CLATSKANIE – The Portland Adventist Cougars and their fans need to enjoy the Northwest League championship because it’s the only basketball title they’ll win this year.

The Warrenton Warriors and their fans will have to wait another year for their first league championship since 1981, but that No. 1 seed to the state playoffs is still up for grabs.

The Warriors let the title slip through their hands Monday night when the Cougars scored a fast-paced, 72-68 win over Warrenton in the Northwest League boys basketball title game. Portland Adventist – which will not attend the state tournament this year – went out in a blaze of glory, holding off the Warriors down the stretch for their second straight league title.

The Cougars went to the state playoffs last year, but pulled out midway through the tournament because their religious beliefs prevent them from playing from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.

The Northwest League’s athletic directors voted not to send the Cougars to state this year, to prevent a repeat of PAA’s decision to pull out of the state playoffs last season.

That means the Warriors still have a shot at the league’s No. 1 seed to state, which they will vie for Thursday night at Astoria against Portland Christian (9:30 p.m., KKEE 1230 AM).

Should the Warriors lose that one, Warrenton will still get a shot at playing for the league’s No. 2 seed to state.

“I’m hoping that we look at it as something we can build on for Thursday,” said Warrenton coach Gary McBride. “We can say, ‘these are the things that we have to work on and these are the things we have to do,’ and then go do them.

“I thought we did a good job tonight,” he said. “We just had some lapses where we didn’t offensive board, and we had some lapses where we threw some bad passes.”

The Cougars held an early 7-0 lead, before the Warriors rallied to take a 13-11 lead after one quarter.

A pair of offensive rebound baskets by Portland Adventist’s Brian Farthing helped the Cougs grab a 20-15 lead in the second quarter, but the Warriors responded with a 10-0 run for a 27-26 lead at the break.

Things were looking good for the Warriors early in the third, as a pair of 3-pointers from Nate McBride helped Warrenton to a 39-32 advantage midway through the period.

That’s when the Cougars got into their fastbreak mode, scored a few baskets in transition and Trevor Wart knocked down a 3-pointer to help Portland Adventist take a 42-39 lead.

Wart also scored on a lay-up, drew the foul and hit the free throw for a three-point play. His free throw was the first of 18 straight successful foul shots by the Cougars, who hit 14-of-16 free throws in the fourth quarter, 24-of-30 for the game.

“Such is life,” coach McBride said. “We got into their pace a little, and we just didn’t make good decisions in the open court. We didn’t make the diagonal cuts, and consequently we threw some passes away. You’re not going get into a rhythm against their defense.”

He added, “We were terrible on the rebounding. They killed us on the offensive boards. That was the difference, if you ask me. We did not board well at all.”

Warrenton pulled to within 69-68 following a 3-pointer from Zach Gantenbein with 51 seconds left in the game, but Casey Dietrich hit a pair of free throws and Greg Nakashima added a foul shot for the final margin.

Gainer and Dietrich each had 15 points for the Cougars, while Wart and Farthing had 10 points apiece.

McBride led Warrenton with 18, followed by Gantenbein with 17 and Daniel Thompson with 13 off the bench.

Girls

Scappoose 68, Astoria 50It was only a four-point difference over the final three quarters, but a 24-10 run in the first period by Scappoose was the difference in the game, as the Indians posted a 68-50 win at Astoria in a Cowapa League girls basketball game Monday.

Nikki Culver scored 20 points and dished out six assists for the Fishermen, who finish the league season with a 3-7 mark. Astoria will play at Seaside Thursday, with the winner to face the winner of a Rainier-Banks playoff for the league’s final seed to the state playoffs.

Jennifer Pass added 16 points and five rebounds and Juliann Nelson pulled down four boards, with three steals and three assists as the Astoria seniors played well in their final home contest.

Jenna Ball and Jehnna Baldwin scored 18 points apiece to lead Scappoose, which finishes 8-2 in league play.

Rainier 57, Seaside 42SEASIDE – As Seaside coach Jill Conklin said, “Rainier just has our number.”

The Columbians posted another win over the Gulls Monday night in a Cowapa League girls game, 57-42.

Rainier finishes in the third-place spot in the standings (4-6, with a tie-breaker advantage over the Gulls), and will host a playoff game with Banks Thursday.

Sara Brooks poured in 18 points and Christy Boyd added 12 for the Columbians, who held the Gulls to a total of nine points over the second and third periods.

Seaside (4-6) was led by Derai Darling’s 13 points, with 10 from Ashley Flukinger.