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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, FEbRuARY 13, 2019
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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Young Astoria gymnasts score big in Coos Bay
Steele wins all-around
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
A
Infinity Gymnastics
Audrey Steele of Infinity Gymnastics takes her place atop the podium, following her first place
all-around score. Teammate Adelaide Maher is in the third-place spot, followed by Jocelyn Steele
(fourth) and Alexis Valdez (fifth).
SCOREBOARD
HOOPS ROUNDUP
Lady Fishermen clinch
share of league title
Astoria girls are
one step closer
to their first state
tourney appearance
since 2002
The Daily Astorian
The Astoria girls bas-
ketball team locked up at
least a share of the Cow-
apa League champion-
ship Tuesday night, with a
46-45 win at Valley
Catholic.
The Lady Fishermen finish
league play with a 7-1 record,
still a half-game ahead of sec-
ond-place Banks (6-1), which
closes league play Thursday
against Seaside.
Tuesday’s win did not
come easy, as Valley Cath-
olic staged a fourth-quarter
rally and nearly pulled off a
huge upset.
“We about gave (the Val-
iants) the game in the fourth
quarter,” said Astoria coach
Mike Jacobson. “But we
pulled it out. We were out
of position defensively and
we lost track of No. 4 (Val-
ley’s Callie Kawaguchi,
who scored a game-high 21
points).
“Anyway, we pulled out
the win for at least a share of
the Cowapa League cham-
pionship. Been a long time
coming for the Astoria girls
program.”
And the Lady Fishermen
are one step closer to their
first state tournament appear-
ance since 2002.
If Banks should defeat
Seaside on Thursday, Asto-
ria would play the Braves
(at Tillamook) Saturday for
the league’s No. 1 seed. And
that’s just the beginning of a
long series of league playoff
games.
Valley Catholic will likely
host Seaside on Saturday,
with the winner of that game
to play the loser of Banks
vs. Astoria next Monday, at
the higher-seeded team. The
winner of Valley Catholic vs.
Seaside would play the win-
ner of Banks vs. Astoria next
Tuesday.
The Lady Fishermen
would be outright league
champions if Seaside wins
Thursday at Banks.
Astoria led 14-3 after one
quarter against the Valiants,
thletes from Astoria’s
Infinity Gymnastics Acad-
emy were back in action
over the weekend, competing
in the Tumble by the Bay meet
Saturday at Gymnastics Plus in
Coos Bay.
Eight-year-old Audrey Steele
highlighted the meet for the local
group of gymnasts, as she took
first place for the top all-around
score in her age group, the Xcel
Silver (younger) division.
Steele had the best scores in
the vault (9.40) and the floor
exercise (9.30), and placed sec-
ond in the bars and balance beam
on her way to an all-around
score of 36.50. It was also the
second-best all-around score of
the day (all groups) behind the
38.7 posted by Story Ann Rael
of Umpqua Valley Gymnastics
in the Level 3 junior division.
Also competing in Steele’s
group, IGA teammate Ade-
laide Maher was third in the all-
around (34.40), followed by Joc-
elyn Steele (34.075) and Alexis
Valdez (32.45).
All of the IGA gymnasts
improved on their best season
scores, according to IGA execu-
tive director Nancy Taylor.
IGA’s Annie Rehnert took
first place in the bars with a
score of 9.35, and was second in
the vault (9.20) and third in the
floor (8.90), with an all-around
score of 36.1 for third place in
her group (Xcel Silver, older
division).
Competing in the same group
was IGA teammate Calista Val-
dez, who took second in the
bars (9.15) and third in the vault
(9.1).
And in the Xcel Bronze divi-
sion for all ages, IGA gymnast
Lily Schaelling had the top score
in the floor exercise (9.10), and
was second in the vault and all-
around (36.20). Teammate Karli
Gantenbein was right behind in
third all-around (34.30), high-
lighted by her first-place finish
in the bars (9.30).
The next meet for the ath-
letes from Infinity Gymnas-
tics is the Anne Patterson Riv-
erside Classic, Feb. 23 at the
Douglas County Fairgrounds in
Roseburg.
who trailed 36-24 after three
quarters.
Valley Catholic went on a
21-10 run in the final period,
but the Fishermen held on for
the victory.
Hailey O’Brien led Asto-
ria with 20 points, followed
by Kelsey Fausett with nine
and Brooklynn Hankwitz
with eight.
Valiants defeat
Astoria boys, 45-19
Two teams who may see
each other in the league play-
offs squared off Tuesday
night in Beaverton, where
Valley Catholic scored a
45-19 win over Astoria in a
Cowapa League boys basket-
ball game.
It was the league finale
for the Fishermen, who
finish 2-6 in league play,
fourth place in the league
standings.
Valley Catholic — ranked
10th in the 4A state rankings
with a 3-4 league record —
will finish the league season
Thursday at Tillamook.
Astoria will open the
league playoffs Saturday.
Januik scores 34 in
Seaside boys’ win
over Tillamook
The result was predict-
able Tuesday night at Sea-
side, where the No. 1-ranked
Gulls hosted Tillamook,
ranked 34th out of 34 teams
in the Class 4A boys basket-
ball rankings.
The Gulls had the game
locked up just a few min-
utes into the contest, as they
scored the first nine points of
the game and led 32-6 after
one quarter, on their way to
an 89-45 victory.
Seaside faced very lit-
tle defense from the
Cheesemakers, and put on a
shooting clinic for an even-
tual 77-28 lead in the third
quarter.
The Gulls led 56-24 at
halftime, thanks in large part
to 24 points in the first half
by Chase Januik, who fin-
ished with 34.
Beau Johnson scored
12 and Duncan Thompson
added 10 for Seaside, which
had 11 players in the scor-
ing column. The Gulls fin-
ish league play Thursday at
Banks.
Seaside girls
hold off
Tillamook, 48-41
Looking to end a 20-game
losing streak in league play,
an inspired Tillamook team
gave Seaside all it could han-
dle Tuesday night in a Cow-
apa League girls basketball
game at the Gulls’ Nest.
The Lady Gulls held a slim
lead for the final three quarters
and finally managed to hold
off the Cheesemakers, 48-41.
With a 2-5 league record,
Seaside can still catch Valley
Catholic (3-4) in the league
standings, if the Gulls can win
Thursday at Banks.
Meanwhile, Emy Kiser
scored 15 points to lead Sea-
side in Tuesday’s win, in
which the Gulls led by just
three points early in the fourth
quarter against the winless
Cheesemakers.
An 11-0 run by the Gulls
in the first quarter had Sea-
side on the verge of putting
the game away early, leading
17-9 after one quarter.
But behind 17 points from
Maddie Reeves and Laci
Lourenzo’s 14 points, Tilla-
mook outscored Seaside 12-8
in the second quarter, and was
within 34-32 late in the first
half following a 3-pointer by
Lourenzo.
Kiser had the hot hand for
the Gulls, knocking down
four 3-pointers. She scored
nine of her 15 points in the
second half, while Morgan
Blodgett scored six of her 11
in the fourth quarter to help
Seaside pull away. Trinity
Turner celebrated senior night
with eight points.
“A good solid win for
Senior Night,” said Seaside
coach Mike Hawes. “We
had a number of seniors that
played really well, includ-
ing Emy Kiser, who played
a calm, awesome game and
seemed to make every play
when we needed it.
“Morgan Blodgett’s scor-
ing in the fourth kept us up
with some breathing space,
and Trinity Turner played her
best varsity game ever, just in
the right spots and hustling all
over.”
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Girls basketball — Toledo vs. Ilwaco, at
Mark Morris, 6 p.m.
Boys basketball — Kalama vs. Ilwaco, at
Mark Morris, 7:30 p.m.
THURSDAY
Girls basketball — Seaside at Banks,
6 p.m.
Boys basketball — Seaside at Banks,
7:30 p.m.; CRL playoff: Willamina at War-
renton, 7 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Seaside 48, Tillamook 41
TIL (41): Maddie Reeves 17, Lourenzo 14,
Stevens 7, Crabtree 3.
SEA (48): Emy Kiser 15, Blodgett 11,
Turner 8, Taylor 7, Douglas 4, Garhofer 3,
Goin, Zagata, Angulo-Joli, Van Dusen.
Tillamook
9
12
11
9 — 41
Seaside
17
8
13
10 — 48
Astoria 46, Valley Catholic 45
AST (46): Hailey O’Brien 20, Fausett 9,
Hankwitz 8, Jackson 4, Norris 3, Helm-
ersen 2, Lyngstad, Cole, Long, Matthews.
VC (45): Callie Kawaguchi 21, Jones
7, K.Snook 6, C.Wilder 5, Gunther 4,
Goodno 2.
Astoria
Valley
14
6
16
10 — 46
3
11
10
21 — 45
BOYS BASKETBALL
Seaside 89, Tillamook 45
TIL (45): Shelley 10, Boomer 8, Jenck 8,
Miller 6, Kunert 5, Werner 4, Autexier 2,
Weber 2.
SEA (89): Chase Januik 34, Be.Johnson
12, Thompson 10, Westerholm 9, Hague
9, Acree 4, Br.Johnson 3, Rich 3, Sny-
der 2, Meyer 2, Bennett 1, Pugh, Hig-
don, Sibony.
Tillamook
6
18
8
13 — 45
Seaside
32
24
23
10 — 89