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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2018
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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SPORTS
IN BRIEF
HOMETOWN REPORT
Takalo pours
in 35, Knappa
defeats Vernonia
VERNONIA — Knappa’s Dale
Takalo won the scoring battle with
Vernonia’s Clay Sullivan, and
Knappa topped Vernonia on the
scoreboard Thursday night, 61-48,
in a Northwest League boys bas-
ketball game.
While Sullivan led Verno-
nia with a hard-earned 27 points,
Takalo scored 35 points, pulled
down 15 rebounds and was 15-for-
16 at the free throw line to lead
No. 2-ranked Knappa, which won
its sixth in a row. Knappa has also
won 15 of its last 16 games, since
starting the season 1-2.
Vernonia played evenly with
Knappa over the final three quar-
ters, after Knappa jumped out to a
14-5 lead after one quarter.
Eli Takalo added 12 points for
Knappa, which was 21-of-33 at the
free throw line.
Knappa (11-1 in league), plays
the bottom three teams in the NWL
— Delphian (0-10), City Christian
(3-8) and Faith Bible (1-9) — over
the next week.
Vernonia works
overtime to beat
Knappa girls
VERNONIA — A 3-pointer by
Mack Strain with 40 seconds left in
overtime gave Knappa a one-point
lead, but Vernonia answered sec-
onds later with a three-point play
for a 34-32 win Thursday night.
Knappa led the Northwest
League girls basketball game until
the final four minutes of regulation,
as Vernonia rallied with a 7-2 run
in the third quarter, after trailing
19-12 at halftime.
“It was a fun, exciting game,”
said Knappa coach Marie Green.
“(Knappa’s) Madelynn Weaver got
fouled and went down with a head
injury in the first half and missed
the rest of the game, but the girls did
a great job of stepping up for us.”
A 2-for-10 effort at the free
throw line hurt Knappa’s cause,
but the Loggers still had a balanced
scoring attack with Sophia Carlson
(nine points, four rebounds), Paris
Vanderburg (eight points) and Aiko
Miller (seven points, 11 rebounds).
Jewell splits DH
at Falls City
FALLS CITY — With their
hopes of a Casco League cham-
pionship still very much alive, the
Jewell girls basketball team scored
another big win Thursday night,
34-31 at Falls City.
The Lady Jays improve to 8-2
in the league standings, just one-
and-a-half games behind first-place
Perrydale. Jewell plays Tuesday at
Perrydale.
In the boys’ game, Falls City
defeated Jewell 65-17, as the Blue
Jays continue to look for their first
league win.
— The Daily Astorian
The Daily Astorian
The Daily Astorian
Seaside High graduate Jackson Januik leads the George Fox
men’s basketball team in assists.
Seaside’s Maddi Utti is having an outstanding freshman year at
Fresno State.
Seaside’s Januik passing
the test at college level
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
A
fter enjoying a 24-1 record and a state
championship last season at Seaside
High School, it’s been a complete
reversal for Jackson Januik this year, as far as
wins and losses on the basketball floor.
In his freshman season at George Fox Uni-
versity, Januik is excelling on the court and in
the classroom, but the Bruins are struggling to
find wins.
George Fox is 5-12 overall, 1-7 in the North-
west Conference. The Bruins lost their sixth in
a row last Saturday, an 81-78 defeat at Lewis &
Clark College.
Meanwhile, Januik has started eight of 17
games this season, averaging 4.4 points and a
team-leading 3.6 assists per game.
In the classroom, Januik earned dean’s list
recognition for the fall 2017 semester. He is
majoring in health and human performance.
Other locals enjoying success at the colle-
giate level:
Seaside
Maddi Utti, Fr., Fresno State basketball —
Utti has thrived as a starter in her first season at
Fresno State. She has started every contest after
the fourth game, posting double-figure scoring
performances in nine games. Utti is second on
the team in scoring (9.4) and rebounding (5.9).
She ranks fourth in scoring among freshmen
in the conference and first in rebounding. Her
57 shooting percentage is second overall in the
league.
Astoria
Taylor Christie, So., Indiana St. swim-
ming — Teamed up with Joelle Borchers,
Katherine Minatra and Elisabeth Peskin to fin-
ish second in the 500-yard freestyle relay at the
Indiana State Relays Dec. 2.
Jacob Hulti, So., Willamette swimming
— Hulti competed at the 2017 Northwest Con-
ference Championships in the 50, 100, and 200
yard freestyle events.
Chloee Hunt, So., Evergreen basketball
— Now in her second year with the Geoducks,
Hunt averaged 3.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per
game last season. She has also played for the
Evergreen volleyball team each of the past two
seasons.
Derek Jarrett, So., South Puget Sound
CC basketball — Listed as a redshirt on the
Clippers’ roster.
Warrenton
Mady Hanna, Sr., Warner-Pacific basket-
ball — Has started 11 of 22 games this sea-
son, and is second on the team with 63 assists.
She dished out three assists in Warner-Pacif-
ic’s most recent game, a 79-68 win over Mult-
nomah Jan. 16.
Knappa
Craig Cokley, head basketball coach,
Wilson HS — In his first season as the boys’
coach at Wilson, Cokley and the Trojans are
4-11, 1-6 in the Class 6A Portland Interscholas-
tic League. Cokley — who spent 15 years and
won three state championships at Knappa —
coached last season at Cleveland High School,
his first year as a coach since leaving the Log-
gers. His career coaching record stands at 278
wins, 174 losses.
Other athletes from the region now compet-
ing at the collegiate level:
Banks
Karlie Gerlinger, Fr., Blue Mountain basketball
Anna Klein, Fr., Mt. Hood basketball
Lucy Plews, Fr., Pacific swimming
Neah-Kah-Nie
Mike Swadberg, Fr., Lane CC basketball
Valley Catholic
Kaylynn Bush, Jr., NW Christian basketball
Molly Danielson, So., Linfield basketball
Petra Flemmer, Fr., Mt. Hood basketball
Jarrett Gray, Jr., Concordia basketball
Vlad Katin, Fr., Mt. Hood basketball
Vernonia
Katerina Brejchova, Sr., NW Christian basketball
Megan Ely, Fr., Linn-Benton basketball
SCOREBOARD
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Boys basketball — Banks at Astoria, 6
p.m.; Tillamook at Seaside, 6 p.m.; War-
renton at Catlin Gabel, 6 p.m.; Ilwaco at
North Beach, 7 p.m.
Girls basketball — Banks at Astoria,
7:45 p.m.; Tillamook at Seaside, 7:45
p.m.; Warrenton at Catlin Gabel, 7:45
p.m.; Ilwaco at North Beach, 5:45 p.m.
SATURDAY
Girls basketball — Lake Quinault at
Naselle, TBA
Boys basketball — Knappa at Del-
phian, 1 p.m.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Knappa 61, Vernonia 48
Knappa
14 21 15 11—61
Vernonia
5 18 12 13—48
KNA (61): Dale Takalo 35, E.Takalo 14,
Weirup 7, Hoover 2, Ramvick 2, Miller 2.
VER (48): Clay Sullivan 27, Vazquez 6,
Harral 5, K.Sullivan 5, Everett 3, Handegard 2.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Vernonia 34, Knappa 32
Knappa
9 10 2 6 5—32
Vernonia
6 6 7 8 7—34
KNA (32): Sophia Carlson 9, Vander-
burg 8, Miller 7, Strain 6, Tischer 2, Tag-
gart, Hendrickson, Ramvick, Inman.
VER (34): Courtney Barklow 12, Wal-
ters 8, Hartman 8, Ely 4, Everett 2.
Taylor Christie, Indiana State
Mady Hanna, Warner-Pacific
Jacob Hulti, Willamette
Chloee Hunt, Evergreen
Focus on rotation as Mariners head into spring training
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Whether it was
intentional or not, Seattle Mariners
general manager Jerry Dipoto placed
a heavy burden on Felix Hernandez
on Thursday.
If Hernandez can stay healthy and
be a strong, serviceable arm for Seat-
tle — not the ace he once was — then
the Mariners’ questionable pitching
rotation may turn out to be just fine. If
Hernandez is injury prone and unable
to stay on the mound as was the case
in 2017, the Mariners could again be
scrambling with their pitching staff.
“Nuts and bolts it comes down to
how Felix comes into spring train-
ing,” Dipoto said during the Mari-
ners’ pre-spring training luncheon.
“If Felix can give us the 25 starts or
more than he gave us in 2016,
we’re going to be a good team.
If Felix gives us 16 or less as
was the case last year, we’re
going to have to answer a lot
of questions.”
Putting that on Hernan-
dez shows how tenuous the
Mariners’ pitching situation is
going into the 2018 season. Seattle
seems solid at the top of its rotation
with lefty James Paxton and righty
Mike Leake. They have numerous
options at the back end with Erasmo
Ramirez, Marco Gonzales, Andrew
Moore, Arial Miranda and Hisashi
Iwakuma when he is fully recovered
from shoulder surgery.
But the bridge appears to
be Hernandez and whether he
can evolve in the later years
of his career. He’s no longer
the ace of Seattle’s staff, but
must be a solid contributor in
the rotation if Seattle wants to
have a chance at competing. A
year ago, Hernandez was slowed
by injuries and managed 86 innings
pitched and a 4.36 ERA — a career
low in innings and the second-high-
est ERA of his career.
“I wish I knew the answer to which
of those it is. I don’t, but we’re going
to find out pretty quick,” Dipoto said.
As part of helping Hernandez be
more prepared for the start of the reg-
ular season, the Mariners intend to
change his spring training routine.
He’ll pitch more and start ramping up
well before the final 10 days of spring
training. In previous seasons, Her-
nandez wouldn’t take the mound in a
spring training game for about 10 to
14 days after games had started.
Manager Scott Servais said this
year will not be that way.
“The first time he takes the mound
in the regular season he should be
able to throw 100 pitches,” Servais
said.