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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARcH 8, 2019
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Seaside pounds North Marion, 75-50
Gulls look
unbeatable in
quarterfinal game
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
The countdown to a cham-
pionship is on for the Seaside
boys basketball team.
The Gulls are two games
— 64 minutes of basketball
— away from a three-peat,
following an easy 75-50 win
over North Marion in a quar-
terfinal game of the Class
4A boys basketball state
tournament.
Thursday’s game at
Pacific University brought
an end to Day 1 of the boys’
state tournament, which
now moves to Forest Grove
High School for the next two
rounds.
Seaside will play Stayton
in a Friday semifinal. A win
would clinch a fourth straight
trip to the state championship
game for the Gulls, which
would play either Banks or
Woodburn in the final (Satur-
day, 3:15 p.m.).
The Gulls’ victory was
their second of the season
(and fifth in five years) over
the Huskies, a common non-
league opponent. The Gulls
won at North Marion in Jan-
uary, 58-57.
Not surprisingly, Thurs-
day’s game was also the only
non-competitive contest of
the day in Forest Grove, as
Seaside set the tone early in
the rematch.
The Gulls trailed 8-6,
but then scored nine straight
Seaside junior Ryan Hague scored from all angles, erupting
for 29 points.
Photos by Jeff Ter Har
Seaside’s Payton Westerholm, left, chases down a loose ball.
points, which included three
scores from Ryan Hague,
who capped the run with a
three-point play. Duncan
Thompson closed the first
quarter with a 3-pointer as
time ran out, and Seaside’s
lead was soon 29-17.
Hague had 19 of his 29
points in the first half, as
the junior finished the sec-
ond quarter with a tip-in at
the buzzer to give the Gulls
a 35-24 halftime advantage.
The Huskies tried to keep
it close — a 3-pointer from
Brady Hansen had North
Marion within 41-33 early in
the third quarter — but Sea-
side answered with a 9-0 run
to put the game on ice.
Brayden Johnson and
Beau Johnson had back-to-
back scores, followed by bas-
Seaside coach Bill Westerholm, kneeling, and his team are
playing for a three-peat.
kets from Hague and Chase
Januik for a 50-33 lead.
And the Gulls didn’t let
up in the fourth quarter. Sea-
side poured it on and scored
at will midway through the
period, with buckets from
Hague, Payton Westerholm,
Beau Johnson and Januik.
Seaside was a sizzling
32-for-56 from the field.
Hague was 14-of-18 and also
had 10 rebounds for a dou-
ble-double. Januik added 16
points for the Gulls, whose
lead reached 73-46.
Santana ‘really excited’ to step into Mariners lineup
By RYAN DIVISH
The Seattle Times
PEORIA, Ariz. — Eleven
months after losing his start-
ing outfielder job with
the Milwaukee Brewers,
Domingo Santana’s base-
ball life changed for what
he hopes is the better as the
Mariners acquired him in
exchange for outfielder Ben
Gamel.
“For me, in my career, I
was really excited about the
trade,” he said.
Santana was a fan of
Alex Rodriguez growing up
and remembers watching
A-Rod with the Mariners.
He wanted to be shortstop
just like A-Rod.
“I met him and it was a
great feeling meeting him,”
he said. “I was so fortu-
nate we played against
each other as well. It was
awesome.”
For Santana, the trade to
Seattle represented a new
opportunity and a chance
to be more than a fourth
outfielder. The Mariners
acquired Santana to be their
every day left fielder in hopes
he could revisit his 2017
production numbers when
he posted a .278/.371/.505
slash line with 29 doubles,
30 homers and 73 RBIs.
“Santana was one of the
most productive outfielders
in baseball in 2017,” Seat-
tle general manager Jerry
Dipoto said after the trade.
“He did not have the same
opportunities last year, but
his age and power bat from
the right side make him a
very good fit for our club
moving forward.”
He won’t be platooned
with Jay Bruce. Santana will
see the bulk of the time in
left field.
“Jay Bruce will play
some first base, Jay Bruce
will DH,” manager Scott
Servais said.
Admittedly,
Santana
struggled with the reduc-
tion in playing time last sea-
son. While the Brewers were
winning, he never really
adjusted to coming off the
bench and playing sparingly.
“Your whole career
you’ve been playing every
day and you prepare your-
self to have a good season,”
he said. “And then you have
a good season so you think
you have a job and then
that happens. It was really
SCOREBOARD
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
4A boys state tournament
Today’s schedule
at Forest Grove HS
9 a.m.: Marist vs. Marshfield
10:45: Henley vs. North Marion
Semifinals
1:30: Woodburn vs. Banks
3:15: Stayton vs. Seaside
BOYS BASKETBALL
Seaside 75, North Marion 50
NM (50): Sergio Jimenez 14, Jared
Hauser 11, Grant Henry 9, Brady Han-
sen 9, Griffin Henry 3, Tanner Saucedo
2, Sam Garcia 2, Nic Iliyn, Hunter Wier-
stra, Noah Wierstra, Johnny Page,
Beau Wilson.
SEA (75): Ryan Hague 29, Chase Januik
16, Beau Johnson 9, Payton Wester-
holm 7, Duncan Thompson 7, Ledger
Pugh 1, Derrick Bennett 1, Stephen
Snyder, Samson Sibony, Gavin Rich,
Dylan Meyer.
N.Marion 14 10 14 12—50
Seaside 20 15 21 19—75
Field goals: N.Marion 16-49, Seaside
32-56. 3-point FG: N.Marion 6-19 (Gra.
Henry 3, Hansen 2, Hauser), Seaside
3-10 (Be.Johnson, Thompson, Br.John-
son). Free throws: N.Marion 12-18, Sea-
side 8-15. Fouls: N.Marion 16, Seaside
13. Assists: N.Marion 5 (Gra.Henry 3),
Seaside 7 (Januik 2, Westerholm 2).
Rebounds: N.Marion 30 (Hauser 9),
Seaside 33 (Hague 10). Steals: N.Mar-
ion 7 (Gri.Henry 3), Seaside 6 (Januik 2,
Br.Johnson 2). Turnovers: N.Marion 16,
Seaside 9. Players of the Game: Sergio
Jimenez (North Marion), Ryan Hague
(Seaside).
4A state tournament
Thursday’s finals
Boys
Banks 51, Marist 38
Woodburn 55, Marshfield 30
Stayton 57, Henley 53
Seaside 75, North Marion 50
Girls
Marist 45, Marshfield 40
Newport 50, North Marion 33
Philomath 45, Banks 43
Baker 42, Stayton 36
Clatsop County boys basketball
state champions
1930: Astoria
1932: Astoria
1934: Astoria
1935: Astoria
1941: Astoria (A)
1942: Astoria (A)
1943: Warrenton (B)
1955: Knappa (B)
1958: Star of the Sea (B)
1966: Knappa (B)
1971: Knappa (A)
1988: Knappa (A)
1998: Astoria (3A)
1998: Knappa (2A)
1999: Knappa (2A)
2009: Knappa (2A)
2017: Seaside (4A)
2018: Seaside (4A)
AP Photo/Darron Cummings
Domingo Santana celebrates after hitting a two-run home run
against the Cincinnati Reds in spring training.
tough mentally, but at the
same time you have to work
through it and get better at
it.”
His early numbers last
season reflected his strug-
gles in adjusting and under-
standing his new role. He
posted a .249/.313/.354
slash line with 11 doubles,
three homers, 17 RBIs, 18
walks and 69 strikeouts in
67 games to start the season.
Because his playing time
was limited, he overthought
each at-bat and overana-
lyzed each performance.
The Brewers eventually
optioned him to Class AAA
Nashville, where he posted
a .283/.401/.487 slash line
with 10 doubles, two triples,
eight home runs and 35 RBIs
in 55 games. He returned as
a September call up, appear-
ing in 23 games and posting
a .403/.458/.909 slash line
in 24 plate appearances with
three doubles, a triple, two
homers and three RBIs.
“I just wanted everybody
to know it wasn’t going to be
like that,” he said. “I wanted
to show them that I could
be down and get back up
and still compete at a high
level.”
With the Mariners, San-
tana has shown signs of that
2017 production. Through
Wednesday, he was hitting
.467 (7 for 15) with a .529
on-base percentage, a dou-
ble, three homers and seven
RBIs. And later that night,
he hit his fourth homer of the
spring. All four of his hom-
ers have all been impressive
towering moonshots that
seem fitting for his 6-foot-5,
230-pound frame.
“He’s swinging the bat
really well,” Servais said.
“He has all spring. He’s been
on top of it. He’s got a lot of
power. When he hits the ball
in the air, it just keeps going.
He’s off to good start. He
really hasn’t too many rough
at-bats at all. He’s in con-
trol up there, which is great
to see.”
The biggest issue for
Santana this spring is the
conversion to left field —
a position he’d never really
played before. He’d been a
primarily a right fielder and
center fielder in his time
with the Astros and Brewers.
“He’s not played much
left field at all in his big-
league or minor-league
career, so that’ll be a little bit
of an adjustment for him,”
Servais said. “But he’s mov-
ing well enough, you could
stick him in center field if
you had to, as big as he is.”
Santana has looked more
than capable in left field thus
far into spring.
“I just have to get my
reps in out there,” he said.
“You have to adjust to the
different angle.”
Thunder get wild 129-121 OT victory over Trail Blazers
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Russell
Westbrook had 37 points
and Paul George added 32
points and 14 rebounds for
the Oklahoma City Thunder
in a chippy 129-121 over-
time win over the Portland
Trail Blazers on Thursday
night.
The victory gave the
Thunder a four-game series
sweep of the Blazers this
season.
Damian Lillard had 51
points for the Blazers, while
Jusuf Nurkic added 13 points
and 17 rebounds before he
was sent off with his second
technical with under a min-
ute to go in regulation.
The teams had gone into
the game knotted for third
in the Western Conference
— along with the Houston
Rockets — with identical
AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer
Thunder guard Russell Westbrook drives against Trail Blazers
guard Damian Lillard.
39-25 records.
Westbrook’s 3-pointer in
overtime put the Thunder
up 118-117 and he made a
pair of free throws to extend
the lead. After George made
the second of a pair of free
throws, Westbrook’s layup
gave Oklahoma City a 123-
117 lead.
The Thunder led by a
slim 85-83 margin going
into the fourth quarter in
a game where neither side
stretched the advantage to
double digits.
Regulation ended with a
wild final minute.
George appeared to elbow
Nurkic, who was knocked to
the floor as Terrance Fergu-
son made a layup that put
the Thunder up 113-111.
Portland players protested,
but no call was made.
Words
were
then
exchanged between Nur-
kic and George under
Portland’s basket. After a
review both received offset-
ting technicals, and a foul
was called on the Thunder.
Because Nurkic already
had a technical, he was
ejected and the Thunder
chose Blazers reserve Skal
Labissiere to make the free
throws. He missed both, but
a loose-ball foul was called
on the Thunder and Al-Fa-
rouq Aminu made both
shots to tie it at 113 with 2.9
seconds left.
After a turnover by the
Thunder, the game went to
overtime. But Portland was
without Nurkic for the rest
of the way.