SPORTS
TUESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2018
1B
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PILOT ROCK
ATHENA
Rockets continue to soar Speed
reaches
1,000
career
points
Pilot Rock boys thump
Culver, stay perfect in
conference play
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
When Pilot Rock’s four seniors
— Bryson Pierce, Riley Lankford,
Chris Weinke and
Boys
Levi Thieme — were
eighth graders, they Basketball
sat in the stands as the
varsity basketball team
struggled their way to a
Culver
1-23 overall record.
Now as seniors,
those four players are
leading the Rockets
to one of the school’s
best seasons in the last
decade. Pilot Rock Pilot Rock
thumped the Culver
Bulldogs 54-35 on
Saturday night to get to
14-6 overall and a perfect 5-0 mark in
the Columbia Basin Conference.
“We’re having a lot of fun, obvi-
ously,” Thieme said afterward while
wearing a wide smile. “Going out and
winning when we’ve had rough seasons
in the past, it’s really nice.”
From 2008-2013, the Rockets put
together three 20-win seasons, including
back-to-back seasons in 2011-12 and
2012-13 that came with district titles.
But then over the next three seasons the
team won a combined 16 games.
Last season gave a glimpse to the
current Rockets’ potential as the team
went 11-10 overall and 4-4 in a loaded
league, narrowly missing out on a trip
to the district tournament with a play-in
loss to Weston-McEwen.
However this season, with a rela-
tively weaker league, the Rockets have
taken full control of the CBC and look
poised for a trip back to the postseason.
“What’s driving us is those seniors
are good leaders, good players, and
they play together,” Pilot Rock coach
Eric Smidt said. “It’s not hard to coach
this team. Mike Weinke coached those
guys last year and prepped them well,
I’ve just tried to give them something
to play for and get them out there on the
floor and there’s not a lot I have to do.
“They play defense and rebound
really well and that’s really what drives
it.”
See ROCKETS/2B
TigerScots’ senior
the 9th to reach mark
in school history
35
East Oregonian
54
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Riley Lankford (1), of Pilot Rock, goes up for a shot as Culver’s Weston Basl (3) defends during
Saturday’s game in Pilot Rock.
ATHENA — Brett Speed
recently cemented his name
among
the
all-time
greats to play
basketball
at
Weston-
McEwen
High School.
During
Brett Speed Weston-McE-
wen’s 64-63
loss to the Heppner Mustangs
on Jan. 13, Speed scored a
team-high 26 points which
helped him surpass the 1,000
career point mark. He became
the first TigerScot since Dallas
Rich in 2012 to join the 1,000
point club, and only the ninth
in school history according to
the school record book.
Speed said he was not
aware he was approaching the
scoring mark until coach Brian
Pickard told him following the
Heppner game.
“I was pretty shocked,
honestly,” Speed said Monday
evening. “It’s an honor to
able to accomplish this. It
wouldn’t be possible without
all my coaches giving all the
opportunities the last four
years and all of my teammates
I’ve had to help me along the
way. It’s definitely been a fun
experience.”
A four-year varsity player,
See SPEED/2B
Saturday Prep Roundup
Pilot Rock girls struggle in loss to Culver
East Oregonian
PILOT ROCK — The
Pilot Rock Rockets’ struggles
inside the Columbia Basin
Conference continued on
Saturday night, with a 34-21
loss to the Culver Bulldogs on
Saturday night.
The Rockets (11-9 overall,
1-4 CBC) started the game
well, trading baskets with
the Bulldogs (12-8, 3-2)
throughout the first quarter
and led 10-9 at the end of the
first eight minutes. A three-
point play by Grace Austin
one minute into the second
quarter gave the Rockets a
13-9 lead, but from that point
forward the Rockets hit a
big-time wall.
Pilot Rock shot just 2 for
32 from the field over the final
23 minutes of the game and
scored just eight points in that
span. Austin was the team’s
leading scorer with 12 points.
Mia Gamboa led the
Bulldogs with 11 points. As
a team, Culver shot just 23
percent (10 for 43).
IONE 61, DUFUR 49
— At Ione, the Cardinals put
together their sixth straight
victory in league play with
61-49 victory over Dufur on
Saturday evening.
Maggie Flynn led the
Cardinals (8-11 overall, 7-2
BSL) with a game-high 20
points, Morgan Orem scored
16 and Jessica Medina added
14. Alexus Outlaw led the
Rangers (8-10, 4-5) with 14
points.
HEPPNER 55, STAN-
FIELD 33 — At Stanfield, the
Heppner Mustangs picked up
their 12th win of the season
after thumping the Stanfield
Tigers on Saturday night.
Freshman Sydney Wilson
led the Mustangs (12-4
overall, 4-1 CBC) with 15
points and five rebounds on an
efficient 7 for 12 shooting, and
Jacee Currin added 14 points.
For the Tigers (), Kendra Hart
had a game-high 25 points.
NIXYAAWII
64,
POWDER VALLEY 42
— At North Powder, Mary
Stewart’s triple double led
the Nixyaawii Golden Eagles
to win No. 19 on the season
with a 64-42 win over No. 3
Powder Valley on Saturday.
Stewart recorded her triple
double with 28 points, 11
assists and 10 rebounds to
lead the Golden Eagles (19-0
overall, 10-0 OOL) and Milan
Schimmel added 14 points.
The Badgers (18-2, 8-2) were
led by Samantha Kerns with
14 points.
HELIX
45,
COVE
32 — At Helix, the Grizzlies
defended their home court
with a victory over Cove
on Saturday for their fourth
straight win in league play.
Charmayne
Bennett
nailed three 3-pointers for the
Grizzlies (13-7 overall, 7-3
OOL) and led the team with
12 points, while Sadie Wilson
had 11 points and 14 rebounds
and Kailey Mize added 10
points. Raegan Duby led the
Leopards (7-12, 3-7) with
eight points.
CONDON/WHEELER
51,
MITCHELL/SPRAY
18 — At Condon, the Condon/
Wheeler Knights snapped a
five-game losing streak with
See PREPS/2B
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Kayla Deist, of Pilot Rock, wrestles Culver’s Lesli
Alvarado for the ball during Saturday’s game.
Sports shorts
Day outlasts Noren through 6
playoff holes to win Farmers Open
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Jason Day sank an
18-inch birdie putt on the sixth playoff hole to
beat Alex Noren and win the Farmers Insurance
Open in front of empty grandstands on No. 18
at Torrey Pines.
Day and Noren had to return
Monday morning after grinding
through five playoff holes Sunday
before it got too dark to continue.
Day teed off at 8:04 a.m. and
sank the winning putt 13 minutes
later, his fourth birdie on the par-5
Day
hole in the playoff.
Noren tried an aggressive second shot from
the first cut, but his ball landed short of the
green and rolled into a pond.
Day, meanwhile, hit his second shot out of
the rough and over some trees onto the fairway
before hitting a beautiful approach shot that set
up the winning putt.
“I’m not just somewhat
concerned [about the rule].
I am concerned. You want
there to be clarity from an
officiating standpoint and
a coaching and player
standpoint ... I think here
you might have clarity in
a large element of it, but
what happens is that it’s
not the rule that people
really want.”
— Roger Goodell
The NFL Commissioner in a radio
interview with FS1’s Colin Cow-
herd on Monday said he will be
pushing for change to clear up
the league’s notorious catch rule.
Indians to remove Chief Wahoo
logo from uniforms in 2019
CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cleveland
Indians are removing the divisive Chief Wahoo
logo from their jerseys and caps starting in the
2019 season.
Following numerous discus-
sions with Major League Baseball
and Commissioner Rob Manfred,
the Indians will no longer
wear the big-toothed, smiling,
red-faced caricature during
games. The iconic logo, which has been used in
various expressions by the team since 1947, has
been deemed racist and offensive by some.
Manfred said the team conveyed to him that
some fans have a “long-standing attachment”
to the logo, but the Indians agreed that it’s “no
longer appropriate for on-field use.”
The Indians will wear the Wahoo logo
this season and continue to sell merchandise
featuring it.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1994 — The Dallas
Cowboys, behind MVP Emmitt
Smith and safety James Wash-
ington, beat Buffalo 30-13 for
their second straight NFL title
while giving the Bills four
straight Super Bowl losses.
1996 — Magic Johnson
finishes with 19 points, 10
assists and eight rebounds
in the Los Angeles Lakers’
128-118 victory over Golden
State. It is Johnson’s first regu-
lar-season game back from a 4
1/2-season retirement.
2006 — Teemu Selanne
scores two goals for his 1,000th
career point in Anaheim’s
overtime victory against Los
Angeles.
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