E AST O REGONIAN Friday, May 17, 2019 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS | FACEBOOK.COM/EOSPORTS B1 Staff photo by Kathy Aney Pendleton’s Katie Bradt and Bethany Flanagan will compete in the state tennis tournament this weekend in Portland. BRADT AND FLANAGAN TO MAKE STATE DEBUT Bucks tennis players will compete in this weekend’s 5A state tournament By BRETT KANE East Oregonian atie Bradt and Bethany Flanagan are headed to state for the first time ever. The Pendleton High School athletes are both singles players on the varsity tennis team — Flanagan is their No. 1 player, and Bradt is No. 2. Flanagan, a junior, has been with the Bucks since she was a freshman. Bradt, a senior, is in the midst of her second year on the team. They are the only two Bucks that will advance to this weekend’s 5A state tournament competition in Portland, and stiff competition is awaiting them. In the first round, Bradt is set to face Corvallis senior Anna Kern, a two-time state champ. “How many times in my life will I get to play the No. 1 girl in the state?” said Bradt, 17. “It’s a pretty cool opportunity. We don’t have a lot of players like that in our K Dillenburg named IMC girls tennis Coach of the Year district. It’ll be a good experience.” Bradt is going in unseeded after injuring her hamstring during a match against The Dalles’ Charel Gijzen last Saturday. Last year, she and Maureen Davies took fifth place in districts — one spot away from earning a trip to state. Now that she has been given the opportunity, Bradt does not plan on holding back. “My physical therapist says to play through the pain,” she said. “My plan is to give it all I have, because the injury’s not going away any time soon.” Bradt took down Crook County’s Olivia Coo- per, the No. 4 seed in the Intermountain Con- ference, to punch her ticket to state. She’s spent four years on the Bucks varsity basketball team, three in cross-country, and just two in tennis. All things considered, Bradt’s success on the court has surprised even herself. “I never thought I would make it to state,” she said. “My confidence has grown as the season went on, but going to state still seemed unobtainable. I try not to show too much emotion on the court, but when I found out I was going, I was so happy.” Rocky Dillenburg is no stranger to the Intermountain Con- ference Coach of the Year award. A longtime Pendleton athletics linchpin, he first received the honor as the Bucks’ boys soc- cer coach — a position that he held from 1992- 2003. He then led the girls soccer program from 2005-2013, and last Saturday, he was named the Intermountain Conference girls tennis coach of the year for the position that he’s held for the past 15 years. Rocky The award was presented at the IMC district Dillenburg tournament in Redmond. “It’s a good recognition,” said Dillenburg. “I think all of these coaches in the conference put in a lot of time with their teams, just like me.” But according to Dillenburg, this year’s honor belongs to more than just himself. He credits assistant coaches Mike See State, Page B2 See Coach, Page B2 By BRETT KANE East Oregonian Warriors rally from 15 down at halftime, hold off Blazers By JANIE MCCAULEY Associated Press Staff photo by Brett Kane Hayden Cissna (center) and his teammates celebrate signing his letter of in- tent to join the Treasure Valley Community College tennis team next season. Hermiston’s Hayden Cissna signs with the Chukars By BRETT KANE East Oregonian Tennis wasn’t Hayden Cissna’s first sport of choice. The Hermiston High School senior spent most of his child- hood playing in youth basketball programs. He also played football for grid kids and Armand Larive Middle School. It wasn’t until he was in eighth grade that he first picked up a racket. But on Thursday, Cissna offi- cially signed his letter of intent to play with the Treasure Valley Community College Chukars and take his career on the tennis court to the next level. He said he chose the Chukars because not only is the Ontario campus close to home, but it also offers on-site housing. And more importantly, it was his future team, coached by Mike Heleker, that drew him in. “I got to meet the coach and some of the team,” said Cissna, 17. “They were super nice and they were all great players. You could just see the support they have for each other.” It also helped that his tennis skills have earned him grants that will cover five of his six terms at Treasure Valley. See Signing, Page B2 OAKLAND, Calif. — Ste- phen Curry scored 37 points, and the Golden State Warriors rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit before holding off the Portland Trail Blazers for a 114-111 win Thursday night and a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals. CJ McCollum missed a driv- ing jumper with 32 seconds left and Draymond Green scored on the other end for the Warriors, giving Portland one final chance with 12.3 seconds to go. Andre Iguodala then blocked a 3-point attempt by Damian Lillard on the left wing. Seth Curry, Steph’s little brother, put Portland ahead on a 3-pointer with 1:03 left before Kevon Looney’s dunk on the other end put Golden State back on top at 112-111. Stephen Curry posted his third straight 30-point perfor- mance while Splash Brother Klay Thompson needed a half to heat up, scoring 13 of his 24 points in the Warriors’ 39-point third quar- ter — reminiscent of those old third-quarter outbursts that have long defined this group. McCollum scored 22 points for Portland and Lillard overcame AP Photo/Jeff Chiu Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, bottom, passes the ball as Portland Trail Blazers defend during the second half of Game 2 of the NBA basketball playoffs Western Conference finals in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday. a slow start to add 23 points and 10 assists as the Blazers looked far more in sync than in a 116-94 defeat two days earlier. Game 3 in the best-of-seven series is Saturday night at Portland. Green made a pretty bounce See Blazers, Page B2