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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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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