10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, MARCH 5, 2018 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com SPORTS IN BRIEF No. 6 Oregon beats No. 16 Stanford for Pac-12 title SEATTLE — All day long, Oregon coach Kelly Graves noticed something a little differ- ent about Pac-12 player of the year Sabrina Ionescu. It wasn’t something that could be defined, just something the coach noticed about his star player. “She had a different look about her,” Graves said. “I didn’t know what that was going to translate to.” Now Graves knows what that look meant. Ionescu scored a career-high 36 points and No. 6 Oregon won its first Pac-12 Conference tourna- ment title beating No. 16 Stanford 77-57 on Sunday night. Playing in their first confer- ence tournament final, the Ducks looked every bit the part of a pre- mier team heading into the upcom- ing NCAA tournament. Ionescu was the star, as the Ducks (30-4) avenged one of their two regular season losses in conference play. — Associated Press Jeff Ter Har/For The Daily Astorian The Seaside boys basketball team, surrounded by their fans following Friday’s win. Seaside boys top Gladstone for trip to state tournament By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian SCOREBOARD BOYS BASKETBALL Seaside 43, Gladstone 32 Gladstone 6 7 6 13—32 Seaside 7 10 12 14—43 Gladstone (32): Deshawn Dix 9, Jude Ashpole 6, Lyric Warren 4, Spencer Boyd 4, Ben Hill 4, Drew Pulsipher 3, Jackson Simmons 2. Seaside (43): Chase Januik 14, Ryan Hague 12, Brayden Johnson 8, Duncan Thompson 4, Beau Johnson 3, Payton Westerholm 2, Rafi Sibony, Colton Car- ter. Field goals: Gladstone 11-41; Sea- side 10-35. 3-point FG: Gladstone 4-14 (Warren, Ashpole, Pulsipher, Hill); Sea- side 4-16 (Januik 2, Br.Johnson 2). Free throws: Gladstone 7-13; Seaside 19-28. Fouls: Gladstone 25, Seaside 16. Tech- nical fouls: Gladstone-Warren, Hill. Turnovers: Gladstone 21, Seaside 15. Kennedy 55, Knappa 50 Kennedy 16 12 13 14—55 Knappa 12 8 21 9—50 Kennedy (50): Luke Hall 15, Emorej Lynk 13, Carson Hall 10, Mason Boen 6, Rocco Carley 4, Bruce Beyer 3, Angel De La Rosa 2, Nick Suing 2, Anthony Garcia, Alex Salazar. Knappa (55): Dale Takalo 19, Colton Weirup 15, Timber Engblom 6, Joe Ramvick 4, Eli Takalo 4, Mason Wester- holm 2, Devin Hoover, Kanai Phillip, Kaleb Miller, Ty Vanderburg, Braedon Eltagonde. Field goals: Kennedy 21-49; Knappa 19-47. 3-point FG: Kennedy 4-16 (Boen 2, L.Hall, Beyer); Knappa 8-27 (Weirup 5, D.Takalo 3). Free throws: Kennedy 9-17; Knappa 4-7. Fouls: Kennedy 12, Knappa 17. Fouled out: Kennedy-Car- ley. Turnovers: Kennedy 8, Knappa 9. Rebounds: Kennedy 34 (Lynk 9); Knap- pa 29 (Ramvick 10). Players of the Game: Kennedy-Luke Hall; Knappa-Dale Takalo. State tournament Scores 3A Boys Championship De La Salle 68, Dayton 55 Third/Fifth place Blanchet Catholic 52, Santiam Chris- tian 45 Fourth/Sixth place Cascade Christian 55, Irrigon 45 S EASIDE — It won’t make Seaside’s list of all-time classics. But a trip-to-state win is a trip-to-state win. And the Class 4A boys basketball state tournament just wouldn’t be a tournament without the Seaside Gulls. Seaside did just enough to secure their spot in Forest Grove with a 43-32 win over Glad- stone, in a Sweet 16 game Friday night at the Gulls’ Nest. Seaside will be a state tournament participant for the fifth time in the last seven years. Seaside will play No. 7 seed Mazama (17- 6) in a quarterfinal game of the 4A state tour- nament, 8:15 p.m. Thursday at Forest Grove High School. The winner will play the winner of Newport vs. Marshfield at 8:15 p.m. Friday. The Gulls beat both Newport and Marshfield in the regular season. If Friday’s game taught us anything, it’s that a two-week layoff was about one week too long, for both teams. Seaside had not played since Feb. 15. The Gladiators wrapped up league play Feb. 16, and their league finale against Estacada Feb. 22 was canceled. Also, “It’s the downside of having a young team that hasn’t been in this position,” said Seaside coach Bill Westerholm. “I know Chase (Januik), Duncan (Thompson), Payton (Westerholm) and Ryan (Hague) were there last year, but they’re the guys now, and it’s a little different.” Of course the home court advantage helps. The Gulls are now 37-2 on their home floor over the last three seasons. GIRLS BASKETBALL Wahkiakum 50, Ilwaco 49 Wahkiakum 7 15 16 12—50 Ilwaco 10 14 11 14—49 Field goals: Wahkiakum 22-53; Ilwa- co 17-55. 3-point FG: Wahkiakum 2-11 (Fluckiger, Elliott); Ilwaco 5-17 (Bannis- ter 3, Glenn, Sheldon). Free throws: Wahkiakum 4-9; Ilwaco 10-15. Fouls: Wahkiakum 18, Ilwaco 11. Turnovers: Wahkiakum 15, Ilwaco 20. Rebounds: Wahkiakum 36; Ilwaco 43 (Kaech 10). State tournament scores 3A Girls Championship Dayton 35, Salem Academy 26 Third/Fifth place Blanchet Catholic 44, Rainier 28 Fourth/Sixth place Coquille 36, Nyssa 28 2A Girls Championship Kennedy 53, Monroe 40 Third/Fifth place St. Paul 47, Faith Bible 36 Fourth/Sixth place Grant Union 54, Oakland 44 2B (Washington) Girls Championship Colfax 53, Davenport 47 Third/Fifth place Saint George’s 50, Napavine 44 Fourth/Sixth place Wahkiakum 50, Ilwaco 49 Still, neither team was exactly scorch- ing the nets Friday, as the points were hard to come by all night. In the first half, the two teams combined to make just 11-of-43 shot attempts, 2-for-17 from the 3-point line. There were also lots of turnovers, a combined 27. Shooting percentages picked up in the sec- ond half, but a combined 30 fouls slowed things to a crawl. Seaside finished 19-for-28 at the line, to Gladstone’s 7-for-13. “We definitely didn’t shoot the ball very well,” coach Westerholm said. “That was because of our inexperience.” On the other hand, “I was proud of the way they got after it defensively,” he said. “We caused (the Gladiators) a lot of troubles.” At one point, the Gulls held a 29-19 lead — which would have been a good first-quar- ter score in any other Seaside game, but Fri- Knappa’s season ends, as Kennedy tops Logger boys The Daily Astorian 2A Boys Championship Columbia Christian 65, Western Men- nonite 61 Third/Fifth place Vernonia 55, Oakland 50 Fourth/Sixth place Kennedy 54, Grant Union 45 The Gulls’ Ryan Hague leans in for a shot attempt over a Gladstone defender. PENDLETON — Just over 12 hours after a loss to Columbia Christian, Kennedy bounced back Friday morning with a 55-50 win over Knappa, ending the Loggers’ sea- son in the consolation bracket of the Class 2A boys’ state tournament in Pendleton. Sophomore Luke Hall scored 15 points for the Trojans, who led by as much as 10 points in the third quarter but trailed 44-41 in the opening seconds of the fourth. Both teams were coming off quarterfinal losses the night before, but it was the Trojans who had a little more left at the end, as they rallied with a 7-0 run and never trailed again. Knappa lost back-to-back games for the first time all season, and finishes 23-6 over- all, following a highly successful league sea- son (17-1). Sporting the No. 3 seed entering the tour- nament, the Loggers lost to No. 11 seed Ver- nonia in a Thursday quarterfinal, then fell to the No. 10 seed Trojans in Friday’s consola- tion game. The Trojans rebounded from their quar- terfinal loss a little quicker, building a 28-18 lead late in the first half. Kennedy sophomore Emorej Link high- lighted the half with a dunk to cap a fast break by the Trojans, while Colton Weirup made three 3-pointers for the Loggers. Knappa quickly gained the momentum in the second half, thanks to its senior leader. Dale Takalo sparked an 11-0 run by the Loggers with a 3-pointer, and he converted an old fashioned three-point play moments later. Weirup added a trey for a 33-32 Knappa lead. In his final game with Knappa, Takalo led all scorers with 19 points, to go with nine rebounds and three assists. In a game that featured seven lead changes, Kennedy regained a brief advan- tage, but the Loggers answered with back- to-back scores by Timber Engblom, and the teams went to the fourth quarter tied at 41-41. After Takalo opened the period with his second 3-pointer of the game, the Trojans ral- lied again and grabbed a 48-44 lead with just over three minutes left. Knappa looked to its designated 3-point specialist, Weirup, who nailed his fifth trey of the game to bring the Loggers within 48-47 with just over a minute remaining. But that’s where the Logger luck ran out. Link scored on a layup with 26 seconds left for a 51-47 advantage, and the Loggers were off the mark on two 3-point attempts at the offensive end. Knappa also missed a pair of free throws, and the Trojans were 4-for-4 from the line in the final nine seconds to secure the win. Weirup finished with 15 points (all from the 3-point line) in his final game, while Joe Ramvick had a game-high 10 rebounds. Knappa was 8-for-27 from the 3-point arc, while Kennedy struggled at the free throw line (9-of-17), but out-rebounded Knappa 34-29. In the Class 2A state championship game Saturday night, Columbia Christian defeated Western Mennonite, 65-61. Vernonia defeated Oakland 55-50 in the third place game. Knappa defeated the top three placers (Columbia Christian, Western Mennonite and Vernonia) in games at Knappa this season. day night it was Seaside’s lead heading into the fourth quarter. And the final three points of the third period represented the most exciting points of the night, a half-court buzzer-beater by Chase Januik that gave the Gulls a 10-point lead. “It was a field goal,” Westerholm said. “We’ll take anything we can get.” The Gladiators managed to stay within seven to 10 points in the final quarter, but they also never recovered from Januik’s 42-foot shot. Seaside had just one field goal in the final quarter, but went 12-of-20 at the free throw line over the final eight minutes. That included seven straight misses, but the Gulls recovered and made eight of their last nine free throws. Januik led Seaside with 14 points, fol- lowed by Hague with 12 points, 10 from the free throw line. Gladstone finishes 11-13 overall. The Gladiators were 8-1 in the Tri-Valley Con- ference, but just 1-6 against Cowapa League competition. The Gulls improve to 19-5, and will be one of the favorites in Forest Grove, which is quickly becoming Seaside’s home away from home. The Gulls are looking to make the championship game for the third year in a row. “They’ve worked hard all season, and put themselves in a position to get back to the final eight,” Westerholm said of his players. “It’s nice to get back there. There’s a lot of people around who didn’t believe that we had it in us to get back to the final eight. “This is a true, competitive group of kids. They’re winners. We’ll get some things ironed out, and these kids will have a different frame of mind offensively when we get there.” Wahkiakum beats Ilwaco girls in fourth-place game Chinook Observer SPOKANE, Wash. — Wahkiakum defeated Ilwaco 50-49 Saturday in Spokane to take fourth place at the state tournament. Ilwaco finished sixth. The Fishermen went to Spokane as the No. 1 seed with a 22-1 record, but could only manage two wins in four games, to finish 24-3 overall. Erika Glenn’s 3-pointer put Ilwaco ahead 46-44 with 2:19 remaining in Satur- day’s contest. But Wahkia- kum answered with a 6-0 run, capped by Paige Mace’s swooping basket inside the final minute. Ilwaco’s Ebby McMullen struck quickly in response, bringing the ball up and lob- bing it through traffic to Madeline Jacobson, who con- verted a three-point play to cut it to one with 46 seconds left. But Ilwaco could not score again. Eliza Bannister scored 13 points, all in the first half, knocking down 3-pointers at the first and second quar- ter buzzers and hitting a pair of layups off her own steals. Jacobson also scored 13, including seven in the final four minutes, and shot 5-of-8. Makenzie Kaech had 10 rebounds and nine points. For the Mules, Mace and Macie Elliot each scored 10 points. Ilwaco defeats Tri-Cities Following their surprising loss to St. George’s last Thurs- day, Ilwaco bounced back and led 28-8 after one quarter, on its way to an 85-54 win Fri- day over Tri-Cities Prep. Makenzie Kaech scored 12 points in the first quarter, 20 in the first half and fin- ished with 31 points, eight rebounds and five assists on 14-of-19 shooting. Madeline Jacobson grabbed 15 rebounds and shot 11-of-16 for 22 points, including 18 points in the sec- ond half. Jacobson blocked three shots and altered many more protecting the rim behind Ilwaco’s aggressive press. Eliza Bannister added 18 points. Talia Von Oelhof- fen led the Jaguars with 27 points.