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Thursday, January 6, 2022
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HAPPINESS IN HER OWN BACKYARD
mountain Conference honorable
mention team.
The Bucks posted their first
10-win season in school history,
finishing with an 11-4-1 overall
record, and 7-2-1 in IMC play. Pend-
leton won its first-ever state playoff
game on nov. 2, beating Thurston
2-1. The Bucks then lost to La salle
in the quarterfinals.
“This season was special,”
youncs said. “I don’t think a lot of
people look at girls soccer being a
top sport. We never had fans come to
our games. When we had our home
playoff game, there were so many
people and it was so loud and a lot
of fun. The team is so close, and I
have made so many close friend-
ships with them.”
Pendleton’s Brielle
Youncs inks deal to
play soccer for BMCC
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
P
EndLETOn — some-
times our friends can lead
us down the wrong path.
For Brielle youncs, her best
friend led her to the soccer
field, and the Pendleton senior has
reaped the rewards.
youncs signed a letter of intent
on dec. 5, to play soccer at Blue
Mountain Community College.
“I wanted to stay local,” said
youncs, who wants to major in
elementary education. “I have a job
at (Dutch Bros. Coffee) that I really
like, and I’m a really big family
person. I wanted to stay close to
home. Jordan (Hillmick) has a good
program for it being kind of brand
new. I think the program at BMCC
has a really good atmosphere.”
hillmick is excited to add another
local player to his roster. Blue Moun-
tain also has players from hermis-
ton, riverside and Irrigon.
“she is super athletic, just a raw
athlete in general,” hillmick said of
youncs. “she is very quick. I got to
watch her develop over the past two
years. It’s super exciting to pluck
someone out of your own backyard.”
BMCC, which just finished
its sixth season in the northwest
athletic Conference, still is building
its program. The pandemic wiped
out one season, and this past fall, the
Timberwolves played just 12 games.
A family of athletes
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Pendleton’s Brielle Youncs (14) chases down a ball amid a crowd of players during the second half in March 2021
against the Eagles. Youncs signed a letter of intent on Dec. 5 to play soccer at Blue Mountain Community Col-
lege, Pendleton.
“We are building the program
little by little,” hillmick said.
“Brielle is a tireless worker, she
wants pointers on what to work on.
I love to see that. Even when things
didn’t go her way, she got after it.
she’s also an extremely nice person
and a great student.”
youncs, who also plays basket-
ball and softball, had a void in her
fall schedule. Pendleton soccer
coach Kiana rickman asked her if
she played a fall sport. her answer
was no.
That’s when former Pendleton
goalkeeper Lindsey Pasena-Little-
sky stepped in.
“When I was choosing between
cross-country and soccer, I wanted
to run for purpose,” youncs said.
“Lindsey and I have been best
friends since kindergarten. she got
me into playing soccer. I played
when I was really little, but I hadn’t
played since grade school. I have no
regrets.”
a defender, youncs was part
of the Bucks’ defense that limited
opposing teams to an average 1.5
goals per game.
youncs, who played left back,
stopped two corner kick shots this
season. she was named to the Inter-
Leading the way
ON THE SLATE
Schedules subject to change
THURSDAY, JAN. 6
Transfers Phillip Malatare, Xavier Lovelace
carry load for injury-plagued Mountaineers
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
La GrandE — Two new
names have quickly become the
focal points for the Eastern Oregon
university men’s basketball team.
after a season-ending injury just
four games into the year, the days of
Max McCullough leading the stat
sheets with 30 points are no longer
feasible this season. Faced with
replacing the program’s all-time
leading scorer, Eastern has relied
on transfers Phillip Malatare and
Xavier Lovelace to lead the way.
“It was tough coming into a new
team and trying to figure out how
everyone plays, but I think right
away me and (Xavier) connected
really well on the court,” Malatare
said. “I think the more games we get
under our belts, the more comfort-
able we’ll get with each other. But,
we’re just trying to get everyone
involved — it takes all 10 of us to
really make a difference.”
points per game.
Lovelace noted that being thrust
into a primary role helped speed up
the trust-building process with new
teammates.
“I think just leading by exam-
ple has helped both of us. When-
ever you do say something and you
tend to do it, everybody else tries to
follow that lead,” he said. “For us
newcomers that was a big step —
we had to be able to do it before we
could tell anybody to do anything.”
The duo has quickly become a
key part of the new identity East-
ern is working to establish, making
the best of injuries and personnel.
Lovelace’s rebounding prowess
along with Malatare’s efficient ball
handling and and ability to drive to
the basket create a balanced effort
for the Mountaineers.
“We’ve been figuring out how
to play with each other,” Lovelace
said. “I think his strengths and my
strengths really complement each
other.”
New roles
Building toward success
Injuries to McCullough and
guard Paul Pennington have had a
huge impact on Eastern, but they
have also affected each current
player’s role. Malatare joined
the program from north Idaho,
where he averaged 10.2 points per
game and four assists per contest.
Coming into the program, his role
was intended to be a primary ball
handler in order to play McCullough
off the ball — now Malatare finds
himself as the team’s leading scorer,
averaging 19 points per game. he
also leads the team with 3.4 assists
per game, 22 steals on the season
and is second on the Mountaineers
with 5.8 rebounds per game.
“This year I’ve had to pick up the
scoring a lot more, as well as with
(Xavier),” Malatare said. “I think
it’s game-by-game though, each
game there might be a different guy
that steps up.”
Lovelace also has seen an
increased role, serving as the team’s
top rebounder. The sophomore
averages a 8.7 rebounds per game
and is second on the team with 13
For Malatare, a more conven-
tional schedule of conference
games in the second half of the
season offers the chance for East-
ern to build consistency. The
Mountaineers played nine straight
road games in the early part of the
season, including two exhibitions
against nCaa division I oppo-
nents
“We’re definitely a long way
from peaking,” Malatare said. “I
think once we get games every
weekend we’ll find a rhythm as the
second part of the season goes on.
I think we’re going to make a big
run.”
Both Malatare and Love-
lace noted that Eastern’s diffi-
cult nonconference slate of games
this year prepared the team well,
through trial by fire.
“I think those were great games
in order to see where we are and
what we can be,” Lovelace said. “We
competed for a little while against
Idaho state, which showed us that
we can compete with anybody and
that we can be a great team.”
youncs’ dad, roger, was a stand-
out football, basketball and track
athlete at Weston-McEwen high
school, while her mom, Jeanine,
was a star basketball player at Pend-
leton high school.
“Basketball was her favorite
sport,” youncs said of her mom.
“I have played basketball since I
was little, and I do like it. I’ve been
playing with the same girls since
we were little. We’ve had a really,
really tough preseason this year, but
it’s making us better.”
youncs, who is the catcher on
the Pendleton softball team, was an
honorable mention selection by the
IMC coaches as a junior.
“I have played softball since I
was little, and travel softball since I
was in the third grade,” youncs said.
“I was kind of burned out. I really
fell in love with soccer. I fell in love
with our team.”
Prep girls bowling
Hermiston at Kamiakin, 2:30 p.m.
FRIDAY, JAN. 7
Prep girls basketball
Kennewick at Hermiston, 5:45 p.m.
Vale at Irrigon, 6 p.m.
Nyssa at Riverside, 6 p.m.
Union at Heppner, 6 p.m.
Stanfield at Pilot Rock, 6 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Imbler 6 p.m.
Griswold at Cove, 6 p.m.
Sherman at Echo, 6 p.m.
Ione/Arlington at Condon, 6 p.m.
La Salle at Pendleton, 6:30 p.m.
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File
Eastern Oregon University’s Xavier Lovelace makes a drive toward the
basket Oct. 30, 2021, during the second half of the game against Montana
Western University at Quinn Coliseum, La Grande. The sophomore from
Sacramento, California, has 15 rebounds on the season.
Prep boys basketball
Pendleton at La Salle, 7:15 p.m.
Kennewick at Hermiston, 7:30 p.m.
Vale at Irrigon, 7:30 p.m.
Nyssa at Riverside, 7:30 p.m.
Union at Heppner, 7:30 p.m.
Stanfield at Pilot Rock, 7:30 p.m.
Griswold at Cove, 7:30 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Imbler, 7:30 p.m.
Sherman at Echo, 7:30 p.m.
Ione/Arlington at Condon, 7:30 p.m.
College women’s basketball
EOU vs. Warner Pacific, 5:30 p.m.
College men’s basketball
EOU vs. Warner Pacific, 7:30 p.m.
Preps boys wrestling
Echo/Stanfield, Heppner/Ione, Riverside at
Jo-Hi Invitational, noon
Hermiston at Rollie Lane, Nampa, Idaho, TBD
College men’s wrestling
EOU at Arizona Christian, 4 p.m.
SATURDAY, JAN. 8
Prep girls basketball
McLoughlin at Ontario, 3 p.m.
Heppner at Grant Union, 4 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Union, 4 p.m.
Elgin at Nixyaawii, 4 p.m.
Echo at Bickleton, 4 p.m.
Spray/Mitchell/Wheeler at Ione/Arlington,
4 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Stanfield, 4 p.m.
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File
Eastern Oregon University’s Phillip Malatare drives to the basket during
the first half of the game Oct. 30, 2021, against Montana Western Univer-
sity at Quinn Coliseum, La Grande. Malatare is the team’s leading scorer,
averaging 19 points per game.
Lovelace emphasized that the
team stresses looking at ways to
improve after losses. Eastern lost
by three points to no. 18 College
of Idaho and four points to no. 17
LC state. Malatare stated that as
the team focuses to improve on
mistakes and grows closer as a
unit, those tight losses against top
competition can easily swing to
victories later in the season.
“We try to find little things that
we can do better after close losses.
If we do that, I think we will win
games,” Malatare said. “
While the duo has quickly
become the one-two punch for
the Mountaineers this season,
the expectations are to continue
improving. Eastern is 8-7 and 2-5
in conference play, leaving 15
conference matchups in the season
to determine the team’s potential.
“It’s still very much a work in
progress,” Lovelace said. “We’re
still not even close to where we
want to be or where we could be,
but I think we’re on the right track.
I think we’re working toward some-
thing really special.”
Eastern plays 10 conference
games in a jam-packed month of
January, which will go a long way
toward defining the season.
Prep boys basketball
Weston-McEwen at Stanfield, 4 p.m.
McLoughlin at Ontario, 4:30 p.m.
Heppner at Grant Union, 5:30 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Union, 5:30 p.m.
Elgin at Nixyaawii, 5:30 p.m.
Echo at Bickleton, 5:30 p.m.
Spray/Mitchell/Wheeler at Ione/Arlington,
5:30 p.m.
College women’s basketball
EOU vs. Multnomah, 3 p.m.
College men’s basketball
EOU vs. Multnomah, 5 p.m.
Preps boys wrestling
Echo/Stanfield, Heppner/Ione, Riverside at
Jo-Hi Invitational, noon
Hermiston at Rollie Lane, Nampa, Idaho, TBD
College men’s wrestling
EOU at Embry-Riddle (Arizona), 6 p.m.
Prep swimming
Pendleton at Jay Rowen Invite, Redmond,
TBD
MONDAY, JAN. 10
Prep girls basketball
Stanfield at Enterprise, 5 p.m.
Prep boys basketball
Stanfield at Enterprise, 6:30 p.m.