THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015
JHS PREVIEWS
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Blue Jay girls vow
to return to playoffs
9A
BOYS BASKETBALL
By DON ANDERSON
For The Daily Astorian
Despite their inexperience,
the Jewell varsity girls’ basket-
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practice, and growing steadi-
ly in their basketball skills.
Whether they can make it to the
playoffs depends on how much
effort they are willing to put in.
“It will be harder to make
the playoffs this year, because
the Casco League has eight
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sophomore starter Emma Guil-
len. “I think that we will do well
considering that we just have
one junior (Allycia Littlepage)
and one senior (Hanna Littlep-
age). We really have a team of
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Last year the Lady Jays
went to the playoffs, but just
barely. This year they hope to
build on their success with a
more experienced squad. They
have a new assistant coach,
Hailee Smith, to help build on
their speed and help develop
their shooting skills. Mark Fick
is the head coach for both the
boys and the girls.
“It was really easy for us to
get comfortable with our plays
this year. Our summer camp at
Joseph really helped our young-
er players get use to our team
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“We really need to work on our
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she said.
Besides the two seniors and
sophomore Guillen, the Jays
have sophomores Serena Had-
dock, Ashley Thurston, Gabi
Morales, and Niqui Blodgett,
and freshmen Sophie Olvera
and Lilly Kaczenski in the line-
up.
The Blue Jay Girls start off
their season like the boys with
a Jamboree at CS Lewis Acad-
emy on Wednesday, followed
Don Anderson/For The Daily Astorian
Blue Jay sophomore Ben Stahly and senior Nico
Chavera-Munk listen as Jewell head coach Mark Fick
outlines a play during practice Tuesday. The Jays first
game is Thursday against Open Door.
Jewell boys
team build on
experience
By DON ANDERSON
For The Daily Astorian
Photos by Don Anderson/For The Daily Astorian
Sophomore Emma Guillen provides speed, ball-handling and a threat close to the basket for
the Blue Jays varsity girls. Guillen says she looks forward to a hard fought, but fun season.
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Casco League came Monday
against Oregon School for the
Deaf.
RIGHT: Sophomore Gabi
Morales is the high-scorer
for the Jewell Blue Jays as
well as being an excellent
ball-handler. She uses
her speed both with a fast
break offense and hazing
defense. FAR RIGHT:
Junior Allysica Littlepage
is one of the best shooters
for the Jewell Blue Jays.
She also provides a lot of
experience, which Jewell
badly needs. The Jays
have just one junior and
one senior on the team.
JEWELL — With four
seniors on their varsity boys’
basketball team, the Jewell
Blue Jays will attempt to get
past rivals Country Chris-
tian and Perrydale and into
the playoffs of the Casco
League that they missed last
year.
While the Jays didn’t
have enough bodies to make
up a football team this year,
they barely have enough, 10,
for a solid basketball roster,
including three seniors that
are starting for the Jays:
Dallas Ritchie, Trystan Sil-
va and Rylan Murray, along
with sophomores Ben Stahly
and Thomas Meehan.
Tonight the Jays play a
Jamboree with C.S. Lewis,
Mohawk and Central Chris-
tian. Thursday they play
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game against Open Door,
followed by a trip to Ed-
dyville on Saturday.
“I have high hopes for
our team this year, but we
need to work on our shoot-
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Sean Hinson. His teammate,
sophomore Corey Lyon add-
ed, “Hopefully we will do
well this season, but we will
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have experience and we have
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nior Nico Chavera-Munk,
and juniors Jon Thompson
and Rhett Gerken, round out
the Jewell team.
Former Astoria High
School player and coach
Mark Fick is the head coach
for the Blue Jay boys and
girls varsity teams again this
year. Under his tutelage, the
Jays have done well despite
their small numbers.
Clatsop County takes gold in
fall Special Olympics soccer
The Daily Astorian
The Clatsop Green Ma-
chine came away with gold at
the Special Olympics Oregon
Fall State Games soccer cham-
pionships, Nov. 21-22.
More than 900 athletes
across Oregon gathered to
compete in soccer, volleyball
or swimming.
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for the Clatsop County team.
The Clatsop Green Machine
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county established for athletes
with intellectual disabilities.
Coaches Diana Johnson and
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soccer coaches and few of the
athletes have ever played soc-
cer before.
What ensued were three-
hour practices held on several
rainy and windy Saturdays in
Astoria. Enthusiasm and hard
practice paid off.
At the Fall State Games,
The Green Machine won all
four of their matches. The un-
defeated Clatsop County took
top honors in their division
with a gold medal.
“I am always amazed how
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said Steve McAloney, volun-
Don Anderson/For The Daily Astorian
Jewell sophomore Ben Stahly and junior Sean Hinson
battle for possession of the ball during practice Thurs-
day. The two big men on the team, they will be respon-
sible for most rebounds in the paint.
Aliina Johnson-Sconiers/Submitted Photo
The Clatsop County Green Machine: (Back) Coach Diana Johnson, Stephen Adams, Ben
Johnson, Beau Routh, Samuel McAloney, Andrew Kujala, Ryan Breitmeyer and Coach
David McAloney; (Middle) Anna Rodriguez, William Heckard, Mahalya Green and William
Kelso; (Front) Elizabeth Colson and Julian Whitsett notforsale
teer local program coordinator
for Special Olympics-Clatsop
County. “They work togeth-
er as a team and learn how to
pass the ball and kick goals.
At the beginning of the sea-
son, we did not know what
kind of team we would have,
but, when that whistle blew,
our athletes stepped up and
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showed everyone they are
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Johnson said, “My son has
been a part of Special Olym-
pics since age 7. Over the
past 20 years, we have hung
his tournament medals on our
Christmas tree. These med-
als represent badges of cour-
age and honor for Ben and
the whole family. On a larger
scale, the medals symbolize
just how far we have all come
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Special Olympics Basket-
ball is the winter sport for Clat-
sop County. Those interested
in participating as athletes or
volunteers can contact Steve
McAloney at 503-298-0633.
B es t
of luck
th is s ea s on!
U.S. Highway 26 at Milepost 18, In Elsie
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C O A ST W EEK EN D
Youth softball
camp Saturday
The Daily Astorian
A youth softball camp
for players in grades 5-8 is
scheduled for Saturday at
CMH Field.
The camp is divided
into two sessions: Players
in grades 5-6 will receive
instruction from 9-11 a.m.,
cost is $20.
Players in grades 7-8 will
practice from 12:30 to 3:30
p.m., cost is $25.
Registration takes place
a half hour before the start
of each session. T-shirts are
included.
No metal cleats are al-
lowed on the CMH Field
turf. Rain could force the
camp to be moved to the As-
toria High School gym, but
registration will still take
place at CMH Field.
For more information,
contact Mykka Abrahams at
503-741-1093.
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