FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT
A5
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2021
HIGH SCHOOL
ALPINE SKIING
Local teams fare
well at state meet
Central Oregon teams
performed well at the
2021 Oregon high school
alpine state champion-
ships, staged at Mt. Hood
Skibowl on Thursday and
Friday.
The Central Oregon
Storm (made up of Sum-
mit skiers) finished second
in the combined team
standings (boys and girls)
and Sisters finished sixth.
The Bachelor Tree Rats
(made up Mountain View
skiers) finished seventh.
Central Catholic of Port-
land finished atop the
combined team standings.
In the girls combined
teams standings (slalom
and giant slalom), the
Central Oregon Storm
claimed second, finishing
just 1.83 seconds behind
winner Oregon Episcopal
School (OES). The Bache-
lor Tree Rats finished sixth
and Sisters was 11th.
In the boys combined
team competition, won by
Central Catholic, the Cen-
tral Oregon Storm finished
fourth and Sisters took
fifth. The Bachelor Tree
Rats were 11th.
The Central Oregon
Storm girls team won the
giant slalom, finishing
with a combined time of
4:20.44. Nicole Fournier of
the Storm finished second
in 1:24.26 and her team-
mate Zoe Doden was fifth
(1:25.63).
Annie Hendrickson of
OES won the girls individ-
ual combined competi-
tion in 2:35.10. Fournier
finished fifth (2:43.68) and
Morgan Berg was 10th
(2:48.49) for the Bachelor
Tree Rats.
Parker Andersen of
Riverdale won the boys
individual combined in
2:31.98. Bela Chladek of
Sisters finished fourth
(2:39.42) and Harrison
Schock of the Central
Oregon Storm was 17th
(2:47.78).
Competing without a
team, Aidan Donohue of
Bend High finished third
in the boys giant slalom
(1:20.29).
More information and
results are available at
www.ski3rivers.org.
— Bulletin staff report
NFL
Seahawks to
release DE Dunlap
SEATTLE — The Seattle
Seahawks released vet-
eran defensive end Carlos
Dunlap after the sides
could not agree on a con-
tract extension that would
soften the blow of a $14.1
million salary cap hit.
Dunlap was acquired
in a trade with Cincinnati
midway through last sea-
son, but will now get a
chance to test free agency.
Dunlap, 32, was a ma-
jor boost to Seattle’s pass
rush. He appeared in eight
regular season games for
the Seahawks with five
sacks and 14 quarterback
hits. He was the spark for a
Seattle pass rush that was
among the better units in
the league over the sec-
ond half of the season.
But his salary for 2021
was always going to be
a point of contention,
especially with Seattle
tight against the salary
cap. When the trade was
made, Seattle agreed
to let Dunlap test free
agency if an extension
could not be reached.
Dunlap posted a thank
you to the Seahawks on
social media Monday.
If Seattle can’t find
another option in free
agency, it will be the third
straight year the Sea-
hawks will go into the sea-
son with questions about
their pass rush.
— Associated Press
bendbulletin.com/sports
RUNNING
Bad timing
for Bend
Marathon
Popular running event is canceled for the
2nd straight year due to the pandemic
BY MARK MORICAL
The Bulletin
O
f all the sporting events that have
been canceled over the past year in
Central Oregon, perhaps none has
endured worse luck than the Bend Marathon.
The event — which was scheduled for April
18 and includes a marathon, half marathon,
10-kilometer, and 5K race on roads and paved
trails throughout Bend — has been canceled
for the second consecutive year due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
One of the first major events to be canceled in
2020 at the onset of the pandemic, the sixth edi-
tion of the in-person Bend Marathon will now be
pushed back to 2022.
At last week’s Bend City Council meeting, coun-
cilors were unable to come to an agreement on issu-
ing the Bend Marathon a special event permit.
Marathon organizers Max King and Kari Strang
had submitted a proposal that featured several safety
protocols, including wave starts of no more than 75
runners, which would adhere to state and county
guidelines for outdoor gatherings.
“They didn’t want to risk it,” a disappointed King
said. “The spirit of the guidelines are that you don’t
get that many people together, and we weren’t get-
ting that many people together.”
King said he was expecting a total of about 900
runners across the four races. About 600 had regis-
tered before the event was canceled. In 2019 more
than 2,400 runners and walkers participated in the
Bend Marathon’s events.
See Marathon / A6
Ryan Brennecke/Bulletin file
Participants in the 2019 Bend Marathon make their way along the course shortly after the start. The event was can-
celed in 2020, and has been canceled again in 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
NBA
COLLEGE BASKETBALL COMMENTARY
Exciting 2nd half awaits, but Don’t bet against Ducks,
coach Dana Altman in March
virus may still have a say
BY BRIAN MAHONEY
AP Basketball Writer
BY JOHN CANZANO
The Oregonian
While LeBron James was
largely resting through the
All-Star Game, the Brooklyn
Nets were adding another
piece for a run at his title.
With James near the top
of his game and the Nets on
top of the league in scoring,
it’s easy to envision a coast-
to-coast NBA Finals when a
champion is crowned in July.
But, when most teams re-
sume play Thursday — the
same date last season was
suspended — the leaders
in the Eastern Conference
might be doing so without
their two best players.
As proven again when
Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid
and Ben Simmons had to sit
out the All-Star Game, the
coronavirus might still have
a say on this season, making
uncertainty a sizable obstacle
in the title chase.
“You’re playing every other
day. You don’t know when
you’re going to have practice
time. You don’t know as far
as what the restrictions and
with COVID and things of
that nature if you’re going
to have all your guys,” James
said. “So it’s very challenging
for all teams, not just us.”
The bigger problem for
the Lakers has been the ab-
sence of All-Star Anthony
Several years ago, I walked
through the casino floor of the
MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas
during the Pac-12 Conference
men’s basketball tournament
and came upon Dana Altman.
It was mid-morning.
The Oregon Ducks men’s
basketball coach was sitting at a
roulette table.
Years before I sat beside
then-Louisville basketball coach
Denny Crum at a Black Jack ta-
ble. He played $5 hands, stayed
on every 16 and seldom risked
busting. I also played craps once
with former UCLA great Ed
O’Bannon.
He pressed every early win-
ning bet and acted like there was
no tomorrow. I think you can
learn something about a person
by watching the way they wager,
how they play, and studying ten-
dencies.
Altman?
He wasn’t gambling that day,
turns out. The roulette table
wasn’t even open. Altman was
just sitting there, in sweats, back
to the wheel. He was watching
the activity on the floor like a
guy sitting on a park bench. We
said hello.
He told me he wasn’t much of
a gambler. But I realize all these
years later, that Altman might
be the biggest gambler in college
basketball.
Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP
MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo throws down a slam dunk during
the NBA All-Star Game in Atlanta on Sunday.
Davis because of a right calf
injury. The defending cham-
pions have struggled without
him, dropping six of eight to
end the first half and falling
3½ games behind surprising
West leader Utah.
The Nets have also been
without an All-Star, though
they’ve hardly missed Kevin
Durant because of the bril-
liance of James Harden and
Kyrie Irving. Blake Griffin
agreed to join them Sun-
day night after the six-time
All-Star cleared waivers af-
ter securing his buyout from
Detroit.
“We’re fortunate to be able
to add a player of Blake’s cali-
ber to our roster at this point
in the season,” Nets general
manager Sean Marks said.
Brooklyn comes out of the
break a half-game behind
Philadelphia. Embiid has
been a force this season and
become a leading MVP can-
didate, but he and Simmons
were ruled out of the All-Star
Game on Sunday morning
because they got haircuts
from a barber who tested
positive for COVID-19.
They may not be cleared
to return until the weekend,
after the Sixers have played
their first two games of the
second half.
See NBA / A7
It feels like he doubles down
every March.
Last month, I watched as Ore-
gon reeled off five straight victo-
ries before losing badly to USC.
Oregon missed its first 12 shots
in that game, had no energy, and
got beat by double digits. It was a
puzzling performance. One that
left Altman in the postgame de-
jected and seeking answers.
“We were just stuck in the
mud,” he said.
A couple of weeks later, the
Ducks are conference regu-
lar-season champions and the
No. 1 seed in this week’s Pac-12
Tournament. They beat Ore-
gon State on Sunday, capping
another improbable five-game
winning streak that also in-
cluded victories over Stanford,
Cal, Arizona and UCLA.
The run shouldn’t have been
a surprise. Because this is what
Oregon basketball does under
Altman with uncanny consis-
tency.
I’m not convinced the Pac-
12 is very good in men’s college
basketball. There have been bad
non-conference losses and little
consistency. The NCAA Tourna-
ment will probably only feature
four conference teams — Ore-
gon, UCLA, USC and Colorado.
And among those, frankly, the
Ducks are the only team I’d trust
to get out of the opening week-
end.
See Ducks / A7