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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARcH 1, 2019
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Loggers chop down Oakers, 53-50
Engblom erupts for
29 points in win
The Daily Astorian
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
The state tournament win
that the Knappa Loggers
ordered last year finally arrived
Thursday afternoon, as they
opened the 2A boys’ state tour-
nament in Pendleton with a
53-50 quarterfinal victory over
Oakland.
Knappa was the No. 3 seed
entering last year’s tourna-
ment, only to suffer a 52-50
upset at the hands of No. 11
seed Vernonia.
In their return to Pendle-
ton, the Loggers (21-8 overall)
built a solid third-quarter lead
and made just one field goal in
the fourth, but still held on for
the victory. The Oakers finish
with a 25-3 record.
“I’m just really proud of
how the kids battled,” said
Knappa coach Paul Isom.
“Beating a team like Oakland
with a coach like Jeff Clark is
a hell of an accomplishment.”
Knappa’s Timber Engblom
poured in 29 points, and the
Loggers cut down the Oakers
in another postseason game.
Knappa is 4-0 against Oak-
land in state playoff compe-
tition since 2014 (2-0 in foot-
ball, one win each in baseball
and basketball).
Now it’s on to the Final
Four in basketball, where the
Loggers will face a familiar
foe, Columbia Christian, for
the fourth time this season.
Meanwhile, the Oakers
made Knappa work for Thurs-
day’s victory.
A dunk by Oakland’s Colton
Brownson highlighted an 11-6
run to start the game for the
Oakers.
The Loggers recovered
quickly, however, with baskets
from Ty Vanderburg, Kanai
Phillip and Eli Takalo, and
Engblom’s score off a turn-
over gave Knappa a 14-11
lead.
Another turnover and basket
by Engblom made it 16-11, and
Engblom’s third straight score
gave the Loggers an 18-11 lead
to complete a 12-0 run to end
the first quarter.
In the second period, a
flurry of five 3-pointers (two
from Knappa, Mason Wester-
holm and Devin Hoover) and
six straight missed free throws
by Oakland resulted in a 28-28
halftime tie.
More Oakland turnovers
and scores by Engblom gave
Knappa a 43-33 advantage late
in the third quarter, but Oak-
Photos by Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Knappa junior Eli Takalo goes up and under Oakland’s Colton Brownson for a reverse layup.
Knappa’s Joe Ramvick drives to
the hoop.
Knappa’s Timber Engblom,
right, rises above Oakland’s
Jacob Brooksby for two of his
game-high 29 points.
land didn’t fold, rallying to
within 45-42 midway through
the fourth.
The Loggers responded
with Engblom scoring follow-
ing a timeout. Takalo made two
free throws with 2:49 remain-
ing, and Engblom’s layup with
just under two minutes left
made it 51-42.
Still, the Loggers struggled
at the free throw line (4-for-10
in the fourth quarter), while a
pair of 3-pointers by the Oak-
ers helped Oakland cut the
deficit to 53-50 with 27 sec-
onds left.
Oakland missed a 3-point
attempt in the final seconds,
and Takalo dribbled out the
remaining time for the win.
“I knew Oakland wasn’t
just going to roll over and
they didn’t,” Isom said. “They
hit some big shots, but our
kids just kept fighting. Tim-
ber obviously was awesome.
Every time Oakland wanted
to make a run Timber made a
play.”
The Oakers struggled with
19 turnovers and 10 missed
free throws (5-for-15).
Engblom also had five
steals defensively with seven
rebounds, and teammate Joe
Ramvick had a team-high eight
boards.
Naselle falls to familiar foe at state tourney
Comets have chance
to advance to
trophy round
By PATRICK WEBB
For The Daily Astorian
SPOKANE, Wash. — It was
deja vu for Naselle.
Coming into the WIAA state
basketball game against Almi-
ra-Coulee-Hartline, the Comets
could be forgiven for remem-
bering the last football season.
The Warriors had unceremoni-
ously trounced Naselle 82-28 in
the 1B semifinal.
Thursday, without any pads
and helmets, the same student
athletes from ACH won 54-37
to advance to the basketball
semifinals.
The loss doesn’t end Naselle’
season, however.
Next up is a 2 p.m. game Fri-
day against Oakesdale, with the
winner advancing to a consola-
tion final to determine fourth-
and sixth-place trophies.
Naselle had reached the
second round of this week’s
tournament with a 54-51 win
over Garfield-Palouse, a vic-
tory which caused Comet fans
to bite their nails through the
fourth quarter.
Thursday’s matchup started
with some promise. ACH
defenders began the game
crowded around their basket,
Crusaders outlast
Warrenton in
state quarterfinal
Patrick Webb/For The Daily Astorian
Sophomore Colby Glenn dribbles toward his Naselle teammate,
junior Corey Gregory.
allowing senior Jacob Eaton,
junior Corey Gregory and
senior Cole Dorman to sink
consecutive 3-pointers.
Each swish was followed
by roars from the loyal Naselle
cheering section. That joy, and
the Comets’ small lead, did not
last long, however. ACH had
clawed back to lead 14-13 as
the quarter ended.
The seventh-ranked War-
riors have five players above
six feet tall and their physi-
cal presence soon kicked in.
Last fall’s quarterback nemesis,
senior Maguire Isaak and fresh-
man Reece Isaak — who is two
inches taller than Maguire —
were simply commanding.
After lengthy back-and-forth
action with no scoring, ACH
combined field goals and free
throws to steadily move ahead
to a halftime lead of 28-16.
After the break, another senior,
Hayden Loomis, a mere 5-11,
seemed to be able to score from
any position to move the score-
board to 47-26 with eight min-
utes remaining.
The fourth quarter saw
Naselle add 11 points, but by
then the deficit was too large.
Eaton was team high scorer
with 14 and Dorman had 10.
For ACH, Reece Isaak had 18,
Loomis nine and Maguire Isaak
eight.
Naselle head coach Brian
Macy acknowledged that the
early success with three open
three pointers might have
caused some complacency in
his squad. “They are a good
basketball club. I knew it was
not going to be easy,” he said.
“We just couldn’t get anything
clicking. We were not get-
ting the sets that we wanted to
run.”
Oakesdale lost its sec-
ond-round game to the Yakama
Nation Tribal Eagles, 62-45.
Macy said the Comets will
be ready for the Nighthawks.
“This team will bounce back,”
he said.
The other side of the conso-
lation bracket will feature Riv-
erside Christian and Odessa.
A Final Four appearance just wasn’t in
the cards for the Warrenton Lady Warriors,
in their return to the Class 3A girls basket-
ball state tournament.
A little foul trouble for the Warriors, cou-
pled with a long scoring drought that lasted
nearly eight minutes, helped No. 2-ranked
Salem Academy gradually pull away for a
42-26 win late Thursday night at Marshfield
High School.
The Crusaders advance to the semifinals,
where they will face Blanchet Catholic Fri-
day night, while the No. 7 seed Warriors
drop into consolation and will play Vale in
a Friday morning game.
“We came out and executed our game
plan really well for three quarters,” said
Warrenton coach Robert Hoepfl. “Claire
Bussert did a great job and led us through-
out, Kenzie Ramsey did an incredible job,
and Adriana Dejesus held their best player
and one of the top guards in the state to five
points through three quarters.”
Warrenton also held the lead for the
majority of the first half in Thursday’s game.
Melia Kapua had a 3-pointer to high-
light a 9-8 first quarter for the Warriors, and
3-point bombs from Claire Bussert and Ken-
zie Ramsey had Warrenton in front 16-11
midway through the second.
On the down side, Warrenton post Fer-
nanda Alvarez picked up her third foul early
in the second period, and the Warriors were
called for their seventh team foul minutes
later.
And that kept the Crusaders in the game.
With layups by Grace Brown and Kirsten
Koehnke, Salem Academy turned a 19-13
deficit in the second quarter into a 28-19
lead midway through the third.
The 15-0 run stunned the Warriors, who
still managed to battle their way back into
the game, even after being outscored 6-2 in
a low-scoring third period.
Bussert closed the third quarter with a
jump shot, then opened the scoring in the
fourth with a 3-pointer that had Warrenton
within 30-24.
But Salem Academy answered with
another momentum-building run, this time
a 12-2 dash to close the game.
Back-to-back scores by Koehnke upped
the Crusader lead to 36-24 with 3:15 remain-
ing, before Alvarez scored Warrenton’s
last hoop at the 3:06 mark, as the Warriors
were held to just seven points in the second
half.
Bussert scored 16 of Warrenton’s 26
points, while Brown had a monster game
for the Crusaders, scoring 18 points with 20
rebounds and four assists. Koehnke added
nine points and nine boards.
“Obviously the foul trouble hurt us, and
then they made that run right before half to
take the lead,” Hoepfl said. “They’re obvi-
ously a great basketball team and deserved
to be (in the Final Four). They might be the
best team in it, and I wouldn’t be surprised
to see them win it.”
He added, “we’ll try to bounce back
against Vale (today). They gave Blanchet
Catholic a great game, so they’re a very
good team. I’m proud of our team — it’s bit-
tersweet, because we wanted to win a state
championship, but it’s March and we’re still
playing, so here we go. Hopefully we can
finish strong.”
SCOREBOARD
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Boys basketball — 2A state tournament: Knappa vs. Colum-
bia Christian, 1:30 p.m.
Girls basketball — 3A state tournament: Vale vs. Warrenton,
10:45 a.m.
SATURDAY
Girls basketball — 4A state playoffs: Seaside at Baker, 4 p.m.;
Marist at Astoria, 7 p.m.
Boys basketball — 4A state playoff: Sisters at Seaside, 7 p.m.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Knappa 53, Oakland 50
Knappa (53): Timber Engblom 29, Eli Takalo 9, Ty Vanderburg 4,
Devin Hoover 3, Kanai Phillip 3, Mason Westerholm 3, Joe Ram-
vick 2, Tristin Wallace.
Oakland (50): Colton Brownson 12, Austin Madden 8, Triston
Mask 8, Noah Strempel 8, Jacob Brooksby 6, Hunter Reynolds
6, Zach Cummings 2, Chandler Miller, Ethan Roberson.
Knappa 18 10 17 8—53
Oakland 11 17 8 14—50
Field goals: Knappa 22-54, Oakland 18-48. 3-point FG: Knappa
2-11 (Hoover, Westerholm), Oakland 9-23 (Brownson 2, Strem-
pel 2, Mask 2, Reynolds 2, Brooksby). Free throws: Knappa
7-15, Oakland 5-15. Fouls: Knappa 15, Oakland 15. Fouled out:
None. Assists: Knappa 6 (Phillip 3), Oakland 8 (Strempel 3).
Rebounds: Knappa 36 (Ramvick 8), Oakland 34 (Brooksby 8).
Steals: Knappa 11 (Engblom 5), Oakland 9. Turnovers: Knappa
16, Oakland 19.
Moda Players of the Game: Timber Engblom (Knappa), Colton
Brownson (Oakland).
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Salem Academy 42, Warrenton 26
Warrenton (26): Claire Bussert 16, Fernanda Alvarez 4, Ken-
zie Ramsey 3, Melia Kapua 3, Maria Heyen, Adriana Dejesus,
Avyree Miethe, Sagi Diego.
Salem Academy (42): Grace Brown 18, Kirsten Koehnke 9, Chloe
Campbell 5, Chloe Baker 4, Jamie VanderStoel 4, Kayla Baul-
dree 2, Annabelle Brawley, Tristan Brabson.
Warrenton 9 10 2 5—26
Salem Academy 8 14 6 14—42
Field goals: Warrenton 11-41, Salem Academy 17-50. 3-point
FG: Warrenton 4-19 (Bussert 2, Ramsey, Kapua), Salem Acad-
emy 1-6 (Campbell). Free throws: Warrenton 0-4, Salem Acad-
emy 7-14. Fouls: Warrenton 15, Salem Academy 7. Fouled out:
Warrenton, Diego. Assists: Warrenton 3, Salem Academy 9
(Brown 4). Rebounds: Warrenton 25 (Alvarez 7), Salem Acad-
emy 43 (Brown 20). Steals: Warrenton 9 (Bussert 3), Salem
Academy 7 (Brabson 2). Turnovers: Warrenton 14, Salem Acad-
emy 12.
Moda Players of the Game: Claire Bussert (Warrenton), Grace
Brown (Salem Academy).