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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 2015)
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. :HOOVLVLQKHU¿UVW\HDUWHDFKLQJ 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 3DFL¿F%/HDJXHFKDPSLRQVKLSWR- 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. ,OZDFR LQ WKH 3DFL¿F % standings), hosts Raymond (8-1) tonight, with the league title on the line, as well as the top seed in the District IV tournament. -DVPLQH &RI¿Q OHG ,OZDFR ZLWK 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- SLUHGDQGPDGHKHU¿UVWIUHHWKURZ 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. 5DFKHO 6WDKO\ ¿QLVKHG ZLWK 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 RIWKHÀRRU´ 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 DIWHUWUDLOLQJE\LQWKH¿UVW 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, WKH%OD]HUVKDGORVW¿YHRIVL[ 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 LQWKH¿UVWTXDUWHUDORQHDQG trailed 46-35 at halftime. The ¿UVWKDOISRLQWWRWDOZDVDVHD- 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. 7KH 6XQV EULHÀ\ WRRN D 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