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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 2018)
SPORTS WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2018 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS HERMISTON HERMISTON Purple Reign Bulldogs finally take down Buckaroos Hermiston beats Pendleton to win conference title By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ East Oregonian HERMISTON — Four years ago, Ryne Andreason was playing on an AAU team and not yet walking the halls of Hermiston High. On Tuesday, his 3-pointer put the Bulldogs up one possession over the visiting Boys Pendleton Buckaroos with Basketball mere seconds left in the Columbia River Pendleton Conference title game. The play and that shot was what Andreason has spent the Hermiston better part of 10 years working on, and it all paid off when Hermiston was claimed CRC championship for the first time in four years. “It’s what we’ve been working hard for our entire lives,” Andreason said. “We’ve been watching these high school games since first grade, it’s just, it’s amazing. It really is.” At the Dawg House, Hermiston knocked off the three-time CRC champions 50-46. But like most of their games as of late, the Bulldogs’ win didn’t come without some nail biting moments. After Hermiston held a narrow 24-21 lead at the half, Pendleton looked to reliable shooters in Shaw Jerome and Tyler Newsom to chip away at the deficit. By the end of the third, the Buckaroos (14-10 overall, 6-3 CRC) were up 35-34 after holding Hermiston to its lowest offensive output (10 points) of the four quar- ters played. There were two ties and one lead change to open the fourth, and after nearly three full minutes of the score being tied at 39-39, Newsom hit a three from the left corner to put Pendleton up 39-42. The Bulldogs (12-11, 7-2) then saw themselves down by two possessions after Willie Camp banked a pair of free throws with 1:30 left to play. Camp, Pendleton’s sleeping giant, came alive in the final regular season game. He finished the game with 14 points, only two Hermiston ends regular season with rivalry win By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian HERMISTON — For the first two years of Maddy Juul’s Herm- iston career, beating the Pendleton Buckaroos on the basketball court was a given, never a toss-up. However, over Juul’s next two seasons the two programs effec- tively changed Girls places in the Basketball league standing. The Buckaroos won back-to- back conference Pendleton championships and won four of the last five games against the Bulldogs — including three Hermiston straight dating back to last season — going into Tuesday’s regular-season finale between the two rivals. That’s why it was such a rewarding feeling for Juul and the rest of Hermiston’s five seniors as the Bulldogs were able to end their skid to the Buckaroos with a 43-36 victory at The Dawg House. 46 36 50 43 See BULLDOGS/3B Staff photo by E.J. Harris Hermiston coach Casey Arstein celebrates with Jordan Ramirez after the Bulldogs’ 50-46 win against Pendleton on Tuesday in Hermiston. behind a team best from Newsom, and was key in giving the Bucks some momentum before the break despite being trailing by three points. Not only did Camp come through for Pendleton, but he also aided Hermiston’s efforts in the fourth quarter. Down 44-39 after Camp’s made free-throw attempts, he fouled Andrew James as James was driving to the basket. The three point play would have put the Bulldogs within one possession, but Camp — clearly frustrated — yelled an expletive within an ear shot of the referee and was handed a technical. Hermiston converted the four-point play, and took the lead on the ensuing possession with a field goal from Andreason. See REIGN/3B Staff photo by E.J. Harris Hermiston’s Jazlyn Rome- ro shoots the ball guarded by Pendleton’s Katie Bradt in the Bulldogs’ 43-36 win against the Bucks on Tuesday in Hermiston. NBA Blazers hope for another post-All-Star break revival By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Sports Writer PORTLAND — The Trail Blazers have enjoyed post-All-Star break revivals the past two seasons. Those late-season rallies will no doubt be an ongoing theme in the congested Western Conference playoff race once Portland resumes play on Friday in Utah. “I mean, I think that’s in the back of our minds. We know that we’re usually a better team in the second half of the season,” Portland guard Damian Lillard said. “We can’t just go into it saying, ‘All right, we’re always good at this part Western Conference Playoff Standings Houston Golden State San Antonio Minnesota Oklahoma City Portland Denver New Orleans W 44 44 35 36 33 32 32 31 L 13 14 24 25 26 26 26 26 Pct GB .772 — .759 ½ .593 10 .590 10 .559 12 .552 12½ .552 12½ .544 13 of the season.’ I think mentally we have to understand how close of a race it is and that we’ve got to be sharp all the way through.” Portland is 32-26 at the break, tied for sixth in the West, which is better off than it was last season at the same point. But the Blazers are one of five teams in the West with 26 losses. The Warriors and Houston Rockets sit comfortably atop the standings with the next eight teams jostling for position. The Blazers headed into the All-Star Game with a 123-117 victory over Golden State, snapping a seven-game losing streak to the Warriors. Lillard had 44 points, his third straight game with 39 or more and the best scoring stretch of his career. His 133 points over the last See BLAZERS/2B AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers have been known for their post-All-Star break revivals for the past two sea- sons. Those late-season rallies will no doubt be an ongo- ing theme in the congested Western Conference playoff race once Portland resumes the season on Friday in Utah. Sports shorts Mavs launch probe after allegations of misconduct DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Mavericks have hired outside counsel to investigate allegations of inappropriate conduct by former team president Terdema Ussery in a Sports Illustrated report that described a hostile workplace for women. Ussery was accused of making sexually suggestive remarks to several women. He spent 18 years with the team before going to the sports apparel company Under Ussery Armour in 2015. Ussery, who was investigated by the team over similar claims in 1998, denied the allegations in a statement to SI. The report said team website reporter Earl Sneed was twice accused of domestic assault while working for the Mavericks, including a guilty plea in a case that was dismissed when he met the conditions of the agreement. “I wish I could keep going. I wish this wasn’t my last Olympics, but it is. So I’m trying to accept that and deal with the emotions of that and enjoy the ride.” — Lindsey Vonn The U.S Olympic athlete said after earning the bronze medal Wednesday in her final Olympic downhill, which has been the signature event of her singular career. Seattle begins season-ticket campaign for new NHL team SEATTLE (AP) — Fans longing for a professional hockey team in Seattle will soon be able to put down some money for season tickets. Mayor Jenny Durkan and the Oak View Group, which is trying to bring an NHL team to the city, announced Tuesday that beginning March 1, people can make refundable deposits for season tickets at NHLSeattle.com. The deposits run $500 per ticket for season tickets or $1,000 per ticket for club season tickets, which are center ice, lower-level tickets. Billionaire David Bonderman and film- maker Jerry Bruckheimer are leading the effort to bring a team to Seattle. The group submitted its expansion application with the National Hockey League last week. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1992 — Kristi Yamaguchi wins America’s first Olympic gold medal in women’s figure skating since 1976. 2002 — In Salt Lake City, U.S. figure skater Sarah Hughes jumps from fourth to first to win the Olympic gold while teammate Michelle Kwan settles for bronze. The powerful U.S. women’s hockey team loses 3-2 in a gold-medal game to a Cana- dian team it had beaten eight consecutive times. 2014 — Mikaela Shiffrin becomes the youngest Olympic slalom gold medalist. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
