By PAUL MATLI
The Astorian
Familiar sounds filled the gyms of Seaside, Knappa and Astoria: whistles, squeaks of basketball shoes and the swishes of balls going through the baskets.
Winter sports season officially tipped off Wednesday and Thursday nights in Clatsop County with three high schools in action. Seaside boys and Knappa girls and boys basketball teams had their home openers on Wednesday night, while the Seaside girls and both Astoria programs began their season on Thursday.
Overall, the results weren’t exactly favorable for the local teams, but there was still some good to be seen that went beyond the boxscores.
Astoria boys victorious
In a spicy nonleague matchup, the Astoria boys came out on top of Ilwaco High School 54-45.
The Fishermen controlled the action for most of the way and were able to stave off a couple of flurries from Ilwaco in the second half.
Quin Gohr had a strong game with 19 points and was the only member of Astoria to hit the double figure mark. Despite Gohr having an explosive night, the Fishermen saw seven other players score besides him.
The 6-foot-8 sophomore Magnus Kryzanek was the second leading scorer with eight points; Cooper Jones had seven; Mulu Starr-Hallow had six; Sawyer Rochon had a big three pointer for his only points; and Hudson Hill and Carter Martin each scored one basket.
This was a good win for the Fishermen and they will have a legitimate test against Banks on Saturday.
Third quarter woes spoil coaching debut
Everything looked good for the Astoria girls basketball team in the first half.
Their standout sophomore Kyah Gohr was cooking with gas, and their role players looked like they were finding themselves. But a bad third quarter spoiled their opening night and the young Fishermen fell in the debut of head coach Jordan Ax.
Entering her second season Gohr put on quite the first half show as she scored the Fishermen’s first 17 points and halfway through the second quarter was outscoring Yamhill-Carlton, 17-11.
The Fishermen took a 25-20 lead into halftime only to see that lead vanish as they were outscored 17-3 in the third quarter.
After being down by nine points entering the fourth quarter, Astoria made a comeback. Behind a fourth quarter barrage by sophomore Maggie Falleur, the Fishermen pulled to within one, with the score at 43-42 with about 90 seconds to play. Though the Fishermen had two chances to take the lead, they weren’t able to generate a good shot and the Tigers made their free throws to ice the game.
With just one senior playing heavy minutes, the Fishermen are one of the youngest teams in 4A and it will take some time to come together. Freshmen Zoey Wright and Kilee Svensen played a lot of minutes Thursday night and look to be rotation players for Astoria moving forward.
They have another difficult nonleague game with Banks on Saturday, before embarking on a stretch that features The Dalles, Cascade and defending state champion Stayton.
Gohr led the Fishermen with 21 points, Falleur chipped in 11, Wright scored five in her Fishermen debut and senior Kate Barendse had four.
Knappa girls impress in first half
Wednesday evening featured a star-studded matchup to open the season between 2A No. 4 Knappa and 3A No. 6 Valley Catholic.
The Loggers were fresh off their second consecutive state playoff bid, while the Valiants were looking to live up to their high preseason ranking in 3A. This game was a tale of two halves.
After a longer than normal wait, the Loggers came out firing. An opening three by senior Dahlia Koeppen got the Loggers off to a hot start. Behind a strong defensive first half, the Loggers led 21-13 after the opening 16 minutes.
That lead wouldn’t last long as the Valiants came out like gangbusters to start the third quarter. Valley Catholic intensified their defensive pressure and held Knappa to just four points in the third quarter. After trailing by eight to start the third, the Valiants rallied to tie things at 27 going into the fourth.
The fourth quarter was where Valley Catholic turned on the jets on both ends of the floor. Senior Brooke Wilson erupted for eight of her 14 points in the fourth quarter and Calista Everson controlled the last eight minutes on both ends. Everson was in a battle with Knappa’s standout point guard Mylie Lempea much of the night and both had strong games.
Everson had 12 points and Lempea led the Loggers with 11 points. In total, the Loggers scored just 10 points in the second half en route to their 44-31 loss.
Valley Catholic boys dazzle
The nightcap in Knappa saw local fans witness a show, but it was by the Loggers’ opponent.
In a battle of top five teams in their respective divisions, the Valiants of Valley Catholic overcame a foul-filled first quarter to score 83 points in their victory. The Valiants put up 48 points in the first half and ended up cruising to an 83-58 win, spoiling opening night for the Loggers.
The story of the boys game came down to all of the fouling that occurred. In just the first two minutes of game action, there were eight combined fouls, four by each team. This trend continued throughout much of the first half and it forced both coaches to go deeper into their bench than initially intended.
Though the fouls kept Knappa close, the Loggers struggled to generate a ton of good offense against the size and length of Valley Catholic.
With most of their team returning, the Loggers enter 2025 with high expectations and will play a very difficult nonleague schedule.
Warrenton falls to Clatskanie
Warrenton basketball also suffered an 0-2 night as both teams fell to 2A Clatskanie.
The boys new look roster lost 56-45 to the Tigers, while the girls hung tough against a very talented Tigers squad, 38-23.
With graduations by the McGrorty twins, Odin Wilson, Brian Xochipitecatl, Josh Baker and Calvin Olson, the Warrenton boys enter 2025 with a mostly new rotation. The early season will be head coach Kevin Gramson and his staff figuring out which pieces fit together.
The girls are hoping a strong senior class will lead them to more success than they had last season when the Warriors won just one game. Anything more than that will show that the program is heading in the right direction.
Seaside boys downed by Banks
The Seagulls started slow on Wednesday night as they scored just 13 points in the first half.
Despite being down by double digits, the Seagulls roared back with an explosive third quarter to tie things up, but saw the talented Banks Braves hold them off for the 58-47 victory.
Banks came in ranked No. 9 in the first 3A coaches poll, and put on quite the performance. Freshmen duo Ryder Powell and Mason King were impressive as the background acts to the star performance of junior Fisher King. King was the standout of the night for the Braves as he hit multiple big shots in the fourth quarter. Powell made his presence felt with a thundering dunk in his first varsity game.
Returning starter Hayden Halsen led Seaside in scoring with 16 points. He was joined in double figures by senior Slatter Martinez, who had 12.
Seaside girls fall in top five showdown
Who says the first game of the season can’t be a potential state matchup?
With their sights set on not only another Cowapa league title, but also a deep run at Forest Grove, the Seaside girls made the long trip to Prineville for the Crook County Invite. The Seagulls want to test themselves against some of 4A’s best to see how good they truly are.
The Seagulls enter 2025 ranked No. 6 in the coaches poll and their first game of the season was against the third place team from a year ago.
The Baker Bulldogs came in ranked No. 5 in 4A and are one of the only teams fully equipped to knockout juggernaut Stayton in March. With their combination of size, shooting, defense and coaching the Bulldogs are for real and Seaside played with them much of the way.
Though the Seagulls came up short in their 52-43 loss, they showed themselves worthy contenders in defeat.