Tigers varsity boys basketball has split to end regular season

The Clatskanie Tigers boys varsity basketball team closed out its regular season last Friday with a 53-47 home loss against Knappa. The loss snapped a two-game win streak for Clatskanie. Earlier in the week, the Tigers defeated the Gaston Greyhounds 55-44 on the road. Clatskanie jumped out to a 13-8 to end the first quarter, but Gaston inched back a little in the second to make it only a three-point lead at halftime. The Tigers outscored the Greyhounds 17-5 in the third quarter to take a sizable, 15-point lead going into the fourth. Though Gaston cut into the lead once again, the deficit was too great, resulting in the 11-point victory for Clatskanie. Gaston had six transition points to Clatskanie's four, but the Tigers had 12 second-chance points to Clatskanie's six. Leading the scoring for Clatskanie was junior Gunner Engen, who had 27 points and a team-high 10 rebounds as well. Senior Zach Mollenhour also had double-digit scoring with 11 points and co-led the team, along with senior Bode Shulda, in steals with two and, along with junior Michael Simpson, blocks with two.

The victory would be the last of the regular season for the Tigers, as they fell 53-47 to Knappa last Friday, Feb. 13, during senior night. Clatskanie jumped out to a 15-7 lead to end the first quarter, but Knappa countered by outscoring Clatskanie 11-6 in the second to make it a four-point lead at halftime. The teams both scored 13 points in the third quarter, but Knappa outscored Clatskanie 22-13 in the fourth to secure the six-point victory. Knappa had 10 transition points to Clatskanie's two, as well as four second-chance points to Clatskanie's two. Engen led the team in scoring once again with 21 points to go along with his team-high six rebounds and three assists. Mollenhour also recorded three assists for the Tigers, and Shulda also pulled down six rebounds. Simpson led the team in steals with four and, like Shulda, had a lone block to lead the team. Simpson also managed to score 11 points in the loss. Clatskanie (17-10) enters the postseason Friday, Feb. 20, as it will travel to Portland to take on Columbia Christian at 7:30 p.m.