SPORTS
FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2018
1B
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IRRIGON
Women’s College Basketball
No. 7 Ducks’ rise is no surprise Knights
get their
revenge
Irrigon snaps drought
against Umatilla
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
IRRIGON — With the Irrigon
Knights grasping on to a two-point
lead with only three seconds left,
Knights’ forward Johnny Phillips
nervously watched as Umatilla’s
Kaden
Webb
Boys
launched a half-
Basketball court heave as
the fi nal seconds
of the game
ticked
away.
Umatilla
The shot looked
good as it fl ew
through the air,
before it clanked
off the backboard
and the side of
Irrigon
the rim as the
buzzer sounded,
clinching a 50-48
Irrigon victory
in front of a boisterous crowd on
Thursday night at Irrigon High
School.
“I was nervous for sure,” an
elated Phillips said afterward. “It
took me a couple of seconds to
register, but I’m glad it missed.”
It was a long-awaited celebration
for the Knights, who had lost four
straight to the rival Vikings dating
back to last season. The Vikings
handed the Knights their fi rst loss of
the season just 13 days ago on Jan.
12, and Thursday night was a game
they were looking forward to.
“It feels really good,” Phillips
said. “We had to work hard and play
good defense tonight. We knew it
was going to be a tough one, but
we did what we needed to and came
out with the win and we’re excited
about that.”
The 6-foot-5 Phillips has been
the Knights’ (17-2 overall, 6-1 EOL)
go-to guy on offense but was held
scoreless in the fi rst half as Irrigon
trailed 18-16 at the break.
However, in the second half Phil-
lips pounded in 16 points, eight of
Irrigon’s last 11, to lead the charge to
victory. He also added 11 rebounds
and three blocks to his line.
“I just couldn’t get a handle in
that fi rst half,” Phillips said of his
night, “but I came out better in the
second. I fi nally got my feet under
See KNIGHTS/2B
48
50
Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard via AP
Oregon’s Satou Sabally, left, celebrates with teammate Maite Cazorla as their team leads over Oregon State near the end of an
NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Eugene.
Roster full of young talent helping Oregon reach new heights
By RYAN THORBURN
The Register-Guard
EUGENE (AP) — Kelly
Graves and his staff have built it.
And Oregon women’s fans are
starting to come out in droves.
A crowd of 7,249 made its pres-
ence felt during the Ducks’ 75-63
victory over rival Oregon State last
Sunday at Matthew Knight Arena.
It was the second-largest crowd
for a women’s basketball game in
the venue’s history.
A record 12,320 fans attended
the fi rst women’s game at Matthew
Knight Arena on Jan. 23, 2011,
which also happened to be the
program’s previous win over the
Beavers.
No. 7 Oregon has the best home
record (13-0) in the NCAA and is
averaging 3,465 in attendance with
four regular-season home games
remaining.
The Ducks (18-3 overall, 7-1
Pac-12) are in position to win the
program’s fi rst conference title
since the 1999-2000 season. Jody
Runge’s team averaged 5,852 in
attendance at McArthur Court
during that championship season.
Rob Mullens is not surprised
by the program’s rise. This is what
Oregon’s athletic director and
senior associate athletic director/
women’s administrator Lisa
Peterson envisioned when they
hired Graves away from Gonzaga
on April 7, 2014.
“We knew Kelly’s track record
when we recruited him here,”
Mullens said. “When we were
on the speaking circuit we were
saying, this is going to happen
and it’s probably going to happen
faster than people think.
See DUCKS/3B
Oregon’s
Sabrina Io-
nescu, cen-
ter,vbattles
pressure
from Ore-
gon State’s
Marie
Gulich, left,
and Kat Tu-
dor during
the fourth
quarter of
an NCAA
college
basketball
game Sun-
day, Jan.
21, 2018, in
Eugene.
Chris Pietsch/The
Register-Guard
via AP
MLB
Lack of rings stings for new Hall of Famers
By RONALD BLUM
AP Baseball Writer
NEW YORK — Jim Thome,
Vladimir Guerrero and Trevor
Hoffman sat on a dais and were
asked whether they would trade their
new Hall of Fame memberships for
a World Series title, an honor that
eluded the trio during their distin-
guished careers
“I’m glad I didn’t have to answer
that one,” Chipper Jones interjected
with a big smile.
“Yeah, because you guys beat us,”
Thome quickly replied.
Baseball’s four newest Hall
of Famers gathered for a news
conference Thursday, a day after
they were elected to Cooperstown.
They combined for 75 major league
seasons and 29 All-Star selections
yet just one championship, earned by
Jones when his 1995 Atlanta Braves
defeated Thome’s Cleveland Indians
in six games.
For that, Jones received a 10-karat
yellow gold ring with 115 points
of diamonds, including a 3/4-carat
center stone. The sparkler is stashed
in his safe.
“I wore it for the fi rst year,” he
said. “Every once in a while, a special
occasion, I’ll pull it out, but it’s kind
of faux pas to wear it. While you’re
world champs, it’s OK to wear it. But
once they crown somebody else, you
put it away.”
For the others, the lack of rings
stings.
They received new threads,
cream-colored Hall of Fame jerseys,
and were lauded with hosannas as
glowing family members looked on.
Hall President Jeff Idelson reminded
all of how rare the honor is: There
have been 19,183 men to appear in a
major league game, and the Hall has
just 323 elected members, including
226 players. Of those, 128 have been
voted in by the Baseball Writers’
Association of America.
Players who had responded to
See HALL OF FAME/2B
AP Photo/Frank Franklin II
Baseball Hall of Fame inductees, from left, Vladimir Guerrero,
Trevor Hoffman, Chipper Jones and Jim Thome, pose during
Thursday’s news conference in New York.
Sports shorts
Brewers acquire OF Yelich from
Marlins for 4 prospects
MIAMI — Miami Marlins center fi elder
Christian Yelich was traded Thursday to the
Milwaukee Brewers for four prospects, including
highly regarded outfi elder Lewis Brinson.
Yelich became the fourth starter
traded by the Marlins as they reduce
payroll and rebuild their weak farm
system under new CEO Derek Jeter.
The Marlins earlier dealt away
major league home run champion
Giancarlo Stanton, stolen base
champ Dee Gordon and All-Star left
Yelich
fi elder Marcell Ozuna.
In the wake of the earlier deals, Yelich had
said he preferred to play elsewhere this year
rather than be part of a Marlins rebuilding effort.
He’ll make $7 million this season in the third year
of a $49.57 million, seven-year contract.
Yelich batted .282 with 18 homers and 81
RBIs last year.
“Well, fi nally someone
picked me No. 1.
That feels pretty good.
It’s going to be fun
competing against
[teammates] Steph, Klay
and Draymond.”
— Kevin Durant
Golden State Warriors forward
on being the No. 1 pick in the
NBA All-Star Game draft on
Thursday. Durant was chosen by
captain LeBron James, and joins
James, Kyrie Irving, Anthony
Davis and DeMarcus Cousins in
the starting lineup.
Low concessions prices at new
Falcons’ stadium a hit with fans
ATLANTA (AP) — The site of next year’s
Super Bowl already is celebrating a champion-
ship for best concessions.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium,
home of the Atlanta Falcons and
MLS Atlanta United, fi nished
fi rst in a 2017 NFL fan survey
for quality and value of food and
beverages. The results released
Thursday show the lowered prices, including $2
hot dogs, $3 pizza slices and $5 beer, were a big
hit with fans. Those prices will remain in place
for Atlanta’s Super Bowl in 2019.
The Falcons ranked 18th in surveys the last
two years at the Georgia Dome before the 2017
debut season in the new $1.5 billion stadium.
The lower prices led to more sales. Average
spending per fan increased by 16 percent in
2017, according to the survey.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1960 — Pete Rozelle is
chosen the new commissioner
of the National Football
League.
2002 — Jennifer Capriati
produces the greatest come-
back in a Grand Slam fi nal
to overcome Martina Hingis
and defend her Australian
Open title. Capriati saved
four match points before
clinching a 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2
victory over Hingis.
2007 — Martin Brodeur
makes 28 saves, extending
his NHL record for consecu-
tive 30-win seasons to 11, as
the New Jersey Devils beat
the Tampa Bay Lightning
2-0.
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