SPORTS
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2015
7A
Astoria hires co-head coach for softball
Renee Wells will join Lou Mar-
coneri as the co-head coach of Asto-
ria varsity softball this spring.
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health and physical education at As-
toria High School. She previously
taught Health and PE for the Clats-
kanie School District, where she also
served as the head coach of girls bas-
ketball and softball.
She was named the Lewis &
Clark League Coach of the Year
(softball) for her efforts in 2011.
Marconeri has served as the Asto-
ria softball coach since 2009, and has
coached softball in Astoria at some
level, youth or adult, since 1970.
According to Astoria Athletic
Director Howard Rub, “We are very
excited to have coach Wells join the
high school athletic department in
this role. It is unique to have co-head
coaches, but we felt this was the best
course of action for our student-ath-
letes and the program.
“Coach Marconeri has devoted
his entire adult life since moving to
Astoria 45 years ago to our softball
community,” Rub said. “We know he
will continue to do everything in his
power to help our girls have success,
but we also wanted to bring a strong
female presence from our building to
work with the girls.”
He added, “We feel we are getting
the best of both coaches by setting
up our season with this structure.”
Marconeri earned Coach of
the Year honors from his Cowapa
League peers after the 2014 season.
BASEBALL
Warrenton Kids tryouts Saturday
Baseball tryouts for Warrenton
Kids Inc., will be Saturday at War-
renton High School.
Registration for players age 10
to 12 are at 8:30 a.m., followed by
registration for ages 8 to 9, at 10:30
a.m.
Bring clean shoes, no cleats.
Ilwaco
girls play
for title
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Photos by KATHY MORGAN — For The Daily Astorian
Knappa wrestlers participated in a match with Vernonia and Seaside Tuesday. Knappa’s Dawson Whiteside, blue, wrestles Jake Harbour of
Vernonia. Harbour won by points. See more photos at www.dailyastorian.com.
On the Mat
Knappa’s Nate Truax pins Niklas Merzadah of Vernonia.
Ilwaco 52,
Willapa Valley 51
MENLO, Wash. — Ilwaco avoid-
ed an upset Wednesday at Willapa
Valley, and now will play for the
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night at home.
Makenzie Kaech hit a free throw
with no time showing on the clock
in Wednesday’s game, resulting in a
52-51 win for the Lady Fishermen.
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standings), hosts Raymond (8-1)
tonight, with the league title on the
line, as well as the top seed in the
District IV tournament.
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15 points in the win over Willapa
Valley, in which the Fishermen held
an eight-point halftime lead.
Willapa’s Karly Friese poured
in a game-high 31 points, including
a shot to tie the game at 51-51 with
11.8 seconds left.
Kaech was fouled on an offensive
rebound putback shot as time ex-
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for the win.
The Lady Fishermen are 18-1
overall, with their only loss coming
Dec. 9 at Seaside, a 61-43 setback to
the Gulls, one of the top-ranked 4A
teams in Oregon.
Jewell 44, Seaside JVII 27
JEWELL — The Jewell girls bas-
ketball team picked up a nonleague
game win Thursday night at home,
44-27 over the Seaside junior varsity
II team.
Jewell’s Alyscia Littlepage
scored 14 points with seven steals,
and teammate Gabi Morales added
13 points, 13 rebounds and eight
steals.
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points, six boards and four assists.
Chris Cruz of Knappa, right, defeats Raiden Bowles of Seaside
Tuesday.
RIGHT: Reuben Cruz of Knappa defeats
Vernonia’s Alex West with a pin.
Aldridge leads Trail Blazers to 108-87 win over Suns
PORTLAND (AP) —
As LaMarcus Aldridge has
grown older and stronger,
rebounding has come easier
for him. His teammates have
something to do with that,
too.
The four-time All-Star had
19 points and 13 rebounds
for his team-record 220th
double-double, and the Port-
land Trail Blazers beat the
Phoenix Suns 108-87 on
Thursday night.
Aldridge said ear-
ly in his career, for-
mer Blazers coach
Nate McMillan used
him as a big man
who could switch
and guard pick-and-rolls.
“I think now our defense
is better. I’m at the rim more,
I’m in the paint more, so I
think it’s just a mindset of
knowing, I’m in the paint, so
go and get it,” Aldridge said.
Nicolas Batum added
20 points and Robin Lopez,
playing his second game af-
ter missing 23 with a broken
right hand, had 11 points and
12 rebounds for the Blazers,
who won their second straight
after a three-game skid.
“It was a big win for us,”
Portland guard Damian Lil-
lard said. “They’ve given us a
lot of trouble in the last two or
three years. We came out to-
night and took the challenge
defensively. We really got af-
ter them on the defensive end
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Markieff Morris had 18
points for the Suns, who
dropped their third in a row.
Phoenix climbed back into
the game in the third period
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half, but ultimately the Blaz-
ers thwarted the rally with a
dominant fourth quarter.
Portland opened the fourth
with a 9-2 run to go
up 75-67. Batum’s
3-pointer stretched
the lead to 86-75 with
6:03 left.
Portland went 6-9
in January after as-
cending to the top spot
in the Western Conference
standings earlier this season.
Before a 103-102 victory
Tuesday night over the Jazz,
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The Suns were one of the
teams that beat the Blazers
last month, 118-113 in Phoe-
nix on Jan. 21.
But the Suns are struggling
on the road, with six straight
losses, and they were coming
off a 102-101 loss at home to
Memphis on Monday.
“It was just one of those
games,” Morris said. “We
came out real sluggish and
lackadaisical and they got out
to a good lead on us.”
The Blazers jumped out
to a 25-13 advantage on
Wesley Matthews’ 3-pointer.
Portland got a spark off the
bench from C.J. McCollum,
who had 12 points.
The Suns struggled with
turnovers, committing eight
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trailed 46-35 at halftime. The
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son low for Phoenix.
The Suns closed the gap
to 52-46, but there was a
scary moment when Alex Len
crashed into the base of the
basket and appeared to injure
his right ankle. He was able
to walk off the court, but did
not play in the fourth quarter.
X-rays were negative.
After the game, the team
said Len had a sprain, but
he left the Moda Center on
crutches. Suns coach Jeff
Hornacek expressed concern.
“He’ll get treatment on it,”
Hornacek said. “I don’t know
how long he’ll be out. I’m
guessing he’ll be out through
the (All-Star) break to give
him the extra rest, but I think
we’ll know more tomorrow.”
Morris’ 3-pointer and a free
throw from Miles Plumlee
pulled the Suns to 54-53 mid-
way through the third quarter.
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63-62 lead after Eric Bled-
soe’s layup with 1:20 left in
the third quarter, but Batum
answered with a 3 on the oth-
er end.
“It was an ugly game to
watch, but I thought it was
good on the court for us, our
competitiveness,” Aldridge
said.
Portland Trail
Blazers forward
LaMarcus
Aldridge
shoots over
Phoenix
Suns forward
Markieff Morris
during the
second half
of an NBA
basketball
game in
Portland
Thursday.
Aldridge
scored 19
points and
pulled in 13
rebounds as
the Trail Blazers
won 108-87.
AP Photo/Don Ryan
SCOREBOARD
PREP SCHEDULE
TODAY
Girls Basketball — Astoria
at Banks, 5:30 p.m.; Seaside at
Scappoose, 5:30 p.m.; Warren-
ton at Riverdale, 6 p.m.; Gaston
at Knappa, 6 p.m.; Jewell at C.S.
Lewis, 5:30 p.m.; Raymond at Il-
waco, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball — Astoria
at Banks, 7:15 p.m.; Seaside at
Scappoose, 7:15 p.m.; Warrenton
at Riverdale, 7:45 p.m.; Gaston at
Knappa, 7:45 p.m.; Jewell at C.S.
Lewis, 7 p.m.
Swimming — Cowapa League
Championships, St. Helens, 4 p.m.
SATURDAY
Wrestling — Cowapa League
Championships, Banks, 10 a.m.
BASKETBALL
HIGH SCHOOLS
Standings
Boys
Cowapa League
League Overall
Seaside
4-1 12-7
Tillamook
4-1 11-6
Astoria
2-3 8-11
Scappoose
2-3 14-5
Valley Catholic 2-3 10-8
Banks
1-4 5-13
Lewis & Clark League
Portland Adv 12-2 13-8
De La Salle
11-2
14-6
Clatskanie
10-3 14-6
Catlin Gabel
8-6
14-8
Rainier
6-7
6-13
Riverdale
OR Episcopal
Warrenton
Portland Chr
5-8
5-9
2-11
1-12
8-13
10-12
8-13
3-19
Northwest League
Nestucca
10-2 15-6
Knappa
9-2
16-5
Delphian
7-4
11-8
Vernonia
7-4
10-11
Faith Bible
6-5
9-11
City Christian 4-8
8-13
Gaston
2-9
5-16
Neah-Kah-Nie 0-11 3-18
Girls
Cowapa League
Seaside
5-0
11-4
Banks
4-1
12-7
Valley Catholic 3-2
14-5
Scappoose
2-3
8-9
Astoria
1-4
8-11
Tillamook
0-5
8-9
Lewis & Clark League
Portland Adv 13-1 15-6
Portland Chr 12-1 19-3
Rainier
10-3 13-7
De La Salle
7-6
7-14
OR Episcopal
Clatskanie
Riverdale
Catlin Gabel
Warrenton
7-7
6-7
2-11
2-12
1-12
12-10
10-11
4-15
5-17
1-20
Northwest League
Vernonia
10-0 18-2
Faith Bible
8-2
13-5
City Christian 7-3
9-9
Knappa
4-5 10-10
Neah-Kah-Nie 2-7
8-9
Gaston
2-8
5-16
Nestucca
1-9
4-17