FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT
A5
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • THUrsday, JUNE 24, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
PREP SOFTBALL
Bend’s Fisher is
Oregon POY
She was named the
All-City Pitcher of the Year,
was selected to the Class
6A all-state first team, and
now, Addisen Fisher is the
Gatorade Oregon Softball
Player of the Year.
Not a bad high school
debut season for the
Bend High freshman.
“It has been a really ex-
citing week,” Fisher said.
“I never thought I would
be at this point. I was sur-
prised I got the award
because I knew that a lot
of the finalists are really
good players. I was sur-
prised to get that email.”
Both in the pitcher’s
circle and in the batter’s
box, Fisher was a driving
force in the Lava Bears’
18-1 record this past
spring. Fisher is the first
Gatorade Oregon Softball
Player of the Year from
Bend High.
Fisher went 9-0 with a
0.25 ERA, struck out 127
batters and threw three
no-hitters (two perfect
games). She batted .574
and hit six home runs for
the Lava Bears.
Of all 50 softball play-
ers of the year around the
country, Fisher was the
only freshman to receive
the award.
— Bulletin staff report
NBA
Ime Udoka to be
next Celtics coach
BOSTON — The Bos-
ton Celtics have hired
Brooklyn Nets assistant
Ime Udoka to be their
new coach, a person fa-
miliar with the decision
told The Associated Press
on Wednesday.
The person spoke on
the condition of anonym-
ity because the deal had
not been announced.
The hiring was first re-
ported by ESPN.
Udoka, 43, played a
total of 316 games over
seven seasons with five
NBA teams before retir-
ing in 2012 and joining
Gregg Popovich’s staff in
San Antonio as an assis-
tant coach.
He was with the Spurs
for seven seasons, includ-
ing in 2013-14, when
they won the NBA title.
Udoka, who was born
in Portland and played
part of his college career
at Portland State, joined
the Philadelphia 76ers in
2019 and was with the
Nets last year.
Udoka takes over a
Celtics team that reached
the Eastern Conference
finals in three of the pre-
vious four seasons before
plummeting to the No.
7 seed this year and los-
ing in the first round to
Brooklyn.
After the five-game
loss to the Nets, basket-
ball boss Danny Ainge
retired and coach Brad
Stevens gave up his spot
on the bench to replace
him.
Once primed to com-
pete for a spot in the fi-
nals, the Celtics seem to
be losing ground in the
East.
Although Jayson
Tatum and Jaylen Brown
have emerged as stars,
the team has struggled
to find additional pieces
that can challenge the
assembled stars in Mil-
waukee, Philadelphia
and now Brooklyn and
Atlanta.
Stevens’ first major
move since taking over
the front office was to
trade injured point guard
Kemba Walker to Okla-
homa City for big man
Al Horford, giving up the
team’s first-round draft
pick to save salary cap
space.
— Associated Press
PREP BASKETBALL
NBA player surprises Panthers in final week
Central Oregon high school teams are wrapping up their seasons
BY BRIAN RATHBONE
The Bulletin
Skyler Jones did not know
who the 6-foot-8-inch athlete
was who walked into the gym
at Redmond High on Wednes-
day afternoon.
He and the rest of the Pan-
thers boys basketball team
would soon realize that it was
Indiana Pacers forward Doug
McDermott dropping by to
give advice to the young play-
ers.
“It was a really cool experi-
ence because you don’t get to
meet an NBA player every day,”
Jones said. “Being able to talk
to him on a personal level and
get advice from him was really
special.”
McDermott, an All-Ameri-
can at Creighton and a lottery
pick in the 2014 NBA draft,
was in Central Oregon to play
in a golf tournament. Redmond
coach Reagan Gilbertson was
able to pull some strings with
one of his friends who went
to school with McDermott to
bring the NBA player to their
practice prior to the Inter-
mountain Conference semifi-
nal game against Hood River
Valley on Wednesday night.
“We came to wish us good
luck; we have been playing a
little tight,” Gilbertson said.
“He chatted about keeping it
loose, having fun and leaving
it all on the floor. The kids en-
joyed it, their eyes went to him
and off of me.”
McDermott even drew up
an out-of-bounds play for the
Panthers.
“Really cool play,” Jones said.
“We lined up in a fashion we
hadn’t done before. Just go-
ing through the motions, you
could tell it would get some
open shots for any team.”
The 2020-21 high school
sports season, which was up-
ended by the COVID-19 pan-
demic, ends on Saturday with
the completion of the culmi-
nating week. And many Cen-
tral Oregon basketball teams
are taking full advantage of the
lost time by playing during the
culminating week, including
Redmond.
Courtesy Jed Keene
NBA player Doug McDermott, center, stopped by Redmond’s basketball
practice Wednesday afternoon to talk with the team and draw up an in-
bounds play. McDermott was in Central Oregon for a golf tournament.
The Panthers were looking
to advance to Friday’s IMC
championship game with a vic-
tory over the Eagles. IMC girls
teams are also playing in a dis-
trict tournament this week.
The three Bend-area boys
teams, after not playing the Sa-
lem schools during Mountain
Valley League play, will close
out the season with games
against Salem-area teams. The
Bend, Mountain View and
Summit girls seasons ended
last week.
See Basketball / A6
CYCLING | TOUR DE FRANCE
A new
role for
Froome
4-time champion feels like
‘neo-pro’ at Tour comeback
BY SAMUEL PETREQUIN • Associated Press
A
s the finest Grand
Tour rider of his
generation, Chris
Froome is used to honors, awards
and accolades.
One thing he is not used to at the
Tour de France — the race he domi-
nated over the past decade and made
him famous — is carrying water bot-
tles for others.
In cycling jargon, it’s called being a
“domestique,” and the sight of a for-
mer four-time champion in that role
will be something quite unusual at cy-
cling’s biggest event.
But a bit more than two years af-
ter a horrific, career-threatening
crash that left him on the side of a
road with multiple serious injuries,
Froome is ready to play the sideman
part.
With the mindset of a rookie.
Christophe Ena/AP file
Britain’s Chris Froome, left, and countryman Geraint Thomas, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey, climb Col d’Aspin pass
during the 19th stage of the 2018 Tour de France. Froome, a four-time Tour champion, is making his return at the Tour de France for
the first time in three years. Now riding for the Israel Start-Up Nation team, Froome will ride in support of leader Michael Woods.
Froome missed the last two editions of the three-week race following a career-threatening crash.
“Typically, going into the Tour de France I obviously got a lot of pressure
on my shoulders, as a (top) contender. That’s not the case
this time around. This time around, I’m only … trying to do the
best job possible to support the guys around me.”
— Cyclist Chris Froome
“I’m really excited for this year’s up-
coming start,” the 36-year-old Froome
said ahead of Saturday’s opening stage
in the western port city of Brest.
“Brest was where I first discovered
the Tour de France back in 2008 as a
neo pro. I’m heading to the Tour de
France this year with a very similar
mindset as back in 2008. I’m looking
to gain something through racing the
Tour de France.”
For the first time since 2013, the
year he won his first Tour, Froome
won’t be on the starting line with per-
sonal ambitions. He has been tasked
with a role of road captain at his new
Israel Start-Up Nation team and will
work in support of leader Michael
Woods.
“Typically, going into the Tour de
France I obviously got a lot of pres-
sure on my shoulders, as a (top) con-
tender,” Froome said. “That’s not
the case this time around. This time
around, I’m only … trying to do the
best job possible to support the guys
around me. For almost the last de-
cade I had been going to the Tour de
France with a team that was doing a
similar job for me. It feels great to be
on the other side now, and give back a
little bit.”
See Froome / A6
GOLF | WOMEN’S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
Yuka Saso goes for another LPGA major with limited expectations
BY DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
Jeff Chiu/AP file
Yuka Saso plays her shot from the 10th tee during the final round of
the U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco on June 6.
Fresh off her first major at that tournament, Saso heads to Atlanta Ath-
letic Club for a shot at another in the Women’s PGA Championship.
JOHNS CREEK, Ga. —
Yuka Saso has come a long
way in a short time. One week
after winning the U.S. Wom-
en’s Open, she turned 20. Now
it’s time for another major test
in the KPMG Women’s PGA
Championship, and there is
still so much to learn.
For starters, winning the
Women’s Open gave her a five-
year membership on the LPGA
Tour, a great surprise to her.
And then there’s this matter
of a pro-am. Saso had never
played in one.
It was only one year ago this
week the Filipino made her
debut as a Japan LPGA Tour
member. Saso tied for fifth,
won her next two events and
is No. 4 on the money list. Be-
cause of COVID-19 restric-
tions, however, there were no
fans and no pro-ams in Japan.
She played her first one at
Atlanta Athletic Club, and Saso
said later she could only hope
she had the score right. The
format was a scramble.
For now, the expectations of
the newest star in women’s golf
haven’t changed.
“I don’t really expect any-
thing,” Saso said. “I’m just
more focusing on what I have
to do with my game. I’m try-
ing to improve every day to be
a better golfer, to be a better
person. I’ll just do my best, and
let’s see the result.”
Her game figures to be
tested plenty at Atlanta Athletic
Club in the third LPGA ma-
jor of the year. The Highlands
course is where David Toms
laid up on the closing hole and
made par to beat Phil Mickel-
son in the PGA Championship
in 2001, and Keegan Bradley
overcame a three-shot defi-
cit down the stretch and beat
Jason Dufner in a playoff 10
years later.
It’s keeping with a Women’s
PGA that has taken a big step
in stature by raising the prize
money ($4.5 million) and go-
ing to historic golf courses,
such as Hazeltine and Olympia
Fields. Still to come is Congres-
sional next year and Baltusrol
the year after that.
South Korea has the top
three players in the women’s
world ranking, though parity is
getting stronger on the LPGA
as evidenced by the list of win-
ners.
See Golf / A7