The Knappa boys basketball team booked a spot in the 2A Northwest League championship game with a playoff win over Nestucca on Wednesday.

With Knappa High School’s all-time leading scorer, Robert “Pudgy” Hunt, in the building, the Loggers put on a good show for the packed Logger gym and emerged with a 45-40 win over Nestucca. The win likely clinched a spot for the team in the 2A state basketball tournament.

The first two quarters were virtually even, with Knappa taking a 23-22 lead into the break. The Loggers came out strong in the third quarter, only to see the Bobcats answer with a run of their own. Like the Loggers have done so often this season, though, they wore down their opponent throughout the second half, building a nine-point lead late in the fourth quarter and hanging on for the victory.

Knappa saw a balanced scoring effort, as six players scored at least four points. Josh Peterson was the leading scorer with 11, Oliver Stevens and Henry Oien had nine, Jasper Teague had eight and Travis Tadei and Wyatt Jacobson each had four.

The Loggers, 20-6, now will travel to Vernonia on Saturday for the league championship game against Portland Christian, 23-2. Tipoff is at 6 p.m.

Warrenton boys beat Riverdale

The Warrenton boys claimed a 55-35 league playoff victory against Riverdale High School on Tuesday but fell Thursday to Neah-Kah-Nie in a second league playoff game.

Tuesday’s game against Riverdale was the third time the two teams had met this season, and the teams had split their previous meetings. The expectation was that the third game would be close, but the Warriors had other ideas. The Warriors led from the opening tap and left no doubt about the game’s outcome.

The victory allowed Warrenton to move on in the 3A Coastal Range League playoffs to the Thursday game against Neah-Kah-Nie. Once again, the two teams had split their regular season matches, but the Pirates prevailed on Thursday, 55-49. Now, the Warriors, with a 15-11 record and a No. 20 ranking from the Oregon School Activities Association, will have to wait to see if they qualify for the 20-team state tournament field.