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8A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 2018 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com TODAY Girls basketball: Washington Class 2B State Tournament, Spokane — Tri-Cities Prep vs. Ilwaco, 9 a.m. Boys basketball: Oregon Class 2A State Tournament, Pendleton — Kenne- dy vs. Knappa, 10:45 a.m.; Gladstone at Seaside, 7 p.m. Saint George’s wins in OT, after big Ilwaco girls comeback BOYS BASKETBALL The Daily Astorian SCOREBOARD PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE Vernonia 52, Knappa 50 Vernonia 5 14 15 18—52 Knappa 10 14 13 13—50 Vernonia (52): Clay Sullivan 31, Jakob Handegard 9, Gunnar Harral 6, Kale Sullivan 3, Gaven Everett 2, Andrew Vazquez 1. Knappa (50): Timber Engblom 22, Colton Weirup 9, Joe Ramvick 7, Dale Takalo 6, Eli Takalo 6, Kanai Phillip, Kaleb Miller, Ty Vanderburg, Braedon Eltagonde. Field goals: Vernonia 17-34; Knap- pa 18-45. 3-Point FG: Vernonia 7-12 (C.Sullivan 6, K.Sullivan); Knappa 2-14 (Weirup, Engblom). Free throws: Vernonia 11-14; Knappa 12-18. Fouls: Vernonia 17, Knappa 15. Fouled out: Vernonia-Everett. Turnovers: Vernonia 19, Knappa 11. Rebounds: Vernonia 24 (C.Sullivan 5, K.Sullivan 5); Knappa 25 (Ramvick 7). Scores Class 3A Quarterfinals De La Salle 63, Irrigon 26 Blanchet Cath. 48, Horizon Chr. 45 Santiam Chr. 45, Cascade Chr. 41 Dayton 46, OR Episcopal 37 Class 2A Quarterfinals W. Mennonite 60, Grant Union 38 Oakland 51, Toledo 44 Vernonia 52, Knappa 50 Columbia Chr. 58, Kennedy 45 GIRLS BASKETBALL Saint George’s 62, Ilwaco 54 S. George’s 13 18 12 10 9—62 Ilwaco 10 8 10 25 1—54 Saint George’s (62): Lydia Bergq- uist 21, Ceci Bergquist 19, Mia Smith 10, Daysha Melendez 7, Izzy Boring 2, Shayla Melendez 2, Cambrie Rickard 1, Abby Jones. Ilwaco (54): Makenzie Kaech 25, Eri- ka Glenn 9, Madeline Jacobson 8, Eliza Bannister 7, Chandelie Thomas 3, Ebby McMullen 2, Estella Sheldon, Sunny Kemmer, Arianna Bell. Field goals: SG 19-42; Ilwaco 18-50. 3-Point FG: SG 5-9 (C.Bergquist 5, L.Bergquist); Ilwaco 3-12. Free throws: SG 19-30; Ilwaco 15-24. Fouls: SG 26, Ilwaco 22. Fouled out: SG-L.Bergq- uist; Ilwaco-Bannister, McMullen, Ja- cobson. Turnovers: SG 15, Ilwaco 11. Rebounds: SG 42 (Smith 9); Ilwaco 36 (Jacobson 8). Scores Class 3A Quarterfinals Salem Academy 51, Nyssa 19 Blanchet Cath. 48, Clatskanie 45 Rainier 36, Creswell 30 Dayton 48, Coquille 29 Class 2A Quarterfinals Kennedy 52, Heppner 19 Faith Bible 53, Grant Union 49 St. Paul 39, Oakland 36 Monroe 71, Gold Beach 34 Class 2B (Wash.) Quarterfinals Colfax 65, Tri-Cities Prep 47 Saint George’s 62, Ilwaco 54 (OT) Napavine 53, Wahkiakum 27 Davenport 55, Life Christian 49 Blazers beat Timberwolves 108-99 for fifth straight win Associated Press PORTLAND — Damian Lil- lard wasn’t concerned. He knew his shots would eventually fall. Lillard finished with 35 points after a slow start and the Portland Trail Blazers rallied to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 108-99 on Thursday night for their sea- son-high fifth straight win. Lillard missed all seven shots from the field in the opening quarter. “I was just missing. I was miss- ing a lot of shots short, kept hit- ting the front of the rim. When it was leaving my hands it felt good. I just knew I had to shoot the ball it a little bit higher,” he said. “I really wasn’t worried about it, honestly.” CJ McCollum had 19 points and Jusuf Nurkic added 16 for Portland, which improved to 36-26. It was the first time Port- land was 10 games over .500 since the end of the 2014-15 season. Karl-Anthony Towns had 34 points and 17 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who lost their fourth straight in the Moda Center. After struggling in the first half, Portland mounted a comeback in the second and pulled ahead 84-82 on Shabazz Napier’s running jump shot with 8:07 left. UP NEXT: BLAZERS • Oklahoma City Thunder (36-27) at Portland Trail Blazers (36-26) • Saturday, 7 p.m. TV: NSNW Photos by Kathy Aney/East Oregonian Knappa’s Eli Takalo (33) takes aim against Vernonia. Vernonia buzzer-beater stuns Knappa boys at state tourney The Daily Astorian PENDLETON — With a buzz- er-beating shot heard ‘round the world of 2A boys basketball, the third time was the charm for the Vernonia Loggers. In the biggest Logger Show- down on the brightest stage, Ver- nonia cut down Knappa 52-50 for the first time in three meetings this season, in a quarterfinal game of the Class 2A state tournament. Gunnar Harral’s shot at the buzzer gave the upstart Loggers of Vernonia their first victory over the Loggers of Knappa since Jan. 30, 2016. The Elite Eight game at the Pendleton Convention Center fea- tured No. 2 seed Knappa, which had scored two wins by a com- bined 34 points over No. 11 seed Vernonia. But in a back-and-forth game that saw Knappa lead by as much as nine points in the second half, Vernonia rallied behind NWL Player of the Year Clay Sullivan to score the upset. Sullivan fought off foul trouble and finished with a game-high 31 points for Vernonia. Timber Engb- lom led Knappa with 22. As it has done all season, Knappa came out scoring on offense and forcing turnovers on defense to build a 10-5 lead behind scores from Joe Ramvick and Engblom. Vernonia took its first lead of the game early in the second quar- Knappa’s Timber Engblom (21) puts up a shot as Jakob Hande- gard (4), of Vernonia, defends. ter, a 3-pointer by Sullivan for a 13-12 advantage. Knappa answered with a 3-pointer from Engblom, four free throws from Dale Takalo and a basket by Colton Weirup, whose score just before halftime had Knappa leading 24-19 at the break. Scores by Ramvick and Wei- rup gave Knappa its largest lead at 28-19 to start the second half. But the night belonged to Sulli- van, who almost singlehandedly brought his team back. Sullivan hit three 3-point- ers in the third period and had 23 points by the end of the quarter. He also picked up his fourth foul in the closing seconds of the third, and Harral and Jakob Handegard stepped in to help, as both scored baskets early in the fourth to give Vernonia a 41-37 lead. Sullivan remained in the game, and his three-point play had Ver- nonia in front 44-40, but Knappa answered with four made free throws and two baskets by Eli Takalo for a 48-47 lead, with just under a minute remaining. Missed free throws would cost Knappa, however, as it was 4-of-9 at the line in the final four minutes. In a wild finish, Sullivan drained a 3-pointer with 15 sec- onds left for a two-point advan- tage, and Engblom scored quickly at the other end with nine seconds left for a 50-50 tie. With 8.6 seconds remain- ing, Vernonia set up for one final shot, and Harral provided the game-winner, as the sophomore took a pass from Sullivan and hit a short jumper at the buzzer. Vernonia advances to the Final Four for another NWL matchup with Columbia Christian, while Knappa will return in the consola- tion round at 10:45 a.m. Friday vs. Kennedy. Handegard finished with nine points for Vernonia, which used just six players. Weirup scored nine points and Ramvick added seven points, seven rebounds and two steals for Knappa. Knappa was 18-for-45 from the field, but just 2-of-14 from the 3-point line. Vernonia finished 7-for-12 from the 3-point arc, which included a 6-for-10 effort by Sullivan. SPOKANE, Wash. — The Ilwaco girls basketball team did some fancy rallying Thursday morning, in a quarterfinal game of the Washington Class 2B state tournament. And while a comeback of major proportions helped the Fishermen overcome a 15-point deficit to start the fourth quarter, the Dragons of Saint George’s ultimately scored the major upset, 62-54, in overtime. A furious rally by Ilwaco in the final eight minutes of regu- lation sent the game to OT, but Saint George’s outscored the Lady Fishermen 9-1 in the extra frame to win the thriller at the Spokane Arena. The Dragons held leads of 31-18 at halftime and 43-28 to start the fourth quarter. Ilwaco even trailed by eight points with 1:46 remaining. Saint George’s still held a seemingly safe 53-48 lead with 16 seconds left, when Ilwaco’s Mak- enzie Kaech scored on a cross- over dribble to make it 53-50, and a Fishermen press forced a wild throw on the inbounds pass. Estella Sheldon stole the ball and got it to freshman Erika Glenn, who stepped back behind the 3-point line, got set and hit the shot to tie it, 53-53, complet- ing Ilwaco’s comeback and send- ing the game to overtime. Running a terrorizing press at the end of the game, Ilwaco’s defense sped the game by forc- ing turnovers and committing fouls, erasing a 10-point defi- cit with less than three minutes remaining. In the process, however, Ilwaco went into overtime with Madeline Jacobson and Ebby McMullen both having fouled out. Eliza Bannister fouled out early in the extra period, and St. George’s controlled the scoring in OT. The Dragons ultimately fin- ished 19-of-30 at the free throw line, to Ilwaco’s 15-for-24. Saint George’s Lydia Bergq- uist (21 points) and Ceci Bergq- uist (19) combined for 40 points, with a combined 15 rebounds. Lydia Bergquist was 12-of-16 at the line before fouling out. Kaech led all scorers with 25 points, while Ilwaco’s next high- est scorer was Glenn with nine. Jacobson scored eight points with eight rebounds and three blocks. The state championship hopes for the No. 1-ranked Fishermen come to an end, along with a 14-game win streak. Ilwaco (23-2 overall) moves to the consolation bracket, and will play Tri-Cities Prep at 9 a.m. Friday. GIRLS BASKETBALL Astoria lands four players on all-league team The Daily Astorian League champion Banks placed six players on the Cowapa All-League girls basketball team, as voted on by the league’s coaches Wednesday. Banks junior Aspen Slifka and Valley Catholic senior Noelle Man- nen were selected as Players of the Year, and the Braves’ Brandon Beg- ley was named Coach of the Year. The Astoria Lady Fishermen fin- ished third in the league standings, and capped their season with four selections to the all-league squad — one junior, two sophomores and a freshman. Junior Sam Hemsley and soph- omore Brooklynn Hankwitz were first-team selections, and sopho- more Hailey O’Brien and freshman Kelsey Fausett were named honor- able mention. Seaside seniors Bryre Babbitt and Jetta Ideue were both first-team selections. COWAPA ALL-LEAGUE Girls Players of the Year: Noelle Mannen, Val- The Daily Astorian The Daily Astorian Astoria teammates Brooklynn Hankwitz, left, and Sam Hemsley, far right, were both named to the Cowapa’s first team all-league squad. ley Catholic; Aspen Slifka, Banks Defensive Player of the Year: Aspen Slif- ka, Banks Coach of the Year: Brandon Begley, Banks First Team Noelle Mannen, Sr., Valley C. Aspen Slifka, Jr., Banks Bryre Babbitt, Sr., Seaside Lea Brodala, Sr., Scappoose Brooklynn Hankwitz, So., Astoria Sam Hemsley, Jr., Astoria Jetta Ideue, Sr., Seaside Kim Jordan, Sr., Banks Callie Kawaguchi, Jr., Valley C. Laci Lourenzo, Jr., Tillamook Gracie Nelson, Jr., Banks Jessi Wren, Sr., Banks Seaside senior Jetta Ideue was a first team all-league selection, along with teammate Bryre Bab- bitt. Honorable Mention Lexi Crabtree, So., Tillamook Kelsey Fausett, Fr., Astoria Sydney Gregg, Sr., Banks Sarah Jones, Jr., Valley C. Rylie Kind, Jr., Banks Hailey O’Brien, So., Astoria Sierra Stafford, Jr., Scappoose Kaylee Wegner, Sr., Scappoose
