FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT
A5
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • WEdNEsday, aprIL 7, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
NFL
Sewell-Herbert
reunion possible
Penei Sewell is ex-
pected to be the first of-
fensive lineman selected
in the upcoming 2021
NFL draft. The question is
which team will select the
former Oregon Ducks’ star
in the draft, which begins
April 29.
According to one mock
draft, the Los Angeles
Chargers are projected to
select Sewell with the No.
13 pick in the draft. In that
scenario, Sewell would re-
unite with Chargers’ quar-
terback Justin Herbert. The
two played together for
two seasons on the Ducks.
Sewell said he would
be thrilled to join Herbert
in Southern California.
“To block for Herb
again, man,” Sewell told
reporters. “… to have that
chance again to share the
same field as him would
be a dream come true.”
The Chargers need a
left tackle and it’s con-
ceivable they would se-
lect Sewell if he is still on
the board when they are
on the clock. Some draft
evaluators don’t think
Sewell will be available
when the Chargers have
to make a selection, with
many draft experts pre-
dicting the Cincinnati
Bengals will select Sewell
with the No. 5 pick.
The Chargers are do-
ing their homework on
Sewell, because they’ve
committed to improv-
ing their offensive line to
better protect Herbert
in 2021.
— The Oregonian
WINTER
OLYMPICS
U.S. weighs boycott
of Beijing Games
WASHINGTON — The
State Department said
Tuesday the Biden admin-
istration is considering a
possible boycott of the
upcoming Beijing Winter
Olympics to protest Chi-
na’s human rights record.
Department spokes-
man Ned Price said the
U.S. is consulting with like-
minded countries around
the world to determine
how to proceed. Price
says the administration is
discussing China strategy,
including participation
in the Olympics, with a
number of partners and
allies in order to present a
united front.
“Part of our review of
those Olympics and our
thinking will involve close
consultations with part-
ners and allies around the
world,” he told reporters.
“We have consistently
said when it comes to our
concerns with the govern-
ment in Beijing, including
Beijing’s egregious hu-
man rights violations, its
conduct of genocide in
the case of Xingjiang, that
what the United States
does is meaningful, what
the United States does will
have impact, but every-
thing we do that brings
along our allies and part-
ners will have all the more
influence with Beijing.”
Human rights groups
are protesting China’s host-
ing of the Games, which
are set to start in February
2022. They have urged a
diplomatic or straight-up
boycott of the event to
call attention to alleged
Chinese abuses against
Uyghurs, Tibetans, and res-
idents of Hong Kong.
Price declined to say
when a decision might
be made, but noted there
is still almost a year until
the Games are set to be-
gin. China has denied all
charges of human rights
abuses. It says “political
motives” underlie the boy-
cott effort.
— Associated Press
PREP GIRLS SOCCER
New territory for Panthers
Redmond holds top seed
in the IMC tournament
BY BRIAN RATHBONE • The Bulletin
REDMOND —
W
hen Ridgeview
and Redmond
square off
on the soccer field for the
third time in less than a
month on Wednesday night,
the matchup will feature
unfamiliar roles and a
heightened importance.
In years past Ridgeview
has been the favorite over its
crosstown rival in girls soccer.
This year the Ravens are playing
the role of the underdogs, taking on a
Redmond team enjoying its best sea-
son in years as both teams put their
seasons on the line.
“We knew that we were going to be
successful,” said Redmond coach Mar-
tha Segura. “We had goals set and this
was our hope, and it is very exciting
to be standing here right now know-
ing that we have accomplished all the
goals that we have set thus far.”
The Class 5A Intermountain Con-
ference is using the culminating week
to host a conference tournament in
lieu of a traditional statewide tourna-
ment, which was canceled this spring
due to COVID-19. Redmond holds
the IMC’s top seed — certainly an
unfamiliar spot for the Panthers. The
Redmond-Ridgeview winner plays
Submitted photo
The Redmond High School girls soccer team celebrates after winning the Intermountain Conference regular season after its win
over Crook County last Thursday.
“We knew that we were going to be successful. We had goals set and this
was our hope, and it is very exciting to be standing here right now knowing
that we have accomplished all the goals that we have set thus far.”
— Martha Segura, Redmond girls soccer coach
the winner of Hood River Valley and
The Dalles in the IMC championship
match on Friday.
For years, Redmond resided in the
basement of the IMC standings. From
2013 through 2017, Redmond did not
win a conference match, losing 39 of
the team’s 40 IMC games and 55 of the
total 68 matches.
“Starting as a freshman, we were
playing with the Bend schools and
it was pretty defeating trying to play
those huge schools with our low
numbers,” said senior defender Rory
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Eldridge. “I think each year we pro-
gressed in some way, making some
minor accomplishments to get to
where we are now.”
After the 2017 season, the Oregon
School Activities Association reclassi-
fied schools, causing a drastic shift to
the IMC. Bend High, Mountain View
and Summit moved up from Class 5A
to 6A, leaving the conference.
Crook County, Pendleton, The
Dalles and Hood River Valley joined
Redmond and Ridgeview in the new-
look IMC.
The Panthers took steps early on,
even if they were small at the begin-
ning. The team won its first league
game in 2018 and recorded three
draws. In 2019 Redmond was a win
away from finishing with a .500 over-
all and conference record.
Now the Panthers (3-0-2 IMC,
6-1-2 overall) are standing atop the
IMC standings, having not lost a
match since their opener against Bend
High. They also broke a nine-year
losing streak to rival Ridgeview (2-
1-2, 3-5-2) — a team Redmond had
not beaten since Ridgeview opened
in 2012 and was outscored 16-0 by in
two games a year ago.
The Panthers defeated the Ravens
2-1 on March 16 and the teams tied
1-1 on March 23.
See Panthers / A6
GOLF
Spieth finally a winner again
heading to Augusta National
BY DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
Michael Conroy/AP
Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs (1) gets a hug from teammate Corey Kispert,
left, after the Bulldogs fell to Baylor in the NCAA Tournament champi-
onship game on Monday night at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
No regrets from Gonzaga
after big loss to Baylor
BY MATT CALKINS
The Seattle Times
In the end, it might be better
this way.
There will be no Zags living
in incessant regret. There will
be no night-
INSIDE
mares about
the dumb foul,
• Baylor, Gon-
silly turnover
zaga finish
1-2 in final
or shot that rat-
coaches poll. tled out.
Scoreboard,
This wasn’t
A6
an opportunity
that slipped
through their fingers. This
was more like five fingers that
slapped them across the face.
Baylor pummeled Gonzaga
86-70 in Monday’s NCAA
tournament men’s basketball
championship game, prevent-
ing the Bulldogs from com-
pleting an undefeated season.
The Bears scored the first nine
points of the game, 29 of the
first 39, and outclassed the
Zags (31-1) in just about every
category.
All Gonzaga runs were
quickly extinguished by a Bay-
lor squad that looked like it
was playing on fast-forward
while its opponent was on
slo-mo. Zags coach Mark Few
was hoping to raise arms in
victory when the final buzzer
sounded. Instead, all he could
do was shrug.
See Gonzaga / A6
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Jor-
dan Spieth was a 20-year-old
with a 30-year-old head on
his shoulders when he first
played the Masters and nearly
won until Bubba Watson ral-
lied over the last 11 holes to
beat him.
Now he’s a 27-year-old
who has reason to feel much
younger.
It’s amazing what winning
can do in golf, and the timing
was never better for Spieth.
He had gone 82 starts dating
to the summer of 2017 since
his last victory at the British
Open, a slump so severe that
even Spieth began to question
if he would get back.
He answered that at the
Texas Open with a two-shot
victory that sent him to Au-
gusta National with belief he’s
headed down the right road
and the hardware to prove it.
“It’s actually been a lot eas-
ier for me over the last 12
hours to just look forward
versus looking back, I guess.
That’s exciting,” he said.
Spieth arrived at midday
as the first full day of prac-
tice was in full swing on an
Augusta National course that
was far different from when
the world’s best players were
there five months ago for the
pandemic-postponed Masters
in November.
David J. Phillip/AP
Jordan Spieth and Scottie Scheffler meet at the range during a prac-
tice day for the Masters on Monday in Augusta, Georgia.
The azaleas were blazing.
The greens already had that
shine on them from an abun-
dance of warm sunshine. The
course is firm.
Billy Horschel realized that
on the 15th hole when his
second attempt to reach the
green cleared the water and
landed safely on the front
portion of the green. Or so
he thought. After he took 15
steps, the ball had trickled to
the front. And a few seconds
later, it had rolled all the way
back into the water.
Dustin Johnson won in
November at a record 20-un-
der par, a record that Pat-
rick Cantlay believes will be
“pretty safe for many years to
come.”
“This week, I expect it to
get really firm and fast, and
I think that’s when this golf
course shines,” Cantlay said.
Spieth seems to play it well
in any condition. A year after
he was runner-up in his 2014
debut, he went wire-to-wire
to win by four. He was run-
ner-up the following year —
the infamous meltdown on
the back nine when he lost a
five-shot lead — and finished
third in 2018.
And now he is moving
closer, though still not there,
to the player who reached had
three legs of the career Grand
Slam before he turned 24.
See Spieth / A7