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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 20, 2019)
BAKER CITY HERALD — 7A FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2019 OREGON STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL Beavers win seventh straight OREGON MEN’S BASKETBALL Ducks’ 5-star center has strong debut in 81-48 win over Montana EUGENE (AP) — Oregon suddenly looks bigger, and potentially even stronger. The eighth-ranked Ducks made a signifi cant addition to their lineup Wednesday night as 6-foot-11 N’Faly Dante played his fi rst college game and scored 11 points during an 81-48 win over Montana. “He’s just a dominant big,” said Oregon sophomore Will Richardson, who played against Dante in high school. “Any time he steps on the court, even if he’s not scoring a lot, he’s going to make his presence felt.” The much-anticipated debut of Oregon’s top fresh- man recruit probably wasn’t needed against the Grizzlies (4-6), but the Ducks want Dante comfortable with his role before Pac-12 play begins in two weeks. Oregon (9-2) has two more nonconference games. “I didn’t know what to think,” Ducks coach Dana Alt- man said. “He’s practiced OK other than his conditioning. ... I thought he could come out and give us a few minutes. “You can see his natural talent and I think as he gets in shape and (learns) more of our sets,” his contributions will increase. Francis Okoro, a 6-9 sopho- more who had been Oregon’s tallest player, posted the second double-double of his career with 12 points and 17 rebounds, the latter a career high while he matched his career best for scoring. Rich- ardson and Payton Pritchard led the Ducks with 14 points each, and Pritchard added seven assists. Okoro and Dante were never on the court together Wednesday, but Altman envi- sions that possibility. “It’s going to help Francis a lot,” Richardson said. “They work well together. “Now we’ve got two physical big men. It’s going to make us a lot better.” Dante would have been a high school senior this year but the native of Mali reclas- sifi ed over the summer to go to college. He wasn’t cleared for eligibility in time to enroll for the fall term but when that ended last Friday, he offi cially became a student for winter term, though classes don’t begin until Jan. 6. Dante didn’t play Saturday in Oregon’s road win at No. 5 Michigan because he hadn’t practiced with the Ducks, but after a couple of days of workouts he was in uniform Wednesday. He immediately made an impact. The Ducks scored 11 con- secutive points to break away from the last tie at 12-all. That spurt included the fi rst two Oregon points for Dante, who entered the game with 7:50 left in the fi rst half and promptly scored seven points in three minutes. Dante converted a pair of lob passes for dunks, the sec- ond one when he was fouled and hit the free throw for a three-point play. He fi nished the fi rst half with nine points, equaling Okoro’s total as the Ducks dominated inside. The two big men combined to go 8 of 9 from the fi eld as the Ducks shot 52% to lead 37-24 at halftime. Oregon gradually expand- ed the lead in the second half and ended up shooting 54% from the fl oor. “I like what we’re doing,” Altman said. “We’ve just got to keep taking steps in the right direction.” Montana could never fi nd its groove on offense, shoot- ing 37% while committing 20 turnovers. Kendal Manuel led the Grizzlies with 15 points. Lillard, McCollum lead Blazers to win By Eric García Gundersen Associated Press PORTLAND — The Portland Trail Blazers aren’t concerned about style points. A mid-December win was enough — tight as it felt against the team with the NBA’s worst record. Damian Lillard had 31 points and a season-high 13 assists, Hassan White- side grabbed 23 rebounds and the Trail Blazers beat the Golden State Warriors 122-112 Wednesday night. CJ McCollum scored 30 points and Carmelo Anthony added 17 for Portland. Whiteside also scored 16 points. “Tonight was just one of those nights,” Anthony said. “It was a physical game, a game that we had to win no matter what. We did that. We need to fi nd a groove, just a rhythm amongst the team and string some wins together.” After starting the season 4-8, Portland is 12-16 and only a half-game back of the Sacramento Kings for eighth place in the Western Conference standings. “It was an emotional roller coaster ride,” McCollum said. “We gave up a ton of offensive rebounds, lots of 3s in transi- tion, but we tightened up in the fourth quarter. We did a better job of getting stops and running out.” McCollum, Anthony and Lillard combined for 78 points a game after combining for 80 in a win at Phoenix. Anthony thinks he’s settling into his role as the team’s third option. “I’m just playing off of those guys,” Anthony said. “I’m letting them do what they do and I get to take advantage of what’s left and the opportunities that’s out there. That’s all I’ve been doing.” D’Angelo Russell led Golden State with 26 points and seven assists. War- riors coach Steve Kerr was pleased with his team’s effort. “The effort was great, we did a lot of good things,” Kerr said. “I like the way we executed offensively, but we had too many breakdowns defensively.” Lillard set the tone in the fi rst quar- ter. Going against the team he grew up rooting for, Lillard had 16 points and fi ve assists in the opening quarter to help the Blazers build a 40-29 halftime lead. The Warriors still showed plenty of fi ght even though they entered Wednes- day with the worst record in the NBA. After trailing by 13, the Warriors led 66-65 late in the fi rst half after a 3-pointer by Eric Pascall. Golden State had a 27-11 advantage in second-chance points and went 16 for 38 from the 3-point line. A driving layup by Lillard got Port- land a 67-66 lead heading into halftime. HOUSTON (AP) — Oregon State is off to its best start in 35 years and has its depth to thank for it. Ethan Thompson and Kylor Kelley each scored 23 points and Oregon State beat Texas-San Antonio 88-78 on Wednesday night for its seventh straight win. Thompson shot 8 of 11 from the fi eld, and Kelley was 7 of 8 as Oregon State (9-1) shot 56% overall and made 25 of 39 free throws. “We’ve always talked about the strength of this team is our depth,” Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle said. “No one person carries us. ... It’s nice that there’s always other guys there when some guys aren’t on their best.” Tres Tinkle fi nished with 11 points, and Sean Miller- Moore had 10 for Oregon State. “We knew their focus was going to be to try to take Tres and Ethan out of the game,” Wayne Tinkle said. “We challenged our other guys to step up. Kylor really did, and then Ethan took over a couple times each half for us. That’s what veteran leaders do, and these guys did a good job.” The Beavers’ 9-1 start is their best since the 1984-85 season when they started 15-1. Their seventh straight win was a fi rst since doing so in 1992-93. “The record shows that we are able to close out some games even if we aren’t playing at our best for the whole 40 minutes,” Thompson said. “I think it shows the maturity of our team, and we are confi dent going down the stretch later in the season in close games, that our team will come out on top.” Jhivvan Jackson, who came in as the nation’s lead- ing scorer at 25.2 points a game, scored 20 of his 28 points in the second half and fi nished 10-of-21 shooting for the Roadrunners (4-7). OREGON STATE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL OSU still unbeaten By Kalani Takase Associated Press LAHAINA, Hawaii — It was evident early that No. 4 Oregon State planned to make the most of its distinct size advantage over Northern Arizona. Freshman center Taylor Jones had a double-double by halftime and the Beavers pulled away from the Lumberjacks for a 91-57 victory Wednesday night in the Maui Jim Maui Classic. Oregon State (10-0) never trailed and led Northern Arizona (2-6) by as many as 34 points. The 6-foot-4 Jones had 17 points and 10 rebounds in the fi rst half. She fi nished with a career-best 25 points on 12-of-18 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds, including seven offensive boards. “We knew that (the Lumberjacks) could give us a lot in the post, just because of the size difference, and so we wanted to capitalize on that and I think our guards did a really good job of getting the ball into the posts and the posts did a good job of fi nishing,” Jones said. The Beavers scored on their fi rst fi ve possessions, including three consecutive baskets inside by Jones, to take an early 12-2 lead that was never threatened. COLLEGE BASKETBALL Utah upsets No. 6 Kentucky Wildcats By W.G. Ramirez Associated Press LAS VEGAS — Timmy Allen has dedicated every game he’s played to his mother since losing her to cancer in 2016. He gave her something special Wednesday night — at a contest benefi ting Coaches vs. Cancer, no less. Allen hit a tiebreaking fl oater with 1:14 left to help Utah dodge a rousing come- back try by No. 6 Kentucky for a 69-66 upset. The Utes sophomore, who has a tattoo on his arm and messages written on his shoe memo- rializing his mother, Elise, said his mind went straight to her. “I told her this game was for her today, and I’m glad I lived up to it,” said Allen, who had 25 points and nine rebounds. The Wildcats (8-2) used a 27-10 run to tie it at 68 on Ashton Hagans’ dunk with 1:43 remaining, but Allen put the Utes (9-2) back ahead with his step-back, right- handed fl oater over Nick Richards. “It was tough, but that’s the stuff I work on,” Allen said. “I’m not surprised I made it, but I had a 6-foot-11 guy right there, so getting it over him was tough, he’s a big, physical presence. But that’s the stuff I work on.” Kentucky, which had held its last four opponents to 58 or fewer points, got off three more shots, including two in the fi nal 11 seconds, but none connected. The Utes’ last win against an AP Top 25 team was on Feb 27, 2016, against No. 9 Arizona at home, 70-64. Both Gach contributed 14 points and six rebounds, Rylan Jones had 12 points and Riley Battin added 10 for the Utes. Utah shot a blistering 62.5% (10 of 16) from the fl oor in the second half and was 23 of 42 (54.8%) for the game, including 53.3% (8 of 15) from 3-point range. BMS boys intramural basketball busy Baker Middle School’s intramural boys basketball teams competed in a pair of recent tournaments — Dec. 14 at Burns, and Dec. 12 at home against North Powder. land, and Brycen Martin all scored 2 points. Baker’s other intramural team led by Coach Howerton beat Burns 21-14. “The team played great and their hard work paid off Burns tournament in the victory,” Dalke said. The intramural team split Alex Palmer and Graison into two teams, one coached Stone led the way for Baker by Jimmy Howerton and one with 6 points. Ernesto Lopez- by Bryan Dalke. Villalvazo scored 5 points, In the fi rst game Dalke’s and Christopher Luna and team lost 27-24 to Crane. Ashtyn Carter both scored 2 Baker had a chance to points. tie the game at the buzzer Against North Powder but the 3-point attempt • Game 1: Coach How- by Drake Hetterley barely erton’s team beat North Pow- missed. “The boys played hard and der Blue, 30-15. Alex Palmer and Graison Stone had 6 fought back to make for an exciting fi nish,” Dalke said. points each. Alex Brown, Brandon McCullough was Ernesto Lopez-Villalvazo Baker’s leading scorer with 8 and Ashtyn Carter scored 4, points and Caleb Hills added Alex Wise and Jason Arenas scored 2. The leading score 6. Hetterley, Jacob Staehle, for North Powder was Caleb Zane Morgan, Izek Cleve- Kerns with 4 points. Kayden Garvin, Brycen • Game 2: Coach Dalke’s Martin and Jacob Staehle all team lost 18-13 to the North scored 2 points. Powder White team. Scoring for Baker was led by Brycen Martin’s 6 points, 4 by Bran- don McCullough, and 2 by Caleb Hills. North Powder’s leading scorer was Range Bingham with 6 points. • Game 3: Howerton’s team beat North Powder White team 30-12. Graison Stone scored 12 points, Chris Luna had 6, Ashtyn Carter and Alex Palmer scored 4 points, and Ernesto Lopez- Villalvazo and Alex Wise had 2 points. North Powder was led by Stran Bingham and Kale Dalke who both scored 4 points. • Game 4: Dalke’s team lost 23-15 to North Powder Blue team. Baker was led by Caleb Hills and Brandon Mc- Cullough with 4 points each. Only $ 11 95 per adult $ 11 50 Seniors 11 AM - 5 PM December 25 Christmas Day All-You-Can-Eat Buffet 50¢ per year of age – children up to 12 years (when ordered with an adult dinner) ROAST TURKEY • BAKED HAM • Dressing • Yams • Mashed Potatoes & Gravy • Green Beans • Rolls • Cranberry Sauce • Salad Bar • Deviled Eggs • Pumpkin Pie • Peach Cobbler Non-buffet Christmas Dinner $10.95 DINNERS TO GO, TOO! Open: 6 AM - 3 PM Christmas Eve 8 AM - 5 PM Christmas Day 211 Bridge Street 523-5844 Join us in celebrating a special time of Christmas Joy Baker High School Auditorium December 24th, 6-7 !"
