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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2018
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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Athletes of the Week
TYLA
LITTLE
Warrenton
ELI
TAKALO
Knappa
The Daily Astorian
Krissy Barendse-Goodman/For The Daily Astorian
n her final game as a Warrior, Little made six 3-pointers and scored a game-
I surpassed
high 26 points in Warrenton’s loss at Coquille Feb. 23. In the process, she
1,000 points for her career. Little finished with 1,004, placing her
he sophomore scored 20 points and sparked an early rally for the Log-
gers in Knappa’s 81-35 win Feb. 23 over Reedsport. After falling behind
T
4-0, Takalo scored on an offensive rebound, made a 3-pointer on the next
fifth on the school’s all-time scoring list, behind Brooklyn Campbell (1,983),
DeeDee Arnall, Meredith Claterbos and Staci Hanna. Little is also the career
leader in 3-point attempts (615) and second in made 3-pointers (156). She
attempted a school record 262 3-pointers this season, making 73, one short of
the school record (Claterbos was 74-for-224 in 2002-03).
possession and later scored off a steal in a 12-0 run. Then, in a 19-4 run to
start the second half, he made two 3-pointers as Knappa’s lead reached 59-28.
The week before, Takalo was one of seven players named to the Northwest
League’s first team all-league squad.
Tacoma
Baptist tops
Naselle
boys in a
thriller
SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Mountain West
in discussions
with Gonzaga
to join league
The Daily Astorian
SPOKANE, Wash. — A
great start by the Naselle boys
basketball team turned into a
gut-wrenching finish Wednesday
morning for the Comets in a first-
round game of the Class 1B boys
basketball state tournament.
Tacoma Baptist rallied from
an 11-point deficit in the first half,
took the lead in the third quarter
and held on for a 50-47 win over
Naselle.
It was a loser-out game for the
Comets, who finished the season
18-7 overall.
Naselle’s Kolby Glenn and
Antonio Nolan both knocked
down 3-pointers in the opening
minute for a quick 6-0 lead, then
the Comets increased it to 11-2.
After the Crusaders rallied
back to within 15-12, Donny
Edwards scored back-to-back
hoops, and Naselle pushed the
lead back to 25-14.
The Crusaders rallied again
towards the end of the first half,
and opened the third quarter with
a 10-3 run that gave Tacoma a
32-30 advantage.
Naselle quickly regained
the lead on a Corey Gregory
3-pointer, and missed free throws
by the Crusaders kept the Com-
ets in front after three quarters,
36-33.
In the fourth, a three-point
play by Tacoma pulled the Cru-
saders even again at 38-38, and
a 3-pointer moments later put
Tacoma in front, 41-38.
The Comets staged a brief
rally of their own when Cole Dor-
man scored following a timeout.
A basket by Edwards brought
the Comets to within 43-42 with
1:35 left, and after a Tacoma turn-
over, Jacob Eaton made one free
throw to tie it at 43-43 with 1:00
remaining.
But the Crusaders answered
with a 3-pointer from Brad-
ley Swillie — Tacoma Baptist’s
eighth-grade phenom — then
scored again and converted a
three-point play for a 49-43 lead
with just 32 seconds left.
Eaton’s late basket had Naselle
within 49-45, but Tacoma made
1-of-2 free throws to secure the
win.
Edwards led the Comets with
13 points, while P.J. Talen scored
24 for Tacoma Baptist, with Swil-
lie adding 15.
The Crusaders (23-5) advance
to play No. 1 seed Sunny-
side Christian in a Thursday
quarterfinal.
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer, billionaire David Bonderman, and Oak View Group Chief Execu-
tive Tim Leiweke, from left, take part in a TV interview Wednesday in Seattle.
Backers of NHL team in Seattle
hope for decision in June
By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Hollywood pro-
ducer Jerry Bruckheimer has been
hosting hockey games for a quar-
ter-century. Now he wants to do it on
a much bigger scale.
The filmmaker of “Flashdance,”
‘’Beverly Hills Cop” and “Top Gun”
fame joined his partners — billion-
aire David Bonderman and Oak View
Group Chief Executive Tim Leiweke
— on Wednesday in discussing for
the first time publicly why they’re
trying to bring a professional hockey
team to Seattle.
One answer, they said, is that the
city deserves one: It’s been more than
a century since the old Seattle Met-
ropolitans won the Stanley Cup, and
a decade since Seattle’s last major
men’s professional winter sports
franchise, basketball’s SuperSonics,
bolted for Oklahoma City. Seattle is
the biggest market in the nation with-
out a major winter sports team.
But Bruckheimer has also been a
big hockey fan since The Great One
— Wayne Gretzky — moved from
the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Ange-
les Kings in the early 1990s. Bruck-
heimer met Gretzky at a party, and
Gretzky arranged for him to get sea-
son tickets. Having season tickets,
Bruckheimer decided to take skat-
ing lessons. And having taken skat-
ing lessons, he decided to get some
friends together to play hockey on
Sunday nights. They’ve been playing
ever since.
“It’s something I get so much joy
out of watching and doing,” he said.
“I’m still playing the sport — poorly
— but I get out there with a bunch of
the guys and do it every week. That’s
really nice, to carry something that
long in your life.”
Scott Blackmun resigned as chief
executive of the U.S. Olympic Com-
mittee on Wednesday, stepping aside
so he can tackle his worsening bout
with prostate cancer and to allow the
federation to move forward under new
leadership to address the sex-abuse
scandal that has rocked gymnastics
and other sports.
The 60-year-old CEO was diag-
nosed with prostate cancer in January
and did not attend the Pyeongchang
Games.
Blackmun leaves as calls for his
ouster were growing louder — from
two U.S. senators and, more nota-
bly, from a number of gymnasts and
other athletes who said neither he
nor the USOC at large reacted prop-
erly to cases including those involving
Larry Nassar, the doctor who sexually
abused members of the U.S. gymnas-
tics team.
The USOC is conducting an inde-
pendent review of when Blackmun
and others learned the details about
abuse cases at USA Gymnastics and
whether they responded appropriately.
Susanne Lyons, a member of the
board, will step down from that posi-
tion and serve as acting CEO while the
search for Blackmun’s replacement
begins.
At a news conference to kick off
the Olympics, chairman Larry Probst
said Blackmun had served the USOC
with distinction and the board found
no reason to relieve him. In an inter-
view with The Associated Press on
Wednesday, Probst said Blackmun has
since received more information about
the treatment he’ll need.
“We need a CEO in place who
Washington says
no knowledge of
claims by Robinson
SEATTLE — Washington
says it has no knowledge of
claims made by former football
and basketball player Nate Rob-
inson of being offered money
by a booster to return to playing
football.
The school issued a statement
on Wednesday in response to
Robinson’s claim he was offered
$100,000 by an unnamed booster
to return to playing football at the
school after he quit the sport to
focus on basketball.
— Associated Press
SCOREBOARD
Blackmun resigns as CEO as USOC
addresses wide sexual-abuse scandal
By EDDIE PELLS
Associated Press
The Mountain West Confer-
ence could get a big addition, pos-
sibly next season.
Mountain West Commissioner
Craig Thompson said he has spo-
ken with six university presidents
or athletic directors since August
about joining the conference.
The only school Thompson
identified was Gonzaga, one of the
nation’s top mid-major programs.
Thompson said Gonzaga athletic
director Mike Roth reached out
to him last fall and that he’s spo-
ken with coach Mark Few about
the possibility of the Zags leaving
the West Coast Conference for the
MWC.
The talks were first reported by
the San Diego Union-Tribune.
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Girls basketball — Hardwood Classic
(Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena),
Saint George’s vs. Ilwaco, 10:30 a.m.
Boys basketball — OSAA 2A State
Tournament (Pendleton Convention
Center), Vernonia vs. Knappa, 6:30 p.m.
AP Photo/Lee Jin-man
Scott Blackmun, CEO of the U.S.
Olympic Committee, speaks at
Yongsan Garrison, a U.S. military
base in Seoul, South Korea in Au-
gust 2017.
can (tend) to this current situation and
work hard to get things back on a pos-
itive track,” Probst said.
The USOC said it was starting sev-
eral initiatives, including providing
new funding and resources for Nassar
victims and others in Olympic sports
who have been subject to abuse; sex-
abuse cases in swimming, taekwondo
and speedskating have also occurred
during Blackmun’s tenure.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Tacoma Baptist 50, Naselle 47
Naselle
15 12 9 11—47
Tacoma B.
12 10 11 17—50
Naselle (47): Donny Edwards 13, Co-
rey Gregory 9, Antonio Nolan 8, Jacob
Eaton 7, Cole Dorman 4, Ethan Lind-
strom 3, Kolby Glenn 3, Ian Fontanilla,
Chase Haataia, Jimmy Strange, Vince
Fauver.
Tacoma Baptist (50): P.J. Talen 24,
Bradley Swillie 15, Joey Pascua 6, T.
Nanbarnausythoff 5, Luke Wing, Logan
Kitselman, Jeremiah Lynn.
Field goals: Naselle 20-44; Tacoma
19-42. 3-point FG: Naselle 4-15 (Nolan
2, Glenn, Gregory); Tacoma 5-19 (Swil-
lie 3, Talen 2). Free throws: Naselle 3-8;
Tacoma 7-10. Fouls: Naselle 9, Tacoma
11. Rebounds: Naselle 25 (Eaton 7); Ta-
coma 31 (Talen 11). Turnovers: Naselle
10, Tacoma 4.