SPORTS
BAKER CITY HERALD • SATuRDAY, MARCH 26, 2022 A5
BAKER BASEBALL TEAM IN ARIZONA
Hitting lets Baker down in Arizona
That should given Baker a good chance
at winning the two games, Smith said.
Baker baseball players have been swing-
“We have to have more than two or
ing at a lot of curveballs.
three hits,” he said.
They’re going to swing at many more in
The basic problem, Smith said, is that
the next week.
Baker hitters were too eager and look-
Except these pitches will be thrown
ing for fastballs. They ended up lunging
during practices rather than games.
at pitches that were slower than they ex-
The final two games of the Bulldogs’
pected.
four-game trip to Arizona during spring
“We’ve been impatient at the plate,”
break revealed a glaring weakness, coach he said. “We’re not mechanically where
Tim Smith said.
we need to be. That’s going to be a focus
Baker managed just two hits in a
this week.”
4-1 loss to Buena Vista, Colorado, on
Against Buena Vista, both of Baker’s hits
Wednesday, March 23, and three in a 4-2 were doubles, one by Hudson Spike, one
loss to Apollo, Arizona.
from Hayden Younger. Baker went score-
And in both games, Smith said, the
less through six innings, scoring its lone
problem was the Bulldogs’ inability to
run in the top of the seventh, by which
make contact with curveballs and other
time Buena Vista led 4-1.
offspeed pitches.
The Bulldogs had 15 strikeouts.
“We didn’t adjust,” Smith said after
Smith said Baker batters never got in
Baker posted an 0-3-1 record during its
sync with Buena Vista’s starting pitcher
Arizona trip, which resumed this spring
Caleb Camp. Smith said Camp relied
after being canceled in 2020 and 2021 due mainly on curveballs that the Bulldogs
to the pandemic.
mainly flailed at.
“It exposed some of our weaknesses.”
“Once you get into that groove it can
Pitching, however, was not among
be hard to get out of it,” he said. “It’s
them.
mental.”
Smith said pitchers Silas Carter, Cody
In the finale of the trip against Apollo,
Skidgel, Connor Chastain and Logan Ca- Baker tied the score at 2 with a pair of
pon were “outstanding” in the losses to
runs in the top of the fourth. But Apollo
Buena Vista and Apollo.
took the lead for good on a two-run ho-
The Bulldog hurlers gave up just two
mer in the bottom of the fourth.
earned runs, and eight runs total.
Baker had six strikeouts compared
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Wednesday’s Game
Baker
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 — 1
Buena Vista 0 0 1 0 3 0 x — 4
Carter, Skidgel (6) and Logsdon. Camp,
Mitchell (7) and Moss.
2B: Spike, Younger.
Thursday’s Game
Baker
0 0 0 2 0 0 0 — 2
Apollo
1 1 0 2 0 0 x — 4
Chastain, Capon (4) and Logsdon.
Christian and Pacheco.
with 15 against Buena Vista, but only
three hits. Cole Hester and Skidgel each
had a double and an RBI.
Smith said he’s confident that with
more live pitching outdoors — the Bull-
dogs have mainly been confined to the
batting cages since practice started on
the last day of February — Baker will re-
gain its confidence at the plate.
Baker has shown its potential already,
scoring 18 runs in the second game of a
doubleheader sweep of Heppner/Ione on
March 17.
Baker, 3-3-1 overall, will play its home
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
opener on Wednesday, March 30, against Hudson Spike, shown here taking batting practice on March 15, 2022,
Homedale, Idaho. First pitch is set for
had a double in Baker’s 4-1 loss to Buena Vista, Colorado, on March 23,
4 p.m. at the Baker Sports Complex.
2022, in Arizona.
NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT SWEET 16 ROUND
Arkansas Razorbacks bounce top seed Gonzaga
BY JANIE MCCAULEY
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — For
40 frenzied minutes, JD Notae,
Jaylin Williams and Arkansas
played a maddening, muscu-
lar style on both ends that took
Gonzaga out of its game — and
right out of the NCAA Tourna-
ment far earlier than these Zags
expected.
Notae scored 21 points de-
spite missing 20 shots and the
determined, fourth-seeded
Razorbacks dashed the No.
1 overall seed Bulldogs’ title
hopes with a 74-68 win in the
Sweet 16 on Thursday night,
March 24.
“We’ve been disrespected
the whole year, so it’s just an-
other thing for us,” Williams
said. “We saw everything they
were saying, we felt like they
were dancing before the game.
That was disrespect for us. We
just came into the game playing
hard and we had a chip on our
shoulder. Every game we do.”
When the final buzzer
sounded, Notae tossed the
game ball into the air in tri-
umph, while Williams flexed
and roared near midcourt.
Coach Eric Musselman made
his way into the stands to find
his mother, Kris, for a celebra-
tory embrace after she watched
her son in person for the first
time coaching the Razorbacks.
After a throwback perfor-
mance from the program that
once promised “40 Minutes of
Hell,” these Hogs relished in
pure bliss.
Notae finished with six re-
bounds, six assists, three steals
and even swatted a pair of shots
for the Razorbacks (28-8), who
reached the Elite Eight for a
second straight year and will
face second-seeded Duke on
Saturday, hoping to deny retir-
ing coach Mike Krzyzewski one
last trip to the Final Four.
Drew Timme scored 25
points but couldn’t rally the
normally high-scoring Bull-
dogs (28-4), who for the second
straight season were favored to
win that elusive national title
but couldn’t keep up with Ar-
kansas’ athleticism and fight.
Gonzaga had been undefeated
last year before losing to Baylor
in the national title game.
“We just wanted to be phys-
ical, plain and simple,” Mussel-
man said. “We wanted them
to feel bodies. Obviously they
played a really tough schedule
early in the season, but it’s been
a long time in conference play
since they faced a team like us.”
An emotional Timme ad-
dressed his teammates after-
ward, then fought tears during
a postgame news conference.
“It was a hell of a ride,”
Timme said. “It didn’t end up
the way we wanted but we came
to play hard. It was their night.”
Arkansas continually chal-
lenged 7-foot freshman Chet
Holmgren in the paint, and the
lanky NBA prospect fouled out
with 3:29 remaining. Holmgren
scored all 11 of his points after
halftime and had 14 rebounds
in what might have been his fi-
nal college game.
Notae shot 9 of 29 overall
and 2 for 12 from 3-point range
yet still did a little bit of every-
thing for Arkansas. The senior
guard’s 3 with 6:38 left made it
59-50, and the Razorbacks held
on from there.
Au’Diese Toney’s one-
handed slam with 1 second left
punctuated the victory.
Toney converted a three-
point play with 8:36 left by go-
ing right at Holmgren to draw
his fourth foul and send him
to the bench. The big man re-
turned at the 6:46 mark but No-
tae drove at him three minutes
later and drew the freshman’s
fifth foul. Holmgren raised his
arms in protest.
During one key sequence,
Notae scored, then sneaked in
from behind Timme for a steal
as Williams held his ground
on the block. Notae swatted an
Villanova returning to Elite Eight
BY JIM VERTUNO
Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO — The
Villanova Wildcats have
made quite a second home for
themselves in the Alamo City,
where they won a national
championship in 2018 and are
carving a path toward another.
Jermaine Samuels scored 22
points, Collin Gillespie scored
12 and made a key 3-pointer
late, and Villanova controlled
Michigan in a 63-55 Sweet 16
victory on Thursday night,
March 24, in the NCAA Tour-
nament.
Samuels and Gillespie were
freshmen in that title run a
few years ago. Now, they are
grizzled veterans and long-
time starters who are still
around because of the extra
season of eligibility due to the
pandemic.
They’re also the driving
force for second-seeded Villa-
nova (28-7), which advanced
to the South Region final.
They’ll play No. 5 seed Hous-
ton (32-5), which beat top
seed Arizona 72-60. It’s the
deepest run in the tournament
for Villanova since coach Jay
Wright won the second of his
two national titles in 2018 —
against Michigan.
Samuels’ 8-of-13 shooting
performance, much of it com-
ing on tough drives through
Michigan defenders and
around Wolverines 7-foot-1
center Hunter Dickinson, car-
ried a Wildcats offense that
had long stretches of misfiring
on 3-pointers.
Samuels battled Dickinson
on both ends of the court,
and challenged the big man
every time he had the ball to
divert shots or force outlet
passes.
“I just wanted to stay mo-
bile and move,” Samuels said.
“He’s a phenomenal player,
so he’s going to get great
looks at the basket. But that
I have teammates behind me
gave me all the confidence I
needed.”
The loss ends a turbu-
lent season for the Wolver-
ines (19-15) and coach Ju-
wan Howard, whose team
squeaked into the tourna-
ment field only to shine in
the first two rounds. Howard
was suspended for five games
late in the season for hitting a
Wisconsin assistant during a
postgame handshake line.
“We learned a lot (about)
who we are,” Howard said.
“We always talk about Mich-
igan being a family. We’ve
been the most connected
group this year because of
the fact everyone has been
supporting each other. When
I walk away from this season,
and I look back, there’s no
reason not to hold your head
up high.”
Villanova twice threat-
ened to pull away in the sec-
ond half, but the Wolver-
ines matched Nova’s 3-point
shooting in spurts to hang
around. Guard Eli Brooks
kept rescuing Michigan with
3-pointers, making 3 of 5.
One of Brooks’ 3s, plus two
free throws from Terrance
Williams II, had the Wolver-
ines within 54-50 with just
over 3 minutes left.
Michigan had plenty of
tournament experience to
lean on. They had fought
back from halftime deficits
against Colorado State and
Tennessee to make the Sweet
16 for the fifth consecutive
year.
But after Dickinson, who
led the Wolverines with 15
points and 15 rebounds,
missed near the basket, Sam-
uels blew by him on the other
end for a layup. Gillespie fol-
lowed it with a 3-pointer —
his fourth of the game— from
the left wing to make it 59-50
with 1:52 to play.
That was the cushion the
Wildcats needed, as Michigan
closed within six points be-
fore Samuels made four three
throws over the final 13 sec-
onds to put it away.
Defensively, Villanova re-
fused to yield space under
the basket to Michigan’s big
man, who came in averag-
ing 24 points in Michigan’s
two NCAA Tournament
wins. Dickinson was 6 of 16
shooting.
“We asked a lot of (Sam-
uels) on the defensive end
guarding Dickinson a lot.
And then on the offensive
end, we’re trying to move
Dickinson around,” Wright
said. “Which it sounds good
unless you’re guy that’s got to
go. You’re running around,
setting screens, cutting to
make him follow you ... He
never wanted to come out.”
Houston knocks off No. 1 seed Arizona
BY STEPHEN HAWKINS
Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO — Hous-
ton coach Kelvin Sampson
gritted his teeth and raised
his arms before emphatically
pounding his right fist into
his left hand 11 times while
celebrating with ecstatic Cou-
gars fans who were not too far
from home.
Another No. 1 seed is out,
and Houston is one win way
from playing in its second
straight Final Four after lead-
ing throughout in a 72-60 vic-
tory over Arizona in an NCAA
South Regional semifinal game
Thursday night, March 24.
“I knew we were going to
make them uncomfortable,
that’s what we do,” Sampson
said. “Our team, we’re a tough
bunch. ... They’re not afraid of
anybody.”
Jamal Shead, a 19-year-old
second-year guard, scored
a career-high 21 points and
experienced guard Kyler Ed-
wards had 19 points with five
3-pointers. They both played
38 minutes after Taze Moore
got in early foul trouble.
“We always feel like we’re
the toughest team out there
and we play like that .... we
can’t be scared of anybody,”
Shead said. “The energy was
just electric. It was awesome to
have that type of crowd here.”
Consecutive layups by
Dalen Terry got Arizona
within 64-58 with just over
two minutes left. But Edwards,
the transfer from Texas Tech
who played in the 2019 na-
tional championship game for
the Red Raiders, settled things
for Houston with a 3 from the
right wing.
The No. 5 seed Cougars (32-
5) play second-seeded Villa-
nova in the South Region final
on Saturday, March 26, in San
Antonio, about 200 miles from
the Houston campus.
Terry had 17 points for Ar-
izona (33-4), while Pac-12
player of the year Bennedict
Mathurin had 15 and Chris-
tian Koloko 10.
“It was a tough game.
There’s a lot of things we
could have done better to win
the game,” Mathurin said. “I
don’t have a lot to say.”
The American Athletic
Conference champion Cou-
gars became the second for-
mer Southwest Conference
team to knock a No. 1 seed out
of this NCAA Tournament in
a matter of hours. Top overall
seed Gonzaga lost 74-68 to Ar-
kansas, which went to the SEC
in 1991, five years before the
SWC’s final season.
These Cougars are much
different than the ones Samp-
son took to the Final Four last
year — their first since going
three times in a row during
the Phi Slama Jama era from
1982-84.
early shot and made a steal to
get his team going. He hit the
floor repeatedly to corral loose
balls.
“He kept the momentum our
way,” Trey Wade said.
Gonzaga trailed at the break
for just the fifth time this sea-
son and never found the shoot-
ing touch that made the Zags
the top scoring team in the na-
tion at 87.8 points per game.
The Zags shot 37.5% and went
5 of 21 from 3-point range. An-
drew Nembhard was a non-fac-
tor with seven points on 2-of-
11 shooting.
“It’s always so tough when
it finally ends, especially short
of the goal we all had,” coach
Mark Few said. “First time
we lost in this round in quite
a while. All the credit goes
to Arkansas. Their defense
was tough to get any rhythm
against. To me that was the dif-
ference in the game.”
Williams took a charge late in
the first half — his 45th of the
season — and drove through
the lane for an emphatic dunk
during a 9-0 run by Arkansas
in which the Zags were 0 for 5
with three turnovers.
Williams had 15 points and
12 rebounds while Wade also
scored 15.
Bay Area Memory
Gonzaga’s last two visits to
the Bay Area have been forget-
table. The Bulldogs’ previous
visit was still plenty fresh before
Thursday — a 67-57 loss at ri-
val Saint Mary’s on Feb. 26 for
their first defeat since Dec. 4.
Facing No. 1
The Hogs earned their first
ever win against a No. 1 team in
the NCAA Tournament.
Arkansas had been 0-5 all-
time against the nation’s top-
ranked team and 2-11 overall,
with one of those wins coming
this season. The Razorbacks
beat then-No. 1 Auburn 76-73
in overtime on Feb. 8.
Duke wins to
keep Coach K’s
final season going
BY JOSH DUBOW
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — Mike
Krzyzewski has spent more
than four decades at Duke
telling his players what to do,
with championship-level re-
sults.
With his Hall of Fame ca-
reer in danger of coming to
an end, Krzyzewski let his
players dictate the game-clos-
ing defensive strategy of
switching from an unchar-
acteristic zone defense into
Duke’s famous man-to-man.
The key defensive stops
and two late baskets by Jer-
emy Roach moved Krzyze-
wski within one win of his
record-setting 13th trip to
the Final Four in his farewell
season with a 78-73 win over
Texas Tech on Thursday night,
March 24.
Krzyzewski said the play-
ers came to him during a late
timeout like a “Catholic boys’
choir,” asking in unison for the
switch to man that led to three
straight stops and turned the
game in Duke’s favor.
“With this team they’re so
young and they’re still grow-
ing,” Krzyzewski said. “When-
ever they can own something,
they’re going to do it better
than if we just run it. When
they said that, I felt they’re
going to own it. They’ll make
it work, and that’s probably
more important than strategy
during that time. So that’s the
way I looked at it.”
Roach did the rest with two
jumpers during a 7-0 run as
the steady sophomore came
through in the clutch for a sec-
ond straight game to send sec-
ond-seeded Duke (31-6) into
an Elite Eight matchup against
fourth-seeded Arkansas.
Paolo Banchero led Duke
with 22 points, Mark Williams
scored 16 and Roach added 15
as the Blue Devils made their
final eight shots from the field
to hold off third-seeded Texas
Tech (27-10) and give Coach
K his record 100th NCAA
Tournament victory.
“I would say all year in the
biggest moments we’ve al-
ways stepped up, and there’s
no bigger moment than this,”
Banchero said. “I don’t know
about these guys, but I’ve
never played in a basketball
game like that.”
As compelling as the action
on the court was in this taut
West Region semifinal, the
story of this Blue Devils run
has surrounded the farewell
tour of their Hall of Fame
coach.
Krzyzewski announced
last June he would retire after
this season. After missing the
tournament last year, Duke
was back with a roster filled
with NBA prospects and ca-
pable of delivering Krzyze-
wski his sixth title.
Duke played from behind
for much of the first half but
was much sharper offensively
in the second half. Williams
got free for three easy baskets
early in the half to get the Blue
Devils rolling.
Then the vocal Duke con-
tingent on hand for the first
NCAA Tournament games
in San Francisco since 1939
made its presence known mid-
way through the half when
A.J. Griffin tied the game at
47 with his third 3-pointer
and Banchero followed with
a jumper that gave Duke the
lead.
But a Red Raiders team
featuring four super se-
niors and five players with
more than 120 career games
didn’t go away and the game
stayed tight as Duke used the
zone to negate Texas Tech’s
strength advantage.