Confederated Umatilla Journal - Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla ...

Larry Spino drives on Echo’s Ray Harris in the the final game for Nixyaawii boys. Spino had his best
scoring game as a high school player, pouring in 39 with four three-pointers. Spino had 15 points in
the fourth quarter come back and added six more in overtime.
Spino, Barkley lead boys to OT finale
By the CUJ
MISSION – There was no playoff, no
games at the district tournament, but
there couldn’t have been a more exciting
ending to an up-and-down season
for the Nixyaawii Golden Eagles boys’
hoop squad.
Nixyaawii scored six points in 18 seconds
to tie the game then pulled away in
overtime to beat Echo, 78-71 in the Eagles
Nest behind a raucus crowd that erupted
when Josh Barkley canned a three-pointer
from the baseline to tie the game at the
buzzer.
Larry Spino and Barkley scored 74 of
the team’s 78 points – Spino had 39 and
Barkley had 35, but it took all five players
on the floor to make the comeback.
Nixyaawii trailed throughout the
game by eight or nine points. The team
was down 42-33 when the fourth quarter
started. A Barkley three from the top of
the circle cut it to five, but the Golden
Eagles were on the wrong end of the
score, 62-56 with 18 seconds.
Spino hit a three to cut the margin in
half before Nixyaawii stopped the clock
at 11 seconds with a foul on C.J. Flores,
who had made two free throws seven seconds
before. But Flores missed both. The
‘I measure success differently. It’s not whether you
win or lose, my philosophy is that you’re successful
through attitude, how you’re composed, how you
carry yourself, how you look as a team. The hearts of
our kids showed they are a successful team.’
Golden Eagles took the ball the length
of the court before Travis Baumgartner
set a screen that put in motion a passing
sequence out top from Joe Crawford to
Spino to Barkley and the shot that sent
the game to overtime.
Barkley scored eight, Spino six and
Crawford two in the overtime as Nixyaawii
nursed a four point lead. Echo cut
it to three with 33 seconds to go, but free
throws by Spino and Barkley closed it out
for the Golden Eagles.
Spino had four three-pointers and was
9-for-9 from the free throw line. Barkley
had six three-pointers and went 5 from
8 from the line.
For Barkley, a sophomore, the shot as
the buzzer was routine.
“In the moment, just feelin’ it,” he
said. “I wanted to win for these guys, the
Sophomore guard Josh Barkley drives past Echo’s Ray Harris to get a couple of his 35 points in
Nixyaawii’s overtime win, 78-71. Barkley hit six three and scored 14 points in the fourth quarter and
eight in overtime.
CUJ photos/Phinney
Nixyaawii Coach Aaron Noisey
seniors this year.”
It was the most points Spino had ever
scored.
“It was tough defense and execution
on offense. We’d see how the zone reacts
and hit the open shot,” he said, praising
his senior teammate Crawford for
rebounds and assists, “finding the open
man.”
Said Spino, “I didn’t know if this
would be my last game or not, so I
wanted to go all out.”
After the win, with Nixyaawii’s record
of 6-7 the same as Condon-Wheeler’s,
coaches told the boys there would be
a playoff to see who would qualify for
the Big Sky Conference district tournament.
But a few minutes later, Noisey
was told over the phone that because
Condon-Wheeler had beat Nixyaawii
twice, the Golden Eagles wouldn’t be
playing again. He had to break bad news
this time.
Spino and Barkley were disappointed
when they learned the outcome.
“Get ready for next year,” Barkley
said.
“No playoff game. I went all out,”
Spino said. “We played hard all season,
I can say that. We could have had them
(Condon-Wheeler) this time, too.”
Coach Noisey agreed that the boys
played with heart.
“I’ve been waiting for this all season,”
Noisey said. “I’m proud to see them play
like that. I knew they had it in them. You
need scorers to score, and this time we
finally had two do it at the same time,
not just one.”
Noisey said that although the team’s
record (9-14 overall) might not show it,
this has been a successful year for the
players.
“I measure success differently,”
Noisey said. “It’s not whether you
win or lose, my philosophy is that
you’re successful through attitude,
how you’re composed, how you carry
yourself, how you look as a team. The
hearts of our kids showed they are a
successful team.
CBB#41934
Pioneer Construction
Proud to be part of the
construction at the new hotel at
Wildhorse Resort & Casino.
March 2011
Confederated Umatilla Journal
41