SPORTS WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2018 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS HERMISTON Bulldogs get their bling Hermiston receives football state championship rings By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian Joey Gutierrez could not stop smiling on Tuesday night. Exactly 67 days after the Hermiston Bulldogs’ football team captured the Class 5A state championship, Gutierrez and his teammates received their shiny state championship rings during a presentation at halftime of Tuesday’s Hermiston-Pend- leton varsity basketball game. “Oh man, it’s such a good feeling to have it,” Gutierrez “All of our hard work paid off and now we get to look at this ring and remember all of the good times from this year.” — Beau Blake, Hermiston football senior said, smiling. “It’s a memory we’re always going to have and it definitely looks a lot better in person than in the pictures. “Not a lot of people can say they have a state cham- pionship football ring, so it gives you an even better See BLING:/2B Staff photo by E.J. Harris Hermiston father and son duo freshman Jordan Lopez and assistant coach Eddie Lopez model their rings after a foot- ball state championship ring presentation during halftime of Tuesday’s boys varsity basketball game against Pendleton. Prep Girls Basketball Prep Boys Basketball Buckaroos win thriller Buckaroo boys stun Bulldogs Pendleton hangs on for big road victory at Hermiston Pendleton erases first half deficit, keeps CRC win streak alive By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ East Oregonian By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ East Oregonian HERMISTON — It never fails when it comes time to play a big rivalry game, that either one team will win handily or it will come down to the wire and the winner will Girls n a r r o w l y Basketball escape with the victory. At least Pendleton that’s what the Pend- leton’s girl head coach K e v i n Porter was Hermiston saying to a friend b e f o r e Tuesday night’s big rivalry, and in Hermiston, the Buckaroos do the latter. First, holding the lead. Then, entering halftime down by two only to finish with a 17-point fourth quarter that sealed the 49-45 win over the Bulldogs. “It doesn’t matter level of sport, or what sport you’re talking about, rivalries are a flip of a coin and we came out on top tonight,” Porter said. “I’m awful excited about it, obviously. But Hermiston played a great game and we just made a few more plays coming down the stretch. “I told the girls before the game, if we execute we can win this game, and we did (that). To me, that’s the difference.” The Buckaroos (12-6 overall, 3-0 Columbia River Conference) were finally able Staff photo by E.J. Harris to take control of the lead, a lead they had held until Pendleton’s Jaiden Lemberger puts up an off-balanced shoot guarded by Hermiston’s the final 00.2 seconds of the Sydney Stefani in the Bucks’ 49-45 win against the Bulldogs on Tuesday in Hermiston. second quarter. Senior Kalan McGlothan, again at 45-45 with 58.7 left, the Bucks defeated the cross- up 16-12 after the first quarter. the team’s top scorer, hit a but the Bucks were able to town foe in the first of a three McGlothan led those efforts field goal to knot the score at make some last second baskets game series. for the Bucks, and junior 38 points apiece. Sophomore from the charity stripe to stretch “Every single kid, including Jordan Thomas — who ended Samantha Spriet followed their narrow lead. the managers that were on that the night with a game-high 22 that up with two made free McGlothan led the bench contributed,” Porter said. points — was off to a good start throws — her only points of efforts with a team-best 22 “Whether they were cheering, with a third of Hermiston’s the game — to put Pendleton points. Fellow seniors Jaiden whether they made a basket opening baskets. up 40-39 with 3:58 left on the Lemberger and Maureen or they went in for 30 seconds At the end of the second game clock. Davies followed with 11 and and gave somebody a blow quarter, the Bulldogs went In the final three minutes 10 points, respectively. on defense, offense — every on an 11-1 run to go into the of play, the Bulldogs (6-12, While the big three are single person on our bench and break up 27-25. They went on 2-1) came close to having the Pendleton’s top scorers, it was the crowd, they all get credit.” advantage, tying the score a full on team effort that helped See THRILLER, Page B3 Pendleton started the game 49 45 HERMISTON — The Hermiston-Pendleton matchup is going to draw crowds no matter the sport. It’s also going to put added pressure on the players to come away with a win for bragging rights, or to keep a win streak alive, or to assert your domi- Boys as the team to beat in the Basketball nance conference. On Tuesday in Hermiston, the Buckaroos did just that as they defeated the Bulldogs Pendleton 51-44. Despite being led by junior Tyler Newsom — who is argu- ably the best offensive player in the conference — with 16 points, Pendleton had another Hermiston star breakout 30 miles away from its home gym and in one of the most hostile environ- ments the team will face. Freshman Dakota Sams finished behind Newsom with 15 points, 11 of which came in the second half when the Bucks (11-7 overall, 3-0 Columbia River Conference) desperately needed them. Pendleton opened up the game with a meager seven points, while Hermiston built a six-point lead netting 13 of its own. “Anytime you have a freshman coming into a hostile game for the first time and go for 15 — Dakota Sams is unbelievable,” head coach Kyle See BUCKAROOS/3B 51 44 Staff photo by E.J. Harris Pendleton’s Shaw Jerome shoots the ball over Hermiston’s Andrew Earl in the Bucks’ 51-44 win against the Bulldogs on Tuesday in Hermiston. Sports shorts Former Beaver wideout Rodgers returns to Corvallis as a coach CORVALLIS — Former Oregon State receiver James Rodgers is returning to the Beavers as director of player development under new coach Jonathan Smith. Rodgers played for the Beavers from 2007-11, setting the school record with 6,373 all-purpose yards. He caught 222 passes, good for third on the school’s career list. He had 19 TD receptions and nine rushing touchdowns. Rodgers After Oregon State, Rodgers was with the Atlanta Falcons for two seasons, spending time on the team’s practice squad. He also played for the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes for two seasons. Last year Rodgers was director of player devel- opment under coach Mike Riley at Nebraska. Riley, a former head coach of the Beavers, has since joined Smith’s staff in Corvallis. “Now they’re at a point in their healing process where they want to confront Larry, and they want to show the world that they are survivors and they are strong and they are part of this movement. It helps them through the healing process.” — Mick Grewal An attorney said of his 11 clients that have signed up to speak at Larry Nassar’s, the former gym- nastics doctor, who will again return to court With Griffin gone, Clippers fall short against Trail Blazers LOS ANGELES (AP) — Damian Lillard scored 28 points and the Portland Trail Blazers pulled away in the third quarter to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 104-96 on Tuesday night. Los Angeles was playing its first game since Blake Griffin’s trade to Detroit on Monday. CJ McCollum added 16 points and Jusuf Nurkic had 14 points and 18 rebounds for the Blazers, who ended a seven-game skid against the Clippers while winning their third in a row. Lou Williams scored 20 points off the bench and DeAndre Jordan had 19 rebounds for the Clippers, who made a run in the fourth after they trailed by 20. The Trail Blazers next host the Bulls on Wednesday in the second game of a back-to- back. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1999 — John Elway gets his second straight Super Bowl ring, weaving his magic for the final time during the Denver Broncos’ 34-19 win over the Atlanta Falcons. 2009 — Serena Williams routs Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-3 to win the Australian Open — her 10th Grand Slam title — and return to the No. 1 ranking. 2015 — Lydia Ko, 17, becomes the youngest golfer, male or female, to be ranked No. 1. She shares second place at the LPGA Tour’s season opener, where she finishes a shot behind Na Yeon Choi. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com