A10
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2019
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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Astoria
golfers
open season
at OES
McCollum
scores 35 to lead
Trail Blazers
over Clippers
By JOE REEDY
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — CJ McCollum
scored 35 points, Jusuf Nurkic and
Damian Lillard added 20 apiece and the
Portland Trail Blazers snapped the Los
Angeles Clippers’ fi ve-game winning
streak with a 125-104 victory Tuesday
night.
McCollum, who was 12 of 21 from
the fi eld and made six 3-pointers, took
control of the game during the fourth
quarter as the Trail Blazers broke
things open with a 21-5 run. Portland
led 95-94 with 8:50 remaining before
going on a 15-3 spurt that included 13
straight points by McCollum, including
three 3-pointers.
The Clippers — who were on the
end of back-to-back games — led for
most of the fi rst 30 minutes before the
Trail Blazers went on an 11-3 run to go
up 75-68 with 4:55 remaining in the
third quarter. McCollum and Lillard
completed the run with 3s. Los Angeles
slowly crept back and was within one in
the fourth before Portland took control.
Montrezl Harrell had 22 points and
Lou Williams added 18 for the Clip-
pers, who had won eight of their previou
10.
There were four lead changes until
the Clippers scored eight straight points
to take a 19-12 lead with 4:08 remain-
ing in the fi rst quarter. They would be
up by as many as eight (43-35) mid-
way through the second quarter until
the Blazers went on a late run to close
the quarter and get within 52-50 at
halftime.
UP NEXT: TRAIL BLAZERS
• Portland Trail Blazers (41-26)
at New Orleans Pelicans (30-40)
• Friday, 5 p.m. TV: NSNW
The Daily Astorian
KNAPPA’S
ENGBLOM NAMED
FIRST-TEAM ALL-STATE
Krissy Barendse-Goodman
Knappa senior Timber Engblom capped his high school basketball career by being
selected 2A fi rst-team all-state.
The Daily Astorian
ne fi nal award from the 2018-19
basketball season for two Knappa
Loggers this week, as senior Timber
Engblom and junior Eli Takalo were both
selected to the Class 2A all-state team.
Engblom was a fi rst-team selection,
while Takalo was named third team.
Earlier, Engblom was Knappa’s lone
selection to the 2A all-state tournament
squad, the only senior on the fi rst team.
Engblom joined Columbia Chris-
tian sophomores Ben Gregg and Elijah
Munyan (both unanimous selections),
junior Payton Richardson of Western
Christian, and Toledo junior Conner
Marchant on the fi rst team.
O
AP Photo/John Locher
St. Mary’s celebrates after defeating Gonzaga in Las Vegas.
Saint Mary’s knocks off No. 1
Gonzaga 60-47 for WCC title
By JOHN MARSHALL
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — Saint Mary’s ended the
nation’s longest winning streak and Gonza-
ga’s six-year reign as West Coast Confer-
ence Tournament champions, grinding out
a 60-47 victory in the title game on Tues-
day night.
Saint Mary’s (22-11) all but shut down
the nation’s highest-scoring team by slowing
the game and forcing Gonzaga to grind out
possessions instead of playing fast and free.
The Gaels held Gonzaga’s leading scorer
Rui Hachimura in check and limited the
Zags (30-3) to 2-of-17 shooting from 3-point
range to end the nation’s longest winning
streak at 21 games.
Gonzaga’s 18-game WCC tournament
winning streak, dating to the 2012 title game,
also came to an end, and so too could its bid
for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Instead of waiting for Selection Sunday,
Saint Mary’s left no doubt by earning its fi rst
trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2017
with its fi rst WCC title in nine years.
Jordan Ford had 17 points and Tanner
Krebs scored 13 for the Gaels.
Brandon Clarke led Gonzaga with 16
points and Hachimura was held to nine,
nearly 11 under his average.
Gonzaga dominated the WCC during the
regular season, fi nishing 16-0 while winning
by a conference-record 27 points per game.
Two of those wins came against Saint
Mary’s: 66-55 in Moraga and 94-46 in
Spokane.
The Bulldogs cruised into their 20th
straight title game under coach Mark Few —
and 22nd overall — by crushing Pepperdine
100-74 in Monday’s semifi nals.
Saint Mary’s controlled the pace in round
three against Gonzaga, bogging down the
Zags’ offense and forcing them into diffi cult
shots. Gonzaga struggled to get anything
to fall, open or not, scoring a season-low
24 points by halftime and missing six of its
seven 3-point attempts.
The Zags also had a hard time contain-
ing Krebs. The junior, who averages 8.9
points per game, had 13 by halftime to push
the Gaels to a 27-24 lead. Saint Mary’s did it
with second-leading scorer Malik Fitts lim-
ited to less than a minute because of foul
trouble.
Saint Mary’s continued to bog down
Gonzaga and Fitts scored eight quick points
to open the second half. The Gaels extended
the lead to 48-41 with 7½ minutes left and
answered every time Gonzaga tried to make
a run.
Saint Mary’s played arguably its best
game of the season at the best possible time.
Now it’s on to the NCAA Tournament.
Gonzaga was never able to speed the
Gaels up and rev up their high-scoring
offense, showing a weakness that could be
exploited in the NCAA Tournament.
Krissy Barendse-Goodman
Eli Takalo was named third team all-state
following his junior season with the
Loggers.
The Astoria girls golf team opened the
spring season Monday in a tournament
hosted by Oregon Episcopal, at Broad-
moor Golf Course in Portland.
Team scores were not available.
The Lady Fishermen had fi ve golf-
ers competing, led by senior Samantha
Hemsley with a 102.
Jenna Travers followed with a 112,
and the Astoria scores were rounded out
by Katie Boutin (140), Xochitl Perez
(149) and Annalyse Steele (151).
Boutin and Perez were playing their
fi rst 18-hole rounds.
Astoria is scheduled to play at North
Marion’s invitational next Monday at
Langdon Farms.
SCOREBOARD
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Baseball — Knappa at Warrenton, 4 p.m.
Softball — Gladstone at Astoria, 5 p.m.; Seaside at Molalla,
4:30 p.m.
THURSDAY
Baseball — Astoria at Gladstone, 5 p.m.; Naselle at
Knappa, 4 p.m.
Softball — Astoria at Clatskanie, 4:30 p.m.
FRIDAY
Baseball — North Marion at Astoria, 5 p.m.; Nestucca at
Warrenton, 4 p.m.
Softball — Seaside at Gladstone, 5 p.m.; Nestucca at War-
renton, 4 p.m.
Track — Astoria at Cotton Invitational, 4:30 p.m.; Seaside
at Grant, 4:30 p.m.
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DAILYASTORIANSPORTS