E AST O REGONIAN Friday, February 15, 2019 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS | FACEBOOK.COM/EOSPORTS B1 PREP ROUNDUP Pioneers advance in GOL districts after Ontario win East Oregonian after being postponed twice, the Mac-Hi boys were finally able to kick off their Greater Oregon League districts run, and it was worth the wait. The Pioneers came away with an easy 68-31 victory over their Ontario visitors on Thursday night. “We got off to a slow start,” said coach Jordan Poynor. “It was a tough first quarter.” The game was tied at 4-4 for the opening four minutes before Mac-Hi put it away 11-4. They took a 25-11 advan- tage at the half, and scored 43 points in the second half while Ontario managed just 20. Junior guard dareagan Stephens posted 18 points to lead Mac-Hi, and senior forward Zach Hodgen and junior guard alexis Pio each added 10. The No. 3 Pioneers (14-8, 3-3 GOL) travel to La Grande to challenge the No. 2 Tigers on Friday to continue forward in the district tournament. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m. Staff photo by Kathy Aney Pendleton swimmer Landry Huth will compete at the state championships this weekend in the 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke and two relays. SWIMMING TO STATE Girls hoops COVE 49, NIXYAAWII 48 — The Golden eagles ended their season with a heartbreaker at baker City High School. Nixyaawii dropped the first round of the Old Oregon League districts on Thursday night, finishing at No. 5 of 9 in the standings. Coach Jeremy Maddern said the game was “back and forth” the entire time. Nixyaawii held a six-point lead at half- time, and the game slipped away from them in the third quarter as Cove out- scored them 19-10. Nixyaawii chipped away at the lead in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t quite recover. “i’m happy we got to go to districts,” Maddern said. “That was important for this young team. We made tremendous progress that will only help us for next year.” Senior post ermia butler posted a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Golden eagles (12- 11, 5-7 OOL). Junior guards Lark Moses and Tristalynn Melton followed with 12 points each. PHS swimmer Landry Huth takes her record-setting skills to beaverton this weekend By BRETT KANE East Oregonian F or her last year on the Pendle- ton High School swim team, Landry Huth wants to leave behind a legacy. The team will travel to beaverton to compete in the 5a state champion- ships, with preliminaries starting on Friday afternoon. Huth, a three-time district champion, has gone every year since she was a freshman. And for her final year, she has a lot to tackle. “i’ve gone all four years,” said Huth, 17, of the upcoming competi- tion. “But this will be the first time i’ll be competing in four events.” This weekend, the PHS senior will compete in the 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle, and 200 freestyle relay, and the 100 breaststroke, where she’s the No. 7 seed. and when she swam at the inter- mountain Conference district swim- ming championships in Hood river last Friday, she took home four medals — gold in the 200 free- style (2:12.84), the 100 breaststroke (1:13.52), and the 200 free relay (1:50.50), and silver in the 200 relay medley (2:01.68). as if four district championship medals weren’t enough for her senior year, Huth also broke a record older than her at a district meet in baker City earlier this season. Kristie Scofield previously set the record for the women’s 100 breast- stroke back in 1996, clocking in at 1:12.49. Huth finished at 1:12.40. “Going into that meet, breaking that record was the only thing on No love for Dawgs on Valentine’s Day By BRETT KANE East Oregonian Hermiston-Kennewick game rescheduled for 6 p.m. Friday By ANNIE FOWLER East Oregonian Mother Nature broke the Hermiston bulldogs’ hearts on Valentine’s day. inclement weather and unsafe road conditions closed schools in Hermiston and Kennewick on Thursday, therefore canceling the bulldogs’ dis- trict 8 playoff game against the Lions for the fourth time. The teams will try to get their game played at 6 p.m. Friday in Hermiston. See Dawgs, Page B2 Staff photo by E.J. Harris, File Hermiston’s Jordan Ramirez splits Pasco defenders Moises Cuevas (32) and Nicholas Gutierrez during their December game in Hermiston. if the snow holds off, the third time will be the charm. Pendleton’s basket- ball teams were originally scheduled for rematches with Hood river Valley on Tuesday, but the win- try weather had different plans. both the boys and girls games were pushed to Wednesday, and then Thursday. but when the snow refused to let up, the bucks had to reschedule again and are now set to host the eagles on Monday. and even then, things seem uncertain. “it’s completely up in the air right now,” said Pendleton girls head coach Kevin Porter. “There are a whole lot of scenarios going around right now to salvage the rest of this league season.” right now, the inter- mountain Conference’s athletic directors are decid- ing between two options: play the season out (if the roads are drivable), or end the regular season with SPORTS SHORTS Alliance had conversation with Kaepernick a person with knowledge of the con- versation tells The associated Press that the new alliance of american Football spoke with Colin Kaepernick during its development about joining the league. but Kaepernick wanted $20 million or more to consider playing with the league See Huth, Page B2 bucks scheduled to take on Hood river Valley on Monday DISTRICT 8 HOOPS By BARRY WILNER AP Pro Football Writer my mind,” Huth said. “and i want to break it again.” She’ll get the chance to do just that this weekend. although Pend- leton went to state last season, they haven’t placed a swimmer in the final round since 2017. This year, they’re the No. 2 seed in the conference, and coach Tony Nelson thinks they stand a good chance of finishing strong. “Judging by the times we’ve posted this year, i think we’ll do a lot better,” Nelson said. “We have a really strong women’s team. Landry’s our fastest breakstroker, and she heads our relay teams. She keeps everyone centered and work- ing hard. it’s nice to have her leader- ship. She understands the magnitude of our situation.” that had its debut last weekend. The person spoke on condition of ano- nymity Thursday because neither side has publicly acknowledged such talks. The alliance says its mission is to pro- vide opportunities for players not in the NFL to continue their careers, with a possibility they could entice NFL teams to sign them once the aaF season con- cludes at the end of april. The league also approached Tim Tebow, who said he wanted to continue pursuing his base- ball career. Tebow currently is in the New york Mets’ spring training camp. a message from the aP to Kaeper- nick’s representatives was not imme- diately answered. AP Photo/Steven Senne, File Colin Kaepernick a district tournament. a decision will be reached today. Porter said his team has practiced just three times since the first snow fell, and were forced to cancel plenty more. it’s been eight days since either Pendleton varsity team has last played a game. and that doesn’t bode well for their Friday night intermountain Conference matchups against red- mond, which, as of Thurs- day evening, has yet to be See Bucks, Page B2