Portland Christian ends Clatskanie's season

The Clatskanie varsity girls basketball team ended the regular season on a high note with a narrow, two point victory over Knappa on Friday, Feb. 13. However, with postseason seeding on the line Wednesday, Feb. 18, the Tigers fell 36-29 to the same Knappa team and had to settle for the third seed, rather than the second, in the tournament. This forced the girls to take on Portland Christian on Saturday, Feb. 21. Though the Tigers led the Royals 18-16 entering the second quarter, Portland Christian would take a 34-30 lead into halftime. Clatskanie would narrow the deficit to one entering the fourth quarter, but Portland Christian would pull away by outscoring Clatskanie 15-10 in the final frame to bring the final score to 63-57. Portland Christian had eight transition points to Clatskanie's four, but Clatskanie had 13 points off turnovers, compared with seven for Portland Christian. Clatskanie also had more second-chance points than Portland Christian with a 7-5 edge, but the real difference in the game came from the free-throw line, as the Royals went to the stripe 20 times compared with only six for the Tigers. Portland Christian was able to cash in 12 points from the free-throw line, compared with only three points by Clatskanie.

Senior Joey Sizemore led the team in all five categories, scoring 25 points, grabbing 16 rebounds, dishing six assists, creating an impressive four blocks, and managing two steals. Junior Olivia George also contributed 18 points and nine rebounds, while senior Mya Jensen scored 10 points of her own. McKinsey Doyle added three rebounds, an assist, and a steal, and Bethany Hagen and Caselyn Thompson both contributed two points each in the loss.