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Friday, May 17, 2019
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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