February 3, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 9A
Seaside squad follows
in the ‘tradition’
Seniors take charge for
undefeated Gulls
FILE PHOTO
The Gulls boasted state-contending teams in the 1970s.
At left, former Coach Larry Elliott, now a fan.
By Gary Henley
For Seaside Signal
The Seaside Gulls are be-
coming the Golden State War-
riors of the Cowapa League.
With one exception. The
Warriors lose every now and
then. The Gulls do not. The
Gulls stand at 15-0 and 5-0
within the league. They are
ranked No. 1 in three polls.
Granted, Seaside has played
far fewer games than the War-
riors — but the Gulls win any
number of ways, and they can
launch 3-pointers better than
just about anybody — Class 5A
and 6A included — in the state.
Seaside — the runner-up in
last year’s state championship
(another feeling the Golden
State Warriors can relate to)
— is one of only two unbeaten
teams in Oregon high school
basketball. Dayton is 18-0 at
the Class 3A level.
And assuming that Tilla-
mook does not score a miracle
win tonight, Seaside will be 4-0
in league play.
Currently playing the part
of Steph Curry is Jackson
Januik — at least it was his turn
Tuesday, as the senior guard
connected on a couple of long-
range, NBA-size 3-pointers on
his way to a 19-point night in
the latest win against Valley
Catholic.
A Seaside High School
graduate himself, head coach
Bill Westerholm knows the tra-
dition and process of becoming
a Gull.
“I remember as a kid, look-
ing up to the kids at the high
school. I had the opportunity
to have some success when
I was here, and it’s nice to be
able to get these (current) kids
involved. What we do at Cedar
Ridge (an annual off-season
camp), we get all the kids to-
gether, and the younger kids get
to know the older kids.
“These guys we have now
were the ones who were look-
ing up to the Andrew Potter’s
and that group, and right now,
all the youth who were sit-
ting behind our bench tonight,
they’re watching their idols
now.”
Trophies
And when they start young,
a successful program seems to
Seagulls’ success
is a family affair
Seagulls from Page 1A
JEFF TER HAR/FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL
Jackson Januik drives for the basket. His exciting play has electrified the Gulls and their fans.
follow. That means wins. Lots
and lots of wins.
Summers are normally
filled with team photos of
young Seaside players holding
up trophies.
In addition to Westerholm,
some of those responsible for
the building of Seaside bas-
ketball include Frank Januik,
Byren Thompson and Gene
Quilhaugh.
“Frank Januik and Byren
Thompson coach them from
kindergarten through the sev-
enth grade; and Gene Quil-
haugh — who has a lot of
knowledge about basketball —
had both groups through their
seventh- and eighth-grade
years,” Westerholm said.
“They’ve won a lot of sum-
mer games. These kids have
won a lot of games at the youth
level, and now they’ve won a
lot of games at the sophomore
and senior levels.
“We’re still trying to keep
that tradition,” he said. “We
know what the ingredients are
— the coaches we’ve had at
the youth level. We’re trying
to continue that history in our
youth programs right now.”
Playing together
It’s an advantage that
private schools don’t have.
Whereas private schools can
“recruit,” their players often
don’t know or play togeth-
er until they reach the high
school level.
Seaside players, for the
most part, have been team-
mates from the moment they
pick up a basketball
Jackson Januik, the reign-
ing 4A state Player of the Year,
says, “That’s the great thing
about playing for Seaside.
I’ve played with this group my
entire life, and we know each
perfectly. Playing against a
bigger team like Valley Cath-
olic, when I drive, I know
Hunter’s going to be cutting,
because he’s been doing it for
years. And Payton, Attikin,
Chase … we work together
extremely well.”
He adds, “We played a lot
of the 6A schools in the sum-
mer tournaments, like West-
view and Southridge. Those
were good games for us. Those
games pushed us to be better,
and have more success in high
school.”
And now that they’re No.
1?
“We know we have a tar-
get on our back, and we’ve
talked about that target at the
beginning of the year,” coach
Westerholm said. “We know
that every team that plays us is
going to bring their best game.
They want to beat the No. 1
team, the team that played in
the state championship last
year. And we want that chal-
lenge.”
No. 1
Assuming there’s no upsets
on the horizon, the Gulls will
likely take that No. 1 ranking
into the state playoffs, and on
to Hillsboro.
But even if they don’t hold
down the No. 1 seed, “What’s
important is how we’re play-
ing at the end of the year,”
Westerholm said. “(The No. 1
ranking) is a nice little feather
in the cap, and these kids de-
serve it. But it’s not the most
important thing right now. The
important thing is that we con-
tinue to work as a team, and
get better with each practice.
“With our senior leadership
— Jackson Januik, Hunter
Thompson, Attikin Babb and
Otto Hoekstre — you couldn’t
ask for four better senior lead-
ers.”
Upcoming games include
matchups Tuesday against
Banks at home and Feb. 3
against Scappoose. They’ll
finish their season with away
games at Astoria, Valley Cath-
olic and Banks. Their final
home game is Feb. 14 against
Tillamook.
Lady Gulls back in action with win
By Gary Henley
For Seaside Signal
Seaside missed 46 shots
from the field and 15 free
throws — but the Gulls still
managed a 15-point win Fri-
day, Jan. 24, at Tillamook.
The winless Cheesemak-
er girls basketball team put a
scare into the Gulls, but Sea-
side remained unbeaten in
Cowapa League play with a
62-47 win.
Tillamook’s Jennifer Tua-
tagaloa scored on an offensive
rebound to start the fourth
quarter, and the Cheesemak-
ers held a brief 40-39 lead.
But the upset of the night
in 4A girls basketball didn’t
happen, as Maddi Utti’s steal
and score seconds later put the
Gulls up for good.
Seaside was 25-for-71
from the field, 10-for-25 at the
free throw line.
Utti — who was in early
foul trouble — added a three-
point play later in the fourth
to help Seaside pull away for
the win.
Utti only had two points in
the first half, but finished with
18 points, to go with six steals
and six assists. Bryre Babbitt
and Sydney Villegas added
13 points apiece, and Anesha
Smart tossed in 10 points with
five rebounds.
“This was not an easy
game,” said Seaside coach
Mike Hawes. “Tillamook
came to play, they were me-
thodical in breaking our pres-
sure, shot the ball pretty well
and hurt us on the glass.”
JEFF TER HAR/FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL
Maddi Utti on defense against Astoria. Utti is a team leader
for the Gulls.
He added, “Tillamook took
the lead somewhere there late
in the third quarter and then
we responded, showed some
poise and had a solid fourth
quarter to put the game away.
But it was not easy. Bryre was
huge — she made shots from
a lot of different places. She’s
really becoming a solid third
scorer behind Maddi and
Sydney.”
Ideue “made some plays,
especially on the defensive
end,” Hawes said. “Anesha
Smart just made some critical
buckets for us. She was a dif-
ference maker tonight and we
definitely needed it.”
Girls clinch title
The Seaside girls basket-
ball team cleared one more
obstacle Tuesday, Jan. 24, be-
tween themselves and a Cow-
apa League title.
Seaside — ranked sev-
enth in the latest 4A coaches
poll — led from beginning to
end in a 56-47 win over No.
8-ranked Valley Catholic.
Maddi Utti scored 27
points to go with seven re-
bounds and five assists, while
Sydney Villegas added 12
points and 10 boards in Tues-
day’s win.
Seaside
coach
Mike
Hawes said he was “just real-
ly pleased and hoping to keep
getting better.” “I’m not really
sure how good we are or can
be, but we want to find out,”
he said.
The Gulls led 20-14 after
one quarter, before the Val-
iants rallied and tied the game
at 26-26, on a 3-pointer by
Matti Thurman.
Seaside answered with
an offensive rebound bas-
ket from Bryre Babbitt and a
layup by Sydney Villegas off
a pass from Lucy Bodner, and
the Gulls led 30-26 at half-
time.
Valley Catholic managed
to keep it close until midway
through the third period, when
a short jump shot by Utti
sparked a 9-0 run, turning a
36-34 lead into a 45-34 lead.
Utti was 11-of-25 from the
field, and Villegas 5-of-10.
“The seniors were tremen-
dous,” Hawes said. “We just
need Maddi and Sydney to be
studs, and they were tonight,
though they had to fight and
struggle.”
The Gulls also had “great
contributions from Jetta
(Ideue) and Bryre, and Lucy
just plays her heart out,”
Hawes said. “Annaka Gar-
hofer came off the bench to
hit a couple 3’s to get us a nice
margin in the first half.
“We got some separation
in the third quarter and kind
of shakily hung on the final
four minutes,” he said. “We
rebounded pretty well and
only had 11 turnovers, though
my brain thought we had a lot
more.”
The Gulls’ success on
the court is being celebrated
throughout the community
in what could go down in
the books as one of the high
school’s great seasons.
“All of us in Seaside
are very proud of our stu-
dent athletes,” Mayor Jay
Barber said. “We have seen
amazing performances from
both the boys and girls swim
teams as well as our cross
country, soccer and football
teams earlier in the year. But
we are especially proud of
our boys and girls basketball
teams this season. They are
nothing short of amazing.”
Tom Maltman graduated
in 1973 after a three-sport
career with the Gulls, in-
cluding basketball. Today he
serves on the Seaside School
District’s board and is a big-
time fan.
He is quick to say that
his brother, Scott, was the
real hoops star in the family,
but he shared in the Seagull
pride.
“It’s just great,” Malt-
man said. “We’re one of
the smallest schools in the
4A classification. The kids
have had great success and
it brings a lot of pride to the
community and the board.
We’re awfully proud of the
kids and their coaches.”
‘Quick as cats’
Larry Elliott coached the
Gulls on the basketball court
from 1971
to 1996, tak-
ing the team
to the state
champion-
ship tourna-
ment
nine
times in 25
years.
He
Former
lives in Sea-
Gulls’
side
and basketball
follows the coach Larry
Gulls every
Elliott.
game.
“Here’s what I watched
last night,” Elliott said af-
ter Tuesday night’s lopsided
victory over Valley Catho-
lic. “They play well togeth-
er. They have a feel for each
other. They are unselfish.
They cover for each other
defensively. They’re quick
as cats and always looking
for opportunity. Jackson
Januik — I have never seen
a guard who can handle a
ball as quick as he does —
anywhere.”
Mark Utti, the father of
girls’ star Maddi Utti, at-
tributed the Gulls’ success to
training programs that nur-
ture young talent.
Kerri Januik is not only
the mother of two Gulls’
standouts — senior co-cap-
tain Jackson and sopho-
more Chase — but serves as
tournament director for the
nonprofit Pacific Basketball
League.
From January to March,
teams from throughout the
Northwest come to the area,
bringing top young compet-
itors to Seaside. Local kids
have an opportunity to take
them on one-on-one.
“I’ve always encouraged
basketball in our community
by allowing that opportunity
for them,” Kerri Januik said.
“They don’t have to travel,
they can just play here and
participate against all these
other teams that come to
town.”
It is this experience,
along with strong coach-
ing in the early stages, that
helped local players develop
the skills necessary to suc-
cessfully compete.
“These kids play six
weekends in a row at their
age, then they have their
school ball on top of that,”
Mark Utti said. “When
they’re younger like that,
it really develops them. It
gives them that motivation
to keep playing, that love of
the game.”
Family affair
Both Kerri Januik and her
husband, Frank, played bas-
ketball in high school. “The
kids have a passion for it like
Frank and I did,” she said.
There are so many siblings
and family combinations
in the Seaside program you
need a family tree.
The Thompson brothers
— varsity starters Hunter and
Duncan — received coach-
ing and inspiration from their
dad, Byren, who ranks among
the top five free-throw shoot-
ers for the school and played
a part in the Gulls’ 1990s
tournament teams.
Mark Utti played basket-
ball for Astoria and helped
take the Fishermen to the
state tournament in 1983.
Basketball is in the
Westerholm family DNA.
Old-timers remember coach
Bill Westerholm’s dad, Jerry,
as a history teacher and ath-
letic director.
As a player, Elliott said,
Bill Westerholm “was proba-
bly one of the top five com-
petitors who have ever played
with me.”
A new generation, repre-
sented by former Lady Gulls’
star Whitney Westerholm and
this year’s Gulls starter Pay-
ton Westerholm, have taken
the mantle. In the wings, Jor-
dan Westerholm, 10, plays
youth basketball in Seaside.
“It seems coaches’ kids
bring along other kids with
them,” Elliott said. “They
watch dad. They watch the
teams since they’re little tiny
guys. It really makes a hecku-
va difference.”
“Since you’re little, you
just know you have some-
thing to work for,” Whitney
Westerholm said.
Basketball, she said, was
her favorite sport because
of “the camaraderie and the
heart you had to put into it.”
For many of these kids and
their families, basketball is
much more than a game.
“It definitely gives them
a focus and a passion, and
helps them do well in school
and keep their grades up,”
Kerri Januik said. “This is
important to them. It is a real
priority in their lives and I
think it helps them stay fo-
cused and organized in other
parts of their lives.”
‘Good hops’
With all eyes on the Gulls,
each win comes with a new
challenge. Friday, Feb. 3,
they’ll take on Scappoose in
the Gulls’ nest. Four more
games remain, with a finale
against the Braves in Banks
on Feb. 16.
“The only thing they really
lack is size,” Elliott said. “But
what I always say as a coach,
you give me five 6-foot kids
who are quick and I’ll play
with anybody in the state.
And that’s exactly what’s go-
ing on right here. Not only do
they pass the ball, they shoot
the ball, and they can jump.
They have good hops, good
basketball savvy — they just
know what to do.”
“What they lack in size,
they overcome in skill, so I
hope skill can win out,” Kerri
Januik said. “I don’t want to
miss a thing. It’s been really,
really fun.”