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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
ghenley@dailyastorian.com
TAGGART GONE
After just one season, coach
takes wing to Florida State
By JOE REEDY | Associated Press
ALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Willie
Taggart is returning to the Sun-
shine State, this time as head
football coach at Florida State.
Taggart has agreed to become Flor-
ida State’s next coach, replacing Jimbo Fisher. Tag-
gart told his Oregon players during a team meeting
on Tuesday that he is leaving.
Florida State has called a news conference for
Wednesday morning to introduce Taggart.
The 41-year old Bradenton native coached at
South Florida for four seasons before going to Ore-
gon. Fisher resigned Friday to accept the opening at
Texas A&M .
Taggart has a 47-50 career record, including 7-5
this season, but is known as a rebuilder. He arrived
in Eugene after four years at South Florida, where
he guided the Bulls from a 2-10 record his first year
to a 10-2 mark last year and a spot in the Birming-
ham Bowl.
Before that he spent three seasons as head coach
at his alma mater, Western Kentucky, inheriting a
winless program that he turned around with back-to-
back winning seasons.
The Seminoles have entered new territory follow-
T
Oregon head coach
Willie Taggart is
heading to Tallahassee
to replace Jimbo Fisher
at Florida State.
ing Fisher’s departure.Taggart, and Odell Haggins
— Fisher’s replacement on an interim basis — are
the first black head football coaches at Florida State.
Haggins will hold the position for two games before
turning over the reins to Taggart.
Haggins led the Seminoles (6-6) to a 42-10 win
over Louisiana-Monroe in Saturday’s regular-season
finale. He will coach the Seminoles in the Dec. 27
Independence Bowl against Southern Mississippi.
This was the first time Florida State had to con-
duct a coaching search since 1975.
Bobby Bowden was the Seminoles’ coach for 34
seasons and put the program on the map with two
national championships. Fisher was hired as offen-
sive coordinator in 2007 and was also named as the
head-coach-in-waiting. He took over in 2010 follow-
ing Bowden’s retirement.
When Taggart was hired by Oregon , he said he
had three basic tenets: “Make no excuses, blame no
one, do something.” ‘Do Something” became his
tagline for his first season with the Ducks.
Oregon started this past season 4-1 and even
briefly popped into the AP rankings, but starting
quarterback Justin Herbert broke his collarbone and
the Ducks floundered, going 1-4 without him.
Herbert returned for the final two games of the
season, both wins that got the Ducks into a bowl
game in Taggart’s lone season. Co-offensive coordi-
nator and offensive line coach Mario Cristobal will
be the interim head coach when Oregon faces Boise
State in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 16.
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
Jewell Lady Jays
fly by St. Stephens
The Daily Astorian
BEAVERTON
—
Gabi
Morales, Lilly Kaczenski and
Emma Guillen combined for 39
points Tuesday night, helping
the Jewell girls basketball team
to a 46-28 win over St. Stephens
in a nonleague contest at Lake
Oswego.
Jewell trailed St. Stephens 5-4
after one quarter, but then out-
scored the Archers 34-13 over the
next two periods to take a com-
manding lead.
Morales led the Lady Jays with
14 points, followed by Kaczenski
with 13 points to go with seven
rebounds and five steals, and
Guillen scored 12. Ashley Wam-
mack pulled down seven boards
for Jewell.
Knappa boys
fall to Clatskanie
Warrenton
girls sprint
past Naselle
The Daily Astorian
SCOREBOARD
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Girls basketball — South Bend at
Naselle, 7 p.m.
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Tyla Little lays the ball in after a fast break for the Warriors.
The Daily Astorian
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Warrenton 68, Naselle 25
Naselle
4 1 10 13—28
Warrenton
19 21 21 4—65
NAS (28): Taylor Gudmundsen 10,
Steenerson 6, Glenn 6, Zimmerman 4,
Harman 2.
WAR (65): Claire Bussert 18, Alvarez
16, Little 14, M.Blodgett 10, Ramsey 3,
Doney 2, DeJesus 2, Kapua, Talancon,
Heyen, Foster.
Clatskanie 90, Knappa 39
Knappa
10 10 9 10—39
Clatskanie
34 21 26 9—90
KNA (39): Aiko Miller 11, Vanderburg
10, Carlson 8, Weaver 8, Inman 2, Ram-
vick, Tischer, Strain, Marchello.
CLA (90): Olivia Sprague 30, S.Blodgett
27, Simmons 14, Baker 8, Warren 4,
Smith 3, L.Blodgett 2, Sizemore 2.
Jewell 46, St. Stephens 28
Jewell
4 15 19 8—46
St.Stephens
5 5 8 10—28
JWL (46): Gabi Morales 14, Kaczenski
13, Guillen 12, A.Wammack 4, Shaw 2,
R.Wammack, Olvera, Meier, Park, Had-
dock, Norman.
SS (28): Lauren Reynolds 15, Hamilton
6, Oeverman 5, Bedford 2.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Naselle 61, Warrenton 57
Naselle
20 19 11 11—61
Warrenton
18 10 15 14—57
NAS (61): Jacob Eaton 19, Glenn 11,
Lopez 11, Dorman 6, Lund 6, Lindstrom
5, Fontanilla 3.
WAR (57): Dalton Knight 28, Fischer 9,
Little 8, Jackson 6, Stephens 4, Morrow
2, Kapua, Qualls, Fowler, Breitmeyer.
Clatskanie 56, Knappa 53
Knappa
11 18 19 5—53
Clatskanie
13 11 13 19—56
KNA (53): Timber Engblom 16, D.Taka-
lo 15, Weirup 9, E.Takalo 8, Phillip 3,
Vanderburg 2, Ramvick, Miller.
CLA (56): Cooper Blodgett 15, Helmen
14, Sewald 13, Jones 6, Watson 5, Even-
son 4, Osborn 1.
St. Stephens 45, Jewell 32
Jewell
8 4 11 9—32
St.Stephens
12 11 10 12—45
JWL (32): Ryan Kane 16, N.Kane 7,
Lyon 4, Stahly 3, Meehan 2, Chronister,
Lilley, Berg, Nelson.
SS (45): Matt Reynolds 17, Radigan 15,
Storm 7, G.Bergeron 4, S.Bergeron 2.
WARRENTON — The Warrenton
girls basketball team cruised through
another nonleague tuneup before
their league opener next week, racing
past visiting Naselle Tuesday night,
68-25.
It’s only the second week of the
season, but the Lady Warriors are
rated seventh in the OSAA rankings,
and they will likely be undefeated
when they take on Rainier Tuesday in
what could be an eventual showdown
for the Lewis & Clark League title.
Warrenton had four starters in
double figures in Tuesday’s victory,
as Claire Bussert led the way with 18
points. Fernanda Alvarez added 16,
followed by Tyla Little with 14 and
Morgan Blodgett with 10.
The game started promising
enough for the Comets, who led 2-0.
But from there, the Warriors went
on a 40-2 run, which included a 21-0
rally that pushed their 19-4 lead to
40-4 just before halftime.
Warrenton dominated the inside
— mostly Alvarez, who scored all
16 of her points in the first half; and
the Warriors knocked down 7-of-18
3-pointers from the outside.
Defensively, the Warriors forced
36 turnovers, and spent most of the
night scoring in transition off steals.
Taylor Gudmundsen scored 10
points to lead the Comets, who were
missing two regular starters from the
lineup.
Naselle scores win at Warrenton
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — Another close
game ended in defeat for the War-
renton boys basketball team Tues-
day night, as the Naselle Comets
made the trip across the river and
scored a 61-57 nonleague win over
the Warriors.
The Warriors dropped to 0-3, with
the three losses coming by a com-
bined 13 points.
Naselle junior Jacob Eaton poured
in 19 points, freshman Kolby Glenn
added 11, and sophomore Oggie
Lopez chipped in 11 points off the
bench for the Comets, who nearly let
a 10-point lead slip away in the final
quarter.
The first half alone featured four
ties and four lead changes, with
Naselle building a 16-9 advan-
tage before a pair of Dalton Knight
3-pointers helped the Warriors rally
to within 20-18 after one quarter.
Baskets by Devin Jackson and
Logan Fischer led to a 23-20 lead for
Warrenton, the Warriors’ largest lead.
The Comets answered right away,
turning a 25-23 deficit into a 34-25
lead, sparked by a 3-pointer from
Eaton, and Eaton’s lay-up off a steal.
A trey by Glenn gave Naselle
Austin Little takes a shot from beyond the 3-point line for the
Warrenton Warriors.
CLATSKANIE — A slow start
and an even rougher finish cost
the Knappa Loggers at Clatskanie,
where the Tigers rallied Tuesday
night for a 56-53 nonleague win
over Knappa.
The visiting Loggers held a
48-37 lead heading into the fourth
quarter, when Knappa went cold
and the Tigers outscored the Log-
gers 19-5 to pick up the victory.
Clatskanie was 18-of-24 from
the free throw line, and 9-for-10
in the final quarter. Knappa was
5-of-8 at the line.
Cooper Blodgett led a trio of
Clatskanie players in double fig-
ures, finishing with 15. James Hel-
men added 14 and Dusten Sewald
scored 13 for the Tigers.
Knappa’s Timber Engblom led
all scorers with 16 points, with
Dale Takalo chipping in 15 for the
Loggers.
“We just had a dreadful first
quarter and fourth quarter,” said
Knappa coach Chris Spencer,
whose team plays Thursday at
Ilwaco.
Clatskanie rolls
over Knappa
The Daily Astorian
CLATSKANIE — The points
were coming fast and furious for
the Clatskanie girls basketball
team Tuesday night, as the Tigers
racked up 90 points in a 90-39 win
over Knappa in a nonleague game
at Clatskanie.
Freshman Olivia Sprague had
30 points and freshman teammate
Shelby Blodgett scored 27 for
the Tigers, who held a 34-10 lead
after one period, 55-20 at halftime
and 81-29 after three quarters.
Aiko Miller led Knappa with
11 points (but suffered a concus-
sion after scoring on a layup in the
second half), while Paris Vander-
burg added 10 points. Sophie Carl-
son and Madelynn Weaver scored
eight points apiece for the Loggers.
St. Stephens
stops Jewell boys
The Daily Astorian
a 39-28 lead at the break, and Erik
Lund scored the first bucket of the
second half for the Comets’ biggest
lead, 41-28.
But Warrenton used the long
ball to stay within striking distance,
as Knight and Austin Little made
3-pointers, with another trey from
Knight helping the Warriors close to
within 47-43.
Naselle pushed the lead right back
to 57-49 with 2:30 left in the final
period, but the Warriors scored on a
pair of fast breaks, and Little’s second
3-pointer had Warrenton within 59-57
with 49 seconds remaining.
The Comets could have clinched
it a little sooner from the free throw
line, but Naselle was just 2-of-6 from
the stripe in the final minute of the
game.
Still, Little’s 3-pointer was the
final basket for Warrenton, while
Glenn and Ethan Lindstrom each
made a free throw for Naselle in the
final 15 seconds to secure the victory.
BEAVERTON — St. Stephens
spoiled Jewell’s season opener
Tuesday night in a Class 1A boys
basketball game in Beaverton, as
the Archers shot down the Blue
Jays 45-32.
Matt Reynolds scored 17
points and Joel Radigan added 15
for St. Stephens, while Ryan Kane
led Jewell with 16 points, fol-
lowed by Nathan Kane with seven
points and seven rebounds.