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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 17, 2018)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2018 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com Astoria second in rainy Seaside Invite GIRLS GOLF Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian Seaside’s Tristyn McFadden follows her tee shots in Monday’s round. She led the Gulls with 36 points. The Gulls also scored well on their home course, which was a little soggy for Monday’s tournament. Tristyn McFadden led Seaside with 36 points, followed by Cait- lin Hillman (23), Madi Grimm (11) and Sydney Rapp (10). Makenzie Kaech led Ilwaco with 37, with teammate Madeline Jacob- son carding 30 points. A weatherproof Cait- lin Hillman of Seaside chips on to the green. Gary Henley The Daily Astorian Blazers seek tie vs Pelicans in Game 2 tonight By BRIAN MAHONEY Associated Press The Portland Trail Blaz- ers fought their way through a pressure-packed playoff race to earn home-court advantage in a series, then lost it in one game. The Toronto Raptors know that problem all too well, so they want to take advantage of playing from ahead for a change. They try for their first 2-0 play- off series lead ever Tuesday night against Washington, while the Trail Blazers try to even things up in against the New Orleans Pelicans. Boston and Milwaukee play the other Game 2 on Tuesday after the Celtics pulled out a 113-107 over- time victory on Sunday. The No. 3 Trail Blazers were the highest-seeded team to lose so far, falling 97-95 on Saturday. Anthony Davis was dominant, Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum were slow-starting, and the Pel- icans got a couple big defensive plays down the stretch from Jrue Holiday to hold on after the Blazers nearly came back from a 19-point deficit. “I think it puts some pressure on us,” Lillard said. “You know, you come in with home court, the first two games on your floor and you lose the first one, and now they’re saying in their locker room we got one, why not go get another one. And our job is to defend the home court. “We’ve got to tighten up, come back sharper, and take care of home floor.” Toronto had lost Game 1 at home all six times it had home- court advantage in a series, part of an overall 10-game losing streak in series openers, before beat- ing Washington 114-106 dropped on Saturday. Finally, the Raptors PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE TODAY Baseball — Tillamook at Astoria (CMH Field), 4 p.m.; Banks at Seaside, 5 p.m.; Portland Christian at Warrenton, 4:30 p.m.; Knappa at Neah-Kah-Nie, 4:30 p.m. Softball — Astoria at Tillamook, 5 p.m.; Seaside at Banks, 5 p.m.; Portland Christian at Warrenton, 4:30 p.m.; Knap- pa at Neah-Kah-Nie, 4:30 p.m. WEDNESDAY Track — Astoria/Seaside at Tillamook, 3:30 p.m. Boys golf — Banks Invitational, Noon THURSDAY Baseball — Astoria at Tillamook, 5 p.m.; Seaside at Banks, 5 p.m. Softball — Tillamook at Astoria, 5 p.m.; Banks at Seaside, 5 p.m.; Warren- ton at Portland Adventist (2), 3:30 p.m. Track — NWL meet, Knappa, 3:30 p.m. Boys golf — Astoria at Tillamook, 1 p.m. The Daily Astorian GEARHART — Twenty-one varsity golfers braved the elements on a wet and windy Monday at Gearhart Golf Links. That’s just what golfers usually have to do this time of year on the North Coast. Six teams showed up for the Seaside Invitational girls golf tour- nament, where the Lady Gulls hosted three other Cowapa League schools, along with golfers from Ilwaco and Wahkiakum. In between numerous rain showers and wind gusts, Scap- poose managed to score the team victory. Under the Stableford scor- ing system, the Indians compiled 161 points to finish ahead of Asto- ria (125), Ilwaco (118) and Sea- side (80). Tillamook and Wah- kiakum did not have enough golfers to score in the team standings. Morgan Hall of Scappoose racked up 53 points to earn med- alist honors, ahead of Asto- ria’s Sam Hemsley (47) and Scappoose teammate Kaitlyn Bakkensen (42). Besides Hemsley, Astoria picked up 33 points from Jenna Travers, while three others had personal best scores: Sarah Lertora (23), Sierra Adams (22) and Gracie Cummings (22). SCOREBOARD Seaside Invitational at Gearhart Golf Links Team: Scappoose 161, Astoria 125, Ilwaco 118, Seaside 80. Medalist: Morgan Hall, Scappoose, 53 Scappoose (161) Morgan Hall, 53 Kaitlyn Bakkensen, 42 Kenzy Sue, 35 Cali Enos, 31 Astoria (125) Sam Hemsley, 47 Jenna Travers, 33 Sarah Lertora, 23 Sierra Adams, 22 Gracie Cummings, 22 Ilwaco (118) Makenzie Kaech, 37 Madeline Jacobson, 30 Maddie Chabot, 26 Faith Richardson, 25 Seaside (80) Tristyn McFadden, 36 Caitlin Hillman, 23 Madi Grimm, 11 Sydney Rapp, 10 SPORTS IN BRIEF Eason back home at Washington NBA PLAYOFFS: RND 1 Randy L. Rasmussen/Associated Press Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard passes against the defense of New Orleans Pelicans forward Nikola Mirotic, left, and forward Darius Miller on Saturday in Portland during Game 1 of the playoff series. could enjoy the start of postsea- son play. “And for me, this year is finally a year I can be happy watch- ing other games and not be like ‘Damn, I lost Game 1,’” point guard Kyle Lowry said. Some things to know about Tuesday’s matchups: NEED TO KNOW: Anthony Davis had 35 points in the opener and has scored 25 or more in his first five postseason games. He can tie LeBron James for the sec- ond-longest streak to begin a career, behind Kareem Abdul-Jab- bar’s 14 straight, according to Elias. KEEP AN EYE ON: Rajon Rondo. A 17-assist, eight-rebound opener was another reminder of how much the Pelicans’ point guard can elevate his game in the postseason. INJURY UPDATE: Port- land’s Maurice Harkless is nearing a return from late-season left knee surgery, but may not be available until later in the series. PRESSURE IS ON: The Blaz- ers’ backcourt. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum combined to shoot just 13 for 41, and their three com- bined points on 1-for-15 shooting in the first half doomed Portland to a big hole from which it could not recover. No. 6 seed No. 3 seed PORTLAND NEW ORLEANS vs TRAIL BLAZERS PELICANS (49-33) (48-34) Game 2: New Orleans leads 1-0 Today, 7:30 PM At Portland, Moda Center TV: TNT Paxton, Mariners win 2-1, snap six-game skid vs Houston By TODD MILLES Associated Press SEATTLE — James Paxton made sure not to let a Mariners nemesis ruin his night right from the start. Paxton shook off a leadoff home run from Houston’s George Springer to deliver six strong innings, and Seattle beat the Astros 2-1 on Mon- day to end a six-game skid against the World Series champions. After that home run, Paxton (1-1) was solid, striking out seven and allowing two more hits. Dee Gordon’s RBI double off Astros starter Dallas Keuchel (0-3) made it 2-1 in the sixth inning, putting Paxton in line for the win. “That is what you’ve got to do, you’ve got to play a clean game,” Mariners manager Scott Ser- vais said. “We did tonight.” Springer has feasted on Mariners pitching over the years, and coming into the series opener Mon- day was the only Houston regular to ever hit a home run off Paxton. Ted S. Warren/Associated Press Seattle Mariners starting pitcher James Pax- ton throws against the Houston Astros. On the fifth pitch of the game, Springer smashed an inside fastball way back in left field for his 19th career home run against Seattle. “He’s tough,” Springer said. “He throws hard and has a great angle on his ball. It’s kind of one of those things where I’m looking for something to hit, and hopefully I don’t miss it.” After giving up the 455-foot blast, Paxton set- tled down by pounding the inside part of the plate. “You can’t let one hit — one home run — take me out of my game,” Paxton said. Nick Vincent and Juan Nicasio got the ball to closer Edwin Diaz, and he pitched a scoreless ninth for his AL-leading seventh save. Nelson Cruz hit his third home run in five games with his tying solo blast off Keuchel with two outs in the fourth. Catcher David Freitas led off the sixth for Seattle with a double. Gordon followed with a soft line drive to right that Springer was slow to after losing his footing and slipping on the grass. “Dee wasn’t trying to do too much with the ball,” Keuchel said. “I felt like we were playing pretty deep on him. If I make a mistake and he hits it over somebody’s head, then I’m fine with that. That was just bad luck.” Houston has scored one or fewer runs in back- to-back losses. That never happened in the Astros’ run to the World Series title last season. SEATTLE — Jacob Eason is ready to become arguably the most highly touted scout team quarterback in the country. The former Georgia starter is nearing the end of his first spring with Washington and preparing for a season spent as a spectator. But waiting at the end of that long year of watching is the expectation that when 2019 begins, the trans- fer will be the Huskies’ starter. “This year is going to be a great year for learning and getting better in this program and making rela- tionships with some of the guys and the coaches on this team,” Eason said Monday. “It’s going to be a different year for sure but that’s doesn’t mean I’m not going to compete like I can play. Every practice, every rep you’ve got to get better and better so that’s what I’m going to do.” It’s been a long journey for Eason to end up back where he started. He left the Pacific North- west after graduating from Lake Stevens High School, about 35 miles from the Washington cam- pus, and was expected to be the next great quarterback at Georgia. He was pretty good his freshman season, throwing for 2,430 yards and 21 touchdowns and leading the Bulldogs to an 8-5 record and a bowl victory. Seahawks bring back backup QB Davis RENTON, Wash. — The Seat- tle Seahawks have brought back another arm for the beginning of their offseason program, re-sign- ing quarterback Austin Davis. The Seahawks also signed free agent linebacker Paul Dawson, while exclusive rights free agents center Joey Hunt, defensive end Branden Jackson and long snap- per Tyler Ott signed their tenders. Seattle made the moves at the beginning of its offseason work- out program Monday. Davis will enter his second season as a presumptive backup to Russell Wilson. Davis was a one-time starter with the Rams. He appeared in three games with Seattle last season, but did not throw a pass. He hasn’t thrown a pass in a game since 2015. Dawson was signed to Seat- tle’s practice squad last November and appeared in three games late last season. — Associated Press