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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019
Naselle fi nishes with
loss to Oakesdale
By PATRICK WEBB
For The Daily Astorian
SPOKANE, Wash. —
It was March sadness for
the Naselle boys basket-
ball team.
At the state basket-
ball tournament, the Com-
ets bounced back from a
second-round loss to play
Oakesdale for a chance to
compete for a trophy on
the fi nal day. But WIAA’s
smallest 1B division,
dominated
year-round
by Eastern Washington
teams, stayed true to form.
After a promising start
by Naselle, Oakesdale
found its groove, never
giving up its lead through
the fi nal three quarters,
and won 68-52.
“It was a tough day for
us,” said head coach Brian
Macy. “We couldn’t get
that couple of bounces.”
He had predicted his
players would regroup
after the second-round
loss
to Almira-Cou-
lee-Hartline, and was
pleased to be proved right.
“We knew that they would
come out with grit and
resolve — the effort was
there.”
However,
poor
rebounding, which had
been a pitfall all tourna-
ment, meant the Comets
too often allowed Oakes-
dale players to try again
when their shots hit the
rim. “You can’t give good
teams second and third
opportunities,” the coach
said.
The game began in a
promising manner. After
Oakesdale opened the
scoring, Ethan Lindstrom
and Cole Dorman both hit
3-pointers. Jacob Eaton
scored from close in after
some effi cient passes from
Kolby Glenn and Anto-
nio Nolan, then added
another.
Nolan used a clever
fake to gain space for his
shot and bring the score to
13-8 just as a pickup truck
advertisement
saying
“game changer” scrolled
across the stadium’s
reader boards. Oakes-
dale shifted the momen-
tum to restrict Naselle’s
lead to 15-13 as the quar-
ter buzzer sounded.
The Nighthawks came
back out with new vigor,
tied the score to a roar
from their bench, added
another basket to take the
lead — a lead they would
never relinquish — and
then another.
At 6-4, Oakesdale
senior Kieron Ander-
son was the tallest player
Naselle faced all week. He
used height and speed to
rack up his game-high 22
points. Three other Night-
hawks scored in double
fi gures; only Nolan (12)
and Eaton (11) matched
them.
The loss came on the
third day. Naselle had
started the tournament
well with a 54-51 win over
Garfi eld-Palouse which
began with a shaky fi rst
quarter, a steady lead, and
then a nail-biting fi nale.
Next came a familiar
buzz-saw, Almira-Cou-
lee-Hartline, which had
beaten Naselle with con-
viction at football late last
fall. The Comets began
well in this game, but just
like Oakesdale, once the
Warriors got ahead they
held onto the lead and
won 54-37.
The coach consoled
and congratulated his team
Friday. For seniors Nolan,
Dorman, Eaton, Ian Font-
anilla and Vince Fauver it
was their last for NHS.
“It was a great season.
I would like to thank our
seniors — they brought
our program a long way,”
Macy said. “They have
put in the hard work and
set the standard. I told the
younger guys that they
have got some big shoes
to fi ll.”
Big fi nish for Marist ends Astoria’s season
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
The Marist girls bas-
ketball did something Sat-
urday night that very few
teams are able to do —
the Spartans left the Brick
House with a win, 48-39,
in a fi rst-round game of the
4A state playoffs.
Not even the No.
2-ranked Banks Braves
could defeat the Astoria
Lady Fishermen on their
home fl oor this year, where
Astoria had won seven
straight.
And whenever some-
one challenged the Fisher-
men, they always seemed
to come up with a last-sec-
ond miracle shot or a fan-
tastic fourth quarter.
There were no miracle
shots Saturday, and the only
fantastic fi nish belonged to
the Spartans.
But wasn’t easy.
With Marist leading
29-21 midway through the
third quarter, the Fishermen
reeled off seven straight
points, then fi nally took
the lead early in the fourth
on back-to-back 3-pointers
from Halle Helmersen and
Hailey O’Brien.
It was an intense, phys-
Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
Astoria’s Hailey O’Brien drives past Maggie Stephenson of
Marist on her way to the basket.
ical, high-scoring battle
from there.
Marist answered with
a 3-pointer from six-foot
sophomore Ruby Vla-
hov, Julia Norris scored to
give Astoria a two-point
lead, and a free throw from
O’Brien put the Fish up,
37-34.
Scores by Maggie Ste-
phenson and Vlahov put
Marist back in front, but
only briefl y, as a short
jumper by Kajsa Jackson
gave Astoria its last lead at
39-38 with 2:55 left.
That’s where it all fell
apart for the Fishermen, on
missed shots and turnovers,
and points for the Spartans
off turnovers.
Vlahov led all scorers
with 16 points, seven in the
fi nal three minutes of the
game.
Her layup off a steal
with two minutes remain-
ing sparked a 10-0 run to
close the game for Marist,
which was also 6-for-7 at
the free throw line in the
fi nal 1:32. She had another
score off a turnover for a
fi ve-point lead with 1:11
left.
“Too many turnovers at
crucial times,” said Asto-
ria coach Mike Jacob-
son. “We got the lead and
three straight turnovers
that turned into six points
for them. That killed the
momentum we had built.”
Helmersen scored 11
points and O’Brien added
10 for Astoria, which had
seven of its 18 turnovers
in the fourth quarter. Jack-
son had eight points off the
bench.
The Lady Fishermen
could be a Final Four par-
ticipant next season —
and defi nitely the Cow-
apa League favorites — as
they return fi ve all-league
starters.
“The girls had a great
season,” Jacobson said.
“First league championship
since 2001, and fi rst state
tournament appearance in
the round of 16 since 2007.
They have a lot to be proud
of. I told them to hold their
heads high and be proud.”
Knappa boys take home fi fth place trophy
The Daily Astorian
It was a memorable, but
forgettable two days for the
Knappa Loggers, as they
fi nished up the Class 2A
boys basketball state tourna-
ment in Pendleton.
After a fi rst-round win
over Oakland Thursday, the
Loggers lost two in a row
by a combined 67 points,
capped by a 67-40 loss Sat-
urday afternoon to Toledo at
the Pendleton Convention
Center.
The Toledo Boomers
could have been the Toledo
“Bombers” in their win, as
they were 14-for-36 from
the 3-point line. Jaydn Span-
gler and Mason McAlpine
were a combined 9-for-
21, while the Loggers were
5-of-25 from the arc.
Knappa was also miss-
ing junior Eli Takalo, who
had been ejected from the
loss to Columbia Chris-
tian the day before and was
forced to miss Saturday’s
game. Timber Engblom led
the Loggers in scoring with
13 points. Ty Vanderburg
scored 11 points with seven
rebounds.
Knights top Knappa
A nightmare third quarter
for Knappa ended the Log-
gers’ bid for a state title Fri-
day afternoon, as Columbia
Christian topped Knappa
81-41 in a Final Four game
of the 2A boys basketball
state tournament.
Knappa’s return to the
Pendleton Convention Cen-
ter was not a fun one.
The Knights led 18-5
after one quarter, and it only
got worse from there in the
fourth meeting of the year
between the two Northwest
League powers.
Knappa was still within
striking distance at halftime,
trailing 36-23, but Logger
comeback hopes fell apart in
the third period.
Eli Takalo scored the
fi rst points of the second
half, but Columbia Christian
reeled off a 21-4 run over
the next few minutes for a
commanding 57-29 lead.
And that wasn’t the worst
of it for the Loggers, who
lost Takalo to an ejection
and Joe Ramvick to his fi fth
foul in the third period. Ty
Vanderburg fouled out in the
fourth quarter.
Ben Gregg scored 27
points for the Knights,
whose biggest lead was 43
points. Timber Engblom
was Knappa’s Moda Player
of the Game, with 15 points
and three steals.
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