THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2015
SPORTS
7A
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Seaside players and fans watch as a Maddi Utti, not pictured, shoots a 3 in the second quarter.
Gulls force 40 turnovers in 60-44 win
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — Two of the top girls basket-
ball programs in the Lower Columbia region
met on the court Wednesday night in Seaside,
where the Lady Gulls hosted the Fishermen of
Ilwaco in a nonleague basketball border-clash.
And for the second year in a row, Seaside
scored the victory, as a 20-4 run by the Gulls
broke a 34-34 tie in the third quarter, leading to
a 60-44 Seaside win.
The Lady Gulls are gunning for their third
straight Cowapa League title this year —
along with a third straight trip to the Class 4A
state tournament; while Ilwaco is one of the
front-runners for a state championship at the
Washington 2B level.
But the defensive heat applied by the Gulls
was a little too hot to handle for the visitors
from Ilwaco.
Less than a week after forcing 36 turnovers
in a win over Liberty, the Gulls forced 40 turn-
overs in Wednesday’s win.
The Fishermen helped Seaside’s cause with
numerous unforced errors.
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Ilwaco was going toe-to-toe with the Gulls for
nearly 2 1/2 quarters, as a 3-pointer by sopho-
more Makenzie Kaech helped the Fishermen
pull into a 34-34 tie midway through the third
quarter.
But that’s about where the wheels came off
for Ilwaco.
Turnover after turnover led to layup after
layup for Seaside’s Maddi Utti, who scored 14
of her game-high 25 points in the third peri-
od to give the Gulls a 48-36 lead after three
quarters.
The rally continued into the fourth, when
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Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
run.
Seaside’s Maddi Utti, No. 25, puts up a shot under heavy pressure from Ilwaco players during
Sydney Villegas scored off a steal, and Jetta the third quarter of the basketball game against Ilwaco at Seaside High School Wednesday.
,GHXH¿QDOO\FDSSHGWKHUXQZLWKDOD\XS See more photos of the game online at www.dailyastorian.com
to give Seaside a commanding 56-38 lead.
Utti — who had 36 points in last week’s win
over Liberty — had plenty of help Wednesday,
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Ideue had back-to-back 3-pointers in the sec-
ond period, snapping a 24-24 tie.
Kaech scored 22 points for Ilwaco, which
held an early 10-4 lead.
The Gulls have now forced 76 turnovers in
two games, as they improve to 2-0.
SCOREBOARD
PREP SCHEDULE
TODAY
Boys Basketball — Ocosta at Ilwaco, 7 p.m.
Wrestling — Warrenton at Vernonia, 5 p.m.
FRIDAY
Girls Basketball — Astoria at Elmira, 7 p.m.;
Seaside at Cascade, 6 p.m.; Neah-Kah-Nie at
Warrenton, 6:15 p.m.; Knappa at Heppner Clas-
sic, TBA; Jewell at Crosshill Christian, 5:30 p.m.;
Chief Leschi at Ilwaco, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball — Astoria at R.A. Long, 7
p.m.; Seaside at Cascade, 7:45 p.m.; Neah-
Kah-Nie at Warrenton, 8 p.m.; Knappa at Hep-
pner Classic, TBA; Jewell at Crosshill Christian,
7:15 p.m.; Chief Leschi at Ilwaco, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY
Girls Basketball — Astoria at Cottage Grove,
5 p.m.; Warrenton at Jefferson, 2:30 p.m.; Knap-
pa at Heppner Classic, TBA
Boys Basketball — Warrenton at Jefferson,
4:15 p.m.; Knappa at Heppner Classic, TBA
Swimming — Andrew Nygaard Invitational,
Astoria AC, 10 a.m.
Wrestling — Warrenton Tournament, 10 a.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Seaside’s Paige Ideue, No. 5, passes to An-
nuka Brown during the game Wednesday.
Seaside’s Whitney Westerholm, No. 24, goes after a loose ball while Ilwaco’s Hannah Ells-
worth, No. 2, looks on.
Seaside 60, Ilwaco 44
ILW (44): Makenzie Kaech 22, Jacobson 10,
Ellsworth 6, McMillan 6, Bannister, Kulm, Pier-
son, Bentley.
SEA (60): Maddi Utti 25, Villegas 10, P.Ideue
8, J.Ideue 6, Brown 4, Westerholm 3, Bodner 2,
West 2, Smart, Babbitt, Trott.
Field goals: Ilwaco 17-32; Seaside 25-52.
3-Point FG: Ilwaco 2-5 (Ellsworth, Kaech); Sea-
side 2-10 (P.Ideue 2). Free throws: Ilwaco 8-17,
Seaside 8-9. Turnovers: Ilwaco 40, Seaside 29.
Fouls: Ilwaco 15, Seaside 17.
Ilwaco
12 14 10 8—44
Seaside
13 17 18 12—60
JV: Ilwaco 42, Seaside 32