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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 29, 2018)
12A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2018 ASTORIA FISHERMEN BASKETBALL Astoria girls will battle Banks for league title By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian T he “Conference of Champions” did not get a state title in girls basketball last season, but the Cowapa League did have the fourth- and fifth-place teams at the state tournament. Both Banks and Valley Catholic will be back and con- tending for a state champion- ship, while Astoria should be the third team in the mix for a league title this season. The Lady Fishermen will be the only team in the Cow- apa with three returning all- league players, and Astoria will be looking to improve on their 15th-place finish in last year’s final OSAA rankings. To prepare themselves for league play, “we’ll have a tough preseason,” said Asto- ria coach Mike Jacobson, whose team will play in noth- ing but tournaments the entire month of December. The Lady Fishermen open with the Madras tournament (Nov. 30-Dec. 1), followed by tournaments at Marshfield (Dec. 13-15), Seaside (Dec. 20-22) and Astoria’s own Dulcich tournament (Dec. 27-29). “I like how our schedule is working out,” Jacobson said. “Everything is pretty much Thursday, Friday, Saturday.” THE COWAPA LEAGUE Astoria was 6-0 against the bottom three teams in the league standings last year, 0-4 against Banks and Valley Catholic. One win against either the Braves or Valiants this year could vault the Lady Fisher- men into a top three finish in Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian A pressing Astoria defense will be led by Brooklynn Hankwitz, center, and Kelsey Fausett, right. the Cowapa. The favorite? “I’m thinking Banks, with Aspen (Slifka),” Jacobson said. “She’s one of the best players, not just at the 4A level, but overall. “But we’ll be battling right there with them, or right below them, I would hope,” he said. The OSAA’s presea- son coaches poll had Banks ranked second in the state at the 4A level, behind Marsh- field. Valley Catholic is ranked ninth, with Astoria picking up 20 votes for 11th place. THE LADY FISH Astoria’s strength is “size and athleticism,” Jacobson said, “and hopefully we’ll be able to push the ball and run our press quite a bit more.” With just one senior, the Lady Fishermen could also be the future power of Cowapa League girls basketball. The lone senior is Lexxis Lyngstad, while the talented junior class includes return- ing all-league players Brook- lynn Hankwitz and Hailey O’Brien, along with Taileigh Cole, Kajsa Jackson and Julia Norris. Astoria will carry four sophomores on the varsity roster, three with varsity expe- rience: Kelsey Fausett, Halle Helmersen and Sophie Long. “We’re young, but they all have experience,” Jacobson said. “Brooklynn and Hailey will be three-year starters.” Hankwitz and Jackson will be Astoria’s twin towers, while O’Brien will be running the point, along with Helm- ersen at times. In addition, “Kelsey’s shooting and ball handling have really improved. They all have over the summer.” ASTORIA GIRLS Coach: Mike Jacobson, 5th year 2017-18: 15-10 (6-4 league) Playoffs: Lost at Molalla in Play-in (29-53). All-league loss: Sam Hems- ley All-league returners: Kelsey Fausett, So., Brooklynn Hank- witz, Jr., Hailey O’Brien, Jr. Life gets tough in Cowapa League for Astoria boys By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian While most eyes will be on Seaside, Clatsop Coun- ty’s other 4A boys basketball team should have no problem in coming in “under the radar” this season. A 1-19 league record over the last two years will do that. Injuries and graduations have definitely taken a toll on the Astoria Fishermen over the last two seasons. It’s not often when your rebuilding year needs a rebuilding year. That’s where the Fishermen found them- selves last season. Astoria finally has some experience on the roster. “We’re not too young for once,” said coach Kevin Goin. “We’ve got some depth in our senior class, and we’re pretty big, overall. We have a lot of size. We’ll be much improved. We competed at times last year, but struggled to score.” He adds, “There was just such a lack of bodies in the past, this is kind of the first time we haven’t had to move kids up before they were ready. I definitely see a big dif- ference offensively.” THE COWAPA Considering that three Cowapa League teams ended up in the Final Four at the state tournament, Astoria’s 0-10 league record last year wasn’t as bad as it looks. Seaside defeated Cowapa League foe Valley Catholic in ASTORIA BOYS Coach: Kevin Goin, 5th year 2017-18: 3-21 (0-10 Cowapa) Playoffs: None All-league loss: Karsten Johnson All-league returner: Ian Hunt, Sr. Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian Opponents will have a tough time trying to get past the big wingspan of Astoria’s Ian Hunt. last year’s state championship, while the state title game as had at least one Cowapa team participating every year for the past four years. The Gulls will be the 4A favorite heading into the new season. “Seaside brings just about everybody back, and Banks brings a lot back,” Goin said. “They lost (Dalton) Renne, but (Blake) Gobel is tough and their JVs had a lot of depth. EARN COLLEGE CREDIT WHILE STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL AND GET A JUMP-START ON YOUR FUTURE CONTACT THE ADMISSIONS OFFICE admissions@clatsopcc.edu 503.338.2411 Valley Catholic will be tough. They lost a lot of seniors, but they have a lot back and should still be decent.” Scappoose moved to Class 5A, resulting in just an eight-game league sched- ule. The Cowapa will have a league playoff at the end of the season, with all five teams competing. Statewide, “you definitely have to look at Seaside, with everybody coming back,” Goin said. “I still think Banks will be right there. Banks was very junior-dominated. They might even be a step better than they were last year. That class was really deep. Marsh- field also brings a lot back. They have the two bigs and a bunch of guards. I would probably put those three at the top.” For the Fishermen, “I’m hopeful that we can be above Tillamook, and that we can ! O G MEN R E H FIS KLEMP FAMILY DENTISTRY Clatsop Community College is an affirmative action, equal opportunity institution. ADA accessible. For the complete Non-Discrimination and Accomodations statements, please visit https://www.clatsopcc.edu/about-ccc/policies/affirmative-action-gender-equity. Clatsop Community College es una institución de igualdad de oportunidades y de discriminación positiva. Para las declaraciones completas de No-discriminacion y de Ayuda a las personas discapacitadas, por favor visite https://www.clatsopcc.edu/about-ccc/policies/affirmative-action-gender-equity. Dr. Dennis Klemp, DMD, FAGD 1006 West Marine Dr. Astoria, OR (503) 468-0116 klempfamilydentistry.com compete with Valley,” Goin said. “Banks and Seaside are the very class of the state. It’s one of those years where you can be third in our league, and be top eight or 10 in the state.” THE FISHERMEN For both size and experi- ence, “we’ll have Josh Olson and Ian Hunt back,” Goin said. “Both are about 6-5, 6-6. Ian had a good year last year, and Josh did a lot of little things for us. I expect him to score a little more this year, where Ian averaged about 10 per game.” Elsewhere, Astoria has returning seniors Peter John- son, Conner Long, Tryton Matlock and Taylor Palmberg, with seniors Dylan Ploghoft, Henry Samuelson and Marcus Soderstrom making the jump up from junior varsity. The junior class has Isaac Brockman, while Ephraim Tice has moved. Ryan Sten- blom broke his leg in the first summer league game, but should be cleared to play soon. Xander Marincovich was the only freshman on var- sity last year, and returns as a sophomore, and sophomore Dylan Junes was added to the varsity. Most players in the Astoria lineup are 6-foot-2 and over. “Our big question mark is returning guards,” Goin said. “(Tice) moved away, but we’ll have Isaac Brockman back, who started in the backcourt. Our third guard will proba- bly be Mike Moore (So.), who played last year with the JV II team, which didn’t lose a league game.” DEL’S O.K. TIRE Go Fishermen! Hours: Mon-Fri 8-6 • Sat- 8-4 503-325-2861 35359 BUS 101 • ASTORIA
