A10
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, MARcH 11, 2019
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Seaside’s three-peat halted by Banks
Braves complete
second-half rally
SCOREBOARD
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
F
OREST GROVE — Fifteen min-
utes following the completion of
Saturday’s 4A boys basketball
state championship game, it was pretty
obvious what the results were — even if
you didn’t know the score.
The Banks Braves were still on the
main court with their fans, jamming to
Kool and the Gang’s “Celebration.”
The Seaside Gulls were back in their
locker room, feeling about as low as
they’ve felt in four years.
The final score from Forest Grove
High School, for the record, was Banks
62, Seaside 56.
The Braves overcame a 33-22 deficit
in the opening minutes of the third quar-
ter, and rallied behind the hot hand of
Bret Cameron to score the victory, pre-
venting a Seaside three-peat and giving
Banks a second state championship win
over the Gulls in a four-month span.
In basketball, it was just the second
loss for the Gulls since Dec. 20. Both
losses came at the hands of the Braves.
On the plus side, Seaside (24-4 overall)
also defeated Banks (27-3), twice.
Still, “They’re feeling low,” Seaside
coach Bill Westerholm said of his play-
ers. “These kids have come a long ways.
Most of our seniors have either played
in or been on the bench for three straight
championships. So it hurts ‘em to lose.”
Banks vs. Seaside IV certainly lived
up to the hype.
Both teams were hot from the field
in the opening minutes, especially Sea-
side’s Beau Johnson. The junior wing
downed a pair of 3-pointers for the Gulls’
first two scores.
Brayden Johnson added a third
3-pointer for a 9-7 lead, and Beau John-
son’s short jumper beat the buzzer to end
the first period for an 11-7 advantage.
In the second quarter, Seaside stayed
hot, and the Braves did not.
Two mid-range jumpers by Seaside’s
Chase Januik made it 15-9, Brayden
Johnson’s second 3-pointer of the half
gave the Gulls an 18-11 lead, and a
layup by Beau Johnson off an assist from
Januik had Seaside in front, 20-11.
Seaside’s Ryan Hague got in on the
scoring act in the final minutes of the
first half, scoring three baskets, includ-
ing an offensive rebound putback as time
expired for another buzzer beater and a
29-22 halftime lead for the Gulls, who
thrilled the crowd with circus shots and
long-range bombs.
Blake Gobel kept Banks within strik-
ing distance, finishing the first half with
11 points and six rebounds. But the
Braves knew they were in trouble.
“We just needed to slow it down on
offense and not hurry so much,” said
Banks coach Marcus Roche.
“We needed to calm down and finish
the layups,” Gobel added. “Just ‘be slow’
at the rim, and let it go in. We couldn’t let
the crowd noise get to us or anything like
that. We figured it out the second half,
that’s for sure.”
But first, it got worse for the Braves
before it got better.
Two quick scores by Seaside’s Payton
Westerholm and Hague gave the Gulls
their largest lead of the day, 33-22, just
seconds into the third quarter.
That’s when Cameron — who had
no points in the first half — hit his first
jumper of the second half, sparking the
Braves to a 14-4 run.
Baskets by Dakota Bunn and Jacob
Slifka were followed by a 3-pointer
from Gobel, an offensive rebound score
by Slifka and a Cameron 3-pointer that
brought Banks to within 37-36.
Dylan Meyer answered with an offen-
sive rebound score, which was followed
by perhaps the biggest play of the day.
As time expired in the third quarter,
Gobel launched a desperation shot from
half-court. The shot missed, but Wester-
holm was called for a foul. Gobel made
all three free throws, tying the game at
39-39.
“Payton got that foul on Gobel, who
hits all three free throws and we’re tied
going into the fourth,” coach Wester-
holm said.
Said Roche, “When Blake got fouled
on that 3-pointer from half court, and he
made all three free throws … it was ‘go
time.’ We knew we had a good chance
after that.”
But not before the teams traded five
straight lead changes on five baskets to
start the final period.
Duncan Thompson’s scored gave the
Gulls a 44-43 lead with 5:25 left, but lit-
tle did anyone know, that would be Sea-
Jeff Ter Har
Seaside’s Brayden Johnson launches a shot over Jacob Slifka of Banks.
Gulls fly past Stayton
Eagles in semifinal
All-Cowapa League final
for third year in a row
The Daily Astorian
The Gulls locked up their fourth
straight trip to the state championship
game with a 49-40 win over Stayton
in a semifinal of the 4A boys tourna-
ment Friday afternoon at Forest Grove
High School.
Seaside’s victory set up a rematch
of the football state title — and a
matchup that most Cowapa League
fans saw coming weeks ago —
the Gulls vs. Banks for the state
championship.
It’s the third straight year that two
Cowapa teams have met in the final,
with Seaside defeating Valley Catho-
lic in the previous two 4A champion-
ship games.
The Gulls punched their ticket to
this year’s final by rallying from an
early deficit, taking a 23-22 lead at
halftime, then taking control in the
fourth quarter.
Stayton grabbed a quick lead to
open second half on a 3-pointer by
Riley Nichol for a 25-23 advantage.
That would be Stayton’s final lead of
the day.
The Eagles featured 6-foot-8 Kaleb
Anundi and the 6-7 Nichol, but Sea-
side makes a living off beating big-
ger teams. The Gulls just moved their
game outside a little.
After making five 3-pointers in the
first half, Seaside drained three in the
opening minutes of the third quar-
ter, including back-to-back bombs by
Payton Westerholm and another from
Beau Johnson that gave the Gulls a
side’s final lead of the season.
Slifka answered with a jumper to
give Banks a 45-44 advantage, and more
importantly sparked a 9-0 run for the
Braves.
Cameron hit a 3-pointer at the 4:18
mark, Gobel scored on an offensive
rebound, and Cameron’s steal and basket
made it 52-44 with 3:36 left.
“When I got fouled (at the end of the
third quarter), I think that’s where it kind
of turned,” Gobel said. “Then Bret Cam-
eron got really hot and started knocking
down some shots. That really lifted us
and got us going.”
Said Westerholm, “It’s tough — you
use a lot of emotion to go up 11, then
when the other team goes up, it’s hard to
get that emotion back.”
Still, the Gulls tried.
Jeff Ter Har
Seaside’s Beau Johnson, left, battles
for a loose ball with Logan Classen of
Stayton.
commanding 36-27 lead.
The Eagles tried to keep it close —
and they did, for a while.
Consecutive scores by Micah Jen-
kins had Stayton within 38-37 early in
the fourth quarter, but that’s as close as
the Eagles would get.
Westerholm scored on a floating
jump shot, Ryan Hague made two free
throws, Westerholm converted four
straight, and the Gulls held on from
there.
Januik scored 15 points with five
assists, and Westerholm added 14
points, eight rebounds and five assists.
After Cameron’s third 3-pointer of
the half gave Banks a 55-46 lead, Beau
Johnson nailed a triple (his fifth of the
game), and Hague converted a three-
point play, bringing Seaside to within
57-54 with 1:41 remaining.
Banks came right back with a free
throw and a fast break layup from Bunn,
which secured the Braves’ victory.
“When Seaside gets a lead, they don’t
usually give it up,” Roche said. “So for
us to make some plays and make some
shots, that was just huge.”
Summing up Seaside’s season, coach
Westerholm said, “You can’t finish
first every year. We got beat by a good
Banks team. A team that hit some shots
in the second half. Cameron hit two or
three threes that were big for them. We
stretched it out to 11 points in the third,
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Baseball — Clatsop jamboree, at Seaside, 4 p.m.
Softball — Clatsop jamboree, at Astoria (CMH
Field), 4 p.m.
Girls golf — Astoria at Oregon Episcopal, 11:30
a.m.
Boys golf — Astoria at Oregon Episcopal, 10
a.m.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Banks 62, Seaside 56
SEA (56): Beau Johnson 19, Ryan Hague 17, Dun-
can Thompson 6, Brayden Johnson 6, Chase
Januik 4, Payton Westerholm 2, Dylan Meyer 2.
BAN (62): Blake Gobel 24, Bret Cameron 13,
Dakota Bunn 9, Jacob Slifka 7, Jarred Evans 5,
Hayden Vandehey 2, Tyler Exline 2, Ryan Hie-
stand, Nathan Klein, Blake Markham.
Seaside
11
18
10
17 — 56
Banks
7
15
17
23 — 62
Field goals: Seaside 23-54, Banks 23-53. 3-point
FG: Seaside 7-20 (Be.Johnson 5, Br.Johnson 2),
Banks 6-13 (Cameron 3, Gobel 2, Evans). Free
throws: Seaside 3-3, Banks 10-16. Fouls: Seaside
14, Banks 7. Assists: Seaside 17 (Januik 6), Banks
8 (three with 2). Rebounds: Seaside 26 (Hague
5), Banks 39 (Gobel 13). Steals: Seaside 6 (Januik
5), Banks 10 (Cameron 3). Turnovers: Seaside 11,
Banks 13. Players of the Game: Beau Johnson
(Seaside), Blake Gobel (Banks).
Seaside 49, Stayton 40
STA (40): Riley Nichol 18, Kaleb Anundi 12, Micah
Jenkins 6, Logan Classen 4, Jordan Butler, Ben
Rash, Jacob Axmaker.
SEA (49): Chase Januik 15, Payton Westerholm
14, Brayden Johnson 8, Beau Johnson 5, Ryan
Hague 4, Duncan Thompson 3, Skye Higdon,
Dylan Meyer.
Stayton
11
11
11
7 — 40
Seaside
11
12
15
11 — 49
Field goals: Stayton 15-41, Seaside 15-44. 3-point
FG: Stayton 3-12 (Nichol 3), Seaside 8-26 (Januik
3, Westerholm 2, Br.Johnson 2, Be.Johnson). Free
throws: Stayton 7-8, Seaside 11-17. Fouls: Stay-
ton 16, Seaside 12. Fouled out: Stayton, Classen,
Jenkins. Assists: Stayton 10 (Butler 4), Seaside 12
(Januik 5, Westerholm 5). Rebounds: Stayton 30
(Anundi 9), Seaside 29 (Westerholm 8). Steals:
Stayton 1 (Rash), Seaside 5 (Br.Johnson 2). Turn-
overs: Stayton 14, Seaside 4. Players of the Game:
Kaleb Anundi (Stayton), Chase Januik (Seaside).
Saturday’s finals
4A state tournament
Boys
Championship: Banks 62, Seaside 56
3rd/5th: Stayton 49, Woodburn 42
4th/6th: North Marion 77, Marist 65
Girls
Championship: Baker 51, Marist 48
3rd/5th: Newport 52, Philomath 40
4th/6th: North Marion 48, Banks 38
4A boys all-tournament
First team
Kaleb Anundi, Sr., Stayton
Blake Gobel, Sr., Banks
Ryan Hague, Jr., Seaside
Chase Januik, Sr., Seaside
R.J. Veliz, Sr., Woodburn (unanimous)
Second team
Sergio Jimenez, Jr., North Marion
Riley Nichol, Sr., Stayton
Andrew Reynolds, Sr., Henley
Jacob Slifka, Jr., Banks
Nick Stice, Jr., Marist
Sportsmanship: Woodburn
and we just got stagnant.
“(The Braves) picked it up a lit-
tle defensively, and we didn’t get some
buckets when we needed to.”
Seaside finished 7-of-20 from the
3-point line, but “We didn’t get many
inside points tonight,” he said. “All of our
points seemed to be coming from deep.
Beau shot the ball well, but you can’t
win the game by just shooting threes.
You have to get some points inside, and
we didn’t get many in the first half or the
third quarter.”
Gobel — who scored the go-ahead
touchdown in the state championship
football win — said the friendly rivalry
with the Gulls was a highlight of his high
school sports career, which will finish
this spring in baseball.
“We have so much respect for all
those guys,” said Gobel, who finished
with 24 points and 13 rebounds, both
game highs. Cameron finished with
13 points. “It’s been one hell of a ride,
and we still have one more sport to go.
It’s been fun, and I appreciate all their
coaches, families, players … everybody
on their side.”
For the Braves, the postgame fun was
just beginning.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Gobel
said. “It’s going to be one celebration,
that’s for sure. I thought football was
great, then we do this. It’s something
that I will be able to look back on, and be
very happy and proud of everybody that
had a part in it.”
Roche said, “Coming from behind
made it even sweeter. The kids have a lot
of heart and a lot of grit. And they’re all
great kids. That’s the best part.”
As for the Gulls, don’t count ‘em out
for a fifth straight title game appearance
next year.
Beau Johnson and Hague — both
juniors — combined for 36 of Seaside’s
56 points. Januik had six assists and
five steals in his final game in a Gulls
uniform.
Januik and Hague were both selected
all-tournament, the only team with two
players on the first team.
“It’s been a great ride with these
seniors,” Westerholm said. “We have a
good young group coming in, so we’re
going to be just fine. But it’s been a fun
ride, hanging with these seniors. I’ve
learned a lot from them.”