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10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com Warrior girls win seventh straight game Ducks take ‘another level’ to first Final Four in 78 years By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press After a demoralizing loss to Ore- gon this season, Arizona coach Sean Miller suggested that if the Ducks had another level they’d be dangerous. Turns out Oregon did have another level — and it took the team all the way to the Final Four. The Ducks wrapped up their sea- son at 33-6, setting a record for wins, on the way to just the second national semifinal appearance in school his- tory. It was the team’s fifth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, and sec- ond straight season they’d reached the Elite Eight. Oregon also won a share of the SPORTS IN BRIEF to Joel Berry II. Like Meeks, Berry missed both of his free throws, this time with 4 sec- onds left. Like the previous go-round, Oregon again couldn’t keep the Tar Heels off the offensive glass. Later that night Bell posted four words to Twitter: “I am so sorry. ...” Bell, Dorsey and top scorer Dil- lon Brooks all said after the game that they had not made a decision about their futures. Brooks and Bell are juniors, while Dorsey is a sophomore. “I’ll have great feelings about this team. It will just take a while for us to get through and get rid of some of this hurt. But we will. We will,” Ore- gon coach Dana Altman said. “And the guys, they’ll bounce back.” Pac-12 regular-season title and went undefeated at home for the second straight season. But despite their accomplish- ments, Oregon players were still stung by their 77-76 loss to North Carolina on Saturday night with a trip to the national championship game on the line. Jordan Bell sobbed at his locker, taking responsibility for two missed rebounds at the end. Oregon pulled within 77-74 on Tyler Dorsey’s 3-pointer with 45 sec- onds left, then cut it to 1 on Keith Smith’s layup. The Ducks fouled Ken- nedy Meeks, who missed both free throws, but the Ducks were unable to box out Theo Pinson, who got the ball AP Photo/David J. Phillip Oregon’s Jordan Bell (1) walks off the court as North Carolina play- ers celebrate after the semifinals of the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday in Glendale, Ariz. NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT Santiam sweeps Knappa girls The Daily Astorian MILLS CITY — A rough day for the Knappa softball team started with two losses on the field, and ended with a broken-down bus on the way home. Santiam swept the road-weary Loggers, 15-5 and 13-3, in a non- league doubleheader Saturday afternoon. Kaitlyn Truax had the Logger highlight of Game 1 with a home run, while Paris Vanderburg had a double. Vanderburg took the loss, as she struck out five batters with three walks. Knappa freshman Emily Nich- olson pitched all five innings of Game 2, and “pitched well enough to win,” said coach James Nichols, striking out three with two walks. But multiple errors allowed Santiam to score 12 unearned runs to win. Truax and Aiko Miller were each 2-for-3 for the Loggers. Amity defeats Warrenton, 7-6 The Daily Astorian AMITY — The Amity War- riors scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh for a 7-6 win over the Warrenton Warriors Friday, in nonleague baseball action. Playing their first game since March 23, Warrenton held a 6-3 lead through five innings, before Amity scored twice in the sixth and two more in the seventh for the victory. With a doubleheader scheduled for the next day, five pitchers saw action on the mound for Warren- ton, which still managed to hold Amity to six hits. Amity pitchers Clint Hatch and Jordan Dyche limited Warrenton to three hits — two doubles by Kaleo’o Kapua and another dou- ble from Derek Ham. AP Photo/Matt York Fans cheer before the semifinals of the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament between South Carolina and Gonzaga, Saturday in Glendale, Ariz. Gonzaga? Tiny school with funny name plays for title By EDDIE PELLS Associated Press GLENDALE, Ariz. — For those who follow college basketball, the idea that Gonzaga is playing North Car- olina for the national title doesn’t seem all that strange. For those who don’t — or only get involved when it’s time to fill out a bracket — it still might. Gonzaga? Really? That a Jesuit school with 7,800 students based in Spokane, Washington is going up against a behemoth from Tobacco Road in tonight’s NCAA final is testa- ment to a coach with a stubborn streak, an administra- tion that bought in to basketball and the modern-day realities of a sport that allows for little guys to reach the biggest stage. “I know you have to believe,” Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth said. “The biggest drawback some other schools have is that someone in that hierarchy says, ‘We can’t do that,’ or ‘We can never be like …’ Well, if that’s the case, then you probably can’t.” In the mid-1990s, Gonzaga was a nothing program, an afterthought in the West Coast Conference with a dandy of mascot, the Bulldog, that wore a sailor’s cap . Changing the mascot was part of the equation. Dan Monson, a longtime assistant coach, got the top job and put some other pieces in place. He nabbed a group that included the scrappy for- ward with the awesome name, Casey Calvary. Gonzaga made the tournament in 1999 and pulled off upsets over Minnesota, Stanford and Florida on the way to the Elite Eight. At that point, it was a Cinderella story, the likes of which we see almost every year when programs like Butler, Virginia Commonwealth (VCU) and George Mason come from out of nowhere and make anything look possible. But in Gonzaga’s case, 1999 marked the first in a string of 19 straight trips to the NCAA Tournament, the last 18 of which have come since Monson left for Min- nesota and the current coach, Mark Few, took the helm. Counting his time as an assistant, Few has been at Gon- zaga since 1989. “When we first started coaching, our boss, Dan Fitz- gerald, would always say, ‘Don’t waste the school’s money on (recruiting) a Pac-10 player. We’re not going to beat those schools,’” Monson said. “To Mark, that was motivation. It would make him recruit the kid harder. That’s who he’s always been. He’s very smart and very stubborn, and for a coach, those are two really good qualities to have.” Lady Gulls win Knappa baseball sweeps in Arizona, 4-2 Santiam with good at-bats The Daily Astorian The Daily Astorian GLENDALE, Ariz. — There was at least one team from Oregon that won in Glendale, Ariz., over the weekend. While the Oregon Ducks came up short in the Final Four, the Seaside Gulls’ baseball team salvaged their spring break trip to Glendale with a 4-2 win over Ketchikan Friday. Tied 1-1 going into the seventh inning, the Gulls scored three runs in their at-bat, then held Ketchikan to one run in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs in the top of the seventh, Payton Westerholm singled to right field, scoring Isaias Jantes for the go-ahead run. Ketchikan committed four errors on the day, including a big error on a ground ball by Brent Walsh in the seventh, scor- ing Ashton Boyd and Westerholm to give the Gulls a 4-1 lead. Seaside had five hits — two apiece for Westerholm and Dawson Blanchard. Westerholm scored twice, with additional runs by Jantes and Boyd. Gage McFadden pitched the complete game for Seaside, limiting Ketchikan to just three hits and no walks, with three strikeouts. McFadden threw 75 pitches, 54 for strikes. The Gulls open Cowapa League play Tuesday at Valley Catholic. MILLS CITY — Knappa baseball returned to the field for the first time in nine days, and scored two easy victories over Santiam, 14-4 and 13-0, in a nonleague dou- bleheader Saturday afternoon. Four Knappa pitchers gave up just a combined two hits on the day, both in Game 1, while Michal Goodman and Kaleb Miller combined on Knappa’s first no-hitter of the season in the second game. Offensively, the Loggers col- lected 20 hits, and had plenty of base runners. Knappa batters were hit by pitches nine times in Game 1, and the Loggers drew eight walks in Game 2. “We’re getting a lot of quality at-bats,” said Knappa coach Jeff Miller. “That’s one thing that’s been real pleasing. Our hitting has been real strong, we’re getting good at-bats and our approach at the plate has been real good. “We’re still not where we need to be defen- sively,” he said, as the Loggers committed two errors in the opener. Knappa led just 4-2 through three innings of Game 1, before scoring seven in the fourth. Dale Takalo and Mason Hoover combined on a two-hitter, while Andrew Goozee, Jason Miller and Eli Takalo had two hits apiece. Kaleb Miller walked twice, was hit by two pitches and was 1-for-1 with a triple. The Loggers scored four runs in the first inning of Game 2, and led 13-0 after three. Goodman and Kaleb Miller combined to strike out nine batters with four walks, while Jason Miller, Dale Takalo and Hoover had two hits each. Kaleb Miller had a double and scored three runs. Knappa is scheduled to play at Clats- kanie Wednesday, with a single game at Taft Saturday. The Daily Astorian WARRENTON — The win streak is up to seven for the War- renton softball team, which scored a 7-1, 5-2 doubleheader sweep over Willamina Friday, 7-1 and 5-2, in nonleague action at Warrenton. Warrenton tied the school record for consecutive wins to start a season, equaling the 7-0 mark set in 2003, when the Warriors fin- ished 17-6. The No. 12-ranked Warriors are currently 7-0 overall, best at the 3A level. Warrenton pitcher Niqui Blodgett threw 225 pitches on the day, and struck out 22 batters with seven hits allowed to run her record to 7-0. After giving up a run in the top of the first in Game 1, the Warriors answered with one run of their own in the bottom of the first, then two in the third and three in the fourth. Six players had hits for the Warriors in the opener, two apiece for Landree Miethe and Blodgett. Both had a double, while Rachel Dyer drove in two runs. Six War- riors also scored runs, with Dani Bue scoring twice. Blodgett threw 125 pitches, and allowed six hits with 11 strikeouts and six walks. Willamina committed four errors and stranded 12 base run- ners in Game 1. The Warriors never trailed in Game 2, building a 4-0 lead through three innings. Blodgett threw another 100 pitches, and struck out another 11 batters, with two walks and one hit allowed. Willamina’s Jami Gravely took the loss in both games, allowing 15 hits on the day. Miethe had two hits with a triple and two RBIs in the sec- ond game, Bue was 2-for-2, and Blodgett and Melia Kapua each had a double. SCOREBOARD PREP SCHEDULE TODAY Boys Golf — Astoria at Molalla Invi- tational, TBA TUESDAY Baseball — Astoria at Scappoose, 5 p.m.; Seaside at Valley Catholic, 5 p.m. Softball — Rainier at Astoria, 4 p.m.; Clatskanie at Seaside, 4:30 p.m.; South Bend at Ilwaco (2), 3 p.m. WEDNESDAY Baseball — Warrenton at Naselle, 4 p.m.; Knappa at Clatskanie, 4:30 p.m. BASEBALL Game 1 Knappa 14, Santiam 4 Knappa 220 73—14 12 2 Santiam 200 02—4 2 3 D.Takalo, Hoover (4) and Goozee. W: D.Takalo. L: Nycot. 2B: Kna, Goodman, Cruz. 3B: Kna, K.Miller. Game 2 Knappa 13, Santiam 0 Knappa 436 00—13 8 0 Santiam 000 00—0 0 4 Goodman, K.Miller (4) and Goozee. W: Goodman. L: Look. 2B: Kna, J.Miller, Hoover, K.Miller. Amity 7, Warrenton 6 Warrenton 201 030 0—6 3 4 Amity 010 112 2—7 6 7 Morrow, Little (2), Breitmeyer (4), Jack- son (6), Kapua (6) and Breitmeyer, Mor- row (4); Hatch, J.Dyche (6) and Berrier. W: J.Dyche. L: Kapua. 2B: War, Kapua 2, Ham; Ami, Nyseth. SOFTBALL Game 1 Warrenton 7, Willamina 1 Willamina 100 000 0—1 6 4 Warrenton 102 301 x—7 8 1 WP: Niqui Blodgett (11 K’s, 6 walks). LP: Jami Gravely (4 K’s, 1 walk). RBI: Wil, Leno; War, Dyer 2, Miethe, Kapua. 2B: Wil, Leno; War, Blodgett, Miethe. HBP: Wil, Neville; War, Duncan. LOB: Willamina 12, Warrenton 4. Game 2 Warrenton 5, Willamina 2 Willamina 000 000 2—2 1 0 Warrenton 121 001 x—5 7 5 WP: Niqui Blodgett (11 K’s, 2 walks). LP: Jami Gravely (1 K, 3 walks). RBI: Wil, Anderson; War, Miethe 2, Little, Blodgett, Bue. 2B: War, Blodgett, Kapua. 3B: War, Miethe. LOB: Willamina 4, Warrenton 4.