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10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2017 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com WARRENTON WINTER SPORTS PREVIEWS Warrenton set, ready to win Warriors look for improvement By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian Lady Warriors team ready for big season Players search for a little luck O ver the last four years, the War- renton boys basketball pro- gram has a record of just four wins and 60 losses in league play. The Warriors, however, are about to put all that behind them. For the first time since Nate McBride took over the reins, War- renton has a team that should be able to compete night in and night out in the Lewis & Clark League. Which is saying something, when you’re a part of one of the toughest 3A conferences in the state. “We have six guys back who have started varsity games, and that’s by far more than I’ve had in the past,” said McBride, entering his fifth year as the Warriors’ coach. “And having a competitive JV team will be a big advantage for us.” The key players are back, they’re healthy, and the Warriors are ready to make a run. WARRENTON GIRLS By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian The Warrenton Lady War- riors were knocking on the door to the state playoffs a year ago; with just a little luck this sea- son, Robert Hoepfl’s team will be a part of the “Big Dance” next March. With three starters returning from a team that won 16 games last season, the Warrenton girls basketball program is set up for a big year. “We should have a pretty good year,” said Hoepfl, enter- ing his third season as the War- renton coach. “You never know how it’s going to play out, but we have a group of kids who work really hard.” THE LEWIS & CLARK LEAGUE THE LEWIS & CLARK LEAGUE Warrenton has one more year against the private schools in the Lewis & Clark League. By this time next year, the Warriors could be talking state playoffs as part of the new Coastal Range League. Until then, it’s more games against Catlin Gabel, De La Salle, Portland Adventist, etc. “De La Salle is going to be really good,” McBride said. “They only graduated two kids, and they weren’t starters. They lost the championship game, and they’ll be top two or three this year. “PAA (Portland Adventist) will be good as usual, and Clatskanie is going to be really good. They return most of their guys,” he said. “Rain- ier has two of the five best players in the league, but Dawson (Carr) got hurt in football, and I don’t know if he will be back.” Elsewhere, “Portland Christian returns their three best players, and Catlin Gabel has a new coach, but they’ve got a 6-10 kid and another 6-4. “It will be a better balanced league, but De La Salle should be a lot better than everybody else, then five or six teams in the middle,” said McBride, whose father, Gary, coached Warrenton for years in the same league. “One of the biggest struggles for us has been being competitive in league. The private schools reload pretty regularly.” “Our league’s tough — there’s a lot of talent return- ing,” Hoepfl said of Warren- ton’s last year in the Lewis & Clark League. “Rainier and De La Salle should both be pretty tough. Riverdale and Clatskanie will both be much improved; and Oregon Epis- copal and Catlin Gabel always find a way to be competitive. PAA (Portland Adventist) is tra- ditionally the cream of the crop, but they graduated a lot.” The Daily Astorian Dalton Knight, No. 1, is healthy after missing the football season with an injury, and ready to lead the Warrenton boys basketball team. WARRENTON BOYS Coach: Nate McBride, 5th year 2016-17: 5-18 (1-15 league) All-league loss: Christian Holt THE WARRIORS Warrenton lost four seniors off last year’s roster, but the Warriors still have plenty of varsity expe- rience returning. And they’re still young. Warrenton has just two seniors on the roster (Logan Fischer, Ryan Fowler), with more talent coming up through the ranks. The Warriors have three return- ing juniors (Kaleo Kapua, Dalton Knight, A.J. Schenbeck), and three sophomores (Devin Jackson, Austin Little, Jacob Morrow) who all saw varsity action as freshmen last year. Knight suffered a broken wrist in a football jamboree in August, and missed the entire season. He’s back and healthy. The Warriors have added a junior, Ayden Stephens, who played as a freshman. “Ayden is about 6-2, and he’s by far the most physically-gifted player I’ve coached since I’ve been here,” McBride said. “He’s a big, athletic kid. Logan (Fischer) is not particu- larly tall, but he’s a physical player; Kaleo is 6-2, Devin is 6-1 … our strength will be in those four guys being big around the basket.” Fowler “will probably start at point guard,” he said. “Jake Morrow has the potential to be a starter. This is by far the most talented group I’ve had, physically and basketball-wise.” Adding depth will be junior Trey Qualls and sophomore Gabe Breitmeyer. “The running up and down that our league tends to do won’t be so overwhelming for us now,” McBride said. “Our depth will be considerably better.” Huge turnout has Warriors thinking big Warrenton on the right path By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian If the Warrenton wrestling program has hopes for a big season (which they do), the Warriors are on the right path. A big turnout includes seven returning district plac- ers and a solid freshman class on the boys’ side, with a list of 11 wrestlers for the girls. “We’re looking to finish in the top half of our league,” said Warrenton coach Corey Conant, “and to get as much of our lineup through to the state tournament as possible. “We have spent the last few years learning a lot, and this is the first year that we can set our sights on the state tournament as a realistic goal for a large part of our team.” The Warriors are pinning big hopes on five seniors: Beau Reynolds (third at dis- tricts, state qualifier); fourth- place district placers Tim Warren and Caden Hans; and fifth-place finishers Morgan Buoy and Brandon Williamson. Juniors Giovanni Mar- tinez, Nolan Mathews and Kaden Gilbert (a transfer APPLIANCE AND HOME FURNISHINGS GIVE ‘EM YOUR BEST TEAMS! 529 SE MARLIN, WARRENTON 503-861-0929 Hours Open: Mon-Fri 8-6 • Saturday 9-5 • Sunday 10-4 We Service What We Sell from Astoria) will also pro- vide leadership and experi- ence to the lineup, Conant said. “Gilbert wrestled in our middle school program and uses an unorthodox style of wrestling that’s entertaining to watch,” he said. “He had a lot of success at the 4A level, and we will look to continue it in our program.” Gilbert was Astoria’s only state qualifier last sea- son, placing second at 182 pounds in the District 1/4A tournament. Sophomore Armin Rodri- guez (fourth at districts) nar- rowly missed going to state and also returns, looking to improve on last year’s finish. Meanwhile, Oregon high school girls wrestling is tran- sitioning to a sanctioned OSAA sport. “It’s an exciting time for the sport, and our female wrestlers are the vanguard of a new wave or wrestlers,” Conant said. “Our girls’ team is bigger than ever and will return several standouts, looking to leave their mark at state.” The list includes senior Alma Bolanos, junior Noel O’Bryan and sophomores Isabella Carr, Jade Freniere and Dominique Verley, all THE LADY WARRIORS Warrenton wasn’t the big- gest team around last season, but it didn’t make a difference. Warrenton’s game was built on speed and launching 3-pointers — which they did better than any team in the Lewis & Clark League last season. The team graduated three seniors, Katelynn Blodgett, Krista Morrill and Landree Miethe. “Losing those three was tough, but we have some kids behind them who are ready to step up,” Hoepfl said. Included are “five kids who played big roles for us last year, who will all be big contributors this year.” And a look down the War- renton roster shows that the Warriors could now be one of Coach: Robert Hoepfl, 3rd year 2016-17: 16-9 (10-6 league) Playoffs: Defeated De La Sal- le, lost to Portland Christian in league playoffs. All-league loss: Landree Mi- ethe All-league returner: Tyla Lit- tle, Sr. the biggest teams in the league. Junior Fernanda Alvarez is a 6-foot post, “really athletic, and had a great finish to her season last year,” Hoepfl said. “Down the stretch she had multiple double-doubles, and she’s only gotten better.” Elsewhere, “Claire Bussert (Jr.) and Tyla Little (Sr.) have been starters since I’ve been coach,” he said. “They’ve both started since their freshmen years, so those two are really important to what we’re doing. “Tyla was second-team all- league, averaged 15 points a game; and Claire was kind of an unsung hero, just a great key to everything, and a great floor general.” Sagi Diego played big min- utes last year, “and she will have a bigger role as a junior,” said the coach. “She’s an excel- lent defender. Some of the best instincts I’ve seen.” Rachel Dyer is one of just two seniors, along with Little, and is a good shooter off the bench. “The next group of kids, Maria Heyen (Jr.) and Morgan Blodgett (Jr.) both had good JV years,” Hoepfl said. “They will be juniors this year, and play big roles for us at the varsity level. Maria is a great talker, 5-11, and another post option for us. Morgan is another ath- letic wing.” Rounding out the varsity will be junior point guard Adri- anna DeJesus, and sophomores Elissa Blodgett, Jadah Doney, Melia Kapua and McKenzie Ramsey. Julie Foster and Vanessa Talancon are two first-year seniors. “Claire, Tyla and Fernanda are the big three for us,” Hoepfl said. “This is year three for Tyla and Claire both starting in the backcourt, and not a lot of peo- ple get that kind of continuity at the high school level.” THE WARRIORS Boys 103: Lucas Thompson 126: Armin Rodriguez, Austin Culp 132: Nolan Mathews, Ryder Sharp 138: Brandon Williamson, Nico- las Pior, 145: Michael Verley 152: Giovanni Martinez, Isaiah Vollmer 160: Thomas Atwood, Richard Snider, Gabe Lagana 170: Tim Warren, Caden Hans, Justin Stephens 182: Morgan Buoy, Caleb Sprengeler, Leo Thompson 195: Donald McBride returning and looking to build on the success of last year’s team that traveled to state. 220: Tristan Scott, Samuel Irwin 275: Beau Reynolds, Patrick Mc- Cargish Girls (Weights TBA) Hanna Bentley Alma Bolanos Isabella Carr Ruby Dyer Jade Freniere Madison Kadera Isabella Kramer Noel O’Bryan Libby Rehnert Anna Schenbeck Miranda Scott Dominique Verley “We have several home meets lined up this year, and we hope to put on a show for our crowd,” Conant said. 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