Foles, who
went from backup to starting
quarterback in Week 14.
BMCC basketball drops
doubleheader in Walla Walla
WALLA WALLA, Wash. — On Saturday,
both the men’s and women’s basketball teams
of Blue Mountain Community
College traveled to Walla Walla
to take on the Warriors in a
doubleheader.
However, luck did not favor
the visitors as both teams lost by
at least 40 points.
The women’s team fell 83-40
despite a team-best performance from Karlie
Gerlinger. Off the bench, Gerlinger scored 13
points.
The women have yet to pick up a win this
season and fall to 0-6 overall.
For the men, the Warriors handed the team
a 98-49 loss. BMCC’s Linton McAllister and
Anthony Landeros combined for 20 of the
team’s 49 points — each scoring 10 points
apiece to lead the Timberwolves. The men’s
team has also struggling and with the most
recent loss sit at 0-6 on the season.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
2005 — Jennifer Rodriguez
becomes the fi rst American
woman in nine years to win
the world sprint speedskating
championship.
2011
—
Francesca
Schiavone wins the longest
women’s match in Grand
Slam history — a 6-4, 1-6,
16-14 victory over Svetlana
Kuznetsova that takes 4
hours, 44 minutes at the
Australian Open.
2015 — Klay Thompson
sets an NBA record for the
most points in a quarter, a
37-point third period that
powers the Golden State
Warriors to a 126-101 victory
over the Sacramento Kings.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com