10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, MARCH 6, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
ghenley@dailyastorian.com
Lady Gulls take care of business
Seaside girls lock in
quarterfinals spot at
state tourney after
win at Molalla
MORE PHOTOS
Jeff Ter Har has more photos
on Page 9A and online at
http://bit.ly/2mucOSo
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — The Seaside girls
basketball team is now a perfect 4-0
in the Sweet 16, over the past four
years.
As a result, the Lady Gulls will
make their fourth-straight appearance
in the state tournament, for another run
at the elusive state title.
The Gulls locked up their spot in
the quarterfinals with a 38-31 win at
Molalla Saturday, as Seaside senior
Maddi Utti overcame a first-half injury
to score 20 points in the victory.
Seaside will open the state tourna-
ment Thursday against Cascade, in a
3:15 p.m. tip-off at Forest Grove High
School (game time was originally 1:30
p.m.).
The winner of Thursday’s game
will face either Sutherlin or Mazama
in the semifinals.
Jeff Ter Har/For the Daily Astorian
Seaside’s Emy Kiser, Gretchen Hoekstre and Maddi Utti play tight defense
on Molalla. Seaside is now 4-0 in the Sweet 16 over the past four years.
Coming back
Seaside had to overcome a small
first-half deficit to beat the Indians.
Back-to-back scores by Sierra Cox
and Alicia Schultz had Molalla in front
13-4 early in the second quarter, but
the Gulls rallied back with baskets by
Utti and Sydney Villegas and trailed
just 20-16 at halftime.
One of the leading candidates for
Class 4A state Player of the Year, Utti
scored the first seven points of the sec-
ond half, and a layup by Villegas gave
the Gulls a 25-20 advantage.
Molalla answered with a six-point
run of its own and led 26-25 going into
the final quarter.
But with one of the toughest
defenses in the state at the 4A level,
the Gulls held the Indians to just five
points over the final eight minutes.
And Seaside put it away early in
the period with back-to-back 3-point-
ers from Bryre Babbitt and Emy Kiser,
for an insurmountable 31-26 lead.
The Gulls made five-of-13 free
throws in the final minutes to secure
the win.
Only three schools have qualified
for the last four state tournaments at
the 4A level (Mazama, Seaside and
Sutherlin), and all three will be in the
same half of the bracket to start the
tournament.
While it’s the fourth consecutive
appearance in the state tournament for
the Gulls, Seaside will be looking to
snap another streak once it gets there.
Since defeating Henley in a first
round game in 2013-14, the Gulls have
lost six straight tournament games,
going two-and-out the last two seasons.
Ilwaco
girls team
take fifth
in state
tourney
The Daily Astorian
SPOKANE, Wash. — The
Ilwaco girls basketball team
came up short of a state title over
the weekend, but still celebrated
a fifth-place finish in the WIAA
2B state tournament in Spokane.
Ilwaco suffered a 44-20 upset
loss to Davenport in Friday’s
semifinals, then fell short in Sat-
urday’s third-place game, as
Wahkiakum scored a 78-57 win
over the Lady Fishermen.
Ilwaco finishes 23-6 overall,
and 6-3 in the post-season.
In the playoffs, the Fisher-
men went 2-0 against Adna and
2-0 against Raymond, but Satur-
day’s loss was Ilwaco’s second
post-season loss to Wahkiakum,
which defeated Ilwaco Feb. 14 in
the district playoffs, 59-50.
The Fishermen had also not
placed in a state tournament
since they took third in 1995
(defeating Lynden Christian in
the third-place game at the 1A
level). It took Ilwaco just three
years at the 2B level to place at
state.
Ilwaco held Davenport score-
less through the first four min-
utes and led 5-0, but then were
outscored 40-10 during an offen-
sive slump that lasted through
the middle of the fourth quarter.
Ilwaco hit just 1-of-16 3-pointers
and 8-of-42 shots overall.
Davenport hit only 12-of-
42 shots against a strong Ilwaco
defense, but out-rebounded the
Fishermen 47-29 and outscored
them 16-3 from the free throw
line.
Sydney Zeigler drained four
of her six 3-point attempts in a
15-point performance. Sydney
Abbot added 14 points. She shot
3-of-19 but attacked the basket
and hit 8-of-9 free throws.
Madeline Jacobson blocked
four shots for Ilwaco.
SCOREBOARD
BOYS BASKETBALL
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Seaside Seagulls’ Payton Westerholm drives to the basket as Seaside faces off against Cascade in Round 1 of the 4A State Champion-
ship on Friday in Seaside. Their win over Cascade was Seaside’s 19th consecutive victory at home, going back to their previous season.
Gulls shoot past Cougs
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — “Normal”
teams usually don’t play
well following long layoffs.
The Seaside Gulls, however,
are not your average team.
Long layoffs have very
little effect on the Seaside
boys basketball team — in
fact, the Gulls usually get
better between games.
They struggled at times
Friday night in a first-round
game of the state playoffs,
but for the third time this
season, Seaside overcame a
long period with no games
… and romped their way
to another win, 68-49, over
Cascade.
It was Seaside’s 19th
consecutive victory at
home, going back to last
season.
The latest win at the
Gulls’ Nest secured Sea-
side’s annual trip to the state
tournament, where the Gulls
will open against Gladstone
in a Thursday quarterfinal
game (1:30 p.m.) at Pacific
University.
See SEASIDE, Page 9A
Seaside 68, Cascade 49
CAS (49): Tyler Walker 15, Shane
Schnepp 8, Damian Ball 8, Joseph
Icovino 7, Treyden Harris 5, Daniel
Suelzle 3, Kolton Morlan 2, Michael
Rosenau 1.
SEA (68): Attikin Babb 16, Jackson
Januik 14, Payton Westerholm 12,
Chase Januik 8, Duncan Thompson 7,
Hunter Thompson 5, Otto Hoekstre 3,
Ryan Hague 2, Beau Johnson 1, Rafi
Sibony.
Cascade
6 18 13 12—49
Seaside
15 14 23 16—68
Field Goals: Cascade 13-37; Seaside
22-58. 3-Point Goals: Cascade 5-12;
Seaside 5-24. Free throws: Cascade
18-29; Seaside 13-18. Fouls: Cascade
23, Seaside 23. Turnovers: Cascade
21, Seaside 11.
Class 3A State Tournament
State Championship
Dayton 64, De La Salle 55
3rd Place
Harrisburg 55, Cascade Chr. 45
4th Place
Salem Academy 62, Amity 61
Class 2A State Tournament
State Championship
Santiam 57, Stanfield 54
3rd Place
Western M. 60, Life Chr. 48
4th Place
Columbia Chr. 69, Vernonia 55
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Seaside 38, Molalla 31
SEA (38): Maddi Utti 20, Sydney Vil-
legas 6, Emy Kiser 6, Bryre Babbitt 5,
Jetta Ideue 1.
MOL (31): Sierra Cox 13, Alicia Schul-
tz 9, Makenzie Sheckard 4, Audrey
Rieskamp 3, Maddy Lisac 2.
Seaside
3 13 9 13—38
Molalla
7 13 6 5—31
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Seaside Seagulls’ Chase Januik goes up for a shot as Seaside faces off
against Cascade in Round 1 of the 4A State Championship on Friday.
Seaside players huddle during a timeout as Seaside
faces off against Cascade in Round 1 of the 4A State
Championship on Friday in Seaside.
Class 3A State Tournament
State Championship
Blanchet Catholic 36, Dayton 34
3rd Place
Salem Academy 36, Coquille 17
4th Place
Portland Adventist 52, Nyssa 43
Class 2A State Tournament
State Championship
Monroe 52, Western M. 40
3rd Place
Kennedy 39, Imbler 30
4th Place
East Linn Chr. 43, Regis 38