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E AST O REGONIAN SATURDAY, JANUARY 4, 2020 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS | FACEBOOK.COM/EOSPORTS B1 Lillard, McCollum lead Trail Blazers past Wizards, 122-103 By HARVEY VALENTINE Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Wash- ington Wizards were already short- handed, then lost Isaiah Thomas not even 90 seconds into the game when he was ejected for making contact with a referee. That left them too depleted to keep up with the Portland Trail Blaz- ers and their potent backcourt. Damian Lillard scored 35 points, CJ McCollum added 24 and the Trail Blazers beat the Wizards 122-103 on Friday night to snap a fi ve-game los- ing streak. Hassan Whiteside added 23 points, 21 rebounds and fi ve blocks for Portland. “A lot of winnable games we kind of squandered, so this was one we needed to get,” McColllum said after he and Lillard bounced back from combined 11-of-36 shooting in a loss to the Knicks. “Now we’ve got to move forward.” Thomas was tied up along the sideline by Portland’s Carmelo Anthony. As he broke away from Anthony he made contact with ref- eree Marat Kogut, who stumbled. Thomas was throw out with 10:32 left in the opening quarter. “He made physical contact with the referee,” referee Mark Ayotte said in a pool report. “It was defi - nitely just a push during the dead ball contact with the referee.” Wizards coach Scott Brooks thought the contact was accidental. “I mean I had a different view of it obviously,” he said. “They were in a scrum and they were fi ghting for the ball, a jump ball. I had a view that it looked like he lost his balance but (Kogut) had a better view and then they looked at it. They looked at it so you would hope they made the right call.” Thomas wasn’t in the locker room after the game. “I didn’t really pay much atten- tion to the contact and I was standing right there,” Lillard said. “I thought he just fell into him. And that was it. They reviewed it and they kind of stood their ground on it. So I guess what they thought happened, happened.” Thomas received a two-game suspension after walking into the stands to confront two fans follow- ing a timeout in Philadelphia on Dec. 21. Jordan McRae scored a sea- son-high 35 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, for Washington. See Blazers, Page B2 PREP ROUNDUP MCC PREP BASKETBALL DAWGS CRUISE PAST SUNS FOR FIRST MCC WIN Heideman and Young combine for 23 points in Hermiston’s 57-31 win By ANNIE FOWLER East Oregonian Mustangs stampede through TigerScots East Oregonian K ENNEWICK, Wash. — Kate- lyn Heideman scored 12 points, and Hermiston used a tough full-court press to shut down Southridge 57-31 in Mid-Columbia Con- ference action Friday night. It was the fi rst conference win for the Bulldogs (4-4, 1-3 MCC), who also got 11 points from Kaylee Young. “We opened up with probably the top three teams in the league,” Hermiston coach Maloree Moss said of Kennewick, Chiawana and Pasco. “The whole confer- ence is tough. That is a challenge. They muscled us around a bit. The Lewiston game helped us get a little momentum.” The Suns (3-6, 0-5 MCC) were right in the game with the Bulldogs at the end of the fi rst quarter, trailing 14-8, but once the Bulldogs slapped on their man-to- man full-court press, thing went down hill pretty fast. Hermiston went on a 10-5 run in the second to take a 24-13 lead at the half, but it was a 21-8 scoring spree by the Bulldogs in the third that separated the two teams for good. The Suns, who pulled within 16-13 at 5:49 of the second quarter, did not score again until the third quarter. “Once we put on our man press, they had trouble,” Moss said. “We did a good job of reading passes. Jazlyn (Romero) was See Girls, Page B2 Staff photo by Kathy Aney Jazlyn Romero (22), of Hermiston, goes up for a shot as Southridge defender Nadine French tries to block during Friday’s Mid-Columbia Conference game in Kennewick, Wash. HERMISTON 14 10 21 12 — 57 SOUTHRIDGE 8 5 8 10 — 31 Girls hoops The teams traded the lead throughout the quarter, with the Suns (2-7, 1-4 MCC) com- ing out on top 14-13 after 8 minutes of play. Ruloph had 10 of his team-high 19 points in the fi rst quarter. The Bulldogs welcomed Chase Elliott to the fl oor with 1:39 remaining in the fi rst quarter. Elliott broke his leg Sept. 6, 2019, against Pasco in the fi rst football game of the season. He fi nished with two points. ECHO 53, DUFUR 48 — Faith McCarty scored a team-best 15 points, and Sydney Bracher and Tylene Skillman each had 11 as the Cougars escaped Dufur for a Big Sky League-opening home win on Friday. Echo (7-4, 1-0 BSL) visits South Wasco County on Saturday at 2 p.m. MAC-HI 42, CASCADE 41 — The Pioneers (7-6) clinched a see- saw contest over the Cougars at the second day of the Banks Winter Shootout Tournament on Friday. Leading 42-39 with 13 seconds left to play, the Pioneers made a crucial defensive stop to hold on for their third win in the last fi ve games. Mac-Hi will challenge Molalla in their fi nal showing on the tour- nament Saturday at 2 p.m. STANFIELD 46, GRANT UNION 19 — A 14-2 run in the third quarter sealed a Blue Mountain Conference-opening home victory as Stanfi eld swiftly defeated the visiting Prospectors on Friday. See Boys, Page B2 See Prep roundup, Page B2 HERMISTON — Heideman 12, K.Young 11, Ray 5, Seavert 2, Kessell 6, Dowdy 5, Hernandez 6, Romero 8, B.Young 2. SOUTHRIDGE — Ball 2, Crum 6, Connors 4, Smith 2, James 1, French 9, Brooks 2, Molt 5. Hermiston falls short against Southridge Jaiden Ruloph leads Bulldogs with 19 points in 54-44 loss HERMISTON 13 9 4 18 — 44 SOUTHRIDGE 14 14 11 15 — 54 HERMISTON — Ruloph 19, Pitney 5, Elliott 2, Ramos-Barron 10, Madrigal 8. SOUTHRIDGE — Marines 4, Brown 2, Stevens 5, Smith 28, Perry 2, Stillwell 5, Lopia 8. By ANNIE FOWLER East Oregonian K ENNEWICK, Wash. — Hermiston coach Drew Preuninger knows his team does not have an inside pres- ence to combat the likes of Southridge’s 6-foot-6 Tristan Smith, but he does expect the Bulldogs to implement their game plan. Smith torched the Bulldogs for 28 points Friday night in leading the Suns to a 54-44 Mid-Columbia Conference win over the Bulldogs. It was Southridge’s fi rst MCC win. “I feel we could have been tougher,” Pre- uninger said. “We didn’t front players, we Hermiston (2-6, 1-3 MCC) opened the game with a 5-0 lead, courtesy of Jaiden Ruloph. Staff photo by Kathy Aney Hermiston’s Jaiden Ruloph shoots during Friday’s MCC against Southridge in Kenne- wick, Wash. ATHENA — The Heppner girls posted a game-best 20 points in the fi rst quarter and held their Weston-McEwen hosts to eight points or fewer per quarter as they knocked down a 51-29 win to open Blue Mountain Conference bas- ketball action on Friday. Sydney Wilson led the Mus- tangs with 26 points on the night, shot 10-for-15 inside the arc, and 3-for-5 from beyond to aid in the win. Madison Ashbeck followed with 10, and ZaBrena Masterson nine. The TigerScots got 12 points from Trinity Hearn, but could only manage seven points for the fi rst, second, and fourth quarters, and eight in the third. They outscored the Mustangs 7-6 in the fi nal eight minutes, but could not overcome their early defi cit. Heppner (7-2, 1-0 BMC) hosts Irrigon in nonleague play Sat- urday at 4 p.m. Meanwhile, Weston-McEwen (1-10, 0-1 BMC) will visit Imbler for a nonleague game. SPORTS SHORTS Washington RB Salvon Ahmed declares for NFL draft Associated Press SEATTLE — Washington running back Salvon Ahmed is leaving school and entering the NFL draft following a junior sea- son during which he was the Hus- kies’ leading rusher. Ahmed ran for 1,020 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. He served as a backup to Myles Gas- kin for his fi rst two seasons before moving into the starting role this year. Ahmed averaged 5.4 yards per carry this season and 5.7 yards per attempt for his career. Ahmed played in 39 games overall and fi nished with 2,016 yards rushing and 21 touchdowns. “I want to thank Salvon for all of the hard work he has put in, both on and off the fi eld,” Wash- ington coach Jimmy Lake said in a statement. “He was a great example of what Husky Foot- ball is all about, and I’m sure that he’ll have plenty of success in the future.” Ahmed is the third Washing- ton offensive player to declare early for the NFL draft, joining quarterback Jacob Eason and tight end Hunter Bryant. Washington running back Salvon Ahmed (26) carries the ball during the second half of the Las Vegas Bowl NCAA college football game at Sam Boyd Sta- dium on Dec. 21, 2019, in Las Vegas. AP Photo/Steve Marcus, File
