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8A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2018 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com SPORTS IN BRIEF Shiffrin secures overall World Cup title OFTERSCHWANG, German — Mikaela Shiffrin can finally relax again. After a tense build-up to the Olympics, the American won her second straight overall World Cup title on Friday, five races before the end of the season. “It’s been a big battle for me mentally to know exactly where my focus should be,” said Shiffrin, who turns 23 on Tuesday. “It was quite a relief actually when the Olympics were over so I could focus on the rest of the World Cup season.” Shiffrin won the Olympic gold medal in the giant slalom, and it was in Friday’s giant slalom that she clinched the overall World Cup title by finishing third. Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway, the Olym- pic silver medalist, won the race. Even before her final run, Shif- frin was guaranteed of winning the title because her only remain- ing rival, Wendy Holdener, failed to finish in the top two, which she needed to maintain her mathemat- ical title chance. AP Photo/Stephen Brashear Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman talks to re- porters in October 2017. Seahawks to release star cornerback Sherman Associated Press Rose signs with Minnesota, reunites with Thibodeau Jeff Ter Har/For The Daily Astorian Seaside’s Duncan Thompson, right, challenges Mario Segura of Mazama for a rebound. For Derrick Rose, what’s old is new again. Rose has signed with the Min- nesota Timberwolves, reuniting the 2011 NBA MVP with three mainstays from his days in Chi- cago: coach Tom Thibodeau and teammates Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson. The Timberwolves did not release contract terms, but a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press the deal is for the remainder of the season. Rose was in uniform for the Wolves on Thursday night against Boston, but he didn’t get in the game. “The only thing I’m missing now is the opportunity,” Rose told reporters in Minnesota earlier in the day. “Talking to Thibs, he sounds like he’s going to give me the opportunity, so it’s all about learning the guys and fitting in at the right time.” Minnesota will be the fourth team Rose plays for and techni- cally his fourth franchise in the last 11 months. Rose spent his first eight NBA years in Chicago, five of those with Thibodeau as his coach. He was with New York last season and started this season with Cleveland, but he appeared in only 16 games with the Cava- liers largely because of injuries. — Associated Press SCOREBOARD PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE TODAY Boys basketball — OSAA 4A Semifi- nals, at Forest Grove High School: Valley Catholic vs. Banks, 6:30 p.m. Newport vs. Seaside, 8:15 p.m. BOYS BASKETBALL Seaside 51, Mazama 44 Mazama 6 4 15 19—44 Seaside 12 8 17 14—51 Mazama (44): Andrew Reynolds 18, Mario Segura 10, Trey Lopez 6, Aidan Schram 5, Javon Hall 4, Steven Luna 1, Christian Kasper. Seaside (51): Ryan Hague 13, Payton Westerholm 12, Chase Januik 11, Beau Johnson 6, Colton Carter 4, Brayden Johnson 3, Duncan Thompson 2, Rafi Sibony. Field goals: Mazama 16-58; Seaside 18-50. 3-point FG: Mazama 2-17 (Lo- pez, Reynolds); Seaside 4-23 (Januik, Westerholm, Be.Johnson, Br.Johnson). Free throws: Mazama 10-16; Seaside 11-22. Fouls: Mazama 17, Seaside 16. Fouled out: none. Turnovers: Mazama 14, Seaside 9. Rebounds: Mazama 47 (Reynolds 11, Segura 11); Seaside 37 (Hague 10). Players of the Game: Mazama-An- drew Reynolds; Seaside-Ryan Hague. 4A STATE TOURNAMENT 4A Boys Quarterfinals Banks 46, Sisters 38 Valley Catholic 62, La Grande 39 Newport 55, Marshfield 48 Seaside 51, Mazama 44 4A Girls Quarterfinals Marshfield 54, Valley Catholic 39 Banks 56, Baker 30 Cascade 22, Stayton 18 North Marion 40, Hidden Valley 26 Seaside boys reach Final Four with 51-44 win over Mazama By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian F OREST GROVE — The countdown to a champion- ship is on for the Seaside boys basketball team. The Gulls will play three games in three days, and they took step one late Thursday night in Forest Grove, where they cruised to a 51-44 win over Mazama in a Class 4A quarterfinal game at For- est Grove High School. One down, two to go. Seaside struggled offensively for a half, then pulled away in the third quarter and held off a late challenge by the Vikings, as all eyes were on the defending state champions in Thursday’s last game. “We pulled away there in the second half,” said Seaside coach Bill Westerholm. “We had some opportunities to put it away earlier at the free throw line, but we didn’t shoot very well from the line in the fourth. We were 8-for-19. “But just from the fact that we’re moving on, I’m pleased. We had some different kids step up at different times.” For the third year in a row, it’s on to the Final Four for Seaside, which will play Friday against Newport, with another late tip-off (8:15 p.m.). The winner will face either Banks or Valley Catholic in Saturday’s state championship game, an 8:30 p.m. start at Forest Grove High School. The Gulls split two games with Newport in the regular season. The Cubs scored a rare win at Sea- side in the Holiday Classic, before the Gulls got revenge with a 64-63 win at Newport Jan. 5. As for Thursday’s win, the Gulls picked up where they left off following last week’s 43-32 win over Gladstone, involving them- selves in a low-scoring, defensive battle. An offensive rebound basket by Colton Carter gave Seaside an early 9-2 lead, and Chase Januik’s 3-pointer to end the first quarter had Seaside in front, 12-6. Even fewer points in the sec- ond period ended with the Gulls leading at halftime, 20-10. Carter added another score and Januik’s drive to the hoop in the closing seconds gave Seaside the 10-point lead. The Vikings were just 4-for- 28 (14 percent) from the field in the first half. Seaside wasn’t much better at 8-for-27, including 2-of- 13 from the 3-point line. The offense ran a little smoother for the Gulls in the sec- ond half. A jump shot by Ryan Hague, a 3-pointer from Beau Johnson and a Januik jumper gave Seaside a 27-16 lead midway through the third quarter. A triple from Brayden John- son and a three-point play the hard way by Payton Westerholm at the 2:00 mark basically put the game away, at 35-20. Mazama made a late run in the fourth quarter, but never threatened the Seaside lead. Hague led Seaside with 13 points. Westerholm fought off an illness this week (including a 102-degree temperature) to score 12 points, and Januik added 11. The Vikings finished 2-for-17 from the 3-point line. “Payton didn’t make a practice all week,” said Bill, his dad and coach. “His temperature finally broke (Wednesday) night — got it down to 98.6. He saw 23 minutes tonight. Colton did a good job off the bench, and Rafi (Sibony) did a good job of spelling Payton, too.” Seaside improves to 20-5 over- all, for its third straight 20-win season. The Cowapa League will have three teams in the Final Four for the second year in a row. Banks advanced with a 46-38 win over Sisters, and Valley Cath- olic defeated La Grande, 62-39. The Braves and Valiants play each other in Friday’s first semi- final (6:30 p.m.), clinching the fourth straight year that the Cow- apa League will have a team in the championship game. “It’s the rubber match with Newport,” coach Westerholm said. “We watched them against Marshfield, and they played well. (Kye) Blaser is one of the better guards in the state, and (Justin) Plechaty really shoots well. “But it says a lot about the Cowapa League, to have three teams in the Final Four.” The Seattle Seahawks are cut- ting ties with star cornerback Richard Sherman after seven seasons. The team has informed him that he will be released, and Sher- man confirmed the decision in a text message to The Associated Press on Friday. The move appeared to be build- ing after he met with the team Wednesday. Sherman declined to comment after the meeting. Sherman was an overlooked fifth-round draft pick who devel- oped into one of the NFL’s pre- mier cornerbacks. He was a two- time All-Pro who helped anchor a defense that was the league’s best for several years. He will be 30 years old going into next season and coming off an Achilles tendon injury that cost him half of the 2017 season. Sher- man was due $13 million for the 2018 season and his release gives Seattle a salary cap savings of $11 million. Williams wins 1st match in comeback at Indian Wells Associated Press INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Serena Williams has won her first match in her comeback at the BNP Paribas Open after a 14-month layoff for the birth of her first child. The 23-time major winner beat Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 7-5, 6-3 in the first round Thurs- day night. “It was incredible,” Williams said on court after the 1 ½-hour match. “It’s been over a year and a kid later and I get to go home to her now, and I’m excited about that.” With new husband and Reddit co-found Alexis Ohanian looking on, Williams played from behind until breaking Diyas in the 11th game of the first set. Diyas net- ted a forehand and Williams yelled, “Come on!” as the crowd cheered. PAC-12 TOURNAMENT Oregon Ducks rally to beat USC knocks off Oregon Utah 68-66 in quarterfinals State 61-48 in quarterfinals By JOHN MARSHALL Associated Press LAS VEGAS — Elijah Brown scored 15 of his 21 points in the sec- ond half and Kenny Wooten had a second straight game-ending blocked shot, helping Oregon rally for a 68-66 win over Utah in the Pac-12 tourna- ment semifinals on Thursday night. Utah (19-11) shot well in a foul- filled game, hitting 51 percent from the field, 8 of 17 from the 3-point arc. But the Utes had a hard time shak- ing the Ducks (22-11), their 11-point lead dropping to 62-60 with just under three minutes left. MiKyle McIntosh put Oregon up 68-66 on a 3-point play with 62 sec- onds left and the teams traded missed shots. Utah got the ball with 9.7 seconds left and Sedrick Barefield drove the length of the court for a layup. Woo- ten, who blocked two shots in the final 13 seconds against Washing- ton State in the first round, swooped in and swatted it away, sending the Ducks into the semifinals Friday against USC. By JOHN MARSHALL Associated Press LAS VEGAS — Southern Cal- ifornia had some good offensive moments against Oregon State, just not consistent through the entire game. The Trojans’ defense: Spot on all night. Chimezie Metu had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Southern Califor- nia smothered Oregon State defen- sively to beat the Beavers 61-48 in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday night. “We really played team defense today,” USC coach Andy Enfield said. “Very proud of our players. They chal- lenged every shot, rebounded the ball, and we made enough shots to win.” Second-seeded USC (22-10) jumped on Oregon State early and hounded the Beavers all night, hold- ing them to 31-percent shooting. Jordan McLaughlin had 13 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Trojans, who move on to face the Oregon-Utah winner in Friday’s semifinals.