SPORTS
TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2018
1B
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STANFIELD
Pro Basketball
Blazers
win 10th
straight
New-look Tigers win opener
Stanfield defeats
Columbia (WA)
in five innings
Lillard, Nurkick each
net double-doubles
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
By ERIK GARCÍA GUNDERSEN
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Damian
Lillard had 32 points and 10
assists,
and
the
Portland
NBA
Trail
Blazers
beat the Miami
Heat 115-99 on
Monday night
Miami
for their 10th
straight victory.
Jusuf Nurkic
added 27 points
and 16 rebounds
for the Blazers,
Portland
who have the
longest current
winning streak
in the NBA and
a two-game lead over Oklahoma
City for the No. 3 seed in the
Western Conference.
The Heat used an 18-2 run
to start the fourth quarter to
trim a 19-point deficit to three,
but Lillard took charge for the
Blazers, just as he has throughout
the winning streak. The All-Star
guard broke Portland’s drought
of over five minutes with a
3-pointer midway through the
period to put Portland back in
front by six, and the Blazers
stayed safely ahead from there.
Lillard scored 21 points after
halftime. He leads the league in
second-half scoring.
Goran Dragic scored 23
points for the Heat, who were
without two key players in
starting center Hassan Whiteside
and sixth man Dwyane Wade.
The Blazers closed the first
quarter on a 14-4 lead to take a
34-25 lead, capped by a buzz-
er-beating 3-pointer from rookie
Zach Collins. Another 3-pointer
by Collins with 7:03 left in the
second quarter put Portland up
45-33, forcing the Heat to call
time.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: Welcome
LeBron James and the Cleve-
land Cavaliers on Thursday.
99
STANFIELD — Under a
blue sky and a light breeze on
a warm Monday afternoon,
Stanfield/Echo junior Devan
Craig put together a quiet
performance in
Baseball the batters box.
He finished the
day 0 for 1 with
one strikeout
Columbia (WA) but
reached
base twice via
a walk and a
hit-by-pitch.
However
Craig’s perfor-
Stanfield
mance was still
notable: it was
the very first
baseball game
of his life. After participating in
track and field as a sophomore,
Craig decided to give baseball
a try this spring and made his
debut as Stanfield’s starting
right fielder on Monday.
“I was really nervous in the
beginning,” Craig said, “but I
got over it after that.”
He was part of a new-look
Stanfield lineup on Monday that
saw six new starters from last
year’s opening day lineup. But
even with the new faces, the
Tigers brought home a familiar
result as they defeated Columbia
(WA) 12-2 in five innings.
“It just feels great,” Craig
said of the victory. “We wanted
it really bad.”
Craig also made a pair of
tough outs in right field during
the game, making the correct
reads on line drives — with the
sun directly in his line of sight
— which can be difficult plays,
no matter the experience level.
“He’s an athlete our there
in right field,” Stanfield coach
Brad Rogers said of Craig.
“He’s been working really
hard, our outfield coach (Scott)
Morris has been working hard
with him and we’re really happy
to get him.”
2
115
12
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Stanfield’s T.J. Smith throws from the mound in the Tigers’ 12-2 win against White Salmon on Mon-
day in Stanfield.
Pendle-
ton’s Kalan
McGlothan
(34) watch-
es Selah’s
(WA) Kylie
Wilkey (22)
dribble
past in
the SWX
All-Star
Classic on
Saturday
at Kami-
akin High
School in
Kennewick.
Hermis-
ton’s Mad-
dy Juul
also partic-
ipated, as
did Ryne
Andreason
in the boys’
game.
Photo courtesy
of Amanda Ray/
Yakima Herald-Re-
public
See TIGERS/3B
Prep Basketball
Locals highlight SWX All-Star Classic
One Buck, two Bulldogs
chosen for event
By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ
East Oregonian
KENNEWICK, Wash. — After a
long hiatus, SWX Right Now brought
back its All-Star Classic. In this year’s
inauguration a few local faces joined
a plethora of basketball stars from the
Tri-Cities and Yakima.
On the girls team, Pendleton senior
Kalan McGlothan and Hermiston
senior Maddy Juul made up part of the
Tri-Cities’ 15-player roster. They were
pitted against Yakima — which had
the Greater Columbia 1A Player of the
Year, Yakima Tribal’s Nayah Mills,
and two-time Central Washington
Athletic Conference POY, Marissa
Cortes of Prosser.
Both McGlothan and Juul received
the invitation via their coaches, who
warned they wouldn’t be able to play
if either team made it to state. But after
both the Buckaroos and Bulldogs were
knocked out of the first round, the
former rivals welcomed the chance to
wear the same colors and play along-
side each other.
“We’re rivals on the court, but
friends off,” Juul said during the game
when the two starters got a break on
the bench.
Due to the stacked rosters, each
quarter lasted 10 minutes to allow
more playing time. McGlothan and
Juul combined for 16:20 minutes of
play and six points Saturday at Kami-
akin High School.
Both eastern Oregon players
started alongside Ali Martineau of
Col-Burbank, River View’s Aaliyah
Andreason and the No. 2 all-time
scorer in the Mid Columbia Confer-
ence, Alicia Oatis of Kennewick.
There were only a handful of seniors
on the roster that was mostly made up
of juniors and featured some young
standouts, including Tri-Cities Prep
6-foot freshman Talia von Oelhoffen,
who finished the season averaging
29.3 points and 11.1 rebounds per
game.
For the boys, Hermiston’s Ryne
Andreason joined the Tri-Cities team.
The junior netted eight points and
grabbed six rebounds in 12:58 minutes
of play.
Andreason is the only local player
who will be returning to the court next
season, and with Hermiston’s move
to the WIAA the All-Star Classic
was a good scouting opportunity for
Andreason and the fellow Bulldogs in
attendance.
Sports shorts
Ovechkin becomes 20th player to
score 600 career goals in NHL
WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin has
become the 20th player in NHL history to score
600 goals.
The captain of the Washington Capitals
scored twice Monday night against
the Winnipeg Jets to reach the
milestone in his 990th regu-
lar-season game. Ovechkin joined
Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux
and Brett Hull as the only players
to score 600 in under 1,000 games.
Ovechkin’s goal 3:53 into the
Ovechkin
second period was his 42nd of the
season as he tries to hit 50 for the
eighth time. The Russian winger had just 33
goals in 2016-17, his second-lowest total in a
non-lockout-shortened season.
“Pretty amazing feeling, pretty cool feeling,”
Ovechkin said after the second period on
Monday.
“I understand the
complexities and the
challenges the committee
has and respect following
their criteria. But I can only
be left with the conclusion
that some of the criteria
should be re-evaluated if a
team that was No. 2 in our
conference, playing as well
as they’ve played, looking
as good as they looked
[was omitted].”
— Larry Scott
Pac-12 conference commissioner
voicing his displeasure with USC
being snubbed from the NCAA
Tournament field.
Oregon women score No. 2
seed in NCAA tournament
(AP) — Notre Dame (29-3) gets the top
seed in Spokane, but would have to play what
amounts to a road game in the regional final if
No. 2 seeded Oregon makes it
that far.
The Ducks (30-4) won
both the Pac-12 regular season
and tournament title, led by
sophomore sensation Sabrina
Ionescu, who averages just over 19 points a
game and already owns the NCAA record for
triple-doubles in her career.
Oregon coach Kelly Graves is familiar with
Spokane, having coached Gonzaga from 2000-
1014, leading the Zags to a regional final in 2012.
“If we are fortunate enough to go back to
Spokane where I spent so many amazing years
at Gonzaga, that would be incredible,” he said.
“For our Duck fans it’s close enough where they
can justify a trip there.”
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1983 — Randy Smith’s
consecutive game streak ends
at 906 games, the longest in
NBA history.
1997 — The America’s
Cup, the oldest trophy in inter-
national sports and yachting’s
most coveted prize, is all but
destroyed by a Maori protester
who struck it repeatedly with
a sledgehammer in Auckland,
New Zealand.
2012 — BYU pulls off the
biggest comeback in NCAA
tournament history on a wild
opening night. Noah Hartsock
scores 16 of his 23 points in the
second half and the Cougars
rally from 25 points down
to beat Iona 78-72 in the first
round.
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