INSIDE: CLASSIFIEDS, MARKET RECAP & WEATHER
B
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • SUNday, MarcH 21, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
MEN’S NCAA
TOURNAMENT
Ducks advance
via no-contest
INDIANAPOLIS — Ore-
gon advances to the sec-
ond round of the NCAA
Tournament because of
COVID-19 protocols.
The NCAA announced
Saturday’s game between
No. 7 seed Oregon and
No. 10 seed VCU was de-
clared a no-contest.
“The NCAA Division
I Men’s Basketball Com-
mittee has declared the
VCU-Oregon game sched-
uled for Saturday night
… a no-contest because
of COVID-19 protocols,”
the NCAA announced.
“This decision was made
in consultation with the
Marion County Public
Health Department. As
a result, Oregon will ad-
vance to the next round
of the tournament. The
NCAA and the commit-
tee regret that VCU’s stu-
dent-athletes and coach-
ing staff will not be able
to play in a tournament
in which they earned the
right to participate.”
The Oregon athletic
department released a
brief statement that read,
“During these challenging
times, health and safety
is the highest priority. We
would like to wish the
VCU student-athletes and
staff all the best, and con-
gratulate them on an out-
standing season. We hate
to see a team’s season end
this way after all the hard
work these student-ath-
letes have put in. This isn’t
the way we wanted to ad-
vance, but we are excited
to be moving on, and we
will start our preparation
for Monday’s game.”
The Ducks advance
to face No. 2 seed Iowa
(22-8), which defeated 15
seed Grand Canyon 86-74,
in the second round on
Monday.
PREP FOOTBALL
Cougs hang on to beat rival
Mountain View pulls
away in the second half
to defeat Bend High, 33-21
BY MARK MORICAL • The Bulletin
M
ountain View
coach Brian
Crum said his
players had some long faces in the
locker room at halftime.
The Cougars found themselves
tied 21-21 with rival Bend High,
giving up three touchdowns to
a team that had not scored in its
first two games.
“We just talked about, it’s 0-0 at
half, so let’s go play,” Crum said.
“I think they relaxed a little and our
kids didn’t panic. What I know about
this group, is they’re going to finish.
They’re going to do their thing, they’re
going to play hard, and that’s what we
did in the second half — we finished.”
Behind another prolific rushing
performance from running back Luke
Roberts, and an efficient outing from
quarterback Jakoby Moss, the Cou-
gars hung on to defeat the Lava Bears
33-21 Friday night at Mountain View
High School.
It was Mountain View’s fifth
straight win in the crosstown rivalry,
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
Mountain View’s Jake Hatch (22) fights his way to the goal line to score a touchdown during the fourth quarter against Bend High
on Friday night.
“We just had to refocus, and come back out and keep playing.
It’s great to be part of this team. Everyone did their part.”
— Luke Roberts, Mountain View High School running back
which was played for the 41st time.
“We just had to refocus, and come
back out and keep playing,” said Rob-
erts, who finished with 16 carries for
121 yards and three touchdowns. “It’s
great to be part of this team. Everyone
did their part.”
The Lava Bears (0-3) outgained the
Cougars (3-0) in total offense, 361
yards to 297, getting a breakout per-
formance from fullback Benjamin
Martin (159 yards rushing and two
touchdowns). Jacob Winchester also
rushed for 87 yards. But turnovers and
allowing big plays ended up dooming
Bend in the second half.
Kyle Gilbert’s deft reception in the
back of the end zone for Bend tied the
game 21-21 at the end of the first half.
But after that halftime talk, the
Cougars started the third quarter with
a bang.
James Tiboni returned the open-
ing second half kickoff 53 yards, set-
ting up a 4-yard touchdown run by
Roberts to give Mountain View a 27-
21 lead after the extra point attempt
failed.
Bend then put together another im-
pressive drive, but Roberts, who plays
linebacker on defense, intercepted a
Seve Castillo pass in the end zone.
See Cougs / B4
— The Oregonian
OLYMPICS
Spectators from
abroad barred
TOKYO — At last it’s
official: Spectators from
abroad will be barred
from the postponed To-
kyo Olympics when they
open in four months.
The decision was an-
nounced Saturday after
an online meeting of the
International Olympic
Committee, the Japa-
nese government, the
Tokyo government, the
International Paralympic
Committee, and local or-
ganizers.
Officials said the risk
was too great to admit
ticket holders from over-
seas during a pandemic.
The Japanese public has
also opposed fans from
abroad. Several surveys
have shown that up to
80% oppose holding the
Olympics, and a similar
percentage opposed fans
from overseas attending.
Japan has attributed
about 8,800 deaths to
COVID-19 and has con-
trolled the virus better
than most countries.
“In order to give clar-
ity to ticket holders living
overseas and to enable
them to adjust their travel
plans at this stage, the
parties on the Japanese
side have come to the
conclusion that they will
not be able to enter into
Japan at the time of the
Olympic and Paralympic
Games,” the Tokyo orga-
nizing committee said in a
statement.
Organizers said
600,000 tickets were sold
to fans from outside Ja-
pan. They have promised
refunds, but this will be
determined by so-called
Authorized Ticket Re-
sellers that handle sales
outside Japan.
— Associated Press
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL | NCAA TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
Tournament ‘wide-open a year as any’
are among the favorites to win it all with Louis-
ville, Maryland, Baylor and Texas A&M all title
contenders.
SAN ANTONIO — This year’s wom-
“This is as wide-open a year as
en’s NCAA Tournament may be one
any.
Last year maybe it was Ore-
of the most wide open in years,
Inside
gon or people might say South
with nearly a dozen teams having
Women’s tourney
Carolina,” Stanford coach Tara
a good chance to win the cham-
bracket;
plus, Oregon’s
VanDerveer said. “Past years
pionship.
Sedona Prince’s viral
there’s been Baylor with Brit-
The uncertainty seems apro-
video got women’s
tney Griner or Connecticut with
pos after a pandemic-stressed
teams better workout
Maya Moore but I think this year
season of stops, pauses and can-
equipment, B3
is wide open. There are a lot of
cellations.
different teams that could win this
The top seeds Stanford, South
tournament. I think it will be very ex-
Carolina, N.C. State and UConn are
citing and great for TV.”
definitely the favorites to win the title on
April 4 at the Alamodome. The four No. 2s also
See Tournament / B3
Stanford’s Lexie Hull steals the ball from Oregon State’s Aleah Goodman
during the Pac-12 women’s tournament March 5 in Las Vegas. Stanford
is the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, which begins Sunday.
ALPINE SKIING ROUNDUP | WORLD CUP
NBA
BY DOUG FEINBERG
AP Basketball Writer
Bryan Steffy/Pac-12 pool/The Oregonian/TNS file
The night C.J. McCollum got
Pinturault claims men’s crown;
Vlhova wins women’s overall title his groove back for the Blazers
Associated Press
LENZERHEIDE, Switzer-
land — Rising to the moment
on his 30th birthday, French
skier Alexis Pinturault se-
cured his first overall World
Cup title on Saturday.
Pinturault won a giant sla-
lom giving him an unbeatable
points lead in the season-long
standings over breakout Swiss
star Marco Odermatt, who
placed 11th in Saturday’s race
on home snow at Lenzerheide.
“What a day,” Pinturault
said in an interview with
Swiss broadcaster RTS. “It was
a really beautiful battle with
Marco. He will really be a big
champion in our sport.”
Pinturault is the first men’s
overall champion from
France in 24 years, since Luc
Alphand won. The only other
BY AARON FENTRESS
The Oregonian
Gabriele Facciotti/AP
France’s Alexis Pinturault competes in a World Cup giant slalom in
Lenzerheide, Switzerland, on Saturday.
Frenchman to win was Jean
Claude-Killy, in the first two
seasons after the World Cup
circuit started in 1967.
The giant slalom was key
because Odermatt skips sla-
lom, which is the season-end-
ing race on Sunday when Pin-
turault is also a threat to win.
See Skiing / B3
Portland Trail Blazers guard
C.J. McCollum wasn’t sup-
posed to play Friday night
when he scored 32 points in 28
minutes during a 125-119 win
over the Dallas Mavericks.
The Blazers were playing
the second game of a back-to-
back, originally a no-no for
McCollum while he worked
his way back into playing shape
after missing 25 games with a
broken left foot.
But McCollum, after strug-
gling in his first two outings
against New Orleans on Tues-
day and Thursday, didn’t want
to sit against the Mavericks. So,
he talked coach Terry Stotts
into letting him play.
“When the game started, I
told him I feel better now than
I did for the first two games
and it’s a back-to-back, so I
think I’ll be OK,” McCollum
said.
McCollum said he told
Stotts that he would gauge how
he felt during the game and if
fatigue set in, he would let his
coach know. That moment
never came.
“I got 23 shots up in 28 min-
utes,” McCollum said.
“But I think for the most
part, I had good balance,
missed short a few times, I
didn’t have any turnovers, and
I think, defensively we did a
pretty good job being active
and I did what I was supposed
to do.”
Restrictions on McCollum’s
playing time have been re-
moved moving forward.
See McCollum / B4