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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 2017)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2017 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com Hometown Report Seaside’s Maddi Utti flying high for Fresno State Warrenton’s Mady Hanna on the comeback trail By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian I f there was any doubt that Seaside’s Maddi Utti could play at the next level, the freshman at Fresno State has put that question to rest less than one month into her collegiate career. Over the last four games — including starts in the last three — Utti has racked up four straight double-figure scoring efforts, while shooting a blazing-hot 71 percent (24-of-34) from the field. The Class of 2017 Seaside High School graduate has also averaged a team-high 7.3 rebounds per game during the stretch. In Fresno State’s 64-57 win over UC-Santa Barbara last Thursday, Utti scored a career- high 20 points, to go with eight rebounds and two assists. She was 9-for-10 from the field, and was FSU’s first true freshman to score 20 points in a game since Rosie Moult vs. Idaho, Feb. 10, 2010. Utti is the first freshman to score 20 points in a game since redshirt freshman Taylor Thomp- son scored 21 at Utah State, Jan. 8, 2011. Among Utti’s other accomplishments so far this season: • She was the first Fresno State player to record a double-double this season when she scored 12 points with 10 rebounds in a loss at Texas State Nov. 25. Lund of Naselle football named league MVP The Daily Astorian The Lower Columbia region has cornered the market on Player of the Year honors for the 2017 football season. Of the six schools in the region (Astoria, Seaside, War- renton, Knappa, Ilwaco, Naselle), four can claim MVP awards for their team. The latest honor goes to Naselle running back and defen- sive lineman Erik Lund, who was named the Class 1B Coastal League Player of the Year. Naselle linebacker Vince Fauver won the defensive MVP, and Comet Cole Dorman was the all-league quarterback, as the Comets dominated their league and reached the state quarterfinals. Lund joins Seaside’s Alex Teubner, Knappa’s Kaleb Miller and Ilwaco’s Brandon McMullen, who were all named offensive players of the year in their respective leagues and levels. In addition, Naselle offen- sive lineman Carson Bergeson was selected all-league, along with both Naselle receivers, Josh Townsen and Jacob Eaton. Defensive end Nick Gaines, defensive back Antonio Nolan, and kicker Ethan Lindstrom all made all-league. SCOREBOARD PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE TODAY Girls basketball — R.A. Long at As- toria, 5:30 p.m.; Molalla at Seaside, 7 p.m.; Neah-Kah-Nie at Warrenton, 5 p.m.; Portland Adventist at Knappa, 6:30 p.m. Boys basketball — Seaside at Molal- la, 7 p.m.; Neah-Kah-Nie at Warrenton, 7:30 p.m.; Knappa at Ilwaco, 7:30 p.m. FRIDAY Girls basketball — Astoria at Central, 6 p.m.; Seaside at Corbett, 7 p.m.; Jew- ell at SW Christian Tournament, TBA; Willapa Valley at Ilwaco, 7 p.m.; Mary M. Knight at Naselle, 5:45 p.m. Boys basketball — Astoria at R.A. Long, TBA; Corbett at Seaside, 7:30 p.m.; Mary M. Knight at Naselle, 7 p.m. SATURDAY Girls basketball — Knappa at Regis, 4 p.m. Boys basketball — Knappa at Re- gis, 5:45 p.m.; Ilwaco at Willapa Valley, 7 p.m. Swimming — Nygaard Invitational, Astoria Aquatic Center, 10:15 a.m. Wrestling — Warrenton Invitational, 10 a.m. W Keith Kountz/Fresno State Athletics Maddi Utti, right, goes up for a shot in a recent game against Arizona State. • She is the first FSU freshman to score dou- ble figures in four straight games since Jaleesa Ross in 2008. Utti, a 5-foot-10 forward who wears No. 11, has started four of seven games, and aver- ages 25.7 minutes per contest. She is currently the third-leading scorer for the Bulldogs, sec- ond-leading rebounder, and third in assists. Fresno State hosts the University of Pacific tonight. arrenton High School graduate Mady Hanna has officially made her comeback from a devastating knee injury two years ago, and is now starring as a 5-foot-4 guard in her second year at Warner-Pacific College. In the Knights’ win over Multnomah Tues- day, Hanna scored nine points (all in the first half), and dished out four assists in a 75-53 victory. Hanna — who played two years at Lower Columbia College before transferring to War- ner-Pacific — has started four of the Knights’ 11 games this season, averaging 18.0 minutes per game. She is second on the team in assists (34), with 12 steals. In her latest Facebook health status update, Hanna stated “I went for my last check-up (Nov. 16). Nine months post surgery and I am officially done with the appointments and doctors! My ACL is good, he said it’s very strong for the stage it’s at and he’s proud of my efforts.” Hanna kept track, writing, “I really went 272 days without playing basketball. It feels so good to be back.” Wearing a knee brace “is optional, but I will continue to do so and I’m at about Warner-Pacific College Warrenton’s Mady Hanna is on the floor and enjoying her final season of college basketball. a five percent chance of re-tear. That’s all knee followers. Now come watch me ball out for my senior year (hashtag, ‘thecomeback’).” COLLEGE BASKETBALL Washington stuns No. 2 Kansas SPORTS IN BRIEF By DAVE SKRETTA Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. — First- year Washington coach Mike Hopkins saw how Kansas dissected Syracuse’s vaunted 2-3 zone defense last week, so he made a couple tweaks to his own version before facing the Jayhawks on Wednesday night. Primarily, Hopkins stretched the zone to take away the 3-pointer. It worked to perfection. The Huskies frustrated the Jay- hawks’ dangerous lineup of deep threats, Matisse Thybulle hit five-point- ers and scored 19 points, and Washing- ton kept its poise down the stretch for a 74-65 victory that knocked No. 2 Kan- sas from the ranks of the unbeaten. “We’ve been very fortunate this year to play a lot of teams that shoot 30 and 35 3-pointers. It’s really the kryptonite of the zone,” said Hopkins, who spent 22 years on Jim Boeheim’s staff at Syracuse, a tenure that came in handy considering the Jayhawks just beat the Orange. “I felt like this could be our best opportunity to win the game,” Hop- kins said. Jaylen Nowell also had 15 points, and Noah Dickerson added 13 points and 14 rebounds, as the Huskies (7-2) beat the Jayhawks (7-1) for the first time since December 1974. “We really just didn’t have it tonight. You have to give them credit,” the Jayhawks’ Devonte Graham said. “They made every shot and they did a good job of not letting us get comfortable.” Lagerald Vick had a career-high 28 points for Kansas, doing almost all his damage in the middle of the Hus- kies’ zone. But he didn’t get a whole lot of help as the Jayhawks went 5 for 20 from the 3-point arc, lowlighted by lousy performances from their two best sharpshooters. Graham, coming off back-to-back 35-point outbursts, was held to three points on 1-for-8 shooting, while Svi Mykhailiuk was 3 for 12 from the field and scored eight points before fouling out. “They took everybody away but Lagerald — ‘See if you can beat us,’” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “I thought our defense was horrendous and our hustle plays weren’t very good either.” In truth, the Jayhawks had little trouble getting Vick open shots in the middle of the zone. The problem came in that he was just 12 of 23 from the field, even though most of the shots were bunnies. Throw in foul trouble that sent the Jayhawks’ two big men, Udoka Azubuike and Mitch Lightfoot, to the bench well before halftime and it was no surprise the Huskies took a 36-34 Warren Moon Hall-of-Famer QB Moon sued for sex harassment AP Photo/Charlie Riedel Kansas’ Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk shoots in front ofWashington’s Matisse Thybulle during Wednesday’s game in Kansas City, Mo. lead into the break. Washington kept the pressure on early in the second half, pushing its lead to 52-44 with 12:10 left in the game, before the Jayhawks finally turned up the defensive intensity. Vick got going again inside and Azubuike’s slam of an alley-oop pass trimmed their deficit to 53-52 with 9 1/2 min- utes to go. The Huskies calmed back down after a timeout, though, stretching their lead again. Thybulle got loose for a transition dunk, Dickerson added a slam of his own, and Hameir Wright’s 3-pointer from the wing made it 69-56 — their biggest lead to that point. Even when the Jayhawks caught a break, like a technical foul on David Crisp in the closing minutes, they couldn’t capitalize. Graham missed both free throws with a chance to cut into a 73-59 deficit, and Mykhailiuk promptly missed a 3-point attempt as the Huskies put the game away. “You could see this coming,” Self said. “When we’re energized and mov- ing the ball and everybody is playing with energy, I think we’re a nice team. But when we’re not, we get average real quick.” Early exits Kansas fans headed toward the exits with several minutes left, a rarity for the program. But it didn’t surprise the Jayhawks’ coach. “If I would have paid to see that,” Self said, “I probably would have wanted something to drink long before there was 2 minutes left.” Big picture Washington sure didn’t look like the team that struggled to put away Seattle, California-Davis and Omaha in recent weeks. The Huskies were clearly amped up to play the first of back-to-back games against premier programs with Gonzaga on deck next. Kansas might want to reconsider games at Sprint Center. While the Jay- hawks like giving their guys a taste of the building where the Big 12 Tourna- ment is played, it comes at the expense of a massive homecourt advantage in Allen Fieldhouse. Hall of Fame quarterback War- ren Moon has been accused of sexual harassment by an assis- tant for his sports marketing firm, according to a California lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed Monday in Orange County Superior Court. According to court documents, Wendy Haskell alleges Moon made “unwanted and unsolicited” sexual advances while she worked for Sports 1 Marketing. Moon is the co-founder and president of the company. A call by The Associated Press to Moon’s agent, Leigh Steinberg, was not immediately returned. The Washington Post first reported on the lawsuit Wednes- day. The 61-year-old Moon has been working as a radio commen- tator for the Seattle Seahawks. The team announced that day it had “accepted Warren Moon’s request for a leave of absence as the club’s radio analyst.” Moon played parts of 17 sea- sons in the NFL with Houston, Minnesota, Seattle and Kansas City. Back from surgery, Seattle’s Joeckel ready for former team RENTON, Wash. — Luke Joeckel thought he was done with knee troubles. Issues with his left knee cost the former No. 2 overall pick most of the 2016 season, his last with Jacksonville. He was diligent and cautious in his recovery from the major knee procedure after sign- ing with the Seattle Seahawks during the offseason in the hope of being completely healthy when the regular season started. And despite all those precau- tious, just five games into his ten- ure with Seattle, Joeckel was back in surgery to have even more repairs done to his knee. — Associated Press
