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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THuRSDAY, FEbRuARY 28, 2019
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Co-champs Banks, Seaside share top awards
The Daily Astorian
Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
Seaside coach Bill Westerholm, center, with two of
his all-league seniors — Chase Januik and Payton
Westerholm.
Canes
storm
past
Comets
In a season with co-league
champions, the Banks and
Seaside boys basketball
teams shared awards for the
league’s players of the year,
defensive players of the year
and coaches of the year.
Not surprisingly, all five
starters for both the Braves
and Gulls were selected
to the Cowapa boys all-
league team, as voted on
by the league’s coaches and
released last week.
Seaside senior Chase
Januik and Banks senior
Blake Gobel were named as
the players of the year, while
seniors Duncan Thompson
of Seaside and Dakota Bunn
of Banks were selected as the
defensive players of the year.
Bill Westerholm of Sea-
side and Marcus Roche of
Banks were the coaches of
the year.
Joining Januik on the
first team were senior team-
mate Payton Westerholm
and juniors Ryan Hague
and Beau Johnson. Thomp-
son was named honorable
mention.
Senior Ian Hunt was Asto-
ria’s lone selection to the first
team, while Astoria junior
Isaac Brockman was named
honorable mention.
COWAPA ALL-LEAGUE
League champions: Banks, Seaside
Players of the year: Blake Gobel, Banks; Chase Januik, Seaside
Defensive players of the year: Dakota Bunn, Banks; Duncan
Thompson, Seaside
Coaches of the year: Marcus Roche, Banks; Bill Westerholm,
Seaside
FIRST TEAM
Blake Gobel, Sr., Banks
Chase Januik, Sr., Seaside
Dakota Bunn, Sr., Banks
Ryan Hague, Jr., Seaside
Ian Hunt, Sr., Astoria
Charlie Jenck, Sr., Tillamook
Beau Johnson, Jr., Seaside
Davis Johnson, Sr., Valley Catholic
Daniel Pruitt, Jr., Valley Catholic
Jacob Slifka, Jr., Banks
Jack Tetzloff, Sr., Valley Catholic
Hayden Vandehey, Sr., Banks
Payton Westerholm, Sr., Seaside
HONORABLE MENTION
Peter Boileau, Sr., Valley Catholic
Isaac Brockman, Jr., Astoria
Bret Cameron, Sr., Banks
Carter Kunert, Sr., Tillamook
Duncan Thompson, Sr., Seaside
Landon Werner, Sr., Tillamook
LAST-GASP WIN
By PATRICK WEBB
The Daily Astorian
SPOKANE, Wash. — It was
snowing outside the stadium
and there was a minor hurricane
inside.
The Naselle girls basket-
ball team hit rough weather
Wednesday against a strong,
defensively minded Mount Ver-
non Christian. The Hurricanes
won 29-19 to advance and
play third-ranked Almira-Cou-
lee-Hartline Thursday, taking
their season record to 22-3 and
sending Naselle home.
The game began in promis-
ing fashion as all-league player
of the year Lilli Zimmerman
opened the scoring and led the
Comets to a 9-8 lead after eight
minutes. The second quarter,
however, saw a lengthy period
when the Hurricane defense
kept NHS at bay, then transi-
tioned to some occasionally
pretty passing to lead 20-12 at
the half.
Play in the third quarter went
back and forth, with the teams
only able to score six points
between them. A brief Comet
rally brought the score to 22-19,
but a Hurricane basket and then
a three-pointer in quick suc-
cession moved the scoreboard
beyond reach as time ebbed
away.
Coach Rose Nisbet’s team
ended with a 15-9 season
record.
“We just couldn’t get in the
groove,” the coach said, after
consoling her players, who
included five seniors. “They did
a good job with the press and
that’s what we couldn’t do. Nor-
mally we can break a press, but
we couldn’t get a connection.”
She commended the team
for coping with the pressure of
appearing at the finals.
“It’s a big stage to be on. We
were more relaxed in the second
half,” she said. “I’m proud of
our girls. But not everyone can
have a happy ending.”
Patrick Webb/For The Daily Astorian
Junior Ethan Lindstrom (4) drives to the basket as teammate Cole Dorman watches.
Next is the team that beat
NHS in football playoffs
By PATRICK WEBB
For The Daily Astorian
S
POKANE, Wash. — Naselle boys
lived to play another day. But, it sure
was a close one.
As west-side teams tumbled out
of the 1B state championship first round, the
Comets encountered a formidable obstacle in
Garfield-Palouse.
The Vikings threatened to pillage Naselle’s
state hopes, but were foiled by a halftime pep
talk from Coach Brian Macy that was sim-
plicity itself.
The Comets won 54-51 and advanced to
the second round, where they will face Almi-
ra-Coulee-Hartline 9 p.m. Thursday
“It was a pretty hard-fought game,”
said Macy, a master of understatement. He
acknowledged the first quarter was some-
what shaky. “We settled down in the sec-
ond quarter and then at halftime I told them
to get some offense going. Jimmy (Strange)
and Ethan (Lindstrom) did well to spark the
momentum.”
Naselle had opened the scoring then had
some jitters, allowing Garfield to drive to the
basket multiple times to lead 18-12.
Corey Gregory helped peg back the defi-
cit by stealing the ball and taking it all the
way down the court for an easy score. Jacob
Eaton got into gear with some solid work
in the middle and Antonio Nolan, who left
the regional playoff Saturday with an early
ankle injury, came off the bench and injected
some additional enthusiasm into the Naselle
offense.
Halftime saw the Comets trailing 23-20,
but readjustments by Macy paid off. Juniors
Lindstrom and Gregory kicked up their inten-
sity, with Lindstrom driving to the basket,
scoring despite being fouled, and sinking the
free throw to tie the score.
Gregory added a sweet 3-pointer and so did
sophomore Strange to tie the score again after
the lead shifted toward the Vikings. Eaton put
the Comets ahead and quick-acting Cole Dor-
man grabbed a rebound and tossed it in.
Gregory’s next 3-pointer gave Naselle its
biggest lead at 39-29, but the game was far
from safe. Garfield fought back with its beefy-
but-quick players, causing issues for Comet
defenders, on one play snagging rebounds
three times from the hands of Naselle play-
ers and eventually scoring. Sophomore Colby
Glenn scored as the third quarter ended to put
Naselle ahead 41-35.
The next eight minutes could properly
be called intense. Garfield scored, Naselle
missed on the next attack, although Lind-
strom later scored twice, combining nicely
with Eaton on the second play. Fouls and
free throws played the next big part in the
unscripted drama as Garfield went to the line
and missed, then returned to sink two to lead
51-50 with 1:04 remaining.
The clock appeared to be Naselle’s enemy,
but with 53 seconds remaining, Glenn nailed
a 3-pointer and Lindstrom was fouled going
for the basket and sank a free throw as the
Comets hung on to win.
Lindstrom ended the night with 16 points,
Gregory with 18. Macy also commended
Gregory for his defensive work trying to shut
down Garfield’s 6-2 junior talent Blake Jones.
The coach knows his team will have a simi-
lar challenge against Almira-Coulee-Hartline.
The Warriors are 19-4 and their 6-1 star senior
is none other than Maguire Isaak, whose stel-
lar quarterbacking talents ended Naselle’s
football season in the playoffs last fall.
“We will have to find a way to cope with
him,” Macy smiled.
Dragons topple Ilwaco girls at state tourney
SCOREBOARD
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Boys basketball — 2A state tournament
(Pendleton): Knappa vs. Oakland, 3:15 p.m.
Girls basketball — 3A state tournament
(Marshfield HS): Warrenton vs. Salem Acad-
emy, 8:15 p.m.
FRIDAY
Boys basketball — 4A state playoff: Sisters
at Seaside, 7 p.m.; 2A state tournament: TBA
vs Knappa
Girls basketball — 3A state tournament:
TBA vs. Warrenton
SATURDAY
Girls basketball — 4A state playoffs: Seaside
at Baker, 4 p.m.; Marist at Astoria, 7 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Mount Vernon Christian 29, Naselle 19
NAS (19): Kenzie Glenn 8, Lilli Zimmerman 4,
Jackie Steenerson 3, Lauren Katyrniuk 2, Bella
Colombo 2, Peyton Dalton, Taylor Gudmund-
sen, Darian Jacot, Grace Hunt.
MVC (29): Kailey Faber 7, Josie Droog 7, Emma
Droog 7, Kylee Russell 5, Becca Pedrosa 3,
Sophia Wood, Hannah Van Hofwegen, Cait-
len Vander Kooy, Mali Stogner, Rayahna Oos-
tra, Abigail Russell, Abby De Vlieger.
Naselle 9 3 4 3—19
M.Vernon 8 12 2 7—29
Fishermen cannot
slay the beast
By PATRICK WEBB
For The Daily Astorian
SPOKANE, Wash. — There was
no fairy tale ending for the Ilwaco
Fishermen at the WIAA state
championships Wednesday. The St.
George’s Dragons advanced to the
next round with a 59-41 win.
The loss came despite a promis-
ing first quarter in which the Fish-
ermen came out fighting for every
rebound and demonstrating some
nice passing skills.
“Four of those first quarters
is what we needed,” said Ilwaco
coach Ned Bittner after commiser-
ating with his team. “We were play-
ing with confidence at the start, but
Patrick Webb/For The Daily Astorian
Ilwaco’s Erika Glenn drives past St.
George’s defender Grace Harril.
for the second and third quarter we
just struggled. We got a little stag-
nant, we allowed them to get the
lead and hang on to it.”
St. George’s scored first, then
Ilwaco replied with points from
hardworking junior Estella Shel-
don, who was aggressively
rebounding at both end of the court,
and a three-pointer from Arianna
Bell.
Solid sophomore Kylie Gray
came off the bench, grabbed a
rebound and tossed it in, then took
a pass and scored again. Stalwart
Ericka Glenn scored after three
attempts with the ball, and the
quarter ended with the Fish ahead
15-10.
The Spokane-area team moved
ahead in the second to lead 26-16
at halftime and never looked back.
When Gray fouled out in the
third quarter, she left the court in
tears but to huge applause from the
Ilwaco fans. She had scored nine
points, second only to sophomore
Glenn’s 18.
There were some bright
moments late in the game as other
athletes got playing time. Sopho-
more Tiana Ramsey cheekily dis-
possessed an opponent, but missed
a shot; lone freshman Olivia Long
scored late to make the score
appear more respectable. And Bell,
one of two seniors on the squad,
went home with the sportsmanship
medal.
The coach praised the work of
his squad throughout the season.
“Never once did we say that it was
good enough ‘just to get here,’” he
said. “This group just worked their
tails off, won league, then district
finals to get to the Spokane Arena.”
He is excited about the future of
Ilwaco girls basketball, losing just
Bell and Ebby McMullen to gradu-
ation in June. “We have 10 coming
back, our JV team was undefeated
and we have some strong eighth
graders.”