B2
SPORTS
East Oregonian
AAU basketball
tournament invades
Hermiston this weekend
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
Nearly every gym
between Umatilla and Echo
will be in use Saturday and
Sunday as the 16th annual
Best of the West AAU
basketball tournament tips
off.
According to Herm-
iston High School athletiic
directory Larry Usher, who
helps coordinate the event,
there will be 119 boys and
girls teams playing nearly
300 games on 17 courts.
The teams will range from
second to eighth grade.
“We will use all 12
gyms in the Hermiston
School District, Umatilla
High School, Echo’s two
gyms, and Stanfield High
School and elementary,”
Usher said. “We have 20
teams from the Boise area,
local teams, and teams
from Lewiston, Clark-
ston, Spokane, Portland,
Seattle, the Tri-Cities and
the Yakima area.”
Teams pay a $230 entry
fee that helps pay for facili-
ties and officials.
It is the third of four
AAU tournaments held in
the area, with one more
coming Feb. 9-10.
The events have a
big economic impact for
the region, with families
staying in hotels, eating out,
buying gas and shopping.
Each tournament brings
about 1,100 players, around
4,000 people, and pumps
roughly $400,000 to the
local communities.
The cost per day to
watch games is $6 for
adults and $4 for children
and seniors.
3A District Bowling
Hermiston will host the
3A district girls bowling
tournament Friday at
Desert Lanes.
Action will begin at
2 p.m. The top team, and
the top two bowlers, not
on the winning team, will
advance to state.
The state tournament
will be held Jan. 31-Feb. 1
at Narrows Plaza Bowl in
University Place.
BMCC swept by
Spokane at home
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
A sluggish first half cost
the Blue Mountain women
on Monday in a 70-47
NWAC East Division loss
to Spokane in Pendleton.
Spokane jumped out
to a 28-16 lead over the
Timberwolves
(2-14
overall, 0-6 East), then
held BMCC to a meager
three points in the second
to take a 44-19 lead at the
half.
CCS (15-4, 4-3) held
BMCC scoreless the last
5:03 of the second quarter.
Shania Graham had 14
points, including a 3-for-3
performance from beyond
the arc, for Spokane in the
first half.
Chloe Morrison scored
all eight of her points in
BMCC’s 14-point third
quarter, while Karlie
Gerlinger had eight of her
team-high 15 points in the
fourth quarter.
Brooke Wheeler added
13 points and 14 rebounds
for the Timberwolves,
who have lost 12 consec-
utive games. Ammarea
Broncheau
(Weston-
McEwen) chipped in six
points and five rebounds.
Koyama Young led
CCS with 18 points and
10 rebounds. Graham had
16 points and three assists,
and Alexia Novelli 10
points and nine rebounds.
SPOKANE
MEN
83, BMCC 73 — Dante
Clayton scored 12 of his
19 points in the second
half, but it wasn’t enough
to help the Timberwolves
overtake the Sasquatch in
an NWAC East Division
battle in Pendleton.
BMCC (4-13 overall,
2-4 East) led 8-7 early in
the first half, then scored
just two points over the
next three minutes as
Spokane went out front
17-10.
The
Timberwolves
came back to tie the score
at 18, and then took a 20-18
lead on a layup by Bryson
Pierce (Pilot Rock). BMCC
would lead 27-26 with 6:50
to play, but that would be
its last lead of the game.
Spokane (15-5, 6-1),
which led 41-37 at the half,
extended its lead to 59-50
mid-way through the
second half.
BMCC would pull
within 63-60 with 6:27
remaining, but would
get no closer as Spokane
pulled away.
Mekhi Foreman (Pend-
leton) added 14 points and
handed out 10 assists for
the Timberwolves, while
Jeremiah Hillard had 12
points and five assists, and
Dylan Grogan (Stanfield)
10 points, 15 rebounds and
five assists.
Dedrick Pakootas had
a game-high 23 points, six
rebounds and six assists
for Spokane, which has
won three games in a
row. Isaiah Gotell added
12 points, and Garrett
White 11 points and eight
rebounds.
Women’s Game
Spokane 28 16 16 10 — 70
BMCC 16 3 14 14 — 47
SPOKANE — Graham 16, Young
18, Olson 6, Ostrowski 9, Novelli 10,
Anderson 3, Blair 2, Bearcub 2, Cox 4.
BMCC — Broncheau 6, Morrison 8,
Gerlinger 15, Munoz 5, Wheeler 13.
Men’s Game
Spokane 41 42 — 83
BMCC 37 36 — 73
SPOKANE — Pakootas 23, Gotell 12,
McCliment-Call 2, White 11, Delgado 8,
Parker 10, Alstrom 7, Stith 3, Cox 7.
BMCC — Clayton 19, Foreman 14, Gro-
gan 10, Hillard 12, Pierce 2, Garza 4,
Hibbard-Brooks 12.
BRIEFLY
Big River Golf Men’s Club accepting
handicap applications
Umatilla’s Big River Golf Course has opened hand-
icap applications for members of the Men’s Club.
Scores can be posted starting on Friday, February 1,
which has been moved up from its original Friday, March
1 date. Big River encourages early sign-ups. Each appli-
cation comes with a $45 fee.
Additionally, Senior Blues sign-ups are now avail-
able for men aged 50 and older. There is a $90 fee for the
season.
Applicants with any questions can call the Big River
Pro Shop at 541-571-0572.
Blazers: Fall to the Thunder
Continued from Page B1
Nurkic and going for a
layup to extend Oklahoma
City’s lead to 117-108 with
2:17 left. Westbrook capped
the win with a pair of fero-
cious dunks in the final
1:24.
Oklahoma City led
almost all the way — trailing
for less than 30 seconds —
but Portland never let the
Thunder become comfort-
able. Through three quar-
ters, only once did the
Thunder push its lead to
double digits.
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Hermiston Raceway unveils 2019 schedule
By BRETT KANE
East Oregonian
After an action-packed
2018 season, the Hermiston
Raceway is preparing to burn
even more rubber this year.
A total of 14 events are
slated for this year’s season,
including the last-minute
addition of the Chump 300
Enduro on the Roval — a
race in which the oval track is
altered to detour into a paved
section in the infield at the
back of the course.
“That way, our racers
aren’t just turning their cars
right the entire time,” said
owner Greg Walden.
Walden promises this
season will continue to
“revive the facility” and
“bring action-packed, pave-
ment-pounding racing” to
Hermiston.
The schedule kicks off on
Saturday, April 20 with the
Raceway’s Saturday Night
Thunder event. The race will
include appearances from
Washington’s Wesco Sprint
Cars, the Quinn Preston
Memorial Bombers and
Road Hogs, and competitions
with drivers in the raceway’s
six standard categories.
Two double-header events
are also slated in May and
August, including the Herm-
iston debut of the Labor Day
Spectacular, which runs
from Saturday, August 31 to
Sunday, September 1. The
weekend will feature modi-
fied races from the Inter-
mountain Outlaw Modi-
fied Series, Intermountain
Winged Sprint Car Series,
and the Northwest Super
Late Model Series in their
only Hermiston appearance
for the season.
“It should be a great year,”
Walden said. “We gained a
lot of interest last year. We
have a plan for improvement,
and we’re on the right track.”
Gates for Saturday Night
Thunder open at 4:30 p.m.,
with races commencing at
6 p.m.
Saturday, April 20 —
Saturday Night Thunder,
4:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 4 —
Northwest Mini Stock Tour,
4:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 18 — Best
of the West, 4:30 p.m.
Friday, May 31 — North
American Big Rigs Semi
Trucks, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 1 —
Northwest Figure 8 Associa-
tion, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 15 —
Hometown Heroes, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday,
June
29
— Thunder on the Hill,
4:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 6 — Inter-
mountain Outlaw Modified
Series, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 20 —
Washington Midget Racing
Association, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 31 —
Open Wheel Thunder, 4 p.m.
Sunday, September 1 —
Atomic Screenprinting 125,
4:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 7 —
Hometown Heroes Champi-
onships, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 28
— Fall Brawl, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 12 —
Chump 300 Enduro on the
Roval, 4:30 p.m.
Hall: Rivera first unanimous HOF pick
Continued from Page B1
homers against Mussina
and 8 for 18 (.444) against
Halladay.
“Especially early in my
career, I got two strikes on
Edgar, and the third one
never showed up,” Rivera
said.
Martinez got just 36.2
percent of the vote in his
first ballot appearance in
2010 and fell as low as 25.2
percent in 2014 — the cutoff
for induction is 75 percent.
With a push from the
sport’s analytics commu-
nity and a hearty social
media campaign, Martinez
made major progress in
recent votes, including 70.4
percent in 2018.
“Some of the sabermet-
rics really helped,” Martinez
said.
Rivera is baseball’s
career saves leader with 652.
With a steady demeanor
and a fearsome cut fast-
ball, he won five World
Series over 19 seasons with
the New York Yankees. He
was always at his best in
October, getting 42 saves
with a 0.70 ERA over 16
postseasons, including 11
saves in the World Series.
Barry Bonds and Roger
Clemens made gains but
again fell short in their
seventh times on the ballot.
Bonds got 59.1 percent
and Clemens 59.5, their
cases muddied by steroid
accusations.
Rivera grew up in Panama
the son of a fisherman. He
signed with New York in
1990, debuted in the majors
as a 25-year-old in 1995 and
a year later emerged as one
of the game’s best relievers.
Part of a core that included
Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte
and Jorge Posada, Rivera
helped the Yankees win four
World Series from 1996-
2000 and another in 2009.
“The scouting report
was the same every time,”
Jeter wrote at The Players’
Tribune. “Mo knew he was
going to throw that cutter.
The guy at the plate knew
he was going to throw that
cutter. Fifty thousand plus
at Yankee Stadium knew
he was going to throw that
cutter. And it wouldn’t
matter.”
The Yankees didn’t even
wait until Rivera’s final
game to retire his No. 42
— he was the last player in
the major leagues to wear
that number, grandfathered
to him when No. 42 was
retired in honor of Jackie
AP Photo/Christopher Szagola, File
Roy Halladay throwing a pitch during the 2013 season in Philadelphia.
AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File
Mike Mussina throws during a baseball game in Pittsburgh
in the 2008 season.
Robinson in 1997.
“Wearing No. 42, repre-
senting Jackie Robinson, I
assume he was the first No.
42 elected,” Rivera said. “To
be the last No. 42 elected to
the Hall of Fame, and unan-
imously, is amazing.”
Though his music taste
skews more Christian rock
than heavy metal, Rivera
toed the Yankee Stadium
rubber to Metallica’s “Enter
Sandman” for much of his
career. “The Sandman”
became synonymous with
the song’s foreboding guitar
riff, and the Rock & Roll
Hall of Famers performed
it live at Yankee Stadium in
2013 before one of Rivera’s
final home games.
Like all the bats he sawed
off with that dastardly
cutter, Rivera shattered an
83-year-old standard with
his selection. Ruth, Young
and the game’s other early
stars fell short of unanimous
election in the first ballot in
1936 because of a backlog of
worthy candidates. With the
bar set so high, some writers
began leaving worthy first-
year players off their ballots.
Halladay, an ace with the
Toronto Blue Jays and Phil-
adelphia Phillies, got 85.4
percent and will be the first
posthumous inductee since
Deacon White in 2013 and
Ron Santo in 2012. Halladay
died in November 2017 at 40
years old when an airplane
he was flying crashed into
the Gulf of Mexico off the
coast of Florida. He won
two Cy Young Awards, one
each with Toronto and Phil-
adelphia, before ending his
career in 2013 at 36 years
old due to back injuries.
The right-hander was
a first-round draft pick by
Toronto in 1995, debuted
in the majors in 1998 and
struggled terribly until
being demoted to the minor
leagues in 2001. With the
help of sports psycholo-
gist Harvey Dorfman, Hall-
aday reinvented himself and
became an All-Star in 2002,
then won 22 games and an
AL Cy Young in 2003.
In an era marked by pitch
counts and early hooks,
Halladay was a workhorse.
Since 2000, Halladay’s 65
complete games are by far
the most in the majors —
Livan Hernandez is second
at 39.
Mussina was a steady
right-hander for the Yankees
and Baltimore Orioles who
went 270-153 with 2,813
strikeouts over 18 seasons.
He received 76.7 percent,
getting seven more votes
than the 319 required for
election. “Moose” and his
nasty knuckle curveball
also got a push from the
advanced numbers. He felt
lucky to get 20.3 percent in
his first ballot in 2014 but
steadily gained support.
Mussina’s 3.68 ERA
will be the third highest
in Cooperstown behind
Jack Morris (3.90) and
Red Ruffing (3.80), but
writers gave him a break
for pitching in the slug-
ger-heavy AL East, with its
cozy ballparks.
“You know they’re small
or hitter friendly, it’s just
how it was,” Mussina said.
“I just kept trying to make
adjustments.”
Bonds, Clemens and
Schilling may get their best
shot at the Hall in 2021,
when no first-time candi-
dates are odds-on favorites.
Jeter heads the newcomers
on the 2020 ballot.
Preps: Ione boys score first Big Sky League victory
Continued from Page B1
Girls hoops
POWDER
VALLEY
51, ECHO 30 — The Big
Sky League isn’t getting
any easier for the Cougars
as they were handed
their ninth league loss on
Monday.
The Cougars were ahead
8-7 in the first quarter, but
Powder Valley sprinted
ahead in the second for a
22-15 halftime lead. They
outscored Echo 16-4 in the
third to ensure the game
was theirs.
Echo was led by Faith
McCarty with 10 points and
Tylene Skillman with eight.
The Cougars (2-16, 1-9
BSL) travel to Horizon
Christian on Friday.
ELGIN 42, MAC-HI
28 — The Pioneers’ hard-
fought battle at Elgin ended
with a nonleague defeat on
Tuesday.
Mac-Hi tied the Huskies
7-7 in the first quarter and
trailed by just two points
at halftime. They rallied to
outscore Elgin 11-10 in the
third quarter, but the game
slipped away from them
in the final eight minutes,
when the Huskies made a
19-6 run to put the game out
of reach.
Ally Marly led the
Pioneers with seven points
and shot 100 percent from
the field. Courtney Breeding
and Kayla Casillas each
added five.
Mac-Hi (1-17, 0-3 GOL)
resumes play in the Greater
Oregon League on Saturday
with a home game against
Baker.
IONE 57, MITCHELL/
SPRAY 19 — The Cardi-
nals claimed an easy Big
Sky League win at home on
Tuesday.
The Ione girls (14-2, 9-0
BSL) sit at the top of the
league standings. They’ll
host Dufur on Friday.
RIVERSIDE
25,
IRRIGON 19 — River-
side picked up their second
Eastern Oregon League
victory on Tuesday at home.
Brendy Avalos had 10
points for the Pirates, and
Faith Rosen added six. Ana
Zacarias, JaLay Burns, and
Alyssa Luna each scored
five points for Irrigon.
Riverside (10-8, 2-3
EOL) travels to Umatilla on
Friday. The Knights (11-8,
2-4 EOL) will host Umatilla
on Thursday.