10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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WEST FINALS
SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Warriors,
Rockets
set for
Game 7
LeBron’s 35 help
Cavs beat Celtics,
reach NBA Finals
BOSTON — With another
Game 7 victory at stake, LeBron
James would not sit out.
He would not say goodbye
to Cleveland again — not yet,
anyway.
And he would not be denied
an eighth straight trip to the NBA
Finals.
The four-time league MVP
scored 35 points with 15 rebounds
and nine assists on Sunday night,
leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to
an 87-79 win over the Celtics and
eliminating Boston from the East-
ern Conference finals in the deci-
sive seventh game.
“He’s had a lot of gaudy
games,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn
Lue said. “But I just think Game
7, in Boston, all the circumstances
that surround Boston, the history
... to come here in a hostile envi-
ronment: (it’s) right there.”
In the first close game, the low-
est-scoring and the first victory for
a road team in the series, James
played all 48 minutes, scoring 12
of his points in the fourth quarter
for his sixth straight Game 7 win.
Lue used his timeouts to get his
star an extra few minutes of rest
when he could, and James didn’t
warm up at halftime to conserve
his energy.
By KRISTIE RIEKEN
Associated Press
HOUSTON — When the
Golden State Warriors lost Game
5 of the Western Conference finals
to the Rockets on Thursday night
to send them to the brink of elim-
ination they vowed to be back in
Houston for Game 7.
After a resounding win in Game
6 that’s exactly where the defend-
ing champions are, preparing for a
winner-take-all game tonight for a
spot in the NBA Finals.
“It’s going to be fun,” Stephen
Curry said. “It’s what you play for,
to be in a situation where you’re
one win away from going to the
finals. Pressure both ways because
of how big the moment is, and
you’ve got to want it.”
The Warriors trailed by as many
as 17 points in the first half Satur-
day night before using a splendid
second half to roll to a 115-86 vic-
tory. Curry knows that if the War-
riors hope to return to the finals
for the fourth straight year they’ll
have to get off to a better start in
Game 7.
“I guarantee if we start the
game out like we did (Saturday)
and they jump out to the lead, it’s
going to be 10 times harder to
make it a game,” Curry said. “So
for us that’s our challenge to have
the same mentality we had for the
last 36 minutes of (Game 6) and
bring that from the jump in Game
7.”
Kevin Durant is excited about
helping the Warriors return to the
finals, but he got a little confused
on when Game 7 was on Saturday
night.
“I can’t wait ‘til Tuesday,”
Durant said.
Curry quickly jumped in to
correct his teammate.
“Monday,” he said. “Please
don’t miss a game.”
The Rockets aren’t dwelling on
their missed opportunity to close
out the series as they get ready for
Monday’s game where they’ll try
to punch their ticket to finals for
the first time since winning back-
to-back titles in 1995-95.
They might have to do it with-
out star Chris Paul, who is deal-
ing with a strained right ham-
string that kept him out of Game
6. Coach Mike D’Antoni said
Sunday that he’s continuing to
receive treatment and his status for
Game 7 will likely be a game-time
decision.
James Harden, who had 22
points in the first half on Satur-
day night but just 10 the rest of
the way, insists that the Rockets
remain confident despite the blow-
out loss and are up to Monday’s
challenge.
“There’s no pressure. It’s an
opportunity, an opportunity that
we all are excited to be a part of,”
he said. “Game 7 at our house,
that’s what we’ve worked the
entire regular season for (is) to get
home-court advantage. So we’re
going to come out and be ready.”
SCOREBOARD
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TUESDAY
Baseball — 2A/1A semifinal: Kennedy
at Knappa, 4:30 p.m.
BASEBALL
Knappa 2, Monroe 0
Monroe
000 000 0—0 1 2
Knappa
000 002 x—2 3 0
Teran, Warden (6) and Crowson; E.
Takalo, D.Takalo (5) and Miller. W: D.
Takalo. L: Teran. RBI: Kna, Lackey 2. 2B:
Kna, Weirup, Lackey. HBP: Mon, Saito,
Sutton. LOB: Monroe 4, Knappa 10.
Friday’s scores
4A Quarterfinals
Junction City 11, Henley 8
Gladstone 12, North Bend 5
La Grande 10, Banks 2
North Marion 5, Madras 0
3A Quarterfinals
Taft 5, Joseph 1
La Pine 5, Pleasant Hill 4
Santiam Chr. 1, Cascade Chr. 0
Horizon Chr. 13, Stanfield 12 (12)
2A/1A Quarterfinals
Knappa 2, Monroe 0
Kennedy 6, Oakland 3
Pilot Rock 4, Sherman 2
Bandon 2, Reedsport 0
Photos by Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
Knappa’s Dale Takalo and Ryker Coffey, No. 2, celebrate following the final out.
Late Knappa rally slays
the Monroe Dragons
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
K
NAPPA — There were no
lopsided, video game num-
bers on the scoreboard Fri-
day at Teevin Field, where the
Knappa baseball team found itself
in a good ol’ fashioned low-scor-
ing, defensive playoff thriller.
And, like all the other games
they play, the Loggers can win
those, too.
A pair of doubles in the bot-
tom of the sixth inning broke open
a scoreless game, and helped the
Ax Men defeat Monroe, 2-0, in a
Class 2A/1A quarterfinal, secur-
ing Knappa’s fifth straight trip
to baseball’s version of the Final
Four.
Knappa’s brotherly pitching
duo of Eli and Dale Takalo com-
bined on a one-hit shutout in the
rematch of the 2015 state cham-
pionship game (also won by
Knappa, 3-0).
“It’s a Bill Crowson-coached
team,” Knappa coach Jeff Miller
said of the Dragons. “They’re not
going to sit there and beat them-
selves. The longer it stayed 0-0,
the pressure mounts a little. We’re
not used to having zeroes on the
board. At the same time, we’ve
been through a lot of different sit-
uations, and we remained confi-
dent. But we had to respect every-
thing Monroe was doing. They
made plays.”
Meanwhile, the rematch of the
2017 championship that everyone
was counting on — No. 2-ranked
Reedsport vs. No. 1 Knappa — is
no longer a possibility, as Bandon
upset Reedsport in another Friday
quarterfinal, 2-0.
The Loggers will host Ken-
nedy in a state semifinal game
Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. The winner
will face either Bandon or Pilot
Rock/Nixyaawii, June 1 at Volca-
noes Stadium in Keizer.
And the Loggers are fully
expected to be there, as they
improved to 22-0 overall, follow-
ing their 10th shutout victory (and
sixth in the last seven games) of
the season.
Knappa’s starter in Friday’s
game, Eli Takalo, gave up a two-
out single to Mason Crowson in
the top of the first inning. That
Logger
shortstop
Mason
Hoover fields a grounder and
makes the throw to first base
for an out in Friday’s win.
would be Monroe’s first, last and
only hit of the day.
The Dragons had three other
baserunners (one walk and two hit
batters), but Monroe runners never
advanced past second base, as the
Takalo brothers threw a combined
92 pitches and made quick work
of the Dragons in every inning.
On the other side, Monroe
starter Eric Teran was equally
effective through five-and-a-third
innings.
The junior struck out just three
and walked six, but the only hit he
gave up was a single to left field
by Kaleb Miller to start the bottom
of the third.
Miller was thrown out at sec-
ond moments later on a fielder’s
choice grounder by Dale Takalo,
in the second of four straight
innings in which Knappa had the
leadoff batter on base, but failed
to score.
“Obviously our pitchers had
things in control, but as long as it
stays 0-0, there’s some nerves that
go around,” said coach Miller,
whose team averages over 12
runs per game. “Our pitchers did
a great job, and (Teran) did a great
job, keeping us off balance. He’s
a really good pitcher. By that I
mean, every delivery has a dif-
ferent timing, and a little different
look. He had us out on our front
foot all day long, mixing things up
and hitting his spots.”
That all changed in the bottom
of the sixth.
Colton Weirup — two days
after belting an inside-the-park
home run in a first-round win over
Riddle — doubled to deep center
field with one out.
“Big hit, changed the atmo-
sphere,” Miller said. “We hadn’t
hit anything on the barrel all day.
And we just couldn’t get the hit
that would bring anybody in. So
you hear a ball hit the barrel, and
the whole dugout just kind of got
excited. That was a huge hit by
Colton. He’s done that for us all
season.”
Cameron Miethe reached on a
fielder’s choice when the Dragons
failed to make the tag on Weirup
on a play at third, and Ryker Cof-
fey drew a walk to load the bases.
Junior Shaun Lackey followed
with the big, and only run-scor-
ing hit of the day, a sharp dou-
ble down the third base line that
scored two runs.
Monroe made a pitching
change and got out of the inning,
but the damage had been done.
Dale Takalo retired the Drag-
ons in order in the top of the sev-
enth to pick up the win.
“The one that busted it open
was Shaun,” Miller said. “He had
been a little bit frustrated earlier,
but he’s a guy who almost always
makes contact. You can count on
him for that.
“It tells you how much we
thought of our pitching — we
‘busted it open’ at 2-0. But Eli
and Dale were in charge,” he said.
“They were very efficient. Dale
threw three innings, and no more
than 30 pitches. That’s Dale, and
that’s what he does.
“Both guys threw strikes and
challenged their hitters. So we
were in control defensively. But
baseball’s a scary sport some-
times, and all it takes is one
swing.”
Kennedy will make its sec-
ond trip to Knappa in 11 days. The
Loggers defeated the Trojans 10-0
in a nonleague game May 18. Nei-
ther team threw its top pitcher.
“They’ve been here, and
they’ve seen us,” Miller said of
Kennedy. “And they didn’t throw
their top pitchers that day. So they
will be primed and ready to chal-
lenge us. And they’ve had a great
season, relying on young kids who
are really good baseball players.
“You’re not going to get better
coaching than Bill Crowson today
and Kevin Moffatt next week.”
Healy, newcomer
Colome help M’s
beat Twins 3-1
SEATTLE — Before speak-
ing to reporters after a 3-1 vic-
tory over the Twins, Seattle man-
ager Scott Servais sat down,
smiled and turned his cap slightly
to the side. Just a little sign of the
respect for the fashion style of his
new reliever Alex Colome, who
pitched a perfect ninth to earn a
save in his first day as a Mariner.
“Colome is a serious dude,”
Servais said. “He’s all business.”
Colome arrived in Seattle on
Saturday night, a day after the
Mariners got him and outfielder
Denard Span in a trade with
Tampa Bay.
Ryon Healy doubled home
two runs in the eighth inning, then
Colome made his Seattle debut
with a three-up, three-down ninth.
“Different team, same base-
ball,” Colome said after earning
his 12th save of the season. “It was
great to get the opportunity. We’re
going to win a lot more games
here.”
Defending champ
Oklahoma, top
seed Oregon head
WCWS field
OKLAHOMA CITY — Two-
time defending champion Okla-
homa and No. 1 seed Oregon high-
light the Women’s College World
Series field.
The top
eight seeds
qualified,
including
four teams
from the
Pac-12. The
games begin Thursday at ASA
Hall of Fame Stadium in Okla-
homa City.
No. 4 seed Oklahoma (55-3)
will face No. 5 Washington (49-
8). Oklahoma features pitcher
Paige Parker and power hitter Joc-
elyn Alo. Parker has been Okla-
homa’s ace the past two seasons.
Alo, a freshman, leads the nation
with 28 home runs.
Oregon (52-8) will play Pac-12
rival Arizona State (48-11). Ore-
gon and Oklahoma could meet
Friday.
In the other bracket, No. 2 Flor-
ida (55-9) will play No. 7 Georgia
(48-11) and No. 3 UCLA (56-5)
will face No. 6 Florida State (52-
11). Georgia’s Brittany Gray leads
the nation with a 0.48 ERA.
Florida won national titles in
2014 and 2015 and is expected
to be a threat again with pitcher
Kelly Barnhill in the circle.
— Associated Press