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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2016
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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SPORTS
IN BRIEF
‘It’s a dream’:
Afghan boy meets
his idol Messi
Defense helps snap losing skid
Associated Press
It was an image that touched
the hearts of millions: A 5-year-
old Afghan boy wearing an impro-
vised Lionel Messi jersey made
from a plastic bag.
Now, nearly a year later, Mur-
taza Ahmadi has finally met his
idol.
Murtaza made a special trip
from Afghanistan to Qatar, where
Messi was with his Barcelona
teammates to play a friendly
match against Al Ahli on Tuesday.
In a meeting arranged by the
organizing committee of the 2022
World Cup in Qatar, Messi held
hands with Murtaza at the team
hotel before picking up the boy
and posing for photographs. Mur-
taza was wearing a Barcelona
jersey.
“I’m very happy to have met
my hero. It is a dream for me,”
said Murtaza, in quotes supplied
by the World Cup organizing
committee.
Murtaza, who is now aged 6,
will walk out onto the field with
the five-time world player of the
year before Tuesday’s match.
AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer
Portland Trail Blazers guard Shabazz Napier, right, passes around Oklahoma City Thunder forward Nick Collison during the second
half of an NBA basketball game in Portland on Tuesday. The Trail Blazers won 114-95.
Blazers more than OK,
beat Thunder 114-95
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
SCOREBOARD
PREP SCHEDULE
TODAY
Girls Basketball — Falls City at Jew-
ell, 5:30 p.m.
Boys Basketball — Falls City at Jew-
ell, 7 p.m.
Swimming — Scappoose at Seaside,
4 p.m.
THURSDAY
Girls Basketball — Warrenton at
Clatskanie, 7:45 p.m.; Knappa at Verno-
nia, 6 p.m.; Ilwaco at Raymond, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball — Warrenton at
Clatskanie, 6 p.m.; Knappa at Vernonia,
8 p.m.
Seaside Holiday Classic
Thursday’s Schedule
Girls
10 am-Astoria vs. Cottage Grove
1:00-South Whidbey vs. Newport
4:00-Elma vs. Crook County
7:00-Sisters vs. Seaside
Boys
11:30-Cottage Grove vs. Astoria
2:30-Newport vs. Montesano
5:30-Elma vs. Madras
8:30-Sisters vs. Seaside
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Rainier 59, Warrenton 31
RAI (59): Desirae Hansen 17, Schim-
mel 9, Sanchez 8, Harkleroad 6,
As.Norman 6, J.Crape 6, Taylor 4, Gray
2, Au.Norman 1.
WAR (31): Tyla Little 9, Dyer 6, Alva-
rez 6, Bussert 4, Miethe 3, K.Blodgett 2,
Schenbeck 1, M.Blodgett, Morrill, DeJe-
sus, Diego, Heyen.
Rainier
14 22 16 7—59
Warrenton
0 11 8 12—31
Field goals: Rainier 23-49; Warrenton
9-44. 3-Point goals: Rainier 2-6 (San-
chez 2); Warrenton 2-27 (Dyer 2). Free
throws: Rainier 11-17; Warrenton 11-23.
Fouls: Rainier 21, Warrenton 16. Turn-
overs: Rainier 25, Warrenton 24.
JV: Warrenton 29, Rainier 23
Knappa 36, Gaston 30
KNA (36): Kaitlyn Landwehr 11, Van-
derburg 10, Weaver 9, Vandergriff 4,
Miller 2, Strain, Carlson, Tischer, Inman.
Gaston
8 12 7 3—30
Knappa
6 8 5 17—36
Tuesday’s Scores
Girls
De La Salle 45, OES 32
Portland Adv 57, Catlin Gabel 36
Portland Chr 70, Riverdale 55
Nestucca 31, Columbia Chr 21
Vernonia 43, City Christian 40
BOYS BASKETBALL
Rainier 56, Warrenton 50
RAI (56): (Leaders) Dawson Carr 18,
Caymon Rea 15, Job Karber 9.
WAR (50): Christian Holt 20, Whitaker
15, Knight 8, Fischer 3, Fowler 2, Alco-
bendas 2, Jackson.
Rainier
13 17 16 10—56
Warrenton
10 12 14 14—50
Field goals: Rainier 21-56; Warrenton
16-40. 3-Point goals: Rainier 5-16 (Carr
4); Warrenton 4-16 (Knight 2, Whita-
ker, Holt). Free throws: Rainier 9-27;
Warrenton 14-20. Fouls: Rainier 21,
Warrenton 21. Turnovers: Rainier 11,
Warrenton 16.
JV: Rainier 63, Warrenton 55 OT
Knappa 68, Gaston 47
GST (47): Luke Anderson 15, Marshall
13, Patzlaff 7, Lund 5, Phillips 3, Spidal
2, Gottschalk 2.
KNA (68): Dale Takalo 24, Weirup 18,
Ramvick 6, E.Takalo 6, Vanderburg 5,
Engblom 3, Goodman 2, Rubus 2, Geis-
ler 2.
Gaston
10 13 15 9—47
Knappa
13 25 15 15—68
Tuesday’s Scores
Boys
Catlin Gabel 54, Portland Adv 50
De La Salle 49, OES 44
Portland Chr 75, Riverdale 53
Columbia Chr 68, Nestucca 37
Life Christian 61, Faith Bible 26
Vernonia 80, City Christian 49
P
ORTLAND — Damian Lillard called it
a breakthrough.
Coming off a one-point loss to the Clip-
pers the night before, the Portland Trail Blazers
snapped a four-game losing streak with a 114-
95 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on
Tuesday night.
Lillard had 17 points and nine assists before
sitting in the fourth quarter. Mason Plumlee
added 18 points for the Blazers, who led by 26
UP NEXT: TRAIL BLAZERS
• Portland Trail Blazers (13-14)
at Denver Nuggets (9-16)
• Thursday, 6 p.m. TV: CSNW
points in Portland’s first game back after a 1-4
road trip.
Russell Westbrook was off his league-lead-
ing average of 31.1 points a game with 20 for
the Thunder, who have lost two of their last
three after a six-game winning streak. West-
brook also sat for the final quarter.
Portland was coming off a 121-120 loss at
Los Angeles on Monday night to extend the
season’s longest losing streak.
“We had a chance to win that game, but we
came up short,” Lillard said about the game
against the Clippers. “I think all of those things
we went through, and then staying with it, and
the build up, tonight felt like kind of a break-
through from all those experiences.”
The Thunder were without Victor Oladipo
because of a right wrist sprain, forcing Okla-
homa City’s first starting lineup change of the
season. Jerami Grant, acquired by the Thun-
der in a trade with Philadelphia at the start of
the season, got his first start for Oklahoma City
and finished with 11 points.
The Blazers didn’t have Al-Farouq Aminu,
who has a sore back, instead starting Noah
Vonleh. But Vonleh got into foul trouble, col-
lecting three in the first quarter.
A quick turnaround could be good
Associated Press
RENTON, Wash. — If there was
ever a perfect week for a Thursday
night game to land on the Seattle
Seahawks schedule, this would be
that week.
Head coach Pete Carroll wanted
to forget about Sunday’s thumping
at the hands of Green Bay as quickly
as possible.
Carroll and his staff were already
beyond the 38-10 loss to Green Bay
and immediately turning the focus to
Thursday’s game against Los Ange-
les. There was no other option, espe-
cially with what’s at stake for the
Seahawks.
A win over the Rams will give
Seattle its third NFC West title in
the last four years and assure at least
one home game during the playoffs.
But the loss to Green Bay took away
the Seahawks’ control of the No. 2
seed in the NFC and a potential first-
round bye.
The Daily Astorian
AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps
Seahawks’ DeShawn Shead breaks up a pass intended for Packers’
Jared Cook during the first half Sunday in Green Bay, Wis.
Seattle now needs to win out and
have Detroit lose at least once to
earn a week off in the postseason.
Sunday was the first time since
midway through the 2011 season that
Seattle lost by more than 10 points.
UP NEXT: SEAHAWKS
• Los Angeles Rams (4-9)
at Seattle Seahawks (8-4-1)
• Thursday, 5:25 p.m. TV: NBC
Columbians hold off Warrior boys
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — The War-
renton boys basketball team came
within seconds of beating Rainier
for the first time in over five years
… but the Columbians slipped past
the Warriors in four intense quarters
Tuesday night at Warrenton.
Rainier outscored the Warriors
5-0 in the final 24 seconds, as the
Columbians held on for a 56-50 win,
in a Lewis & Clark League boys bas-
ketball season opener.
The Warriors had rallied from a
46-32 deficit late in the third quarter
to within 49-48 with 3:03 left. War-
renton was still within 51-50 at the
54-second mark, but couldn’t find
the shot that would have given the
Warriors their first win over Rainier
since Feb. 10, 2011, when Warren-
ton topped the Columbians 54-50.
Instead, Rainier made 5-of-6
free throws in the final 24 seconds
for its 11th straight victory over the
Warriors.
Christian Holt scored 20 points
and teammate Tyler Whitaker added
15 for Warrenton, while Dawson
Carr had 18 and Caymon Rea tossed
in 15 for the Columbians, who
improve to 1-2 overall.
Rainier had to play most of the
fourth quarter without point guard
Joey Tripp, who fouled out with 6:48
left.
Holt scored eight of his points in
the third quarter, when the Warriors
made their big run.
Whitaker scored nine points in
the final period, which included a
3-pointer and 6-of-7 makes at the
free throw line. The Columbians
were just 9-of-27 at the line.
Warrenton girls rain threes, fall to Rainier
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — The War-
renton Lady Warriors were launch-
ing 3-pointers left and right Tuesday
night on their home floor — they just
weren’t going in.
Meanwhile, the Rainier Columbi-
ans had all the points they would need
by halftime in the Lewis & Clark
League girls basketball opener.
Rainier held a 36-11 lead at the
Knappa girls
rally past
Gaston, 36-30
break, and finished with a 59-31 win
over the Warriors, who fall to 3-2,
while the Columbians improve to 4-0.
Warrenton put up 27 3-pointers,
and only made two, both in the first
half. The Columbians made the most
of their triples, finishing 2-of-6 from
3-point territory.
Junior post Desirae Hansen led
Rainier with a game-high 17 points,
13 in the first half. Teammate Haley
Schimmel added nine points, and
Emily Sanchez scored eight off the
bench for the Columbians, who strug-
gled with fouls (21) and turnovers
(25), but still managed the 28-point
victory.
Tyla Little led Warrenton with
nine points, but the Warriors also had
24 turnovers and finished 11-for-23 at
the free throw line.
The Columbians have now won
nine straight over Warrenton, going
back to the 2012-13 season.
KNAPPA — Knappa maintained
its hold on first place in the North-
west League girls basketball stand-
ings, as the Lady Loggers scored a
solid 36-30 win over Gaston Tuesday
night.
Knappa had to rally from a 27-19
deficit going into the final quarter, and
did so by outscoring the Greyhounds
17-3 in the fourth.
“It was a fun and exciting game,
to say the least,” said Knappa coach
Marie Green. “To outscore them
17-3 in the final quarter was pretty
fantastic.
“Madeline (Weaver) drained
a 3-pointer, and that just got the
momentum going for us,” she said.
After tying the game 30-30, the
Loggers had several steals in the final
minute to grab the lead and hold on
for the win.
Kaitlyn Landwehr was held to
just 11 points, but she also had 18
rebounds.
Paris Vanderburg scored 10 points
with four rebounds and two steals,
and Weaver finished with nine points,
five boards and four steals.
Knappa is scheduled to play at
Vernonia Thursday.
Logger boys top
Greyhounds, 68-47
The Daily Astorian
KNAPPA — Missing one of
their top starters from the lineup, the
Knappa Loggers still cruised past
Gaston in a Northwest League boys
basketball game Tuesday, 68-47.
Jason Miller sat out with an ill-
ness, but Dale Takalo and Colton
Weirup picked up the slack, combin-
ing for 42 points.
Takalo led all scorers with 24
points, to go with nine rebounds, four
assists and two steals.
Weirup had 18 points and four
assists, and the Loggers had contribu-
tions from several others, including
Ty Vanderburg, who hit a 3-pointer
off the bench in the third quarter.
Knappa was 9-of-23 from the 3-point
line (Weirup was 5-for-12).