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.”
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Go,
Gulls!