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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2016)
SHS PREVIEWS 8A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2016 Gulls hope for another shot to take state title Seaside knows how to put on a show By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Seaside’s Sydney Villegas attempts to block a shot by Jetta Ideue during practice on Monday at Seaside High School. Coach Hawes takes over Lady Gulls’ program Seaside squad expects smooth transition at top By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian The Seaside girls basket- ball program is expecting a smooth transition at the top this season, as Mike Hawes replaces Wally Hamer as head coach for the Lady Gulls. After all, Hawes spent the last two years as an assistant to Hamer, he knows all the players, and Hamer didn’t exactly leave an empty cupboard at Seaside. One of the top players in the state is still on the Gulls’ roster, along with two other seniors and additional talent in the junior class. Tia Abbey remains to coach the junior varsity, while Seaside has added former Gull Marla Olstedt to the varsity staff. “On many levels I lament Wally’s retirement, though I’m grateful for all that he’s done for the program and me,” Hawes said. “We’re excited to have Marla. It’s easy to bring her back in the fold. She has a great history here, and hopefully we can turn it over to her in a few years.” THE COWAPA “You start with Banks,” Hawes said. “They lost some kids, but they have some good ones coming back, and they had the best JV team in the league last year. “Valley Catholic is always tough. I think Asto- ria will be better, and Tilla- mook will be competitive. But you have to give kudos to Banks, until someone knocks them off.” THE LADY GULLS All five starters made all-league for the Gulls last season. Three have gradu- ated (Paige Ideue, Brittany West and Whitney Wester- holm), while first-team all- leaguers Maddi Utti and Sydney Villegas return for their senior seasons. Utti has already signed a letter-of-intent to play at Fresno State, and is healthy coming into the new sea- son after battling an ankle injury last year. “Her health is important — obviously we’re a dif- ferent team with and with- out someone like Maddi,” Hawes said. And obviously Utti will be the focus of opposing Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Seaside’s Maddi Utti goes up for a shot during prac- tice on Monday at Sea- side High School. SEASIDE GIRLS BASKETBALL Coach: Mike Hawes, 1st year 2015-16: 20-7 (7-3 Cow- apa) Playoffs: Defeated North Marion in state playoff (49-42), lost to Mazama (31-44) and Banks (36- 47) in state tournament. All-League Losses: Paige Ideue, Brittany West, Whitney Wester- holm All-League Returners: Maddi Utti, Sr.; Sydney Villegas, Sr. defenses. “The teams that can match up with us will box- and-one Maddi, and we’ve struggled with that the last few years,” he said. “We have to figure out ways for others to score, and ways for Maddi to continue to make plays and score. “We have to figure that riddle out. Hopefully Syd- ney can be a playmaker, and I think we have the possibil- ity of some shooters.” The Gulls are gradually transitioning to a new look, as they graduate their all- league talent around Utti. “We lost three starters and two of our top three off the bench,” said the coach. “There’s a lot of kids who will have to step up to var- sity basketball and be ready to play.” Utti, Villegas and Lucy Bodner are Seaside’s three seniors, with a junior class that includes Bryre Babbitt, Corrie Falleur, Jetta Ideue and Anesha Smart. Rounding out the var- sity rotation will be soph- omores Annaka Garhofer, Gretchen Hoekstre, Anna Huddleston, Trinity Turner and Emy Kaiser, a transfer from Wyoming. If you’ve got a free night and noth- ing better to do, buy a ticket and check out a Seaside boys basketball game. The Gulls know how to put on a show, and you won’t be disappointed. The Seaside boys lost most of their height off a team that played for a state championship last season, but the Gulls are still loaded with talent — both return- ing and incoming — and if you’re a fan of run ‘n’ gun, high-scoring basketball — this will be a team you don’t want to miss. A majority of their playmakers will be under 6 feet tall, so expect a fast-paced game, with lots of long-range shooting. “There might be times when we have four or five guards on the floor at the same time,” said Seaside coach Bill Westerholm. “It might turn into a track meet. That’s what it’s going to be. We have kids who are in really good shape. If we get into a half court, defensive game, we might struggle. But we feel our guards are better than most guards we’ll face.” In fact, “I think I might go the oppo- site way on our roster this year. Instead of raising them an inch, I’ll make them all 5’7” or 5’8”. We’re going to be a short team that presses the heck out of teams, and gets up and down the floor. That’s our goal.” Seaside advanced to the state champi- onship game for the first time in school history last year, only to come up short in the title game against Philomath. With two returning all-league players — including the Player of the Year for the entire state — the Seaside boys will be seen as one of the top contenders at the 4A level. THE COWAPA With the exception of losses to Valley Catholic and Astoria in a four-day span last season, the Cowapa League belonged to the Gulls, who won by an average of 14.5 points in their eight league wins. Pretty impressive, considering that three Cowapa teams were playing on the final day of the season at the state tourna- ment. The Gulls finished second, Astoria took fourth and Scappoose placed fifth. Of the six 20-win teams at the 4A level last year, three were from the Cowapa. If it’s possible, the state’s toughest 4A league could be even tougher this season. “Banks has most everybody back, and they’ve got some height; and Valley Catholic only lost two seniors and they will be tough to beat,” Westerholm said. “It’s going to be a toss-up. Tillamook has a lot of good kids coming back, with some height and some outside shooters. “Astoria lost their big guys from last year (Justin Fruiht and Derek Jarrett), but they had a successful football season, they’re another year in Kevin (Goin)’s system, and he’s got some younger soph- omores who will help out. (Jackson) Arnsdorf was solid last year, and they’ve still got some height and strength.” Scappoose senior Boogie Davis has transferred to Westview, while Weston Powers takes over as the Indians’ new coach. “I don’t see anybody in our league that’s a pushover,” said Westerholm, entering his 19th year as the Gulls’ coach. “I’m not sure which three will step up and rise to the top.” Still, “I still like our shot at making another run at a league championship,” he said. “The goal for these kids last year was to win a state championship, and we just didn’t shoot the ball very well in that last game against a good team. “That’s our goal again this year. We’ll start off trying to get better and help- ing our younger kids understand how to play the game at a high level, and once we do that, we’ll start shifting our goal towards league, and from there to the post-season.” THE GULLS Westerholm — the Cowapa Coach of the Year — has the state’s Player of the Year and the league’s Defensive Player of Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Jackson Januik takes a shot during practice on Monday at Seaside High School. Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian The Seaside basketball team prac- tices on Monday at Seaside High School. SEASIDE BOYS BASKETBALL Coach: Bill Westerholm, 19th year 2015-16: 23-4 (8-2 Cowapa) Playoffs: Defeated Astoria (54-27) and Scappoose (56-48) in state tourna- ment, lost to Philomath (45-55) in state championship. All-League Losses: Austin Eagon, Zach Marston, Jaxson Smith All-League Returners: Jackson Januik, Sr. (co-MVP), Hunter Thomp- son, Sr. the Year both back in the lineup. The Gulls will be a little shorter than they were a year ago, but an abundance of guards, wings and forwards will make Seaside one of the quickest teams in the state. “The main challenge is replacing the big kids, and we don’t have any big kids to replace them with,” Westerholm said. “That’s a real big challenge. “We’ll miss those kids. Austin Eagon took up a lot of space inside and was one of the better posts in the state when it was all said and done. And Zach Marston had the ability to guard perimeter kids.” The leader will still be 4A State Player of the Year Jackson Januik, the point guard who will run the show. “If you put Jackson Januik on any team, he’s going to make everyone around him that much better,” Wester- holm said. Right alongside Januik will be senior Hunter Thompson (Cowapa Defensive Player of the Year), and backing up both will be two sophomores with potentially even more talent, Chase Januik and Pay- ton Westerholm. “Chase will see a lot of time, and he has the ability to score quite a bit,” said coach Westerholm, while his son Payton “will back up Jackson at times, and he will also play at the wing. He also shoots really well from the outside.” Another outside threat is 6’4” senior Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Rafi Sibony takes a shot during practice on Monday at Seaside High School. Attikin Babb. “Attikin really wants to have a good senior year,” Westerholm said. “He has the ability to put points on the board. “We have some younger kids. Duncan Thompson (So.) is not tall, but he’s got good jumping ability and a nose for the ball; Colton Carter (Jr.) played JV all last year, but he’s physical and has great ath- leticism. It’s only his fourth year of orga- nized basketball. “Otto Hoekstre (Sr.) has been shoot- ing the ball really well. He will have to be one of our guys inside who can box out and rebound. We’re looking for him to be the guy who can replace Zach. It’s his turn to step into that role, and I know he’s ready. “Rafi Sibony (Jr.) is another kid who can shoot the ball well from the outside. We can run him off screens and let him shoot. He works hard and fits right into what we want to do — fly around and create chaos for the other team.” Athletes who have had much success in other sports all seem to converge for basketball. “Most of our kids have been to state in other sports,” Westerholm said. “The younger kids in our program have seen where the older kids have been, and in a lot of our youth programs, that’s where they want to get. That’s our goal. Make a run at the league title, and then from there make a run at a state title.” Top Brands. 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