SPORTS
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2016
7A
Loggers sixth
at Gervais
The Daily Astorian
Photos by Jeff Ter Har/For EO Media Group
Coaches provide side court guidance.
Gulls: Good team chemistry is key
Continued from Page 1A
AEout midway through
the regular season, the players
have put up some notaEle
numEers, Eoth as individuals
and as a team. They are 20-7
overall and scheduled Ior
a game tonight in Seaside
against Valley Catholic. Coach
:ally Hamer and assistant
coach Mike Hawes lead the
team, which is comprised oI
¿ve seniors, three Muniors and
three sophomores.
Teamwork is a pri]ed
concept Ior the Lady Gulls
EasketEall program.
“<ou don’t win league
championships without having
good team chemistry,” Hamer
said.
During the ¿rst week oI
practice, the girls EasketEall
program held an in-town
retreat. AIter splitting oII Irom
the Munior varsity players Ior
the night, the varsity girls went
over their goals Ior the season,
according to senior :hitney
:esterholm. This year, she
said, they “Eonded over the
Tuestion” oI what were their
Eiggest Iears Ior the season.
“<ou kind oI get to know
your team on a diIIerent level
Eeside EasketEall,” she said.
“:e talk aEout how we’re
going to accomplish those
goals and how we’re going
to overcome those Iears as a
group. I think that’s another
reason why we’re so close
as a team. %ecause we know
each others’ Iears, and we
know what they need to do to
overcome them. And we all
have the same goal in the end.”
Some oI the deep
connections Eetween players
can Ee attriEuted to long-
standing Iriendships Iorged
through many years living in
the same small town, attending
the same schools and partic-
ipating in many oI the same
activities Eesides EasketEall.
<et players like senior -esse
Trott, who moved to Seaside
Irom out oI state as a Ireshman,
show there is more to it than
simply adding up years.
“I had no Iriends Ior
the ¿rst 3 12 months,” she
said. “:hen I walked on the
EasketEall court, I kind oI Must
immediately had Iriends.”
During those months, she
said, she Ielt like an outsider
“everywhere else, Eut not on
the EasketEall court.”
“I never got treated like a
new kid,” she added.
The team’s slogan, created
two years ago and Erought
into reuse this year, is T²,
which stands Ior “tough and
together,” Hamer said.
“It has Eeen really a cool
thing Ior our girls to think
aEout, always Eeing tough.
1o matter what the situation
is, we’ve got to handle it in a
tough manner,” he said. “And
we’re going to Ee together and
have each others’ Eacks, no
matter what.”
Good people
off the court
As student-athletes, the
girls approach the game with
an understanding that other
responsiEilities are eTually
important.
The varsity team practices
aIter school each day and on
Sundays. To participate in
games, the girls aEide Ey certain
criteria. They cannot Ee Iailing
The Lady Gulls loosen up before a game.
more than one oI their ¿ve
classes. They cannot practice
iI they’ve taken an unexcused
aEsence that day. II they don’t
practice the day EeIore a game,
they can’t play in at least the
¿rst halI. II they’re Iailing a
class, they can’t miss that class
to go to an event.
Senior Annuka %rown, who
plays post, said the coaches
encourage them to Ee “really
good people oII the court,”
which means “having respect
and manners” and “treating
everyone nicely.”
The girls know EasketEall
doesn’t last Iorever, and when
the game ends, it is what they
have learned that will last.
“It’s not Must aEout how
good we are and how many
points we scored and stuII like
that,” :esterholm said. “It’s
more aEout how it relates to
the Eigger picture.”
Hamer Eelieves the Eeauty
oI athletics is “you can learn
liIe skills” that can’t Ee learned
in a regular classroom setting.
“It’s competitive and you
Iail, you succeed, you have to
work together with people,” he
said. “:here else do you learn
that until you get out oI high
school and college" <ou don’t
learn that in a lot oI spots,
unless you’re on a team.”
In addition to their Iamilies
and coaches, the players see
one another as a prominent
source oI accountaEility.
“:e can Ee hard on each
other and we can push each
other, Eut we know our limits
and we know when to stop,”
senior %rittany :est said. “I
think that improves everyone on
our team, younger and older.”
This accountaEility, the
pressure oI not wanting to Iail
a teammate, drives the players
to perIorm at a high level.
However, when the chips are
down — in a game, in a class
or in liIe — the girls know who
they can rely on Ior nonMudg-
mental support, advice and
encouragement. Discussing
what she will miss the most
when she graduates this year,
:est said she has “made some
oI the Eest Iriends I could ever
ask Ior, and some liIelong
Iriends.”
Senior Paige Ideue agreed
she would miss “the natural
click oI the team, Eecause
that’s really hard to ¿nd.”
The players also Ieel
connected to their coaches,
who give advice without
criticism and provide support
even in the Iace oI mistakes,
which relieves the girls Irom
the Iear oI Iailure.
“<ou could talk to them
aEout anything and they’d Ee
there and understand,” :est
said. “I think having that
relationship with a coach or
coaches is something rare.”
‘A natural progression’
The girls hope to Ee playing
EasketEall into March, at
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the state tournament as the
Cowapa League champions,
which “will Ee tough” goals to
accomplish this year, Hamer
said. %ut what the girls will do
Eeyond that is still Eeing set in
motion.
Ideue anticipates playing
soItEall, her primary sport,
at Centralia College in
:ashington on a scholarship
and possiEly playing intramural
EasketEall Ior Iun. -unior
Maddi 8tti is Eeing scouted as
a college EasketEall prospect.
For :est, %rown, Trott and
:esterholm, however, they
see their days on the court as
numEered.
“I’ve played sports Ior so
long and I’ve Eeen a part oI the
sports community Ior so long,”
:esterholm said. “I love the
sports community, Eut I think
at this point in my senior year,
I’ve kind oI made my peace
with the Iact that this is my last
year doing it. It was Iun while
it lasted, Eut it’s almost like a
natural progression to move on
and move on to Eigger things.”
The other girls agreed
playing college sports compet-
itively is not Ior everyone.
“There are so many other
things in the world and so many
other avenues,” Trott said.
She Ieels like she has
missed out pursuing some oI
her other interests Eecause oI
practice and games. :hile she
is content having made that
sacri¿ce, she said, “I”m ready
to not have to say, µI have to Ee
at practice right now,’ and go
do other things with my liIe.”
GERVAIS
—
The
Knappa wrestling team took
part in the 17-team Cougar
Classic Saturday in Gervais,
where the /oggers ¿nished
sixth in the team standings,
against a ¿eld oI mostly
larger schools.
Scio was the team
champion with 166.5 points,
Iollowed Ey :oodEury,
Dayton, Myrtle Point,
Riverside and Knappa.
“I was pleased with
our team,” Knappa coach
Dan Owings said. “They
perIormed well. There were
12 schools larger than us and
we came in sixth.
“:e were short in Iour
weight classes, so I think we
did a great MoE as a team.”
AIter a Eye in the ¿rst
round at 113 pounds, Knappa
Ireshman /uke Goo]ee
pinned Pleasant Hill’s
Logan Parrish in 26 seconds,
then scored a 3-second Iall
over Lili Giron oI :oodEury
in the semi¿nals to reach the
championship.
In the title Eout, Goo]ee
pinned Anorve )lores oI
Gervais in 5:18.
“Luke worked extremely
hard and pinned all oI his
opponents, with his last
opponent Eeing ranked
in state at the 3A level,”
Owings said.
At 160 pounds, Knappa’s
ReuEen Cru] lost Must one
match and that was to the
eventual champion (Cody
Stahl oI Dayton. Cru]
¿nished with a pin (3:28 over
-ared OMua oI Amity Ior third.
AIter a ¿rst round Eye at
182, Andrew Goo]ee scored
pins over -acoE %arker
oI <amhill-Carlton (38
seconds and Gage Hardy oI
Pleasant Hill (2:30, to reach
the championship vs. Avery
McDaniel oI Scio, last
year’s second place ¿nisher
at the 3A level.
“It was a thrilling match,
with it going into the last
round oI overtime (Sudden
Victory,” Owings said,
“where (Goo]ee managed
to escape and score a win
(6-2.”
Team results: Scio 166.5,
:oodEury 12, Dayton
139.5, Myrtle Point 139,
Riverside 126, Knappa 109,
Pleasant Hill 95, <amhill-
Carlton 95, TaIt 76, 1eah-
Kah-1ie 71, Monroe 68,
Clatskanie 65, Gervais 58,
Amity 7, Vernonia 1,
Sheridan 36, Colton 0.
Knappa wrestles at
:aldport today, where all
eight teams in the district will
wrestle to determine seeding
Ior Districts, )eE. 12-13.
Swimming
Fish compete at Tillamook
TILLAMOOK — The
Astoria girls ¿nished Iourth
and the )ishermen Eoys
placed ¿Ith in the Tillamook
Cheese Relays, which
took place Friday at the
Tillamook <MCA.
Tillamook won the
girls’ team title, Iollowed
Ey 1ewport, TaIt, Astoria,
Rainier and Valley Catholic;
while 1ewport captured the
Eoys’ team championship.
The Astoria girls opened
the meet with a win in the
very ¿rst event, the 200-yard
medley relay, where the
Ioursome oI Megan Sparks,
Kendal GustaIson, Ashley
Schacher and Olivia Paul won
in 2 minutes, 9.89 seconds.
The same Iour won the
00-yard Ireestyle relay
(:28.7 and placed second
in the 00-yard medley relay.
Astoria’s -an KreiEich
and Ryan Russell were
second in the Eoys’ 200-yard
Ireestyle relay.
Team results:
Girls — Tillamook 10,
1ewport 90, TaIt 72, Astoria
60, Rainier 2, Valley
Catholic 12.
%oys — 1ewport 108,
Rainier 86, Valley Catholic
60, TaIt 52, Astoria ,
Tillamook 32.
SCOREBOARD
PREP SCHEDULE
TODAY
Boys Basketball — Astoria at
Scappoose, 6 p.m.; Valley Cath-
olic at Seaside, 6 p.m.; Portland
Adventist at Warrenton, 7:45 p.m.;
Knappa at Gaston, 8 p.m.; South
Bend at Ilwaco, 7 p.m.
Girls Basketball — Astoria
at Scappoose, 7:45 p.m.; Valley
Catholic at Seaside, 7:45 p.m.;
Portland Adventist at Warrenton,
6 p.m.; Knappa at Gaston, 6 p.m.
Wrestling — Knappa at Wald-
port, 5 p.m.
THURSDAY
Girls Basketball — Ilwaco at
South Bend, 7 p.m.
Swimming — Scappoose at As-
toria, 4 p.m.; Tillamook at Seaside,
4 p.m.
Wrestling — Astoria, Seaside at
Banks, 5:30 p.m.