A8
FRIDAY
March 19, 2021
SeasideSignal.com
Utti, Fresno State close out season
By GARY HENLEY
Seaside Signal
If there’s one thing Sea-
side basketball fans know
about Maddi Utti: No matter
who the opponent, what the
score is or whatever phys-
ical ailment she might be
dealing with, the hard-work-
ing forward with the golden
touch always gave it every-
thing she had, for four full
quarters.
The game took her from a
fifth-place finish at state as a
freshman in 2014 and third-
place as a senior in 2017,
to an outstanding Division I
basketball career at Fresno
State, highlighted by a con-
ference Player of the Year
award in 2020.
Unfortunately for Utti
and the Bulldogs, Fresno
State came up one win short
of the NCAA Tournament
for the second straight sea-
son this year, following a
loss last week to Wyoming
in the Mountain West Con-
ference championship game.
Fresno State — which
entered the conference tour-
nament as the No. 4 seed —
got past No. 1 New Mexico
the night before, but lost a
nail-biter to the Cowgirls in
the final, 59-56.
Fittingly, Utti was the
only player for either team
to play the entire 40 minutes,
finishing with a game-high
nine rebounds and seven
points.
The night before, in a
77-72 victory over New
Mexico, Utti contributed 17
points and 12 rebounds.
The Bulldogs lost six con-
ference games in the regu-
lar season, but the last four
losses came by just a com-
bined seven points. And last
Wednesday’s defeat fell into
the same category.
Four days before the con-
ference tournament began,
Utti talked about the close
losses.
“There’s been a lot of
close games, we just hav-
en’t been able to finish them
out,” Utti said. “We know
we should have won those
games, which would have
made us conference champi-
ons. That’s pretty disappoint-
ing, but going into the tour-
nament we know that we’re
able to win those games.”
Win them they did. The
first two nights, Fresno State
beat Nevada (70-46), then
New Mexico.
The loss to Wyoming was
a heartbreaker for the Bull-
dogs, especially for Utti and
her four senior teammates.
Arguably the greatest girls
basketball player in Clatsop
County history, Utti’s col-
lege basketball career may or
may not be over — that deci-
sion will come later.
For now, Utti’s latest sea-
son came to a close in an
empty arena, 1,100 miles
from home.
There were no fans
allowed at the tournament,
held at Thomas & Mack
Center in Las Vegas —
something Utti was finally
getting accustomed to.
“It’s definitely weird” not
having fans in the arena, she
said. “They would have the
crowd noise, the audio, but
there was just not as much
energy in the gym. I’ve got-
ten a little used to it, but I
would definitely like the fans
back.”
For Fresno State’s Senior
Night, Feb. 27 vs. UNLV,
Utti had family members
(sort of) in attendance.
“They had our parents
up on the big screen, to
announce us into the start-
ing lineup,” Utti said. “It
was definitely way differ-
ent not having them in the
gym, but it was still a spe-
cial night.”
It’s also just beginning to
hit Utti that her four years at
Fresno State could be up.
“It started Senior Night,
thinking that game was
going to be my last game at
the Save Mart Center,” she
said. But, “I’m not sure it
will sink in until it’s done.”
And even then, there’s a
chance that Utti could return
next season.
“I do have another year
of eligibility, but I haven’t
decided what route I want
to take, or if I want to keep
playing,” said Utti, who
has had to deal with shoul-
der problems on her shoot-
ing arm for most of the 2021
season.
The injury happened in
one of early games, she said.
Fresno State Athletics
Maddi Utti puts up a shot in her last game of the conference
tournament.
Utti had to wear a shoulder
wrap under her uniform the
rest of the season.
“It’s just there to make
sure it’s stable. I haven’t
had to change much as far
as shooting. This year has
not been the easiest. With
COVID and all the hoops
we have to go through just
to play … it’s been a little
mentally draining.”
Throughout it all, Utti
always gained strength from
the hometown support she
received from Seaside.
“Seaside has always
been one of my biggest sup-
port systems, all the time,”
said Utti, who is closing in
on her degree in business
finance. “I see the different
posts on Facebook and the
articles, so I really appreci-
ate the support throughout
my past four years.”
Gulls football defeats Seaside defeats Yamhill-Carlton in boys soccer
Milwaukie, 43-10
Seaside Signal
Seaside Signal
Seaside cruised to its sec-
ond straight victory with
a 43-10 decision last Fri-
day against new Cowapa
League member Milwaukie.
The Gulls rolled up 428
yards in total offense, build-
ing a 30-0 halftime lead.
Carson Kawasoe was
6-for-12 passing for 194
yards and two touchdowns
while Andrew Teubner led
the ground game with 169
yards and four scores.
Seaside’s win sets up a
league championship meet-
ing on Friday with Banks.
After having Tuesday’s
game with Astoria canceled,
the Seaside boys soccer team
brought in Yamhill-Carlton
for a nonleague match, and
pounded the Tigers 7-1 at
Broadway Field.
The Fishermen are play-
ing a junior varsity-only, or
8-on-8 varsity schedule this
season.
Seaside built a 3-0 half-
time advantage, and with
only 10 players on the field
in the second half, still out-
scored the Tigers 4-1, with
three goals from Dodger
Holmstedt, and another by
Westin Carter.
After two straight losses
to start the season (1-0 to
Valley Catholic, 7-0 to Stay-
ton), the Gulls have won
three straight, outscoring the
opposition by a combined
14-1.
Seaside can pull into a
first-place tie in the league
standings with a win Thurs-
day at Valley Catholic.
The 1-0 loss to the Val-
iants to start the season “was
a pretty good contest, for our
first run out,” said Seaside
coach John Chapman. “We
have some young guys out
there, and we had one error,
and that was all it took.
“We pretty much con-
trolled the Tillamook game
(a 3-0 win),” he said. “Stay-
ton contacted us about add-
ing a game, and as good as
they are, that showed some
respect that they have for us.”
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