Warrenton wins, but Astoria falls and Seaside has a tough time against TillamookCORBETT – The Warrenton boys basketball team certainly had to overcome some adversity in a Northwest League matchup Friday at Corbett.

It was a lengthy road trip to the Columbia Gorge school for coach Gary McBride’s young and less-experienced squad, which consisted of just six players available and only one senior, forward Daniel Thompson.

The Cardinals (4-5 league, 9-9 overall) had four senior starters among their eight-man rotating lineup for coach Roy Altman, along with a loud and noisy home crowd. After leading the entire contest, Warrenton nearly let their advantage slip away when Corbett closed to within two points in the fourth quarter.

KIM ERSKINE – For The Daily Astorian

Seaside’s Bryan Robison (32) and Perry Broderick (24) guard Tillamook players at Friday’s basketball game in Seaside.

Led by junior forward Nate McBride, who had an outstanding performance while scoring a career-high 33 points, Warrenton outscored Corbett 18-8 in the last six minutes to secure a 65-53 win.

It marked the seventh straight win for Warrenton (8-1, 15-2 overall), which leads the Northwest League West Division standings. The Warriors, ranked No. 7 in the Class 2A Oregon Coaches Poll, continue their road trip and they will play at Clatskanie Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. It’s a key game for the Warriors, who are hoping to get revenge against the Tigers, who won 67-58 Jan. 14 in Warrenton.

“Corbett is a tough place to play at and Roy Altman does a great job with his kids, who were very well prepared for this game,” said Gary McBride. “We had some foul trouble, so that made it difficult, but these kids played tough defense, while rebounding well and they also executed our offensive game plan pretty good.”

Nate McBride scored eight points early to help lift Warrenton into a 16-10 lead after the first quarter and the Warriors increased the margin to 32-24 at halftime. McBride poured in 10 in the third, which was the only quarter that Corbett outscored Warrenton (15-13), but the Warriors continued leading after three, 45-39.

Corbett’s Kyle Kinney hit two consecutive 3-pointers to trim the deficit to 47-45 with 6:25 remaining. A 7-0 Warrior run upped the lead to 54-45. Junior guard Sean Beecham sank two free throws to give Warrenton a double digit advantage at 58-47 with 2:51 left.

Corbett’s Joe Winters then fired in consecutive 3-pointers to make it 58-53 with 50 seconds left. Some key free throws by Nick Bjork, Brandon Engebretson and a driving layup in the lane by McBride helped Warrenton stop an improbable Cardinal comeback.

“We’re playing our best basketball of the season and we have a big game against Clatskanie that we’re really focusing on now,” said Nate McBride, who was playing in his first game at Corbett. “We didn’t play very well in the first game with them, so we’re sure looking forward to getting some revenge and hopefully coming up with a win there on Tuesday.

“Our goal is to just win one game at a time,” he said. “I think we have the potential to go a long way in the playoffs and it sure would be nice to make it to the state tournament and maybe win a couple of games there.”

Engebretson, who scored 13 points, led Warrenton in rebounding with 12 and McBride had 11. Bjork, the lone Warrior reserve, came off the bench to contribute eight points, six rebounds and three assists. Beecham had a team-high six assists and scored four points. Zach Gantenbein scored seven points and had five assists.

Rainier 58, Astoria 41Astoria had trouble stopping Rainier’s Big Three, while the Fishermen struggled from the field in a 58-41 loss to the Columbians in a Cowapa League boys basketball game Friday night.

Broc Coffman, Kyle Jackson and Kevin Nagunst combined for 49 of the Columbians’ 58 points, and Rainier connected on 21-of-27 shots from the field to pull even with the Fishermen (3-3) in the league standings.

The two teams were tied 11-11 after one quarter, but the Columbians outscored Astoria 47-30 over the final three quarters.

Coffman led all scorers with 18 points, followed by Jackson with 16 and Nagunst with 15.

Nagunst also pulled down seven rebounds and Jackson handed out six assists in addition to going 10-of-10 at the free throw line.

Anthony Hill led Astoria with 10 points, with teammates Dan Kennell and Will Kancharla adding 10 apiece.

The Fishermen play at Tillamook Tuesday.

Tillamook 60, Seaside 40

SEASIDE – The Seaside Gulls started the game the same way they finished it – struggling to put the ball in the basket.

The Gulls (2-4 in league) had just two field goals in the first quarter and no field goals in the final period, as Tillamook left Seaside with a 60-40 Cowapa League boys basketball win.

Seaside struggled offensively, and didn’t have an answer defensively for the Cheesemakers’ Jason Hartford, who scored a game-high 25 points.

Hartford also had seven rebounds, but there weren’t many rebounds to be had. Tillamook was 23-of-39 from the field, and outrebounded the Gulls 25-10.

The Cheesemakers held an early 11-0 lead, before the Gulls finally scored with 2:37 left in the first quarter.

Tillamook pushed the lead to 21-7 early in the second, but three straight 3-point baskets from Seaside – two from Vito Cerelli and another from Jon Wickersham – sliced the Cheesemakers’ lead to 25-19 at halftime.

But whatever hopes the Gulls had for an upset disappeared in the third quarter, as Hartford scored the first three baskets of the period, leading Tillamook on a 21-8 run.

The one positive for Seaside – the Gulls were 16-of-17 at the free throw line, including 14-of-15 in the fourth quarter. Stewart Potter was 7-of-8 in the final period to finish with nine points. Cerelli had 10 points to lead Seaside, which plays at Banks Tuesday.

Jewell 56, Heritage Christian 54JEWELL – Jewell won for the second time in three games Friday night, as the Jays held off Heritage Christian in a Casco League thriller, 56-54.

“It was a great finish – right down to the wire,” said Jewell coach Dean Johnston, whose team improves to 4-12 overall. “It was a super team effort.”

Heritage had defeated Jewell earlier in the season, 51-50.

Tony Busch led the Jays with 19 points, followed by Jesse Chronister with 12 and Cameron Davis with 10.

Jewell hosts Life Christian Tuesday in the Jays’ final home game of the season.

Ilwaco 51, Stevenson 43ILWACO, Wash. – Ilwaco trailed 23-21 at halftime, but the Fishermen broke open a close game in the second half on their way to a 51-43 win over Stevenson in a Trico League boys basketball game Saturday night.

Ilwaco (11-5 overall) outscored Stevenson 30-20 in the second half.

Kyle Kaino scored 16 points to lead the Fishermen, while Dustin Starr added 11 and Andy Hudkins pulled down 13 rebounds. Ilwaco plays Tuesday in a boys and girls doubleheader at White Salmon, with the boys game at 5:45 p.m.

Lake Quinault 50, Naselle 45AMANDA PARK, Wash. – Naselle went cold from the field, and that cost the Comets in a Pacific B League boys basketball game Saturday night, as Lake Quinault posted a 50-45 win over Naselle.

The Comets managed a late rally, but a 28-percent effort from the field was too much to overcome in the loss.

Naselle finished in a fifth place tie with South Bend at 9-7 in the league standings. The two teams held a coin flip Sunday to decide fifth and sixth place, with the Indians winning the toss. The Comets will play at the Central B League’s No. 3 seed Friday at 7 p.m.

Sean Houghton led Naselle with 18 points Saturday, while teammate Evan Hendrickson added 17 points with four steals.

In the league meeting Sunday, Houghton was selected as the Pacific B League’s most valuable player, while teammate Jordan Petrovich was selected first-team.