FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT A5 S PORTS THE BULLETIN • TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 2021 bendbulletin.com/sports MEN’S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP No. 1 Baylor 86, No. 1 Gonzaga 70 BAYLOR BEATDOWN Gonzaga’s march to perfection stomped out NCAA Championship Blowouts BY EDDIE PELLS • AP National Writer NDIANAPOLIS — Heck, everyone’s entitled to an off night. But that beatdown Baylor put on undefeated Gonzaga with the national title on the line — nobody saw that coming. The fresh-as-can-be Bears obliterated wobbly-legged Gon- zaga’s march to perfection Monday night in an 86-70 runaway that brought this once-downtrodden program’s first national title back home to Waco, Texas. Jared Butler scored 22 points and MaCio Teague had 19 for the Bears (28-2), who were ranked second or third in the AP poll all year long — but never first, all because of one team. Pounding the offensive glass and scrapping for — and winning — the lion’s share of the 50-50 balls, Baylor never let this one come down to a Jalen Suggs miracle. The Gonzaga freshman’s buzz- er-beater from near the half-court logo got the Zags to the final in a game that stood as their first true test of the season. They passed against UCLA. Against Baylor? Not even close. After running to a 19-point lead early, the Bears never let Gon- zaga get any closer than nine. I See Baylor / A6 Michael Conroy/AP Baylor forward Flo Thamba fights for a rebound with Gonzaga forward Drew Timme in the first half of the men’s NCAA championship on Monday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Baylor never trailed and won, 86-70. 30 — UNLV 103, Duke 73, 1990 23 — UCLA 78, North Carolina 55, 1968 21 — UCLA 87, Memphis State 66, 1973 20 — Duke 71, Michigan 51, 1992 20 — UCLA 92, Purdue 72, 1969 20 — Ohio State 75, California 55, 1960 18 — Indiana 86, Michigan 68, 1976 18 — Indiana 60, Kansas 42, 1940 17 — Villanova 79, Michigan 62, 2018 17 — North Carolina 89, Michigan State 72, 2009 17 — Kansas 80, St. John’s 63, 1952 16 — Baylor 86, Gonzaga 70, 2021 16 — Florida 73, UCLA 57, 2006 16 — La Salle 92, Bradley 76, 1954 16 — Kentucky 58, Baylor 42, 1948 15 — UCLA 98, Duke 83, 1964 15 — Stanford 53, Dartmouth 38, 1942 —Associated Press RUNNING Outdoors King wins Horse Butte 10-miler Bend’s Max King, 41, won the Horse Butte 10-Miler trail run Satur- day in 53 minutes, 16 sec- onds, maintaining a 5:20- mile pace in the event east of Bend. Brian Whitfield, also of Bend, finished second in 57:07, and Bend’s Thomas Morgan was third in 59:32. Kristina Randrup, of Seattle, won the wom- en’s division in 1:09:38 and finished 15th overall. Bend’s Erin Rudzinski was second (1:13:35) and Amy Jaggard, also of Bend, fin- ished third (1:16:38). The Horse Butte 10-Miler was staged on dirt singletrack south- east of Bend. The course was mostly uphill for the first five miles, and the remainder of the course was fairly flat. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, runners started at 10-second in- tervals to maintain so- cial distance. Face masks were required at the starting line, and runners were required to pull up their masks when social distancing was not pos- sible. The Horse Butte 10-Miler was not staged last year due to COVID, but was held as a virtual race. —Bulletin staff report SKIING & SNOWBOARDING Hoodoo offering free lift tickets Hoodoo Ski Area near Sisters will offer free lift tickets for Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for guests who donate a minimum of four non-perishable food items, according to a news release. All food donations will go to La Pine Community Kitchen, which provides free food and clothing to those in need. In 2020, La Pine Community Kitchen served more than 300,000 pounds of food and 26,000 hot lunches, according to the release. Hoodoo is also cur- rently offering discounted 2021-22 season passes for purchase at skihoo- doo.com. An adult season pass, good for the rest of this season and all of next season, is $479. The sale ends Sunday, April 18. For more information, call the Hoodoo Snow Phone at 541-822-3337 or visit skihoodoo.com. —Bulletin staff report TROLL UP YOUR FIRST TROUT ON A FLY F ishing license sales are up, way up over the last year. People are getting into fly-fishing at a rapid clip — across all age classes. “One-hundred percent,” Chris Peichel said. “From young kids to people in their 60s and 70s. One of the things COVID GARY has done is LEWIS made people sick of playing video games and watching TV. They want something they can do outdoors. Fly-fishing is some- thing that has intrigued them.” Peichel has been fly-fishing since he was 14 (which was 35 years ago). Now, working at Fin & Fire in Redmond, he is seeing a lot of newcomers to the sport, picking up their first fly rods, buying their first trout flies, learning how to tie the knots and make the simple casts. “We certainly saw a huge increase last year. As the weather gets warmer and warmer, we are going to see a lot more. They are coming in to get information on fly-fish- ing gear. They are people who have done very little fishing if any, people who have never really gotten into it.” And now they’re getting into it. A lot of people picture themselves tak- ing their fly rods to the river, and here, that means the Crooked River, the Deschutes, Fall River and the Metolius. All of the fly shops in our area can point anglers in the right direction. But there is another way — still-water fishing. See Lewis / A6 Don Lewis, of Redmond, caught this big brood stock rainbow at Pine Hollow Reservoir. Gary Lewis/For The Bulletin Seven-year-old Ava angles for a fly-rod brook trout in a small lake in the Cascades. Gary Lewis/For The Bulletin