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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 2018
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Knappa boys
demolish Gaston
KNAPPA — It was another
blowout victory Thursday night
for the Knappa Loggers in North-
west League boys basketball
action.
The Loggers only led 33-18 at
halftime, before pulling away in
the second half for an 82-47 win
over Gaston.
Dale Takalo scored 30 points
to pace the No. 3-ranked Loggers.
Knappa foul trouble kept the
game close over the second and
third quarters, with the Loggers
outscoring the Greyhounds just
34-31, before Knappa went on
a 25-8 run in the fourth quarter,
sparked by Takalo.
“He was the best player on the
court tonight,” said Knappa coach
Chris Spencer. “He was very
impressive.
“But we got into some foul
trouble in the first half, and our
bench did an incredible job,” he
said. “Thanks to Kaleb (Miller),
Ty Vanderburg and Braedon Elt-
agonde, they came in and gave
us a halftime lead. Then Dale just
took over in the second half.”
Takalo had 23 of his 30 points
in the second half, with a pair of
3-pointers in the final minutes.
Since losing to Columbia
Christian Jan. 11, the Loggers
have won three games by a com-
bined 90 points. Knappa (8-1 in
league) hosts winless Delphian
(0-7) Saturday.
Comeback sends
Gaston over
Knappa girls
KNAPPA — The first half
belonged to the Knappa girls
basketball team, but the Gaston
Greyhounds had the momentum
on their side in the second half,
outscoring the Loggers 27-8 over
the final two quarters for a 39-26
win.
Sophomore Lilly Johnson
scored 12 points and Diana Lewis
added 10 for Gaston, leading the
Greyhounds to the Northwest
League victory.
Madelynn Weaver had nine
points and four steals for Knappa,
while Sophia Carlson had six
points and Aiko Miller pulled
down 12 rebounds.
“In the first half, we really
focused on Charity (Hall) and
(Taylor (Bassel),” said Knappa
coach Maria Green. “They com-
bined for 29 points the last time
we played.”
Hall and Bassel combined for
just 11 in Thursday’s game.
“We came out firing and attack-
ing,” Green said. “It was really a
hard-fought game.”
C.S. Lewis beats
Jewell boys
JEWELL — The Jewell boys
played their best game of the sea-
son Thursday, according to head
coach Mark Fick. But a 21-10 run
by C.S. Lewis helped the Watch-
men pull away for a 60-45 win
over the Blue Jays in a Casco
League basketball game.
Jewell’s Ben Stahly had a
career game, scoring 16 points
with nine rebounds. Nathan Nel-
son and Ryan Kane added eight
points apiece for the Jays, who
lost their ninth straight.
Jewell girls
hammer C.S.
Lewis, 45-22
JEWELL — Jewell had all
the points it would need early in
the second quarter Thursday in a
45-22 Casco League girls basket-
ball win over C.S. Lewis.
Gabi Morales scored 15 points
with nine rebounds. Teammates
Emma Guillen and Haley Norman
added eight points each.
Norman also had six rebounds,
six steals and five assists, and Guil-
len pulled down seven boards, for
the Lady Jays, who led 21-2 after
one quarter.
— The Daily Astorian
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Astoria’s Davis Wingard comes up for air.
Astoria splashes to dual meet
victory over Valley Catholic
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
W
ith districts coming up fast,
the times and places get a little
more important for high school
swimmers.
Which was a positive for the Astoria
swim teams Thursday afternoon, as the
Fishermen swept a dual meet with Valley
Catholic at the Astoria Aquatic Center.
Astoria swimmers also set personal
best marks across the board, and won 18
of the 22 events.
“I would say 85 to 90 percent of our
swimmers had season (personal records)
today,” said Astoria coach Kathryn
Zacher. “We had quite a few season PRs,
and that’s what I like to look at. Are we
getting faster each week, and are we
headed in the right direction?”
The Lady Fishermen defeated the
Valiants 113-65, while the Astoria boys
won a 137-59 decision.
Highlight swims for Astoria girls
included wins for Tori Smith in the 200-
yard and 500-yard freestyle races, with
times of 2 minutes, 21.01 seconds and
6:17.57, respectively.
Grace Peeler won the 200-yard indi-
vidual medley in 2:38.73, against the
only other swimmer in the event, Valley
Catholic’s Sundari Arunarasu.
For the Astoria boys, “Riley Cam-
eron, a sophomore, won the 200 free in a
best time and a close race,” Zacher said.
“And all of our 200 medley and 200
free relay teams had their best times all
season,” she said. “Our goals are pretty
high for those relays.”
Next up for Astoria is a home meet
Tuesday against Scappoose, followed by
the Cowapa League championship meet
Feb. 2, and districts Feb. 9-10 at Astoria.
“Tuesday’s meet with Scappoose is
kind of like our dress rehearsal for dis-
tricts,” Zacher said. “It’s our last dual
meet, and Scappoose is really strong,
boys and girls.
“We have 16 training days left,
including today, before districts,” she
added. “I keep reminding the kids that
we should do really well at districts,
because we’re doing well at the invites,
and we do have a lot of depth.
“We’ve got some pretty big goals.
This could be the best possibility to send
the boys to state. Some of these seniors
have never been to state. This is the best
chance they’re going to get.”
Astoria’s Moira Welsh competes in the 200-yard
freestyle.
Astoria’s Jose Gonzalez swims in the 50-yard free-
style.
Lillard leads Trail Blazers past Pacers
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
FRIDAY
Boys basketball — Seaside at Asto-
ria, 6 p.m.; Warrenton at Clatskanie, 6
p.m.
Girls basketball — Seaside at Asto-
ria, 7:45 p.m.; Warrenton at Clatskanie,
7:30 p.m.; Jefferson at Knappa, 7 p.m.;
Raymond at Ilwaco, 7 p.m.
Wrestling — Astoria at Tillamook,
TBA
SATURDAY
Boys basketball — Delphian at
Knappa, 4:30 p.m.
By NICK DASCHEL
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Portland’s home
court was once one of the NBA’s
toughest for visitors — but was a
source of frustration for the Trail
Blazers earlier this season.
But they appear to have their home
mojo back, as the Blazers won their
fifth consecutive home game Thurs-
day night, beating the Indiana Pacers
100-86.
Damian Lillard scored 26 points
and Jusuf Nurkic had 19 points and a
season-high 17 rebounds to lead Port-
land (24-21). C.J. McCollum scored
16 points and Shabazz Napier 13 for
the Blazers.
Just six weeks ago, the Blazers
lost six consecutive games during
a late-November, early December
stretch. But starting Dec. 28 with a
victory over Philadelphia, Portland
has returned to its winning ways in
Moda Center.
“Overall our team has just locked
in a little bit more,” Lillard said. “We
had a rough stretch. We’re not the first
team or the last team that’ll have that.
The important thing when you have
times like that is to stay together and
stay with it. I think we’re just in a bet-
ter place on the floor as a group.”
Several wins during this streak
looked like Thursday’s, a game in
which Portland had most of the
answers during the fourth quar-
ter. Tied at 74 after three quarters,
the Blazers outscored Indiana 26-12
during the final period to pull out the
win.
“In the third quarter, I thought we
SCOREBOARD
BOYS BASKETBALL
Knappa 82, Gaston 47
Gaston
8 10 21 8—47
Knappa
23 10 24 25—82
GAS (47): Riley Marshall 14, Lund 10,
Gottschalk 9, Fox 8, Spidal 4, Barnes 2.
KNA (82): Dale Takalo 30, E.Takalo
14, Ramvick 8, Vanderburg 8, Miller 7,
Phillip 4, Hoover 3, Hunt 3, Weirup 2,
Green 2, Eltagonde 1, Goodman.
AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer
Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard shoots over Indiana Pac-
ers center Domantas Sabonis during Thursday’s game in Portland.
UP NEXT: BLAZERS
• Dallas Mavericks (15-30)
at Portland Trail Blazers (24-21)
• Saturday, 7 p.m. TV: NSNW
gave them a lot of opportunities,”
Portland coach Terry Stotts said. “In
the fourth quarter, it was good to see
the lead expand without having very
many mistakes.”
Portland took control late in the
third quarter, when the Blazers held
Indiana scoreless for more than five
minutes. It was part of Portland’s 21-2
run, during which Shabazz Napier
scored eight points to help erase a
six-point deficit and give the Blaz-
ers an 89-76 lead midway through
the fourth quarter.
Napier kick-started the rally
during the final seconds of the third
quarter, when he made a backcourt
steal, then hit a corner 3-pointer as
time expired to tie the game at 74.
Victor Oladipo and Darren Colli-
son scored 23 points each for Indiana
(24-21).
Indiana coach Nate McMillan had
an eye on the stat sheet in assessing
what went wrong for the Pacers. Port-
land outrebounded Indiana 57-46,
and scored 24 second-chance points
to the Pacers’ 10.
“That’s the hustle game you have
to win,” McMillan said. “We have
to give help to our bigs down in the
paint. They outworked us, and won
that game.”
C.S. Lewis 60, Jewell 45
CS Lewis
11 14 21 14—60
Jewell
11 8 10 16—45
CSL (60): Micah Grobey 23, More 19,
Stroup 11, Dovers 4, McClatchey 3.
JWL (45): Ben Stahly 16, R.Kane 8,
Nelson 8, Lilley 7, N.Kane 4, Lyon 2,
Chronister, Berg, Meehan.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Gaston 39, Knappa 26
Gaston
6 6 16 11—39
Knappa
8 10 4 4—26
GAS (39): Lilly Johnson 12, Lewis 10,
Hall 9, Clark 5, Bassel 2, Jordan 1.
KNA (26): Madelynn Weaver 9, Carl-
son 6, Miller 3, Inman 3, Vanderburg 2,
Taggart 2, Ramvick 1, Tischer.
Jewell 45, C.S. Lewis 22
CS Lewis
2 6 10 4—22
Jewell
21 12 6 6—45
CSL (22): Ally Trowbridge 14, Mault 6,
Wooding 2.
JWL (45): Gabi Morales 15, Guillen
8, Norman 8, Meier 6, A.Wammack 2,
R.Wammack 2, Kaczenski 2, Shaw 2,
N.Morales, Olvera, DeWees, Haddock.