E AST O REGONIAN
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2019
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B1
PREP HOOPS
Nixyaawii
Kittitas
Golden Eagles
Coyotes
(16-1)
(17-1)
Friday, 8:30 p.m.,
at Hermiston High School
Nixyaawii
will have
its hands
full with
Kittitas
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pendleton’s Kellen Hanson attempts to pin Hood River Valley’s Miles Lee in the 113-pound match in the Bucks’ 72-6 win over the Eagles on
Wednesday in Pendleton.
Bucks make quick work
of HRV in IMC match
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
P
endleton and Hood River Val-
ley usually give wrestling fans a
good show.
With the Eagles battling ill-
ness and injuries this week, the Bucks
cruised to a 72-6 victory Wednesday
night in an Intermountain Conference
match at Warberg Court.
Pendleton took advantage of four for-
feits and registered seven pins, including
one by Aiden Henderson, who had the
quickest pin of the night in a time of 40
seconds over Joe Kahler at 220 pounds.
“Never in my wildest dreams, I never
thought I’d see this score between us,”
Bucks coach Fred Phillips said. “They
have the fl u, and two of their best kids
weren’t here. I’m happy for our kids, they
did a good job.”
Kellen Hanson started the onslaught
with a pin of Miles Lee in 1:27 at 113
pounds.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
See Bucks, Page B2
Pendleton’s Aiden Patterson throws Hood River Valley’s Javier Galvez in the 160-pound
match of the Bucks’ 72-6 win over the Eagles on Wednesday in Pendleton.
The Nixyaawii boys bas-
ketball team will step out of
its comfort zone Friday to play
Washington 2B power Kittitas
at Hermiston High School.
The game, scheduled for
8:30 p.m., will follow the
Hermiston girls (5:30 p.m.) and
boys (7 p.m.) Mid-Columbia
Conference contests against
Hanford.
“We know the task is daunt-
ing, to say the least,” Golden
Eagles coach Shane Rivera
said. “We know they have a kid
who has signed with Gonzaga.
We are excited about the chal-
lenge, and the kids are pretty
pumped to play a team that is
so highly touted.”
Kittitas (17-1), the two-time
defending state champion, is
ranked No. 2 in the Washing-
ton 2B poll.
The game, which was not
originally on either team’s
schedule, came about after both
ended up with an open date.
“I’m good friends with Kit-
titas coach Tim Ravet,” Herm-
iston athletic director Larry
Usher said. “He said they
needed a game and asked if I
knew of anyone. I made some
calls. I think there will be a big
crowd.”
Ravet appreciates Usher’s
help in fi lling the void in his
schedule.
“He is doing us a favor,”
Ravet said. “It will be fun.
You never know how it will
go. Hopefully we show up and
play.”
See Boys, Page B2
BMCC women take home fi rst conference win
By BRETT KANE
East Oregonian
It’s been a long time coming,
but the Blue Mountain women took
home their season’s fi rst North-
west Athletic Conference win.
The last-place Timberwolves
traveled to face the Walla Walla
Warriors and turned them away
71-58 on Wednesday to break a
12-game skid.
“This feels amazing,” said
coach Adam Driver on their fi rst
conference victory. “The team
played great tonight. We pretty
much had to play close to a perfect
game, and we did.”
Although
Blue
Mountain
trailed in the opening minutes and
dropped their lead once early on,
they powered through with fi ve
unanswered points to take the fi rst
quarter 25-18, keeping them out
front for good.
“Walla Walla is a really disci-
plined team,” Driver said. “They
have some great shooters, and we
held them down.”
A 3-point jumper from the War-
riors’ Jessica Cheney would bring
them within two points of tak-
ing over with 7:14 left in the sec-
ond quarter. But Blue Mountain’s
Chloe Morrison would hit a 3 of
her own for a 12-point lead at 3:23.
Walla Walla won the quarter
19-18, but Blue Mountain was still
ahead 43-37 at the half.
Brooke Wheeler’s layup in the
early fourth quarter sparked a
six-point Blue Mountain run that
would keep the game away from
Walla Walla down the stretch. A
free throw from Morrison at 4:30
would give the Timberwolves a
14-point advantage — their most
substantial of the game.
The Timberwolves would go
on to outscore Walla Walla 15-8 to
secure the win.
“We played some pretty good
defense, but they (Walla Walla)
also missed some shots,” Driver
said. “That helped us out.”
Ammarae Broncheau posted
a team-high 17 points and shot 2
for 2 at the line for Blue Mountain.
Karlie Gerlinger followed with 15
points and a 6 of 8 performance
from the fi eld. Wheeler had 14,
and Morrison chipped in 13, with
four 3-pointers.
Despite the win, Blue Moun-
tain (3-14, 1-6 NWAC) is still at
the bottom of the East Region
standings. Walla Walla (14-5, 4-2
NWAC) remains in fourth.
They’ll shoot for their second
conference win on Saturday at Big
Bend in Moses Lake, Washington.
Men’s hoops
The Blue Mountain men
weren’t as fortunate.
The Timberwolves dropped to
2-5 in NWAC play after losing to
Walla Walla 124-66 on Wednes-
day night.
The Warriors knocked down 11
straight points in the opening two
minutes, and took two 10-point
runs in the fi rst half to claim the
See BMCC, Page B2
SPORTS SHORTS
Harden scores career-best 61 points
NEW YORK (AP) — James
Harden scored a career-high
61 points, tying Kobe Bryant’s
record for a visiting opponent
at the current Madison Square
Garden, and the Houston Rock-
ets edged the New York Knicks
114-110 on Wednesday night.
Harden made the clinching
layup with 3.8 seconds remain-
ing after the Knicks turned it
over, capping his fi fth 50-point
game this season and a wild
stretch of back-and-forth bas-
ketball across the fi nal minutes.
Eric Gordon made the
go-ahead 3-pointer with 9.8
seconds left when Houston
couldn’t get the ball to Harden,
the NBA’s leading scorer who
earlier had passed Wilt Cham-
berlain into fourth place in NBA
history with his 21st consecu-
tive 30-point game.
Harden fi nished 17 of 38
from the fl oor. He was only 5 of
20 on 3-pointers but was 22 of
25 from the line and grabbed
15 rebounds.
Carmelo Anthony holds the
overall record at the current
MSG with 62 points.
Rookie Allonzo Trier scored
a season-high 31 points for the
Knicks, who lost their seventh
straight game.
AP Photo/
Frank Franklin II