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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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Titans outlast Lady Fishermen in OT
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
The Astoria Lady Fishermen are
not backing down from the big non-
league competition, as they prepare
for the upcoming Cowapa League
season.
Astoria was outsized and outnum-
bered against the visiting Union Titans
of Camas, Wash., but the big Wash-
ington school was lucky to leave with
a win, in Astoria’s first game of the
new year Tuesday night at the Brick
House.
The Titans connected on some
long-range 3-pointers late in the game,
as Union rallied in regulation play,
then won in overtime, 54-47.
Union freshman Alexis Raymore
scored 10 points off the bench in the
fourth quarter and overtime, while
the Lady Fishermen lost a couple key
players to fouls in the final three min-
utes of regulation, then simply ran out
of steam in the overtime session.
“That was the best second half
we’ve played all year,” said Astoria
coach Mike Jacobson, whose team ral-
lied from a large first half deficit. “But
going into the overtime, we talked
about having to keep the intensity up,
and we didn’t. We just let up. We got
back into it, and the kids were playing
hard and doing some good things, but
we just had too many turnovers in the
overtime, and that killed us.”
Union is a Washington 4A school,
equivalent to a 6A Oregon school.
Astoria trailed 15-4 midway
through the first quarter, but the Titans
quickly ran into foul trouble, and fin-
ished the first period with eight team
fouls.
Alexis Wallace and Sam Hems-
ley combined to make six straight free
throws, helping Astoria rally to within
15-12, before Union scored a couple
of baskets off turnovers late in the first
half for a 23-16 halftime lead.
But as they have all season, the
Lady Fish picked up the intensity in
the second half, as Wallace scored on
a layup to spark a 9-2 run to start the
third quarter.
A 3-pointer from Wallace followed
by a Titan turnover and a score for
Astoria’s Brooklynn Hankwitz pulled
the Fishermen into a 25-25 tie.
Four more points for Wallace over
the next five minutes, and Astoria had
its first lead at 31-29 in the opening
seconds of the fourth quarter.
And a wild fourth period featured
three ties and five lead changes, high-
lighted by a three-point play from
Hankwitz at the 5:50 mark that gave
the Lady Fish a 34-33 lead; and two
free throws from Wallace had Astoria
in front with its largest lead at 38-34
with 2:52 left, before Union answered
with a short jumper by Marina Morn-
ingstar and a 3-point bomb from
6-foot-3 junior Courtney Cranston
that gave the Titans a 39-38 lead with
2:05 remaining.
Hemsley responded with a trey
of her own to give Astoria a 41-39
advantage at the 1:50 mark, and Rylee
DeMander scored on a drive to make
it 43-39 with 1:22 left.
But Raymore scored her first points
of the night on a clutch 3-pointer with
1:06 remaining, and the Titans added
a free throw with 20 seconds left for
a 43-43 tie.
Union had a final shot in regulation
that missed, and the teams headed to
overtime.
Astoria had to play the final period
without Hankwitz and Gracie Cum-
mings, who both fouled out in the final
SPORTS
IN BRIEF
SCOREBOARD
PREP SCHEDULE
Warriors fall to
first-place Eagles
The Daily Astorian
PORTLAND — Last place
almost knocked off first place
Tuesday night, in a Lewis & Clark
League boys basketball game.
No. 8-ranked Catlin Gabel —
undefeated in league play — was
hosting Warrenton, and the War-
riors almost scored the upset of
the night in 3A basketball, before
the Eagles were able to close out a
46-40 win.
“We cut it to two late, but that’s
as close as we got,” said Warrenton
coach Nate McBride. “We strug-
gled from the field a little, and just
couldn’t make up the difference.”
The Warriors finished 6-of-25
from the 3-point line, where they
have struggled of late.
On the other hand, they held
Catlin Gabel’s Jacob Adler to just
four points.
“He’s been all-league the last
two years, and he’s averaging over
20 points a game the last three
years,” McBride said. “But Tyler
(Whitaker) shut him down tonight,
and that was big.”
Christian Holt scored 17 points
to lead the Warriors, with Whitaker
adding 13.
Takalo scores 27
in Knappa win
The Daily Astorian
KNAPPA — Dale Takalo
scored 24 of his 27 points in the
first half, and the Knappa Loggers
cruised to another easy win over
Neah-Kah-Nie Tuesday, 69-36, in
Northwest League boys basketball
action.
The Loggers built a 39-20 half-
time lead, as Knappa’s defense
harassed the Pirates all night and
finished with 18 steals.
Colton Weirup and Eli Takalo
added nine points apiece, while
Jason Miller tossed in four points
with eight rebounds, five assists
and five steals.
Max Halverson had 17 points
to lead Neah-Kah-Nie.
It was the first of four games
in five days for Knappa, which
returns to action today at Vernonia.
Logger girls steal
one from Pirates
The Daily Astorian
KNAPPA — The Knappa Lady
Loggers spent the night taking the
ball away from Neah-Kah-Nie, and
converting their steals into points
in a 40-23 win over the Pirates.
Kaitlyn Landwehr had 17
points, nine rebounds and four
steals to lead Knappa to the North-
west League girls basketball win,
helping the first-place Loggers
improve to 3-0 in league play.
Devin Vandergriff added seven
points and two steals for Knappa,
which led 32-22 after three quar-
ters, then outscored the Pirates 8-1
in the final period.
Paris Vanderburg chipped in
six points, and Madelynn Weaver
added five points and five steals for
the Loggers.
2:55 of regulation.
And that didn’t help the Fisher-
men, who found themselves trailing
48-43 with two minutes left in the
OT, following another 3-pointer from
Raymore.
The sparkplug freshman guard also
made four straight free throws in the
final 59 seconds, while Astoria fin-
ished the overtime just 2-of-9 from the
field, with four turnovers.
Wallace led all scorers with 19
points, while Hemsley, Hankwitz and
Anna Gimre scored seven apiece for
Astoria. Cranston had 14 for Union.
“They’re a good team,” Jacobson
said of the Titans. “They were big, and
they only outrebounded us by six for
the game.
“I was happy with our effort until
we got to the overtime. Overall it was
a good game. We just have to learn
from it.”
AP Photo/Scott Eklund
Seattle Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril has experienced the lows of an 0-16 season in Detroit and
the highs of a Super Bowl title in Seattle. Coming off the best regular season of his career, Avril’s past
and present clash this week with the Seahawks hosting the Lions in the NFC playoffs.
Seahawks’ Avril to face
former team Saturday
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
R
ENTON, Wash. — At this
point, enough time has passed
and enough turnover has
taken place that most of the play-
ers Cliff Avril knew in Detroit have
moved on.
That part of Avril’s career seems
a lifetime ago. Back when he was
on the other end of the spectrum
from what he’s experienced in
Seattle, going to the playoffs in
each of his four seasons since land-
ing with the Seahawks.
“A lot of guys are spoiled here,”
Avril said. “A lot of these guys
have been every year they’ve been
in the league. You may take it for
granted from time to time. But I’ve
been at the very bottom where you
have no chance. You’re probably
packed up and gone home already
at this point. So I definitely appre-
ciate it for sure.”
Avril’s past and present will
clash this week when the Sea-
hawks host the Lions in the wild-
card round of the NFC playoffs. It’s
another chapter in a career during
which Avril has experienced the
lowest of lows — a 0-16 season
as a rookie in 2008 with the Lions
— and the ultimate success of win-
ning a Super Bowl title in his first
UP NEXT: SEAHAWKS
• Detroit Lions (9-7)
at Seattle Seahawks (10-5-1)
• Saturday, 5:15 p.m. TV: NBC
year after signing with the Sea-
hawks in 2013.
This meeting with his former
team comes after the best regu-
lar season of Avril’s career. He fin-
ished with a career-best 11 ½ sacks,
tied for sixth best in the NFL. He
was selected for the Pro Bowl for
the first time. He also discovered
his philanthropic side.
It’s been a year of growth for
Avril that now gets connected to
his past.
“Detroit was a cool city to be in.
I have nothing but love for the peo-
ple of Detroit,” Avril said Tuesday.
“But football-wise we were just
never able to win anything. But I
had a great (defensive) line coach
and I attribute a lot of the stuff I’m
doing to him, helping me get the
foundation of being able to rush
and understanding how to rush.”
Since arriving in Seattle, Avril
has steadily seen his play time,
production and impact increase.
During the 2015 season, Avril set a
career high with 47 tackles in the
regular season. This season it was
the increase in sacks, teaming with
Michael Bennett and Frank Clark
as the Seahawks tied with Denver
for the third-best pass rush in the
NFL with 42 sacks.
“I wish I had his speed,” Ben-
nett said. “He’s super-fast. I wish
I could do the things he could do
around the edge and that’s pretty
cool.”
The philanthropic part of Avril’s
career season came with the deci-
sion to build a house in Haiti for
every sack he made in the wake of
Hurricane Matthew, which blew
through the island country in the
early fall. Avril, whose family is
of Haitian decent, had previously
given back by helping to rebuild
an elementary school through his
charity. He added the housing proj-
ect — roughly $6,000 to $6,500
per house — after being contacted
by Baltimore’s Elvis Dumer-
vil, another player with Haitian
heritage.
“They’re mostly built and made
to be able to be shelter for a hur-
ricane, and earthquakes as well,”
Avril said. “The process of build-
ing it actually is local workers and
basically kind of stimulates the
economy a little bit as well, by
doing it that way. ... It’s a pretty
cool little process. I can’t wait to go
out there next offseason to see the
progression.”
Little tosses in 19, Warriors beat Catlin
The Daily Astorian
PORTLAND — The Warren-
ton girls basketball team has already
equaled last year’s win total in league
play, following a 60-38 win for the
Lady Warriors, Tuesday night at Cat-
lin Gabel.
Just 2-14 in the Lewis & Clark
League last season, Warrenton
improved to 2-2 this year with its vic-
tory over the Eagles.
After a close first
quarter, the War-
riors outscored Cat-
lin Gabel 16-4 in the
second.
Warrenton coach
Robert Hoepfl called
Tyla Little
it his team’s best
offensive effort of the season, while
the defense blocked seven shots.
The Warriors’ Tyla Little poured in
19 points to lead all scorers, followed
by Katelynn Blodgett with nine, and
Rachel Dyer and Landree Miethe
with eight points apiece.
“The starters played real solid
defense, and along with Tyla we exe-
cuted real well and ran everything we
wanted to offensively,” Hoepfl said.
“Rachel Dyer hit a couple big shots
for us, and (Fernanda) Alvarez and
Sagi Diego combined for another 10
to 15 rebounds.”
The Warriors made six 3-pointers.
TODAY
Girls Basketball — Knappa at Verno-
nia, 6 p.m.
Boys Basketball — Knappa at Verno-
nia, 7:45 p.m.
THURSDAY
Girls Basketball — Newport at Sea-
side, 6 p.m.; Warrenton at OES, 7:30
p.m.; Perrydale at Jewell, 5:30 p.m.; NW
Christian at Ilwaco, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball — Newport at Sea-
side, 7:45 p.m.; Warrenton at OES, 6
p.m.; Perrydale at Jewell, 7 p.m.; NW
Christian at Ilwaco, 7 p.m.
Swimming — Tillamook at Astoria, 4
p.m.; Gladstone at Seaside, 4 p.m.
FRIDAY
Girls Basketball — Astoria at Corbett,
7 p.m.; Knappa at Faith Bible, 6 p.m.; Il-
waco at South Bend, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball — Corbett at Asto-
ria, 7 p.m.; Knappa at Faith Bible, 8 p.m.
Wrestling — Seaside Pac Rim Invita-
tional, 4 p.m.
SATURDAY
Girls Basketball — Riverdale at War-
renton, 5:30 p.m.; Knappa at Regis, 4
p.m.
Boys Basketball — Riverdale at War-
renton, 4 p.m.; Knappa at Regis, 5:45
p.m.; South Bend at Ilwaco, 7 p.m.
Swimming — Seaside at The Dalles
Invitational, 10 a.m.
Wrestling — Seaside Pac Rim Invita-
tional, 10 a.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Union 54, Astoria 47
UNI (54): Courtney Cranston 14, Ray-
more 10, Barney 9, Takayoshi 8, Lewis
7, Gladkov 2.
AST (47): Alexis Wallace 19, Hemsley
7, Hankwitz 7, Gimre 7, Cummings 3,
Dalton 2, DeMander 2, Rogers, Burnett,
O’Brien.
Union
15 8 6 14 11—54
Astoria
10 6 13 14 4—47
Field goals: Union 20-52; Astoria
13-37. 3-Point goals: Union 4-13 (Ray-
more 2, Lewis, Cranston); Astoria 2-12
(Hemsley, Wallace). Free throws: Union
10-16; Astoria 11-17. Fouls: Union 21,
Astoria 18. Turnovers: Union 23, Asto-
ria 28.
Warrenton 60, Catlin Gabel 38
WAR (60): Tyla Little 19, K.Blodgett 9,
Dyer 8, Miethe 8, Bussert 6, Alvarez 6,
Morrill 2, Diego 2, M.Blodgett, Heyen.
CG (38): Sophie Adler 15, McGautha
13, Stevens 6, Sneed 2, Mahmoud 2.
Warrenton
13 16 15 16—60
Catlin Gabel 11 4 13 10—38
Knappa 40, Neah-Kah-Nie 23
NKN (23): Maddie Lambert 16, Clifford
2, Ramirez 2, Longmire 2, Woodward 1.
KNA (40): Kaitlyn Landwehr 17, Van-
dergriff 7, Vanderburg 6, Weaver 5, Mill-
er 3, Inman 2, Carlson, Taggart, Tischer,
Strain.
Neah-Kah-Nie 5 9 8 1—23
Knappa
11 11 10 8—40
BOYS BASKETBALL
Catlin Gabel 46, Warrenton 40
WAR (40): Christian Holt 17, Whitaker
13, Knight 8, Fisher 2, Fowler, Kapua,
Jackson, Alcobendas.
CG (46): Jake Girard 14, Agapiev 9,
Williamson 6, Hoffman 5, Adler 4, Dean
4, Park 2, Nallakrishnan 2.
Warrenton
8 4 14 14—40
Catlin Gabel 12 7 17 10—46
Knappa 69, Neah-Kah-Nie 36
NKN (36): Leading scorer: Max Halv-
erson 17.
KNA (69): Dale Takalo 27, Weirup 9,
E.Takalo 9, Rubus 6, J.Miller 4, Engb-
lom 4, K.Miller 4, Geisler 2, Eltagonde
2, Ramvick 1, Vanderburg 1.
Neah-Kah-Nie 13 7 6 10—36
Knappa
24 15 14 16—69