10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2018
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
ghenley@dailyastorian.com
Sherman
signs 3-year
deal with
the 49ers
Associated Press
SANTA CLARA, Calif. —
Richard Sherman officially has
gone to the other side.
The four-time All-Pro corner-
back signed a three-year deal with
the San Francisco 49ers on Sun-
day, two days after being released
by the rival Seattle Seahawks.
The deal reportedly is worth up
to $39.15 million.
“Richard is one of the premier
competitors Kyle and I have ever
encountered,” 49ers general Man-
ager John Lynch said, referring to
coach Kyle Shanahan. “We look
forward to him sharing his wealth
of experience and his passion for
the game of football with our team.
“Richard has long been looked
at as the prototypical corner in our
scheme and the opportunity to
have him mentor our players was
one we needed to attack. Most
importantly, we are excited to have
a championship-caliber corner on
the field for the 49ers.”
Sherman played an integral
role in the fierce NFC West rivalry
between Seattle and San Francisco
earlier this decade. With the Sea-
hawks retooling their defense, he
became expendable. His deflection
on a potential winning touchdown
pass in the 2013 NFC champion-
ship game against the 49ers led to
an interception that sent the Sea-
hawks to the Super Bowl, which
they won.
Jeff TerHar/For The Daily Astorian
Chase Januik drives to the hoop against Valley Catholic.
SUPER SEAGULLS
ARE CHAMPS AGAIN
SCOREBOARD
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Baseball — Nestucca at Warrenton,
4 p.m.; Knappa at Clatskanie, 4:30 p.m.
Softball — Warrenton at Dayton, 4:30
p.m.
TUESDAY
Baseball — Astoria at North Marion, 4
p.m.; Molalla at Seaside, 5 p.m.; Coun-
try Christian at Warrenton, 4 p.m.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Seaside 48, Valley Catholic 44
Valley Catholic 7 16 12 9—44
Seaside
10 9 19 10—48
Valley Catholic (44): Jack Grasberger
16, Andrew Plambeck 13, Daniel Pruitt
8, Ben Robbins 4, Davis Johnson 3, Trey
Eberhart, Peter Boileau, Jack Tetzloff.
Seaside (48): Chase Januik 17, Pay-
ton Westerholm 10, Duncan Thompson
8, Brayden Johnson 5, Ryan Hague 5,
Beau Johnson 3, Colton Carter.
Field goals: Valley 16-39; Seaside
17-32. 3-point FG: Valley 2-14 (John-
son, Plambeck); Seaside 7-17 (Januik
2, Westerholm 2, Hague, Be.Johnson,
Br.Johnson). Free throws: Valley 10-15;
Seaside 7-13. Fouls: Valley 15, Seaside
16. Turnovers: Valley 7, Seaside 8. Re-
bounds: Valley 26 (Grasberger 7); Sea-
side 20 (Hague 5).
Players of the Game: Valley Cath-
olic-Jack Grasberger; Seaside-Chase
Januik.
Seaside 56, Newport 52
Newport
11 22 9 10—52
Seaside
15 12 14 15—56
Newport (52): Kye Blaser 16, Jose
Ponciano 16, Justin Plechaty 9, Jack
Fisher 5, Bryan Tapia 3, Matt Beaudry 3,
Carson Martinson, Drew Sain.
Seaside (56): Ryan Hague 23, Payton
Westerholm 9, Beau Johnson 9, Chase
Januik 6, Duncan Thompson 6, Brayden
Johnson 2, Colton Carter 1, Rafi Sibony.
Field goals: Newport 19-41; Sea-
side 21-54. 3-point FG: Newport 9-22
(Ponciano 5, Plechaty 2, Fisher, Tapia);
Seaside 5-25 (Hague 2, Be.Johnson
2, Westerholm). Free throws: Newport
5-10; Seaside 9-17. Fouls: Newport 16,
Seaside 13. Turnovers: Newport 23,
Seaside 9. Rebounds: Newport 36
(Blaser 16); Seaside 29 (Westerholm 7).
Players of the Game: Newport-Kye
Blaser; Seaside-Ryan Hague.
All-Tournament Team
First Team
Grant Webster, Jr., Marshfield
Kye Blaser, Sr., Newport
Ryan Hague, So., Seaside
Blake Gobel, Jr., Banks
Daniel Pruitt, So., Valley C.
Second Team
Andrew Plambeck, Sr., Valley C.
Nojah Chamberlain, Sr., La Grande
Chase Januik, Jr., Seaside
Ty Horner, Sr., Sisters
Dalton Renne, Sr., Banks
Sportsmanship: Newport
4A STATE TOURNAMENT
4A Boys
Championship
Seaside 48, Valley Catholic 44
Third/fifth place
Newport 68, Banks 51
Fourth/sixth place
Marshfield 69, La Grande 64
4A Girls
Championship
Marshfield 48, Cascade 41
Third/fifth place
North Marion 65, Banks 57
Fourth/sixth place
Valley Catholic 37, Stayton 35
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
F
OREST GROVE — Ten or 20 years
from now, when we’re looking back
at the great Seaside boys basketball
dynasty of 2017, 2018 and 2019 (pending)
… maybe we’ll realize how impressive it
was to see such an under-sized team win so
many over-sized games.
Heart, desire, speed, quickness, coaching
… and practice, practice, practice. No doubt
a lot of each.
It was all on display again Saturday night
at Forest Grove High School, where the Gulls
completed year No. 2 of the dynasty with a
48-44 win over Valley Catholic, in the Class
4A state championship game (also known as
the “Cowapa League championship”).
It was an almost unexpected title for the
Gulls, who didn’t even finish first in their
own league.
“We thought next year was our year,” said
Seaside coach Bill Westerholm. “We talked
in the locker room, and said ‘just embrace
what you have right now. You never know
what can happen.’ So we’re excited to get
the trophy.
“The kids care for each other, and when
it came down to it, we battled and battled,
we fought for each other, and came out on
top.”
In front of a packed house and with their
home fans cheering nonstop, the Gulls had
to overcome a small halftime deficit, then
made four free throws in the final 47 sec-
onds for the winning points.
The Valiants were unable to answer, and
Seaside walked off with the big blue trophy
for the second year in a row.
The names were much the same for the
Gulls this year — they just had some new
leaders, and the younger brothers of last
year’s stars now in the leading roles.
“It feels a lot different,” said Payton
Westerholm, a junior captain this season,
who took more of a back seat role to Jack-
son Januik and Hunter Thompson last year.
This year, it was Westerholm, Chase
Januik and Duncan Thompson carrying the
load. The trio combined for 35 points in Sat-
urday’s win. Januik led the way with 17
points and five assists.
“It’s a new team,” Westerholm said. “We
were role players on the team last year, now
we’re the captains, and we have to take on
bigger roles. It feels like more of an accom-
plishment for us.”
Chase Januik, whose brother Jackson
was state Player of the Year the last two sea-
sons, had to fill the role left by big bro.
“Last year we were expected to win all
season as the No. 1 seed,” Chase said. “This
year, at the start of the season, we didn’t
even think we were that good, and didn’t
realize it until the end of league. We were
surprised to be here.”
Still, Seaside was the heavily favored
team Saturday, as the No. 2 seed Gulls were
playing in their third straight state champi-
onship contest and seeking their fifth con-
secutive win over the No. 5 seed Valiants.
Seaside tops Newport in semifinals
The Daily Astorian
FOREST GROVE — Seaside secured
its spot in the championship game with
a 56-52 win over Newport late Friday
night.
The Gulls had to rally from a 33-27
halftime deficit, and did so by outscor-
ing Newport 14-9 in the third quarter, fol-
lowed by a 9-1 run to start the fourth.
Payton Westerholm scored his first
points of the night early in the fourth
period to give Seaside a 43-42 lead.
Moments later, Chase Januik scored his
first basket of the game for a 45-42 advan-
tage, and the Gulls never trailed again.
Westerholm added a 3-pointer, and
Seaside turned a 39-36 third quarter defi-
cit into 52-43 lead midway through the
Going back to last year, the Gulls had
won four straight over their league rivals,
with two wins (51-35 and 57-50) during this
year’s league season.
The Valiants didn’t make it easy,
however.
Valley Catholic was coming off a win
over No. 1 Banks the night before, a game
in which the Braves lost Dalton Renne to an
injury, when the Cowapa League’s Player of
the Year slammed to the floor following a
dunk attempt early in Friday’s semifinal.
“I think Banks would have beat Val-
ley Catholic had (Renne) been there, and it
would have been a different challenge for
us,” Januik said. “But we beat (the Braves)
at home, and we know what it takes to beat
them. It would have been a great game.”
As it was, the Valiants still had hopes
of an upset in Saturday’s final, as they ral-
lied from a 17-12 deficit with a 3-pointer by
Davis Johnson, and scores from Ben Rob-
bins and Jack Grasberger for a 23-19 half-
time lead.
But for a team that’s rallied from
halftime deficits this year of 17 and
12 points, a four-point deficit was
a drop in the bucket for the Gulls.
Seaside went 3-point crazy in the third quar-
ter, with Beau Johnson, Januik, Ryan Hague
and Westerholm knocking down triples. By
the end of the period, the Gulls had doubled
their first-half points and held a 38-35 lead.
“Their 1-3-1 zone was bothering us, and
we slowed the game down so much — it had
to be a boring game for our fans to watch,”
coach Westerholm said of the first half. “So
our adjustment was to flatten the zone out
a little, push the ball up the floor and not
let them get set. We were going to force this
thing into a full-court game. It worked.”
And the fans got their money’s worth in
the fourth quarter, which featured three ties
and four lead changes.
Valley Catholic’s Andrew Plambeck
fourth with a 16-4 run.
The Cubs made a late rally and pulled
to within 53-52 on a short jumper by Kye
Blaser with 27 seconds left, but Januik
drained a pair of free throws with 17
seconds remaining, and teammate Beau
Johnson made 1-of-2 for the final point.
Seaside’s Ryan Hague scored 11
points in the first quarter, on his way to a
23-point night, to earn Player of the Game
honors for the second night in a row.
After they were both held score-
less through three quarters, Januik and
Westerholm combined for 15 points in
the fourth.
Newport out-shot Seaside (46 per-
cent to 39 percent) and the Cubs out-re-
bounded the Gulls 36-29, but Newport
had 23 turnovers to Seaside’s nine.
made two free throws for a 42-40 lead at
the 5:00 mark, and Seaside answered with
an offensive rebound score by Westerholm
and Januik’s jumper along the baseline for
a 44-43 lead.
The Valiants made 2-of-4 free throws to
pull even at 44-44 with 1:32 remaining.
The first two games of the tournament,
the Gulls were a combined 20-for-39 from
the free throw line. But they finally passed
the free throw test in the final 47 seconds,
as Hague and Westerholm each went 2-for-2
from the line to secure the victory.
Trailing by two, Valley Catholic missed a
3-point attempt before fouling Westerholm
with five seconds left, leading to Wester-
holm’s two clinching points.
Seaside did not set any scoring records
this postseason, but their defense came to
the rescue, allowing an average of just 43
points in four playoff games.
“At the start of the year, I thought we
were more of an offensive team,” Januik
said. “But towards the end and the start of
the playoffs, it felt like we turned into the
best defensive team in the state. Everyone
just stepped up their game, and as a defense,
we just became unstoppable.”
With four of their five starters return-
ing next season, the Gulls will be heavily
favored to win it all next year as well. Only
time will tell how many more state titles this
group will win. Keep in mind that Seaside
has one of the strongest youth programs in
the state, so there’s more talent on the way.
“We’ve built the program from the
ground up, the kids know how to win, and
we’re going to be good for a while,” coach
Westerholm said.
Januik delivered a strong message to
rest of the 4A world after the game: “We’re
going to be better than ever next year. We’ll
be looking for a three-peat.”
For now, sit back and enjoy the ride, Sea-
side. These are your glory years.