E AST O REGONIAN
Tuesday, december 31, 2019
FOLLOW US ON
TWITTER @EOSPORTS |
FACEBOOK.COM/EOSPORTS
B1
Gonzaga stays No. 1 in men’s AP Top 25; UO into top 5
By JOHN MARSHALL
AP Basketball Writer
a light holiday schedule led to a rare
quiet week atop The associated Press
men’s college basketball poll.
Gonzaga remained at No. 1 for a sec-
ond straight week, receiving 63 first-place
votes from a 65-member panel in the poll
released monday. No. 2 duke and No. 3
Kansas each had one first-place vote, with
Oregon and Ohio state rounding out the top
five.
The AP Top 25 had been filled with
tumult during a 2019-20 season of parity,
with six different teams moving to No. 1
before christmas. That’s one short of the
AP Photo/Young Kwak
Gonzaga forward Corey Kispert, left, shoots
and is fouled by Eastern Washington forward
Mason Peatling during the second half of a
Dec. 21, 2019, game in Spokane, Wash. Gon-
zaga won 112-77.
all-time record of seven, set in 1982-83.
The quiet time between christmas and
New year’s day offered a bit of stability.
The Zags (13-1) did not play last week
during a Top 25 schedule filled with lop-
sided games and just two matchups between
ranked teams.
Ohio state dropped three places after
losing 67-59 to West Virginia, which
climbed six places to No. 16.
Louisville was down four places to
No. 7 following a 78-70 loss to Kentucky.
The Wildcats climbed two places to No. 19.
Nearly every other game involving Top
25 teams was decided by double digits.
Gonzaga, which has not played since
beating eastern Washington 112-77 on
dec. 21, has games against detroit mercy
and Portland this week.
Soaring Ducks
Oregon entered the season loaded with
expectations behind do-everything guard
Payton Pritchard and another stellar recruit-
ing class landed by coach dana altman.
The ducks (11-2) have lived up to the
hype, their only losses coming in back-to-
back games against Gonzaga and North
carolina at the battle 4 atlantis in the
bahamas.
Oregon has wins over three ranked
teams and blew out alabama state 98-59 on
ROCKETS BLOW
OUT GRIZZLIES
See Gonzaga, Page B2
PREP ROUNDUP
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Echo’s Rachel McCarty (4) drives
towards the basket during the first
period against the Spartans. The
Echo Cougars defeated the Pine Ea-
gle Spartans 54-37 at the Bouncin’
Cancer Tournament at Echo High
School on Saturday afternoon.
Bucks go 2-1
at Oregon
Holiday
Hoopfest
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Pilot Rock’s Jimmy Jones (0) leaps towards the net for a layup against the Grizzlies. The Pilot Rock Rockets defeated the Helix Grizzlies
82-47 at the Bouncin’ Cancer Tournament at Echo High School Saturday afternoon.
Pilot Rock improves to 10-0 with win over Helix
at Echo’s Bouncin’ Cancer Tournament
By BRETT KANE
East Oregonian
E
cHO — When the season began,
first-year Pilot Rock coach Tyler
Zyph set a goal for his team —
an undefeated preseason.
On saturday, that goal was met.
The Pilot Rock boys finished their
program’s first showing at Echo’s
bouncin’ cancer basketball tournament
with a massive 82-47 win over Helix to
improve to 10-0 on the season before
blue mountain conference action tips
off on Friday.
The tournament raises funds for can-
cer patients and survivors across the
community.
“The goal was to come out and win
every preseason game,” Zyph said.
“We’re 10-0 before the league starts. but
now, we’re starting over. We’re 0-0. I’m
super proud of these guys for competing
and sticking with it. I’m super excited for
them. cancer is something that affects
everyone. The kids get to do what they
love and support a greater cause.”
The Grizzles took two brief leads
See Rockets, Page B2
Oregon QB Herbert caps stellar career in his first Rose Bowl
By GREG BEACHAM
Associated Press
PasadeNa, calif. — Justin
Herbert wasn’t dreaming of roses
when he decided to return for his
senior season at Oregon.
The star quarterback had
plenty of reasons for postpon-
ing his opportunity to be a prob-
able first-round pick in the NFL
draft. The eugene native adores
his school, and he craved another
chance to chase the Pac-12 title
and a national championship with
his teammates and in front of his
friends and family.
Herbert got that first Pac-12
championship this month, but the
ducks (11-2) barely missed out on
the college Football Playoff. That
left Oregon in the rose bowl,
which loomed for generations as
the ultimate reward for a West
coast team’s best seasons.
but when asked monday if he
would have been disappointed to
never play in the Granddaddy of
Them all, Herbert swiftly replied:
“No, I don’t think I would have.”
Instead, he considers himself
fortunate for simply “being around
some of the best people in the
world” in his last year at Oregon.
“These teammates, they’re
great, and the coaches, and just
the overall experience,” he added.
“Playing duck football is every-
thing I’ve ever wanted to do, and
beNd — rebounding from
Friday’s tourney-opening loss,
the Pendleton girls overcame a
first-quarter deficit to rally for a
53-35 win saturday over roseburg
at the Oregon Holiday Hoopfest at
mountain View High school.
sunday, the bucks beat Putnam
50-31 to finish the tournament.
“roseburg came out of the
gates on fire,” Pendleton head
coach Kevin Porter said. “but from
that point on, we took over the
game. We really picked things up
defensively.”
roseburg held a 17-9 lead at the
end of the first quarter on Saturday,
but the bucks grabbed 19 steals,
and cloe Taber led with 18 points
as Pendleton rallied for the win.
Natalie Neveau followed with
12 points, and daisy Jenness had
a double-double with 11 points and
10 rebounds. Sami Spriet finished
with nine rebounds.
The bucks trailed 11-10 against
Putnam on sunday, but poured in
19 points in the final quarter to get
the win. Jenness and Neveau each
posted 15 points to lead the way.
Jenness also got 16 rebounds.
“We learned a lot about our-
selves in this tournament,” Porter
said. “It’s still the preseason, so
we make some mistakes and we do
some really good things. I really
appreciate how coachable these
girls are. They work extremely
hard.”
Pendleton (6-4) hosts La Grande
at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 7.
Girls hoops
it’s a year that I’ll never get back in
my life. To be around the facility,
even to be in the weight room, to
be in the cafeteria, it’s the best time
of my life.”
To be in Pasadena is just a
bonus. but Herbert intends to cash
it in.
The seventh-ranked ducks
face No. 11 Wisconsin (10-3) on
Wednesday in a compelling clash
ECHO 54, PINE EAGLE 37 —
The cougars closed their bouncin’
cancer Tournament with a two-
game win streak after taking down
the spartans on saturday.
Tylene skillman posted a game-
high 20 points to lead the way, and
Faith mccarty followed with 16.
echo (6-4) hosts dufur at 6 p.m.
Friday to open big sky League play.
See Herbert, Page B3
See Prep roundup, Page B2