10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2018
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
ghenley@dailyastorian.com
Valiants dominate all-league selections
The Daily Astorian
If this season’s Cowapa All-
League volleyball team is any indi-
cation, this year’s league cham-
pion will be just as tough next year.
In addition to winning the
league championship, the Valley
Catholic Valiants had the Player of
the Year (Kayla Robbins) and the
Coach of the Year (Becky Kem-
per). Robbins and six of her team-
mates were named to the Cowa-
pa’s all-league team, released last
week, and Robbins was the only
senior in the group.
Valley Catholic all-league
selections included two juniors,
three sophomores and a freshman.
Astoria junior Julia Norris was
selected first team, and was joined
on the all-league team by junior
Hailey O’Brien and sophomore
Halle Helmersen, both honorable
mention.
Senior Morgan Blodgett was
the lone Seaside player on the
first team, while senior teammates
Anna Huddleston and Tori Tomlin
were selected honorable mention.
Cowapa All-League
Player of the Year: Kayla Robbins, Val-
ley Catholic
Coach of the Year: Becky Kemper,
Valley Catholic
First Team
Kayla Robbins, Sr., Valley Catholic
Bella Albert, Sr., Banks
Lindsey Beck, Jr., Banks
Morgan Blodgett, Sr., Seaside
Isabel Hurliman, Sr., Tillamook
Haylee Jackson, Jr., Banks
Makinley Johnson, Sr., Tillamook
Maddie Klopcic, So., Valley Catholic
Allie Merz, Jr., Valley Catholic
Julia Norris, Jr., Astoria
Abby Rewers, So., Valley Catholic
Zoey Van Vleet, Jr., Valley Catholic
Sage Veek-Petersen, So., Tillamook
Honorable Mention
Halle Helmersen, So., Astoria
Kinley Hoag, Jr., Banks
Anna Huddleston, Sr., Seaside
Nessa Hurliman, So., Tillamook
Gretchen Kibbe, So., Valley Catholic
Kylee King, Fr., Valley Catholic
Hailey O’Brien, Jr., Astoria
Shea Prulhiere, Sr., Tillamook
Halle Vandomelen, Jr., Banks
Tori Tomlin, Sr., Seaside
Hailey
O’Brien was
one of three
Astoria play-
ers to earn
all-league
honors.
The Daily
Astorian
Rowdy parade
fetes champion
Red Sox team
Despite big-name
losses, Seahawks
defense again
among best
Associated Press
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
BOSTON — Confetti can-
nons boomed and huge crowds of
fans cheered wildly on Wednesday
as the Boston Red Sox rumbled
through downtown aboard duck
boats to mark the team’s fourth
World Series championship in the
past 15 years.
One of the team’s champi-
onship trophies and team man-
ager Alex Cora were hit by flying
cans of beer that Boston fans have
made a practice of offering their
sports heroes during recent vic-
tory parades. Neither was seriously
injured and it didn’t take any var-
nish off the shining celebration.
The rolling rally set off from
venerable Fenway Park and wound
its way through major city streets
lined by fans numbering in the
hundreds of thousands, some who
arrived before dawn.
Bits of red, white and blue paper
rained down as team officials, play-
ers, and their families waved from
the amphibious, World War II-era
vehicles. Some autographed balls
and drank beers tossed to them
from the jubilant throng.
Many in the sea of Red Sox jer-
seys and ball caps took advantage
of the fact that the parade coin-
cided with Halloween.
Young children dressed up as
comic book and Disney charac-
ters, 20-somethings from the city’s
numerous colleges sported full-
body panda and dinosaur outfits,
and fans took selfies with a doppel-
ganger of pro wrestler Hulk Hogan
roaming the crowd.
SCOREBOARD
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Football — 2B crossover game: Ilwa-
co at Napavine
FRIDAY
Football — 4A state playoff: Cascade
at Seaside, 7 p.m.; 2A state playoffs:
Glide vs. Knappa, at CMH Field, 7 p.m.;
Warrenton at Sheridan, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY
Boys soccer — North Marion at Sea-
side, 5 p.m.
RENTON, Wash. — The players
the Seattle Seahawks lost off their
defense over the past year became
synonymous with being considered
among the best at their position and
creating an elite unit that was tough
to have success against.
UP NEXT: SEAHAWKS
• Los Angeles Chargers (5-2)
at Seattle Seahawks (4-3)
• Sunday, 1:05 p.m. TV: CBS
AP Photos/Cooper Neill
Portland Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri (8) celebrates after scoring a goal against FC Dallas during
Wednesday’s playoff match in Frisco, Texas.
Valeri scores twice in 2-1 win
to give Timbers knockout win
Associated Press
D
ALLAS — Diego Valeri
scored two goals, the sec-
ond with Portland a man
down, and the Timbers beat FC
Dallas 2-1 in a MLS knockout
game Wednesday night.
The fifth-seeded Tim-
bers advanced to a two-game
Western Conference semifinal
against Sporting Kansas City or
the Seattle Sounders, depending
on the outcome of Thursday’s
LAFC-Real Salt Lake match.
Valeri’s first goal came in
the 23rd minute on a free kick
that he put inside the left post
from 26 yards out.
In the 57th, Larrys Mabiala
took down Dominique Badji as
the last defender near the pen-
alty box. The free kick was
blocked but Portland was down
to 10 men.
But in the 71st, Jeremy Ebo-
bisse dropped off a short pass
to Valeri in the goal box amid
a scattered Dallas defense and
Valeri nudged the ball into the
net for his team-leading 12th
goal.
Dallas broke through in the
94th minute with Matt Hedges
heading in a goal but couldn’t
come up with another despite a
few additional chances in stop-
page time.
Timbers keeper Jeff Atti-
nella made five saves.
Portland came in with just
four road wins this season,
while fourth-seeded Dallas had
been 10-2-5 at home. But Dal-
las also entered the postseason
on a three-game losing streak,
scoring just one goal in that
span.
Portland Timbers defender Liam
Ridgewell (24) receives a yellow card
from referee Alan Kelly.
And yet, the current batch of
Seahawks sit near the midseason
point with a defense that statistically
is back among the elite of the NFL.
“I’m not surprised at all. We
knew coming into the season we had
a great group of guys and we knew
the outside was sleeping on the lead-
ership we had in the building and the
people that we had in the building.
... We knew that people didn’t see
that. They wouldn’t see that,” Seat-
tle linebacker Bobby Wagner said.
“If you listened to us talk, we
were very confident in what we
were going to get accomplished and
what we were going to be doing.
What we are seeing is good, but I
think there is a level where we can
get better.”
Heading into Week 9, the Sea-
hawks have the No. 5 total defense
(327.3 yards per game), No. 4 in
pass defense (219.0) and No. 4 in
points allowed per game (18.7).
Those numbers include six games
playing without starting linebacker
K.J. Wright because of knee sur-
gery and three games without Earl
Thomas after he suffered a broken
leg in the Week 4 win over Arizona.
Wagner was around before the
overhaul started. So was defen-
sive end Frank Clark and defensive
tackle Jarran Reed. But the rest of
Seattle’s defense has been largely
re-tooled over the past two sea-
sons. And instead of Seattle taking
a major step back, it has returned to
being among the NFL’s best in less
than half a season.