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KHS PREVIEWS 8A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015 BOYS BASKETBALL Young Loggers ready to step up By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian KNAPPA BOYS Coach: Chris Spencer, 3rd year 2014-15: 21-7 (12-2 NWL) Playoffs: Defeated Union (70-45) in state playoff; lost to Heppner (54-56, OT) and Western Mennonite (26-39) in state tournament. All-League Losses: Tyson Burnard (MVP), Justin Dragoo, Andy Miller All-League Returner: Dale Takalo, So. Yes, the Knappa Loggers lost some key seniors. But no program is better at replacing graduates than the Loggers, who just turn on their “plug-and-play” system to stay com- petitive, year in and year out. “There’s no replacing Tyson Bur- nard, Justin Dragoo or Andy Miller, but we’re not asking any one guy to be one of those players,” said Knap- pa coach Chris Spencer. “We’ve just collectively picked up the slack, and we’ll play a little different style and ¿t our system to our personnel. So we’ll adjust, adapt, make some changes and work on things that we’re really good at. “It’s very nice, being my third year here,” he said. “We can step right in and get to work. Going to the state tournament last year and getting all that experience … they understand the expectations.” SCOREBOARD PREP SCHEDULE THE NWL Spencer’s usual method is to pick the defending league champion as the team to beat. But his team is the defending league champion, so instead, he’ll pick Vernonia. “Vernonia is probably one of the favorites to win the state tourna- ment,” Spencer said. “They have a couple good players coming back, with a very dominant left-hand- ed point guard. Clay Sullivan is an MVP candidate in the league. “They bring back some size, and the X-factor is always the for- eign-exchange students. They’ll be good.” Elsewhere, “Life Christian (up from Class 1A) is in our league, and they have some very good players as well.” The Lions are coached by former Oregon State player (2002-03 to 2004-05) J.S. Nash. Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Dakota Severson is the only returning senior with extensive varsity playing time. THE LOGGERS Knappa has just one senior with extensive varsity playing time, Da- kota Severson. “Dakota started every game last season and had the task of guarding the other team’s best player, night in and night out,” Spencer said. “He’s the guy who sets the tone for us. He’s the toughest, battle-tested player we have, and I think he’s up for the task again. He will be in the back court, as a guard. His game is disrupting what the other team does.” The other senior is Jimmy Hen- drickson, a good shooter who will provide depth to the lineup. The backcourt is where it usually starts for the Loggers. “Last year, we were able to push the tempo with Tyson, and at times we might be able to do that this year,” Spencer said. “Jason Miller played a lot of basketball last year, and he will slide into one of the key spots in the backcourt. We relied heavily on him to get us into the state tournament.” Look for Miller “to do more cre- ative type stuff,” Spencer said. “He will have the opportunity to ad-lib and be a playmaker. He’s also a real good defender. I’m excited to see what he can do. He has some nice wing play- ers he can distribute the ball to.” WRESTLING Hard-working Knappa Loggers take to the mat By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian Get familiar with this group of Knappa wrestlers. They’re going to be around a while. The Loggers enter the 2015-16 season with only one senior on the roster, surround- ed by a few juniors and lots of freshmen and sophomores. “We’ve got some holes in the lineup, so we’re re- cruiting a few more,” said longtime coach Dan Owings. “There’s holes at 126 and 132, and probably 195. But the kids we have are really good. Andrew Goozee got fourth in state last year, and his little brother (Luke Goo- zee) did pretty good in junior high. He’s looking strong.” The Loggers were the home team for last year’s District 1-2A/1A tourna- ment, and they took advan- tage of the home-mat factor, qualifying four wrestlers for the state tournament. The district, meanwhile, is tough but small. Several weight classes in last year’s district tournament had just three wrestlers — which greatly improves the odds of qualifying for state. With just four wrestlers at 170 pounds, Knappa senior Chris Cruz cruised to the district title, while Andrew Goozee was the best of only TODAY Boys Basketball — Warrenton at Ilwaco, 7:30 p.m. Wrestling — Knappa Fun Meet, 5 p.m. FRIDAY Girls Basketball — Liberty at Sea- side, 7:30 p.m.; Waldport at Warrenton, 3 p.m.; Clatskanie at Knappa, 6 p.m.; Ilwaco at North Beach, 5:45 p.m. Boys Basketball — Liberty at Sea- side, 7:30 p.m.; Waldport at Warrenton, 4:45 p.m.; Clatskanie at Knappa, 7:45 p.m.; Ilwaco at North Beach, 7 p.m. SATURDAY Basketball — Warrenton at Vernonia Tournament, TBA Boys Basketball — Naselle at Ilwa- co, 7 p.m. Swimming — Tillamook Invitational, 10 a.m. Wrestling — Astoria, Warrenton at Estacada Tournament, 10 a.m.; Knap- pa at Ocosta Tournament, TBA Andrew Goozee, top, will be one of the high hopes for Knappa wrestling this sea- son. Kathy Morgan For the Daily Astorian THE WRESTLERS 113: Luke Goozee, Fr. 113: Cody Hobbs, Jr. 113: Nathan Hoikka, Fr. 138: Spencer Fulton, So. 145: Mason Hoover, So. 145: Dawson Whiteside, Jr. 152: Meisha Boettcher, Sr. 152: Reuben Cruz, So. 160: D.J. Bryant, So. 170: Noah Gothro, Jr. 170: Luis Rodriguez, Jr. 170/182: Andrew Goozee, Jr. 220: David Patterson, So. 220: Justin Perdew, Jr. three wrestlers at 182, pin- ning Neah-Kah-Nie’s Gabri- el Cazarez in the title bout. Coming back, “Monroe will probably be the tough- est,” Owings said. “They didn’t lose a lot and they’ve got a pretty good youth pro- gram. Vernonia and Neah- Kah-Nie should be a little tougher, and Nestucca is always going to have some good kids.” Good Luck Loggers We Deliver! 3693 LIEF ERIKSON DR. ASTORIA (JUST EAST OF SAFEWAY) 503.325.4927 HOURS: SUN-THUR 11AM-10PM; FRI-SAT 11AM-11PM As for the Loggers, “We’re working hard, and we’ll do OK,” Owings said. “We will probably do bet- ter in tournaments than du- als, because of the holes in our lineup. If we can ¿ll the holes, that will help. “Little Cruz (Reuben) is stepping up, and Hobbs and little Goozee, plus the big Goozee — there’s half a doz- en kids who will do well,” he said. “We also have high hopes for Meisha (Boettcher, the only senior). “Reuben will be probably be a state quali¿er Dawson Whiteside is looking tough this year and David Patter- son has made a big improve- ment from last year.” Three additions, D.J. Bryant, Spencer Fulton and Nathan Hoikka, “are all looking good,” Owings said. “They’re working hard in practice.” Such as the “Super Sophs,” as Spencer calls them, Dale Takalo and Colton Weirup. “Dale started every game last year other than Senior Night. He’s only a sophomore, but he’s got a lot of experience and has played in a lot of big games. We’re going to lean on him heavily to carry the load on offense.” Knappa’s designated 3-point shooter, Weirup “is not much of a secret any more. Between those two guys, they will have to lead us and put the ball in the basket. “Other teams will try to take those two away, which will open up some other things. They will have to pick up a lot of the slack that we left behind last year, and they’re de¿nite- ly capable.” While Knappa’s trio of MVP can- didates are Miller, Takalo and Weir- up, rounding out the regular lineup will be the G-Men, juniors Mitch Geisler and Michal Goodman, along with junior Ethan Rubus. “They will have to do all the dirty work for us inside,” Spencer said. “Those two (Goodman and Rubus) will be up for that challenge.” Sophomores Braedon Eltagonde and Reece Hunt will also see playing time for the Loggers. Lady Loggers rebuild a winner By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian Second-year coach Marie Green calls the 2015-16 season “a good rebuilding year” for her Knappa Lady Loggers. After losing four of their ¿ve starters from last year, you could easily call it a total reconstruction. Knappa has just three players returning with any varsity experience. THE NWL A young, inexperienced roster might be a bad thing in any other year, but in the down-and-out Northwest League, you can rebuild and still be competitive. “I can see us in the middle of the pack,” Green said. “It’s going to be a rebuilding year for a lot of teams. City Christian lost their three seniors, who were all double-digit scorers. “They still have Felicia Vong coming back, but I don’t know what they’ll have off the JV. They will be rebuilding Neah-Kah-Nie should be fairly decent, because they had a good group of juniors last year.” Life Christian, a former 1A school that joins the NWL, “only lost one senior, but I don’t truly know what they have,” Green said. Elsewhere, “Vernonia lost four seniors, and two were their big posts Faith Bible lost four and Nestucca lost four.” THE LOGGERS In addition to losing seniors Stacey Aho, Ka- cie Cameron and Shailei Wright, the Loggers also lost all-league player Chloe Little (transferred to Warrenton) and McKailyn Rogers (transferred to Astoria). Which makes juniors Kaitlyn Landwehr and Devin Vandergriff, and sophomore Paris Vander- burg the only returning varsity players. “I got to see Paris and Devin really step up during the summer, so they’ll be good,” Green said. “I’ve seen huge changes from Paris from last year to where she’s at now. I’ve been telling her that we’re expecting a lot from her, even though she’s only a sophomore.” The immediate concern, Green said, “We need people to step up, and the returners to lead the way Best of luck th is sea so n ! T H E D AILY A STORIAN Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Devin Vandergriff is one of three returning varsity players this season for Knappa. KNAPPA GIRLS Coach: Marie Green, 2nd year 2014-15: 13-12 (6-6 NWL) Playoffs: Lost to City Christian (40-55) in NWL Tournament. All-League Losses: Kacie Cameron, Chloe Little (transferred), Shailei Wright for everyone else who ¿lls in those varsity positions. “We don’t truly have an outside shooter now, with Chloe, Shailei and McKailyn gone. Those were our three big outside threats, and now we have to make sure our posts can score.” Joining the varsity this season will be senior Bailey Corder and sophomores Ressa Inman, Jaden Miethe, Mackenzie Strain, Emma Taggert and Kaitlyn Truax. Juniors Aubrey McMahan and Ashly Silva may also see playing time. Truax and Vanderburg will be Knappa’s start- ing posts. “Paris is our utility player — she can be a ball-handler and a guard, and she can be a post, too,” Green said. “With how we are right now, we’re going to be more guard-heavy. I told Kaitlyn (Landwehr) that she might have to play post every now and then. “Sometimes it doesn’t matter how tall you are, it’s just a matter of being stronger.” Go Loggers! Knappa Office (503) 458-6671 42894 Old Hwy. 30 Knappa, OR 97103 Rainier Office (503) 556-0410 29191 Dike Road Rainier, OR 97048 www.teevinbros.com • CCB #133907
