SPORTS
WEEKEND, MARCH 10-11, 2018
1B
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PENDLETON
Prep Basketball
Going through growing pains
BMCC swept
by SW Oregon,
remains winless
East Oregonian
During the 2017 softball season
for the Blue Mountain Timber-
wolves, the team had plenty of
offensive potential but struggled
to get consistent
pitching to help
Softball
win games.
This
year,
with the top
hitters from 2017 SW Oregon
having moved on
after exhausting
their eligibility,
pitching
was
expected to be the
BMCC
Timberwolves’
strength
with
freshman right-
handers
Teyha
Ostrom and Kenzie Gonzales
joining the staff following tremen-
dous prep careers — the former at
Pilot Rock and the latter at Echo/
Stanfield. Except three weekends
into the season, it’s been a rocky
start for the pitchers — and the
Timberwolves overall.
Ostrom pitched a combined eight
innings on Friday as BMCC was
swept by the Southwestern Oregon
Lakers with 10-0 and 13-0 defeats
to fall to 0-8 overall on the season.
The former Pilot Rock star allowed
16 runs, only eight of which were
earned, and walked eight with seven
strikeouts.
On the season, Ostrom holds
an earned run average of 10.82
through 21 1/3 innings pitched over
four games with 20 walks and 11
strikeouts. Gonzales has had her
struggles, too, with 37 earned runs
allowed in 11 2/3 innings spanning
three games.
It’s simply growing pains that
come with the territory of making
the jump from small-school prep
softball to the collegiate level.
“The things they’re learning is
the strike zone is a lot tighter and
hitters 1 through 9 are a lot better
at the college level,” BMCC coach
Steve Richards said of his pitchers’
adjustments to college ball. “In high
school, they could miss on a pitch
to a hitter in the bottom of the order
and get an out, now they miss a
pitch and it’s a home run.”
Richards has seen some positive
steps that each pitcher has taken,
whether it be spotting pitches
well for at-bats or showing some
leadership on the diamond such
Speed
among
five locals
on 2A all-
state team
Weston-McEwen
senior earns second
team selection
East Oregonian
10,13
0,0
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
BMCC’s Shea Peasley makes a catch during Friday’s doubleheader against Southwestern Oregon.
BMCC
catcher
Cooper
Ringnalda
puts out
Marisa
Coleman, of
Southwest-
ern Oregon,
and looks
to make
a throw
during Fri-
day’s dou-
bleheader in
Pendleton.
Staff photo by
Kathy Aney
as Ostrom did on Friday. With
Gonzales unavailable to pitch the
second game due to a class she had
to attend, Ostrom relieved Miah
Slater and threw the final three
innings, battling through fatigue to
make some good pitches.
“Both have a lot of leadership,”
Richards said. “They’re really
coming around and showing leader-
ship on a pretty young team, which
is something we need.”
Ostrom and Gonzales are not
the only Timberwolves experi-
encing growing pains, though.
There are a lot of new faces on the
Timberwolves roster, with only five
sophomores and nine freshmen.
Six freshmen played on Friday as
BMCC could manage just two hits
between the two games.
“The biggest challenge is
learning how to hit at this level,”
See BMCC/3B
Pro Basketball
Trail Blazers top Warriors for ninth consecutive victory
By ANNE M. PETERSON
AP Sports Writer
AP Photo/Steve Dykes
Portland’s Damian Lillard hits a 3-point shot over Golden
State’s Draymond Green during Friday’s game in Portland.
NBA
PORTLAND — CJ McCollum scored
30 points, Damian Lillard added 28 and
the Portland Trail Blazers won their ninth
straight game with a 125-108 victory over
the short-handed Golden State Warriors on
Friday night.
The Warriors had won seven in a row
but didn’t have Stephen Curry, Jordan Bell
and Andre Iguodala, who were all out with
injuries. Kevin Durant led Golden State
with 40 points.
Portland has its longest winning streak
since also winning nine straight in 2014.
The Blazers’ streak started when they
beat Golden State 123-117 at the Moda
Golden State
Portland
108
125
Center on Feb. 14, the last game before the
All-Star break.
McCollum hit a 3-pointer to give the
Blazers a 101 -93 lead with 7:20 left.
McCollum added another 3 before Durant
got one. Klay Thompson had a layup but
Lillard answered with another 3 to make it
107-98.
Lillard’s 3-pointer extended the lead
See BLAZERS/3B
When the coaches were
filling out their ballets for
all-state honors, Weston-
McEwen senior Brett Speed
was a familiar name — even
for the schools on the oppo-
site side of the state.
Early in the season against
Monroe, a Mountain View
Conference team 300-plus
miles away, Speed dropped
28 points. He matched that
performance a couple weeks
later against Toledo of the
Sunset Conference.
“He’s had some pretty big
games” head coach Brian
Pickard said when his Tiger-
Scots faced teams out west.
Pickard added that these
big
performances,
and
Speed’s entire season, have
made him a recognizable
name among Class 2A.
The four-year starter’s
efforts earned second-team
honors, the highest of five
local basketball players.
During his senior season,
Speed made a lasting impact
at Weston-McEwen. Shortly
after the new year in a 64-63
loss to Heppner, he led the
team with 26 points which
put him over 1,000 career
points.
Overall, he averaged 26
points a game, 10.5 rebounds,
6.2 assists and just over five
steals a game.
“He did everything,”
Pickard said. “I can’t say
enough about him.”
Stanfield senior Brody
Woods earned third-team
honors after leading the
Tigers to the first round of the
2A state playoffs, where they
fell to the state-runner ups,
Western Mennonite.
Seniors Byrson Pierce and
Chris Wienke of Pilot Rock
earned honorable mentions,
as well as Heppner senior
Trent Smith, who was a reli-
able scorer for the Mustangs
all season.
Pierce and Wienke were
two of four seniors that
pushed the Rockets to an 18-7
overall record and a first-
round playoff appearance.
———
Boys Class 2A All-State
First Team
Clay Sullivan, Vernonia, sr.; Ben Gregg,
Columbia Christian, fr.; Jonah Downey,
Santiam, jr.; Payton Richardson, Western
Mennonite, soph.; Conner Marchant, Tole-
do, soph.; Cameron Benzel, Oakland, sr.
Second Team
Emorej Lynk, Kennedy, soph.; Dale Takalo,
Knappa, sr.; Duane Stokes, Grant Union,
sr.; Jaydn Spangler, Toledo, jr.; Keeton
Hull, Western Mennonite, jr.; Brett Speed,
Weston-McEwen, sr.
Third Team
Isaiah Mariscal, Columbia Christian,
soph.; Brian Goracke, Monroe, soph.; Alex
Nicoli, Western Mennonite, soph.; Wade
Reimers, Grant Union, sr.; Brody Woods,
Stanfield, sr.; Jaxon Rozewski, Toledo, fr.
Honorable Mention
Nate Hopkins, Riddle, jr.; Marcus Monto-
noya, Lost River, sr.; Brandon Piete, Regis,
sr.; Zack Young, Monroe, soph.; Brandon
Howes, Elgin, sr.; Nic Freeman, Oakland,
sr.; Bryson Pierce, Pilot Rock, sr.; Todd
Halcumb, Gold Beach, sr.; Trent Smith,
Heppner, sr.; Tyreece Gardner, Reedsport,
sr.; Cole Strober, Nestucca, sr.; Braydon
Freitag, Bandon, soph.; Eli Takalo, Knappa,
soph.; Riley Marshall, Gaston, jr.; Keegan
Glenn, Union, sr.; Caleb Lanthrop, Elgin, sr.;
Jimmy Wells, Enterprise, sr.; Chris Wienke,
Pilot Rock, sr.
Sports shorts
Truex Jr. wins pole for Sunday’s
NASCAR race in Phoenix
AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Martin Truex
Jr. won the pole Friday for the NASCAR Cup
Series race Sunday at ISM Raceway.
The defending series champion turned a
lap at 136.945 mph in the No. 78
Furniture Row Racing Toyota
in the last of three rounds of
qualifying on the mile oval. He has
16 career poles.
Kyle Larson took the second
spot at 136.643 mph for Chip
Ganassi Racing after topping the
Truex Jr.
second session.
Chase Elliott was third,
followed by Tucson driver Alex Bowman, Joey
Logano, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Jamie
McMurray, Erik Jones and Kevin Harvick.
Harvick has a track-record eight victories and is
coming off wins the last two weeks in Atlanta
and Las Vegas.
“Don’t get me wrong,
they’re [Tijuana] a good
team, but they’re not a
big league team. The
adrenaline is not there.
Once the lights come on
and they say, ‘Play ball,’
you’ll see something
different. More velocity,
sharper pitches. It’s going
to be Ohtani. You have to
give it time.“
— Rene Rivera
Los Angeles Angels catcher ex-
pressed his confidence Shohei Otani,
despite his three-inning, six-run
outing against the Tijuana Toros of
the Mexican League on Friday.
Toronto beats Houston 108-105,
snapping Rockets win streak
TORONTO (AP) — Kyle Lowry scored 30
points, DeMar DeRozan had 23 and the Toronto
Raptors beat Houston 108-105 on Friday night,
snapping the Rockets’ 17-game
winning streak.
James Harden scored 40
points but the Rockets lost for the
first time since Jan. 27 at New
Orleans.
Jonas Valanciunas had 14 points and 10
rebounds as the Raptors won their seventh
straight in a matchup between the respective
conference leaders.
The Rockets shot 9 for 27 from 3-point
range, matching their fewest made 3-pointers of
the season.
Clint Capela had 13 points and 13 rebounds
for the Rockets. Chris Paul and Eric Gordon
each scored 14 points, and Trevor Ariza had 13
as Houston’s road winning streak ended at 10.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
2002 — John Stockton, the
NBA’s career assist leader, has
13 assists in Utah’s 95-92 loss
at Houston to give him exactly
15,000 for his career.
2004 — Orlando’s Tracy
McGrady scores a franchise-re-
cord 62 points in a 108-99 win
over Washington.
2007 — Pittsburgh’s
Sidney Crosby, 19, becomes
the youngest player in NHL
history with two 100-point
seasons after scoring a goal
in a 3-2 overtime win over
the New York Rangers.
2012 — Ashton Eaton
of the U.S. sets a heptathlon
world record and wins the
gold at the world indoor
championships in Istanbul.
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