Rapid Fire on the hardwood

Basketball heats up as season winds down

Friday was an intense day on the hardwood for local teams. Seaside saw a player hit a milestone achievement, the Knappa girls were playing for the league title and the Astoria boys team successfully avoided a trap game.

Seaside senior strikes gold

The 1,000 point club.

This is what every high school baller, boy or girl, is hoping to one day hit in their high school career. Many try, but few succeed.

Seaside basketball saw one of its own do it on Friday night.

Senior wing Carly Corder broke into the thousand point club with a basket early in the third quarter. With the senior already cooking, she made a layup that sent the bench into a frenzy. Her 18 points helped lead Seaside past Marist Catholic in a matchup of two top five teams.

After being down 17-10 at the first quarter, Seaside physically wore down the Spartans as they outscored them 42-22 over the last three quarters to win yet another statement game in 4A.

Corder was joined in double figures by senior wing Lili Miller, who had 17 points.

Tuesday the Seagulls are set to start round three of Cowapa League play with a game against Astoria.

Astoria boys survive hostile territory

Tillamook gym has a reputation of being a difficult place for opposing teams and the Astoria boys got a taste of that Friday night.

Fresh off a big victory against 4A No. 3 Molalla, the Fishermen survived a classic game against the Cheesemakers, 63-60. Though Tillamook was just 5-14 on the year and 1-7 in league play coming in, they were coming in hot after nearly knocking off St. Helens the previous game on their home court.

Astoria getting out of Tillamook with a victory is all that matters to a team that looks squarely in the playoffs. At No. 10 with three games to go, the Fishermen are hoping for another quality win against Scappoose and St. Helens to help their RPI even more.

Tuesday will be round three of the Clatsop Clash and the Fishermen have a chance to sweep Seaside for the first time in many years.

Knappa boys cap off another 20-win season

For the second year in a row the Knappa boys cracked the 20-win barrier.

A 56-49 win over Clatskanie on Friday night locked the boys into second place in the Northwest League and moved them to 20-5 overall.

Next up for the Loggers is a league playoff match against Nestucca on Wednesday night at Logger gym. A victory in that one will see the Loggers face off against undefeated Portland Christian once again.

Knappa girls clipped at the line

Knappa and Clatskanie girls delivered another classic bout Friday night.

After the Loggers prevailed in double overtime the first time, Clatskanie struck back in this one. The 42-40 victory for the Tigers ended their rivals’ hopes of a regular season title. Nestucca will be the regulation season champions with a 13-1 league record, while Knappa will be second with a 12-2 record.

There will be no rest for the Loggers as they will once again be playing the Tigers Wednesday night in round one of the league playoffs. The winner will go on to play Nestucca. That game is set to begin at 7 p.m. from Knappa gym.