10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
ghenley@dailyastorian.com
Littell
earns
‘Play it
Forward’
award
The Daily Astorian
Daily Astorian/File Photo
Seaside senior Maddi Utti capped her regular season with another Cowapa League MVP award, as well as the league’s Defensive
Player of the Year. Seaside had four on the all-league lists and Astoria had three players.
Utti earns another MVP
The Daily Astorian
Cowapa League girls basketball
co-champions Banks and Seaside
shared top honors with the announce-
ment of the all-league team, as voted
on by the league’s coaches.
While Banks had all five starters
selected all-league, Seaside senior
Maddi Utti was named the league’s
Most Valuable Player, as well as the
Defensive Player of the Year.
She was joined on the first team
by senior Sydney Villegas and junior
Bryre Babbitt, while junior Jetta Ideue
was selected honorable mention.
Seaside’s Mike Hawes joined
Brandon Begley of Banks as the
co-Coaches of the Year.
Astoria had three players named
all-league, with senior Alexis Wallace
(first team), senior Rylee DeMander
(honorable mention) and sophomore
Sam Hemsley (honorable mention).
See the complete list in Scoreboard.
Brad Mosher/For The Daily Astorian
Daily Astorian/File Photo
Seaside’s Sydney Villegas attempts to block a shot by Jetta
Ideue. Villegas was named all-league first team, while Ideue
earned honorable mention.
Seaside’s Bryre Babbitt looks
for an opening against the
Banks defense. She was named
all-league first team.
Kansas moves to No. 1 in AP poll, Villanova 2nd
By DAVE SKRETTA
Associated Press
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kan-
sas could have rested easy after clinch-
ing a share of its 13th straight Big 12
title.
Instead, the Jayhawks hit the road
to beat Texas on Saturday, clinching
the outright championship with two
games left in the regular season. And
when top-ranked Gonzaga and sec-
SPORTS
IN BRIEF
ond-ranked Villanova dropped games
last week, it meant the Jayhawks
ascended to the top of The Associated
Press poll.
So much for taking it easy.
The Jayhawks (26-3) moved up
two places to the top spot, receiv-
ing 58 first-place votes Monday from
the 65-member national media panel
. They spent five weeks at No. 1 last
season, including the final three polls,
but became the sixth No. 1 this season
by moving to the top spot for the first
time.
“It feels pretty great,” Kansas
freshman Josh Jackson said, “but like
our coaches told us, we don’t feel like
we’ve done anything we weren’t sup-
posed to do.”
Villanova (27-3) remained sec-
ond and received two first-place votes,
despite losing to Butler and beat-
ing Creighton last week. The win
over the Bluejays allowed the reign-
ing national champions to clinch their
fourth straight Big East regular-season
championship.
UCLA (26-3) moved up from fifth
to third and earned three first-place
nods after its win over Arizona on Sat-
urday. It was only the second time in
69 games the Wildcats have lost at the
McKale Center.
Gonzaga (29-1) fell to No. 4 after
losing its first game of the season, an
upset by BYU at home on Saturday.
UConn still No. 1 in AP women’s poll
Associated Press
Sportsman’s
Banquet on tap
this Saturday
The North Coast Ducks Unlim-
ited 40th annual Sportsman’s Ban-
quet is Saturday at the Clatsop
County Fairgrounds, 92937 Wal-
luski Loop. The doors open at 5
p.m.
The event includes a Green-
wing raffle, firearms, Ducks
Unlimited merchandise, hand-
carved decoys, hunting gear and
more. Tickets are $45 per per-
son or $70 per couple. Greenwing
tickets (age 17 and younger) are
$35. Sponsorships are also avail-
able at $325 for a single sponsor,
or $350 for a couple.
For information, contact Bill
Antilla at 503-791-7429, George
Baker at 503-325-7960, Adrian
McSwain at 503-338-9893 or
Flint Carlson at 503-861-2789.
Tickets are not available at the
door, but can be purchased online
at http://bit.ly/2mwt02U.
AP Photo/Fred Beckham
Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma signals to his team during the first half
of Connecticut’s 91-48 victory over Memphis in an NCAA college basketball
game in Storrs, Conn., Saturday.
NEW YORK — UConn
remains the No. 1 team in The
Associated Press women’s
basketball poll while the rest
of the top five were shuffled
Monday.
The Huskies improved their
winning streak to 103 games,
cruising to wins over Temple
and Memphis. UConn closes
out its regular season Monday
at South Florida.
Baylor, Notre Dame, Mary-
land and South Carolina fol-
low UConn. The Terrapins
dropped two spots after losing
to then-No. 12 Ohio State last
week. The Buckeyes moved
up to ninth.
Mississippi State fell to
sixth after losing in overtime
to Kentucky and getting routed
by Tennessee. Oregon State
climbed four spots to move
into a tie for sixth. Florida
State and Stanford round out
the first 10 teams in the poll.
Kansas State re-entered the
poll at No. 24 while Michigan
dropped out.
PORTLAND — The Ore-
gon Sports Awards announced last
week the “Play It Forward” award
recipients for the fall award cycle,
sponsored by Nike and Providence
Health & Services.
And the list includes one Astoria
High School senior, Keldon Littell.
Play It Forward award recip-
ients will be invited to attend the
65th Oregon Sports Awards June
18, when one
student-ath-
lete
will
be selected
to receive
the $2,500
scholarship.
The
cere-
mony will
be held in
the
Stan-
ford Theater
Keldon Littell
at the Nike
World Headquarters in Beaverton.
To be eligible for the Play It For-
ward award, the student-athlete must:
• Be an Oregon high school or
college/university student who is a
member of a varsity athletic team at
their school;
• Demonstrate a sustained vol-
unteer commitment with an orga-
nization or program that gets kids
active through sport or physical
activity;
• Demonstrate initiative and
drive, by going beyond expected
school responsibilities;
• Be in good academic standing
with their school.
Littell volunteers with Astoria
Parks and Recreation, the Astoria
Armory, and area youth sports.
As a youth football coach,
fourth-grade basketball coach and
youth baseball coach, Littell “enjoys
being able to watch kids grow both
mentally and physically,” an oppor-
tunity he finds incredibly humbling.
Littell has signed a letter-of-in-
tent to play football at Western Ore-
gon University. Upon graduating
college, Littell hopes to return to
Astoria to pursue his passion for
coaching in his hometown.
In addition to Littell, the other
Fall 2016 Play It Forward award
athletes include: Gabrielle Barin,
(Treasure Valley Community Col-
lege volleyball and tennis); Jacinta
Vandenberg (University of Oregon
women’s basketball); and Riley
Howard (Milwaukie High School
baseball).
All awardees for the 2016-17
school year — 12 in total, repre-
senting two high school and two
colleges each per season — will
become eligible for the Play It For-
ward Athlete of the Year award.
SCOREBOARD
PREP SCHEDULE
THURSDAY
Girls Basketball — Washington 2B
State Tournament: TBA vs. Ilwaco (at
Spokane), 3:45 p.m.
FRIDAY
Boys Basketball — 4A State Playoff:
Cascade at Seaside, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY
Girls Basketball — 4A State Playoff:
Seaside at Molalla, 7 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Cowapa All-League
Player of the Year/Defensive Player
of the Year: Maddi Utti, Seaside
Coaches of the Year: Mike Hawes,
Seaside; Brandon Begley, Banks
First Team
Maddi Utti, Sr., Seaside
Bryre Babbitt, Jr., Seaside
Petra Flemmer, Sr., Valley C.
Karlie Gerlinger, Sr., Banks
Sydney Gregg, Jr., Banks
Anna Klein, Sr., Banks
Kaylie Kopra, Sr., Scappoose
Noelle Mannen, Jr., Valley C.
Katie Sherer, Sr, Tillamook
Aspen Slifka, So., Banks
Sydney Villegas, Sr., Seaside
Alexis Wallace, Sr., Astoria
Honorable Mention
Lea Brodala, Jr., Scappoose
Rylee DeMander, Sr., Astoria
Sam Hemsley, So., Astoria
Jetta Ideue, Jr., Seaside
Kate Nguyen, Sr., Valley C.
Katie Ragsdale, Sr., Banks
Madi Reeves, So., Tillamook
Shaylan Smith, So., Scappoose
Lexie Zuercher, Sr., Tillamook