Fishermen soar over Comets

Courtesy of The Daily Astorian

LORI ASSA — The Daily AstorianAstoria’s Brendan Landwehr moves quickly against Naselle’s Conor Smith in Wednesday night’s game.

Win No. 7 in a row was never in doubt for the Astoria boys basketball team Wednesday night, as the Fishermen cruised to a 66-30 win over Naselle in a first round game of the Vince Dulcich Tournament.Astoria's Andy Murray made his first start of the season and responded with a team-high 10 points to go with seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.Brian Anderson drained a pair of 3-pointers to score 10 points off the bench for Astoria, which plays Friday (8 p.m.) vs. the winner of tonight's Banks vs. Knappa game.Murray had the Fish off and running in Wednesday's win, as the senior point guard connected on two short-range jump shots to open the game.Nick Alfonse scored twice off two quick turnovers, and the Comets trailed 8-0 before they even attempted a shot.Anderson hit his first 3-pointer later in the quarter for a 15-3 lead, and Murray scored on a fastbreak late in the second period to give Astoria its biggest lead of the half at 40-16.Astoria's Brendan Landwehr had a pair of baskets to key a 12-0 run in the third quarter, while Thomas Christensen and Gabe Davis both had highlight reel plays in the final period to give the Fishermen (7-2 overall) an eventual 64-27 advantage.Astoria's harassing defense forced 28 Naselle turnovers, which included seven steals for Josimar Macareno.The Comets' Kyle Burkhalter led all scorers with 13 points