10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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VINCE DULCICH MEMORIAL BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
SPORTS
IN BRIEF
St. Helens scores
sweep over Gulls
The Daily Astorian
ST. HELENS — St. Helens
won a low-scoring battle with
Seaside in a nonleague girls bas-
ketball game Wednesday, 34-25.
Bryre Babbitt scored seven
points with six steals and four
rebounds for the Gulls, who were
11-for-39 from the field, and did
not attempt a single free throw.
In the boys’ game, St. Helens
handed No. 6-ranked Seaside its
second loss of the season, with a
67-60 win over the Gulls.
Leach mum on
Falk’s injury
going into
Holiday Bowl
Associated Press
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Brooklynn Hankwitz, left, and Samatha Hemsley put defensive pressure on a Clatskanie player.
Big Lady Tigers rally nets
Clatskanie win over Astoria
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
T
he action tipped off Wednesday night
in Astoria High School’s 49th annual
Vince Dulcich Memorial basketball
tournament.
Over the next three days, 16 teams (nine
girls, seven boys) will take part in 25 games at
the Brick House.
Two girls’ games took place Wednesday,
both part of a three-day schedule of pool play
games on the girls’ side.
Banks defeated R.A. Long 76-41 in Game
1, and Clatskanie won a thriller in the sec-
ond game, as a 3-pointer from Tiger fresh-
man Shelby Blodgett with three seconds left
resulted in a 54-52 come-from-behind win
over Astoria.
The Lady Fishermen played one of their
best halves of the season in the first half, con-
necting on 13-of-25 shots from the field for a
31-17 halftime advantage.
Leading 13-11 early in the second period,
Astoria went on an 18-6 run to close the half.
Sam Hemsley sparked the rally with a
3-pointer, followed by scores from Gracie
Cummings, Brooklynn Hankwitz and fresh-
man Kelsey Fausett.
Cummings hit back-to-back buckets, fresh-
man Halle Helmersen added another score,
The Lady Fishermen go up for a rebound
against Clatskanie.
and Hemsley’s bank shot beat the buzzer to
end the half.
After a cold first half (0-for-9 on 3-point-
ers), the Tigers heated up in the second.
Clatskanie was within 40-35 to end the
third quarter, and freshman Olivia Sprague
knocked down a pair of shots from beyond the
arc to bring the Tigers to within 44-43 early in
the fourth period.
Macy Simmons’ offensive rebound bas-
ket gave Clatskanie a brief lead, before Hailey
O’Brien answered with a short jumper to put
Astoria in front, 46-45, with 4:02 left.
From there, a 3-pointer by Clatskanie
freshman Alexis Smith gave the Tigers a 48-46
lead at the 3:45 mark; Hemsley’s layup tied it
49-49 with 1:58 remaining; and Blodgett hit
a jump shot for a 51-49 Tiger lead with just
under two minutes remaining.
Hemsley responded by hitting one of two
free throws, then drove the lane and scored on
a layup to give the Lady Fishermen a 52-51
lead with 13 seconds left.
Without calling a timeout, the Tigers
worked the ball to Blodgett, who nailed a
3-pointer from straightaway with three sec-
onds left for the final lead change.
Astoria was unable to get off a shot in the
final 2.8 seconds. Blodgett and Hemsley each
finished with 21 points.
Tournament action continues today with
three girls’ games, while six of the seven boys’
teams begin action in bracket play. The Asto-
ria boys have a bye today, and will play twice
Friday (9:30 a.m. and 8 p.m.).
Pivec matures in her second year with No. 17 Oregon State
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
Sophomore guard Mikayla Pivec
was unsure of the reaction she’d get
when she approached Oregon State
coach Scott Rueck last spring about
possibly joining the track team.
Lots of athletes run track in the
offseason to help them stay sharp,
but Pivec was a bit unusual in that
she wanted to moonlight as a jave-
lin thrower. Rueck agreed, but with a
caveat: The javelin couldn’t take the
place of hoops.
To Rueck’s relief, it didn’t, and
Pivec is a guiding force for the No. 17
Beavers this season.
“He said: ‘Stay healthy and go out
there and compete,’” Pivec said about
Rueck’s reaction. “I was thankful for
him to have that blessing.”
The Beavers open the Pac-12 sea-
son at home on Friday against Wash-
ington. Oregon State (9-2) wrapped
up the nonconference schedule with
a six-game winning streak, capped by
a 61-47 victory over UC Davis last
week. Pivec had 14 points and nine
rebounds.
The Beavers are one of four ranked
teams in the conference, joining No.
10 Oregon, No. 11 UCLA and No. 20
California. Stanford dropped out of the
poll this week, ending a string of 312
weeks in the AP Top 25.
UP NEXT: BEAVERS
• Washington Huskies (6-5)
at Oregon State Beavers (9-2)
• Friday, 2 p.m.
Andy Cripe/The Corvallis Gazette-Times
Oregon State guard Mikayla Pivec, left, brings the ball upcourt against
San Jose State’s Danae Marquez during a Dec. 10 game in Corvallis.
Pivec is averaging 13.5 points and
7.2 rebounds while shooting 58.7 per-
cent from the floor this season, taking
over at point guard for Sydney Wiese,
now with the WNBA’s Los Angeles
Sparks.
It’s a heavy responsibility: Wiese
finished her career as one of Oregon
State’s all-time greats. She set records
for most assists and 3-pointers (with
373, also a Pac-12 record). She also
helped guide the team to the NCAA
Tournament in each of the past four
seasons, including Sweet 16 appear-
ances in the last two.
Pivec said it was a privilege to learn
from Wiese.
“There’s no way you can replace
Syd. She definitely left a lot of holes
for us to fill,” Pivec said. “I don’t feel
any extra pressure. I’m just trying to
do whatever I can to help the team be
successful and win.”
As a freshman last year, Pivec was
soft-spoken and even seemed a bit shy
when she faced postgame questions
from the media. This season, she’s
shown growing confidence both on
and off the court.
“A year ago, you wouldn’t hear a
word out of Mik. You’d have to just
wait, then ask a question, and then
wait, and then she might say some-
thing,” Rueck joked.
He said Pivec communicated in her
own quiet way, eventually developing
a rapport with her teammates.
“This year she has the ball in her
hands a lot, she’s much more vocal,
she’s way more in tune with me. It’s
been fun to watch that develop. ... I’m
seeing a lot more progress in commu-
nication, which is leadership,” Rueck
said. “Offensively, running the point,
she’s much more efficient getting us
into plays, her transition game, her
rebounding, her ability to shoot the
three. Those things were in place a
year ago. Everything’s just a step up.”
SAN DIEGO — The first ques-
tion for Washington State coach
Mike Leach during Wednesday’s
pre-Holiday Bowl news confer-
ence was about the cast on quar-
terback Luke Falk’s non-throwing
left wrist.
The seventh question was
about the pet raccoon Leach had
when he was a kid, which he men-
tioned in an article he wrote for
the Players’ Tribune.
Naturally, Leach was much
more forthcoming about the rac-
coon, which was named Bilbo
Baggins after the character in
“The Hobbit” and “The Lord of
the Rings,” than he was about his
quarterback’s health.
“He’s doing great. You can
use your imagination all you
want about the cast,” Leach said
about Falk, who despite what-
ever’s going on with his wrist is
still expected to lead No. 21 WSU
(9-3) against No. 18 Michigan
State (9-3) on Thursday night.
“He has had something on his
hand all year and hence we named
him ‘the Kingslayer.’ Beyond that
you’re on your own.”
Shiffrin beats
Holdener,
Hansdotter for
World Cup
slalom win
Associated Press
LIENZ, Austria — Olympic
champion Mikaela Shiffrin mas-
tered a tricky slalom course on
Thursday to cruise to her 36th
career World Cup win.
Backed by a huge 1.14-sec-
ond lead from the opening leg,
the defending overall World
Cup champion avoided risks and
posted only the 11th-fastest time
in the final run but still comfort-
ably beat second-place Wendy
Holdener of Switzerland by 0.89
seconds.
Frida
Hansdotter
of
Sweden was 1.22 behind in
third, and Bernadette Schild of
Austria was a further 0.55 behind
in fourth.
SCOREBOARD
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Girls basketball: (Dulcich Tourna-
ment) Redmond vs. Astoria, 8 p.m.
FRIDAY
Boys basketball: (Dulcich Tourna-
ment) Astoria vs. TBA, 9:30 a.m.; As-
toria vs. TBA, 8 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Clatskanie 54, Astoria 52
Clatskanie
8 9 18 19—54
Astoria
13 18 9 12—52
CLA (54): Shelby Blodgett 21,
Sprague 14, Smith 7, Warren 6, Sim-
mons 2, Moravec 2, Sizemore 1, Bak-
er 1.
AST (52): Sam Hemsley 21, Cum-
mings 8, Hankwitz 7, Helmersen 6,
O’Brien 4, Rogers 2, Fausett 2, Jack-
son 2, Feldman, Norris.
St. Helens 34, Seaside 25
Seaside
7 8 4 6—25
St.Helens
13 6 9 6—34
SEA (25): Bryre Babbitt 7, Ideue 5,
Smart 4, Angulo-Joli 3, Garhofer 2,
Davis 2, Hoekstre 2.