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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2018
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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Seaside 33 strokes better than Banks
The Daily Astorian
Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
Daniel Paswerck shot an 84 to lead Astoria.
Valiants post
win over Astoria
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — Valley
Catholic carded a 319 team
score Tuesday, to defeat
Astoria in a Cowapa League
boys golf match, hosted by
the Fishermen at the Astoria
Golf & Country Club.
Astoria finished with four
golfers for a 382 team score.
Valley Catholic’s Cole
Schmidlin was medalist with
a 74, and teammate Cole
Heinsen scored 78.
Daniel Paswerck led
Astoria with an 84, followed
by Taylor Palmberg (91),
Dylan Nielsen (98) and Con-
ner Long (109).
The junior varsity match
was much closer, with the
Valiants scoring a two-stroke
victory, 425 to 427.
Jacob Ficken led the Fish-
ermen with a 98, with other
scores from Marcus Soder-
strom (105), Tryton Matlock
(106) and Aaron Rickenbach
(118).
SCOREBOARD
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
THURSDAY
Baseball — Valley Catholic at Astoria, 5 p.m.
Softball — Astoria at Valley Catholic, 5 p.m.;
Seaside at Tillamook, 4:30 p.m.
Track — Lewis & Clark League meet, Port-
land Christian, 3:30 p.m.
Boys golf — Astoria Invitational, Noon
FRIDAY
Baseball — Tillamook at Seaside, 5 p.m.;
Rainier at Warrenton (2), 3:30 p.m.; Knappa at
Vernonia (2), 3 p.m.
Softball — Ilwaco at Seaside, 4:30 p.m.;
Rainier at Warrenton (2), 3:30 p.m.; Knappa at
Vernonia (2), 3 p.m.
SATURDAY
Track — Lower Columbia Invitational, St.
Helens, 11:30 a.m.; Meet of Champions, Wil-
lamette U., 10 a.m.
BOYS GOLF
Seaside at Banks
Medalist: Connor Merrell, Seaside, 81
Seaside (339)
Connor Merrell, 38-43—81
Jackson Kunde, 43-39—82
Samson Sibony, 45-43—88
Curtis Kunde, 44-44—88
Mason Shamion, 49-42—91
Banks (372)
Trevor Geraci, 44-40—84
Liam Birr, 42-46—88
Zach Streblow, 53-47—100
Hunter Giesbers, 42-48—100
Risdon White, 57-53—110
Valley Catholic at Astoria
Medalist: Cole Schmidlin, Valley Catholic, 74
Valley Catholic (319)
Cole Schmidlin, 74
Cole Heinsen, 78
Andrew Plambeck, 80
Solomon Reeves, 87
Jake Quinones, 96
Astoria (382)
Daniel Paswerck, 84
Taylor Palmberg, 91
Dylan Nielsen, 98
Conner Long, 109
Seahawks sign
former San Francisco
CB Johnson
Associated Press
RENTON, Wash. — The Seat-
tle Seahawks have signed former San
Francisco cornerback Dontae John-
son to help with the depth in their over-
hauled secondary.
Johnson has a chance to step in as a
starter immediately since Richard Sher-
man was cut and signed with the 49ers
this offseason. The Seahawks are set
with Shaquill Griffin at one cornerback
spot but the other will be open to com-
petition heading into Seattle’s offsea-
son program and training camp.
Johnson started all 16 games last
season for San Francisco and finished
with 77 tackles, seven passes defensed
and one interception. Last year was the
first time Johnson was a full-time starter
after starting just six games in his first
three seasons with San Francisco. John-
son was a fourth-round pick by the 49ers
in 2014 out of North Carolina State.
BANKS — The Seaside
boys golf team continues to
roll through the competi-
tion in Cowapa League dual
meets.
The Gulls traveled Tues-
day and scored a 33-stroke
victory over Banks at Quail
Valley Golf Course, 339-372.
Seaside was nine strokes
ahead after just two holes and
never looked back.
Junior Connor Mer-
rell was only one over par
through 11 holes and finished
the day with a career-low 81
to earn medalist honors.
Jackson Kunde finished
one stroke back at 82 and
Samson Sibony and Curtis
Kunde added a pair of 88s to
complete the scoring for the
Gulls.
Mason Shamion shot 91
as the fifth Seaside player.
The Gulls took advan-
tage of most of the par five
holes, as they played three
out of four at two-under par
as a team. All the birdies
from Seaside golfers came on
those holes, as Sibony bird-
ied No. 3, Merrell the 10th,
and both Jackson Kunde and
Shamion the 17th.
“Other than a few holes,
we played the course pretty
well,” Seaside coach Jim
Poetsch said. “We didn’t fin-
ish either side very well as
we went 20 over par on the
finishing holes.
“I don’t know if that was
due to thinking of our scores
before we were done, or
whether we just didn’t play
Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
Seaside’s Connor Merrell, shown here in last week’s match at Astoria, was Tuesday’s
medalist at Banks.
them very smart,” he said.
“But if we can finish a little
stronger we should be down
in the 320s, which is were we
would like to be.”
Merrell shot a 38 on the
front nine, ahead of the 42 by
Liam Birr of Banks.
“Connor
quadrupled
the last hole and still had a
good round to win medal-
ist,” Poetsch said. “His short
game has been really good
lately and he is playing better
every day. Mason quadrupled
nine and tripled 18 and still
just missed giving us all five
guys in the 80s.”
Jackson Kunde had a good
back nine “after being on the
bogey train for a while on the
front,” Poetsch said. “He just
missed his second medalist
honor of the year. Samson
and Curtis were pretty steady
all day long with nothing on
the card higher than a six.”
The Seaside junior varsity
team shot a 444 to win their
match, as John Whittle was
medalist with a 97. Mason
Crawford shot 103, followed
by freshmen Chris Bod-
ner and Leif DeWinter (both
122) and Dalton Smith (127).
Seaside hosts Scappoose
at Gearhart on Monday, in
a match between the two
teams that have won the last
14 Cowapa League titles and
three of the past four state
titles.
Jim Poetsch/For The Daily Astorian
Curtis Kunde tees off
during Seaside’s match
Tuesday at Banks.
Blazers claim No. 3 seed with 102-93 win over Utah
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
PORTLAND — The Trail Blaz-
ers already knew their opponent for
the first round playoffs, and they
had already locked up home-court
advantage.
But they were still inspired for
their regular-season finale against
the Utah Jazz.
Damian Lillard had 36 points and
10 assists and the Blazers snapped a
four-game losing streak with a 102-
93 victory over the Jazz Wednesday
night to earn the Northwest Division
title.
With the win in the regular-sea-
son finale, Portland claimed the third
seed in the Western Conference and
will play the sixth-seeded New Orle-
ans Pelicans in the opening round.
“One game and we’re playing for
the third spot and the division cham-
pionship,” Lillard said about the
team’s motivation against the Jazz.
“And that’s something to be proud
of it. That’s something to care about
and to play for. We worked too hard
not to go and get that, especially on
our home floor.”
The Jazz, who saw a six-game
winning streak snapped, fell to the
fifth seed. They’ll face No. 4 Okla-
homa City on the road to open the
playoffs. The schedule had not been
set. Utah rookie Donovan Mitch-
ell, who the night before set the new
single-season record for 3-point-
ers with 186 — breaking Lillard’s
rookie mark — was 1-for-8 from
the perimeter but finished with 17
points.
Steve Dykes/Associated Press
Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, right, drives to the bas-
ket on Utah Jazz guard Dante Exum.
Ricky Rubio also had 17 while
Rudy Gobert had 13 points and 13
rebounds for the Jazz, who were
Seager’s homer in 8th sends
Mariners past Royals 4-2
By DAVE SKRETTA
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Scott
Servais reclined in a chair in the
visiting clubhouse at Kauffman
Stadium, a big smile on the Seat-
tle manager’s face, and spoke
before the first reporter could ask a
question.
“Long road trip, happy road
trip,” he said. “Cold road trip.”
Most of it.
The weather finally turned
Wednesday and gave Seattle a
warm, sun-splashed afternoon in
Kansas City, and Servais’ club
made sure to relish the spring-like
temperatures. Kyle Seager hit a
go-ahead homer with two outs in the
eighth inning, and the Mariners held
on to beat the Royals 4-2 to wrap up
a winning seven-game journey that
covered 10 days and about 5,200
miles.
Seattle went 4-3 on its visits to
San Francisco, Minnesota and Kan-
sas City.
“I thought we played really good
baseball, and getting these wins the
past two games really sets the pace
for us going home,” said James Pax-
ton, who matched a career-best with
10 strikeouts over six sharp innings
before turning the game over to the
Seattle bullpen.
Nick Vincent (1-0) worked a
perfect seventh, and Juan Nicasio
retired three in a row after putting
runners on the corners, before closer
Edwin Diaz entered for the ninth.
Diaz worked around shortstop
Jean Segura’s second error of the
game to earn his fourth save.
coming off a 119-79 victory at home
against the Warriors on Tuesday
night.
“We rushed a little bit. We
weren’t all on the same page at
times,” Mitchell said. “We were
really taken off our course. When
they get into you, you gotta get the
guy off you and make the play. Over
time that really disrupts you.”
CJ McCollum had 19 points for
the Blazers, who led by as many as
24 points in the second half.
For both teams, the game was
all about seeding because the first-
round playoff matches were deter-
mined earlier in the evening. The
Blazers secured home-court advan-
tage for the first round for the first
time since 2009.
Before the game Terry Stotts said
the outcome of the Pelicans’ finale
against the Spurs was unlikely to
have an impact on how Portland
approached the Jazz. New Orleans
won 112-98.
“Like I told the team, winning
the division is a big deal. It’s always
going to be there. It’s always going
to be in the rafters, the banner will
be up in the practice facility,” Stotts
said afterward. “It’s been an up and
down season, but I’m really pleased
with the way we played tonight. We
played well, and have some momen-
tum going into the playoffs.”
Dante Exum, who left Utah’s vic-
tory against the Warriors the night
before with leg soreness, played for
20 minutes with six points.
The Blazers went up 39-27 on
McCollum’s reverse layup in the
second quarter and led by as many
as 16 points in the first half. Portland
led 55-41 at the break and Lillard led
all scorers with 19 points.
Seattle NHL expansion group
names Leiweke team president
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
SEATTLE — During his first
stint in Seattle, Tod Leiweke helped
develop the Seattle Seahawks into a
benchmark franchise.
He’s returning to the Northwest
this time with a chance to build a
franchise from scratch — pending
NHL approval.
Leiweke
was
introduced
Wednesday as the CEO and presi-
dent of the prospective NHL expan-
sion franchise seeking to call Seattle
home beginning with the 2020 sea-
son. The announcement has been
expected since Leiweke announced
he was stepping down from his role
with the NFL earlier this year. But
it was another step forward for the
expansion bid.
“It’s kind of fun to start from
scratch because you can build a
culture the way you would want a
culture to be built with likeminded
people who want to serve, who love
the game of hockey. In this, it is a
grand opportunity,” Leiweke said.
The prospective majority owner
of the franchise, David Bonder-
man, said he believed there could
be a possible conditional announce-
ment about the franchise from the
NHL in June and a potential formal
announcement in September coin-
ciding with upcoming NHL Board
of Governors meetings.
“We hope there is not any doubt
about it and it’s certainly not just a
formality. However, there is a pro-
cess with the NHL and we expect to
play through that process,” Bonder-
man said.