A10
FRIDAY
February 1, 2019
Winter Sports
SeasideSignal.com
Battle of the Cowapa
Jeff Ter Har
Yes, look at the clock, end of the fi rst half long shot, and yes it was…
NOTHIN’ BUT NET!
By GARY HENLEY
Seaside Signal
I
t’s roughly the Oregon high school
hoops equivalent of the Atlantic Coast
Conference, and North Carolina vs.
Duke.
Tuesday night’s battle by the ocean
went to Seaside, which rallied from an early
eight-point defi cit for a 60-51 win at the
Gulls’ Nest.
The victory puts Seaside back atop the
Cowapa standings by themselves, but
before the Gulls get comfortable in the No.
1 spot, Tuesday’s contest was just the fi rst
of three meetings between Banks and Sea-
side. The Braves will host the league sea-
son fi nale Feb. 14, and — odds are — both
teams will be there, March 9 at Forest Grove
High School, to decide another state cham-
pionship in another sport.
“We’ll see them down the road again,”
said Seaside coach Bill Westerholm, whose
team improves to 16-2 overall, 4-0 in the
Cowapa League. “We’ll see them in the
playoffs. Should be some exciting games.”
But at this point, there are no other candi-
dates. The Braves and the Gulls are the class
of Class 4A basketball. Tuesday’s game had
all the appearances of a state championship
preview.
Banks brought an 18-game win streak
into the game, while the Gulls had won 12
in a row, including a victory over defending
5A state champion Thurston.
Banks was (and still is) rated No. 1 in the
OSAA RPI poll, and Seaside is ranked No. 1
in the 4A coaches poll.
So something had to give, and it turned
out to be the Braves.
Banks couldn’t handle a pressure defense
the Gulls threw at the Braves, who had eight
turnovers in the fi rst half.
Combined with numerous missed shots
from close range, the Braves let their 15-7
lead turn into a 16-15 defi cit late in the fi rst
quarter, following baskets by Seaside’s Chase
Januik, Ryan Hague and Brayden Johnson.
A 9-2 run by the Gulls midway through
the second quarter gave Seaside a 34-27
advantage, but the Braves closed the fi rst
half on an 8-3 run of their own, even taking
a brief lead.
Seaside’s fi nal three points of the half
came the dramatic way, with Januik sinking a
shot at the buzzer from just beyond the mid-
court line.
Still, “We didn’t fi nish the half very well,”
said Seaside coach Bill Westerholm. “We
should have been up six or eight. Instead we
had two turnovers in a row and they scored
on both to go up one, then Chase hits the
half-court shot.”
And the Braves had one more rally in their
system, in the third period.
A jump-hook by Blake Gobel and a
3-pointer by Jarred Evans had the Braves
in front, 44-43, but that would be their fi nal
lead.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Slifka helps Banks slip past Seaside
The Daily Astorian
The Seaside Lady
Gulls had plenty of looks
at their favorite shot, fi r-
ing up 24 3-pointers —
but only seven went in,
and that wasn’t enough to
stay with the Banks Braves
in a Cowapa League girls
basketball game Tuesday
night.
Banks led from start
to fi nish in a 50-37 win
over the Gulls, who other-
wise played a good game
against the No. 2-ranked
Braves.
“I thought our kids
played pretty well,” said
Seaside
coach
Mike
Hawes, “though Banks
kept their foot off the
throttle somewhat, with
no full court press, which
we’ll see (Friday) against
Astoria.”
Morgan Blodgett had
14 points and 10 rebounds
Januik hit two free throws and scored on
a short jumper over the 6-foot-7 Gobel, and
Hague converted an offensive rebound for a
49-44 lead.
Banks was within 49-47 at the end of
the third quarter, but the Gulls scored the
fi rst fi ve points of the fourth, and that was
enough for the win.
Once Seaside had built a 51-47 lead with
four minutes remaining, the Gulls sim-
ply played keep-away with the ball, and
Seaside swims to win
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Seaside Signal
GIRLS
BOYS
Morgan Blodgett,
Basketball
Beau Johnson,
Basketball
The senior scored a
game-high 26 points in a
win over Tillamook Jan.
25. She was 8-for-12 from
the fi eld, including 5-for-6
on 3-pointers, and 5-for-5 Morgan Blodgett
on free throws. She also
had a team-high seven rebounds and two
assists. Blodgett led the Gulls in a Jan. 18
loss to Valley Catholic, scoring 11 points.
She transferred to Seaside from Warrenton.
The Seaside Gulls
take turns when it comes
to leading the team in
scoring. In the Jan. 25
win at Tillamook, it was
Beau Johnson’s turn, as Beau Johnson
the junior wing led four
players in double fi gures with a game-
high 18 points, which included three
3-pointers and 5-for-6 at the free throw
line.
“Senior Day” for the Seaside swim team
turned out perfectly, as the Gulls hosted Til-
lamook for a double dual meet Jan. 24 at the
Sunset Pool.
The Seaside girls’ and boys’ teams both
scored victories over the Mooks for a Cow-
apa League sweep in the pool.
Seaside defeated Tillamook 94-68 on the
girls’ side, while the Seaside boys sunk the
Cheesemakers, 103-42.
Gulls’ coach Shane Spell called it “a great
opportunity to celebrate nine (senior) swim-
mers who’ve made their time with the team
count, whether it was one season or four.”
to lead Seaside, which had
38 rebounds total.
The Gulls simply
couldn’t keep pace with
the Braves’ Aspen Slifka,
who led all scorers with 24
points.
“We still have turnover
spurts where Aspen said
‘thank you very much’ and
then laid it in,” Hawes said.
“Without the turnovers
(20) we were pretty even
in the half court, but dang
if they don’t count them.”
allowed the Braves to score just four points
in the fi nal period.
“The kids have been doing this since they
were in the fourth grade,” coach Westerholm
said. “They see they have a lead, and they start
milking the clock. That has nothing to do with
me. With just under four minutes left, we got
patient and took about a minute off the clock.
“We knew they had to foul, so we got
to the free throw line, and shot free throws
pretty well in the fourth quarter.”
SCOREBOARD
BOYS BASKETBALL
Seaside 72, Tillamook 54
SEA (72): Beau Johnson 18,
Hague 15, Januik 13, Br.
Johnson 10, Westerholm 8,
Thompson 8, Higdon, Sny-
der, Sibony, Meyer.
TIL (54): Charlie Jenck 12,
Kellen Shelley 12, Wilkes 11,
Miller 8, Boomer 5, Kunert 4,
Weber 2.
Seaside 19 16 23 14—72
Tillamook 13 11 14 16—54
Seaside 55, Valley Catholic 49
SEA (55): Ryan Hague 15,
Br.Johnson 12, Januik 11,
Westerholm 10, Thompson
7, Be.Johnson, Meyer.
VC (49): Jack Tetzloff 14,
Eberhart 12, Pruitt 12, Napoli
5, Boileau 4, Miller 2.
Seaside 15 13 14 13—55
V.Catholic 14 5 23 7—49
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Seaside 59, Tillamook 52
SEA (59): Morgan Blodgett
26, Taylor 12, Kiser 8, Doug-
las 5, Angulo-Joli 3, Gar-
hofer 3, Turner 2, McFadden,
VanDusen.
Seaside 22 15 9 13—59
Tillamook 9 8 19 16—52
Valley Catholic 48, Seaside
28
SEA (28): Morgan Blodgett
11, Taylor 8, Kiser 5, Turner
4, McFadden, Goin, Zagata,
Doney, Garhofer.
Seaside
7 5 9 7—28
V.Catholic 14 18 9 7—48
SEASIDE SPORTS SUPERFANS
To be a
SUPERFAN
Call April
503.738.5561
SEASIDE
WELLNESS
CENTER
Mental Health Therapy
Children, Adolescents,
and Adults
503.717.5284
seasidewellnesscenter.net
CCB# 205283
Best of luck
this Season!
Go Gulls!
LEAN
C
C S WEEP
S
PAVING &
EXCAVATION
1570 Lewis & Clark Rd., Seaside
503-738-7556
w w w. c l e a n s w e e p p a v i n g . c o m
McCALL
TIRE CENTER
WARRENTON • 503-861-3252 • 1167 S.E. Marlin Ave.
SEASIDE • 503-738-9243 • 2155 S. Roosevelt Dr.
Flooring
Installation
Carpet Cleaning
3470 Hwy 101 Suite 102
Gearhart, Oregon
503.739.7577 • carpetcornergearhart.com