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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 2018)
SPORTS WEEKEND, MARCH 3-4 2018 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS Heppner’s Makayla Silvia (2) grabs a loose ball during Friday’s OSAA 2A girls state tourna- ment consola- tion game against Grant Union at the Pend- leton Con- vention Center. Class 2A State Tournament Mustangs ousted by Prospectors Heppner puts up a fight, comes up short against Grant Union By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian PENDLETON — Heppner seniors Kacie Gray, Morgan Correa and Sophie Grant sat side-by-side at the end of the Mustangs bench as the final seconds of their prep basketball careers ticked away on Friday morning. The Mustangs had just lost to Grant Union 62-46 in the Consolation #8 Heppner #4 Grant Union 46 62 • More from Friday’s 2A state tournament on Page 3B consolation round of the Class 2A state tournament at the Pendleton Convention Center, ending their season. However, the seniors’ faces didn’t show signs of sadness or disappointment. Instead, they were rather upbeat, soaking in the last moments of the kind of season they could have only dreamed about for the first three years wearing the blue and gold. “This season was crazy and we loved every minute of it,” Grant said afterward. “We were really a family and each and every one of us love each other and it was a great experience to have. “We came here as the underdog and we really surprised people, so it was an awesome experience.” Even with the loss, the three seniors went out on a high note. They combined for 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists and all Staff photo by Kathy Aney See MUSTANGS/4B PENDLETON Local Prep Roundup Raiders end Bucks’ season Pendleton falls to Crescent Valley in 5A first round By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian PENDLETON — It was not how Kevin Porter envisioned the season ending. After his Pendleton Buckaroos won the Columbia River Confer- ence and secured a home playoff 5A First game, the second- Round year coach pictured his team walking off the court at Oregon #9 Crescent Valley State University’s Gill Coliseum with a state placer trophy in hand. Instead, Pend- leton’s season #8 Pendleton came to an end at its own Warberg Court on Friday night in the Class 5A first round with a heart-breaking 54-53 loss to Crescent Valley. The Buckaroos (17-8) had a chance to tie the game was the clock ran down, trailing 54-51. Jaiden Lemberger, Pendleton’s best outside shooting threat, dribbled the ball up the court but passed it to her left to Hallie Porter, but Porter, too, passed on a shot and instead tossed it inside to Kalan McGlothan for an easy layup to make it 54-53. However, as Crescent Valley inbounded the ball, the buzzer sounded before Pend- leton could foul or try for a steal to seal the win for the Raiders (22-4). The loss also brought about the end to the prep basketball careers of Pendleton’s five-girl senior class of Maureen Davies, Rylee Gentner, Jaiden Lemberger, Kalan McGlothan and Hallie Porter. The group has certainly left its mark on the Pendleton basketball program — with a combined 55 wins, two league championships and three playoff appearances — and it left an emphatic mark as well on Friday’s game. McGlothan, Pendleton’s work- horse in the post all season long, put together yet another double- double with 24 points and 17 rebounds to lead the team in both categories. Lemberger nailed a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 13 points, while Davies put up seven points and eight rebounds, Porter had three and Gentner had three. “Obviously they’ve been the Golden Eagles to play for title East Oregonian 54 53 Staff photo by Kathy Aney Pendleton’s Kalan McGlothan (34) goes up for a shot as Nicole Moore (4), of Crescent Valley defends during Friday’s state playoff game at Warberg Court. McGlothan finished with 24 points and 17 re- bounds to lead the Buckaroos. backbone of this team,” an visibly emotional Porter said afterward. However, amidst the big offen- sive numbers part of what ultimately did Pendleton in was its carelessness with the basketball. The Buckaroos turned the ball over 30 times — 15 times in each half — including five in the last three minutes of the game. Too many times the Buckaroos tried to break Crescent Valley’s press with long, down-court passes that a Raider defender stepped in front of, or looked for a cross-court pass that was tipped or picked off, too. “The game is predicated on possessions and quality possessions and we had a lot of quality posses- sions,” Porter said, “but we gave them (Crescent Valley) a lot more See BUCKS/2B BAKER CITY — On Friday afternoon, the Nixy- aawii Golden Eagles and Powder Valley Badgers met on the basketball court for the fourth time this Girls 1A season and for title game the fourth time the Golden Eagles came out on top. Nixyaawii #2 Nixyaawii Golden Eagles breezed by the (28-0) Badgers 52-23 in the OSAA Class 1A state semifinal #1 Country game at Baker Christian High School, (25-4) sending the • Sat., 3 p.m. Golden Eagles • at Baker back to the High School state champi- onship game for the second consecutive year. The Golden Eagles will have a rematch with No. 1 Country Christian in the cham- pionship game on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. at Baker High. Nixyaawii defeated Country Christian 68-39 in last year’s championship game. In Friday’s semifinals, Milan Schimmel netted a double-double with a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds, while adding seven assists. Mary Stewart finished with 16 points, five steals, four rebounds and four assists, and Tyanna Van Pelt pitched in six points. For the Badgers, Megan Bingham had a team-best 10 points and eight rebounds. The Badgers shot just 18 percent (7-of-38) as a team and had 19 turnovers. SILVERTON 40, HERM- ISTON 24 — Hermiston was ousted from the state tournament after a Round 1 loss to Silverton on the road. The 40-24 defeat ended the Bulldogs’ season. Hermiston managed to See PREP ROUNDUP/2B Sports shorts Blaney wins pole for Vegas race LAS VEGAS (AP) — Ryan Blaney has won the pole for the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Blaney earned his third career pole with a lap at 191.489 mph in his Team Penske Ford on a windy Friday night. Kevin Harvick kept up his outstanding start to the season and secured a front-row Ford lockout with a second-place finish in qualifying. The Stewart-Haas Racing stalwart earned his best Blaney starting position in 18 career races in Vegas by turning a lap at 190.248 mph. Fords claimed the top three spots and five of the first eight. Las Vegas native Kurt Busch qualified right behind Harvick, while Martin Truex Jr. drove his Toyota into fourth. The 24-year-old Blaney is off to a solid start to the season with a seventh-place finish at Daytona, and he’ll be in prime position in Vegas. “I had to see how long I could stare without blinking. I had a couple of attempts. I tried a few techniques, looking away from the light, trying to block any sort of wind coming into the eyes. That was a weird process.” — Michael Dickson Former University of Texas punter told Pro Football Talk that represen- tatives from the Seattle Seahawks at the NFL Scouting Combine had an odd request during his meeting with the team, asking Dickson to do a staring contest. Russell Wilson strikes out in Yanks spring training debut TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Russell Wilson struck out in his first spring training at-bat with the New York Yankees. The Seattle Seahawks quarter- back pinch hit for AL Rookie of the Year Aaron Judge in the fifth inning against Atlanta on Friday and swung past a 2-2 pitch from left-hander Max Fried. A former minor league infielder, Wilson is spending Wilson this week working out with the Yankees, who acquired him from Texas last month and wanted to observe his leadership skills. He wants to soak up the attitude of a franchise with a record 27 World Series titles. The 29-year-old Wilson led the Seahawks to the 2014 Super Bowl championship. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1920 — The Montreal Canadiens set an NHL record for most goals in a game with a 16-3 rout of the Quebec Bulldogs. 2000 — Edward Fryatt ties a PGA Tour record with eight consecutive birdies in the second round of the Doral-Ryder Open. Fuzzy Zoeller did it in the 1976 Quad Cities Open, and Bob Goalby in the 1961 St. Petersburg Open. 2014 — LeBron James scores a career-high 61 points, breaking Glen Rice’s franchise record, and the Miami Heat defeat the Char- lotte Bobcats 124-107. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com