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THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022
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A8
Former Division I player Emmit Taylor III set to join EOU basketball
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Connections
you make in sports can last a lifetime.
For Emmit Taylor III, the Eastern
Oregon University men’s basketball
program is providing the opportu-
nity to rekindle past connections and
team up with former teammates —
the transfer guard previously played
with two of Eastern’s top returning
players, Phillip Malatare and Ismael
Valdez. The accom-
plished shooting
guard is leaving the
Division I ranks to
bring his perimeter
shooting prowess
to La Grande next
season.
Taylor
“Chris (Kemp)
has the team going in the right direc-
tion. He just needed a little more
pieces,” Taylor said. “I think I can
really come into Eastern Oregon and
have an impact right away.”
The graduate transfer, who has
one year of eligibility remaining,
comes to Eastern after playing last
season at Division I Idaho State.
Taylor averaged five points per
game, scoring in double fi gures off
the bench in fi ve games.
Prior to making the leap to the
Division I ranks, Taylor was a stand-
out at Northern Idaho College — he
averaged 13.9 points per game in the
2018 season off 42.9% shooting from
3-point range. Taylor scored a career-
high 46 points in a game that season,
hitting 12 3-pointers. In his soph-
omore year, he averaged 11 points
per game and shot 36.6% from long
range.
North Idaho College, where East-
ern head coach Chris Kemp was an
assistant for the 2016-17 season, has
several ties to Eastern that played a
role in Taylor’s decision to transfer.
The guard played two seasons with
Malatare and Valdez, two key play-
Curiosity leads to scholarship
Hermiston’s
Guerrero to
play lacrosse at
Adams State
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
H
ERMISTON — When
Andrew Guerrero and his
family moved to Hermiston
the summer before his fi fth
grade year, they lived across the
street from the Bradshaws, whose
son Carson was the same age.
One day, Guerrero saw Carson
playing lacrosse and thought it
looked fun. Seven years later, that
curiosity turned into a scholarship
for the Hermiston senior to play
lacrosse at Adams State Univer-
sity in Alamosa, Colorado.
“In fifth grade, we had a
really good coach who did play
in college and he pushed us and
told us we could do really good
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian, File
Hermiston’s Andrew Guerrero passes to a teammate during a win over Han-
ford on March 25, 2022, at Kennison Field, Hermiston. Guerrero will con-
tinue his lacrosse career at Adams State University in Alamosa, Colorado.
things in this sport,” Guerrero
said. “When I got to high school
and I was playing with the older
guys, I knew I could make it.”
While Adams State quickly
became Guerrero’s top choice, he
did his due diligence in researching
other schools — everything from
enrollment numbers and tuition
costs to their business programs
and athletic programs.
“I didn’t go visit any other
schools, but I did look into them
and the surrounding areas,” Guer-
rero said. “I love the outdoors and
there are a lot of things to do there.
The price range is really good for
a Div. II school. It ticked all the
boxes. When I visited, it was cold
and snowy, but the campus looked
nice and the coach (Jerome Austin)
was awesome.”
The Grizzlies, who play in the
Rocky Mountain Athletic Confer-
ence, have several underclassmen
on their roster this season, and are
off to a 1-5 start.
“Talking with the other fresh-
men coming in, they are looking
forward to playing and making
changes,” Guerrero said. “They
care about the sport. I’m super
confi dent in the 2022 class. I think
we have a lot of amazing athletes.”
See Guerrero, Page A9
ers in last year’s rotation at Eastern
— Malatare averaged 19.2 points per
game and was named to the NAIA
Honorable Mention All-American
team.
“I played with Ismael (Valdez)
and Phillip (Malatare) at North Idaho
and I knew Chris Kemp through my
coaches,” Taylor said. “I’m comfort-
able playing with those two, so we
have a pretty good chemistry. I think
See Taylor, Page A9
ON THE SLATE
THURSDAY, APRIL 21
Prep softball
Pendleton at The Dalles, 4:30 p.m.
Track and fi eld
Ione at Mt. Adams Invitational, Trout Lake,
3 p.m.
Prep tennis
Hermiston at Pasco, 3:30 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at McLoughlin, 3:30 p.m.
Sherman boys and girls at Pendleton, 3 p.m.
Riverside at Stanfi eld/Echo, 4:30 p.m.
FRIDAY, APRIL 22
Prep baseball
Joseph at Irrigon (2), 1 p.m.
Vale at Riverside (2), 1 p.m.
Burns at Umatilla (2), 1 p.m.
Hermiston at Hanford (2), 4 p.m.
Prep softball
Burns at Umatilla (2), 1 p.m.
Enterprise at Irrigon (2), 1 p.m.
Vale at Riverside (2), 1 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Echo/Stanfi eld (2), 2 p.m.
Union at Weston-McEwen (2), 2 p.m.
Hermiston at Chiawana (2), 4 p.m.
Boys soccer
Richland at Hermiston, 7 p.m.
Prep golf
Heppner, Echo at Union Invite, Buff alo Peak
Golf Club, 9 a.m.
Prep lacrosse
Kamiakin at Hermiston (AMMS), 7:30 p.m.
Track and fi eld
Hermiston at Oregon Relays, Hayward
Field, Eugene, TBD
Irrigon, Riverside at Wayne Invitational,
Vale, 2 p.m.