A8
FRIDAY
Winter Sports
February 11, 2022
SeasideSignal.com
HOMETOWN REPORT
BOYS BASKETBALL ROUNDUP
Seaside beats Valiants in OT
The Astorian
In the most unexpected
overtime game of the night,
Seaside held off Valley Cath-
olic in five quarters last Fri-
day night at Seaside, 58-55.
Both teams had opportu-
nities to win it earlier, but it
came down to a buzzer-beat-
ing 3-pointer from Sea-
side’s Ever Sibony as time
expired, with his bank shot
off the glass going in for the
lone field goal of the over-
time session.
The Valiants —winless in
league play — had to over-
come deficits of 19-8 in the
first quarter, 44-30 in the
third and 47-37 early in the
fourth before the Valiants
reeled off an 18-6 run to
send the game to overtime.
Seaside had a chance to
close it out at the free throw
line, but the Gulls made just
3-of-10 attempts in the final
minute of regulation, into
overtime.
Valley Catholic’s Benja-
min Cheung scored a game-
high 21 points, and made
two free throws with 53 sec-
onds left in the extra frame
to tie the game at 55-55, set-
ting up the game-winning
shot by Sibony.
The Gulls are 5-0 in
league play, a one-game
lead over Banks and a three-
game lead over Astoria with
three games remaining.
Less than 24 hours after
Friday’s win, Seaside trav-
eled to West Linn for a non-
league game against the No.
3-ranked Class 5A Lions,
who defeated the Gulls
69-39.
Seaside 64, Astoria 50
The Gulls won lucky
No. 13 in a row over Asto-
ria last Tuesday, going back
six years (Astoria’s last win
over Seaside was Jan. 29,
2016).
Cash Corder was money
in the bank for the Gulls in
last Tuesday’s game, scor-
ing 27 points in a 64-50 win.
Long Beach State/Contributed Photo
Jeff TerHar
Seaside graduate Maddi Utti is lighting up the scoreboard
in her 2021-22 season at Long Beach State.
it’s a tough place to play,
and we missed some shots
that we really needed.”
Utti on a roll
at Long Beach
Ever Sibony scores in overtime to give the Gulls the win against the Valiants.
Gulls over Banks
Jeff TerHar
Players and fans react after the Gulls overtime 58-55 win
versus the Valiants.
The Gulls never trailed,
but they also couldn’t
shake Astoria until the final
minutes.
Back-to-back 3-pointers
from Corder gave Seaside
an early 10-2 lead, but the
Fishermen rallied to within
18-17 midway through the
second quarter.
A 3-pointer by Seaside’s
Ever Sibony in the final sec-
onds of the first half gave the
Gulls a 26-19 halftime lead.
Seaside threatened to pull
away in the third following
a trey from Jared White, a
steal and score by Sibony
and a reverse dunk from
Corder for a 38-25 lead.
Astoria answered with
3-pointers from Thomas
Faulkner, Merrick Benesch
and Owen Williams, bring-
ing the Fishermen to within
40-34.
Three more 3-point-
ers had Astoria trailing by
just four points early in the
fourth, before the Gulls
were able to finish the game
on an 11-2 run.
Sibony had 15 points,
and Colton McMaster had
16 for Astoria.
“We played well — Sea-
side was just a little better
than we were tonight,” said
Astoria coach Kevin Goin.
“They’re a tough team and
Banks managed to keep
the game close, but close
wasn’t good enough at Sea-
side, where the Gulls held
off the Braves for a 47-40
win Jan. 28 in a Cowapa
League boys basketball
game.
Banks led 9-6 midway
through the first quarter,
but Seaside’s Ever Sibony
went on a 7-0 run to give the
Gulls a 13-9 lead to close
out the quarter, and Seaside
never trailed again.
The Braves managed
to force a tie at 24-24, and
were still within five to
seven points the remainder
of the game, but the Gulls
closed out the win at the free
throw line. Sibony led all
scorers with 29 points, and
the Gulls finished 18-for-28
at the line.
Cash Corder was only
other player in double fig-
ures for Seaside, with 10
points. Banks junior Ben
Mayo had four 3-pointers,
on his way to a team-high
16 points.
GIRLS BASKETBALL ROUNDUP
Valiants edge Gulls in overtime
The Astorian
In their last three homes
games vs. the top three
teams in the Cowapa
League (Banks, Astoria and
Valley Catholic), the Sea-
side Lady Gulls allowed
just 31, 34 and 26 points,
respectively, to all three
teams.
Unfortunately for the
Gulls, Seaside scored 26,
16 and 24 in the same three
games, the latest a 26-24
overtime loss to the Val-
iants, last Friday night at
Seaside.
A layup by Seaside’s
Alissa Betts gave the Gulls
a 12-5 lead late in the sec-
ond quarter, before the Val-
iants’ Maggie McKeen hit
a 3-pointer to pull Valley
Catholic to within 12-8 at
halftime.
Seaside still had an
18-15 lead after three quar-
ters, but a 3-pointer from
Valley Catholic freshman
Julia Rosebrook helped
the Valiants rally to tie the
game, 22-22 at the end of
regulation.
Valley Catholic built
a big four-point lead in
overtime before a score
from Seaside’s Abby Nof-
ield brought the Gulls to
within two points with 31
seconds left. A final posses-
sion for the Gulls came up
empty.
Jeff TerHar
Aubrie Taylor goes for the ball against Astoria.
Banks wins defensive
battle
The comeback specialists
of the Cowapa League were
at it again last Friday night
at Seaside, where the Lady
Gulls were hosting the No.
6-ranked Banks Braves.
Banks ultimately escaped
with a 31-26 win, in a typ-
ical defensive, low-scoring
battle with the Gulls.
Fresh off a win over Til-
lamook, in which the Lady
Gulls rallied from an early
16-6 deficit, Seaside trailed
Banks 12-0 in the opening
minute of the second quarter
in Friday’s game.
The Gulls rallied with
three straight baskets from
Abby Nofield, Lilli Taylor
and Aubrie Taylor.
Lilli Taylor added con-
secutive hoops later in the
quarter, and hit a 3-pointer
as time expired in the first
half, bringing Seaside to
within 20-19 at halftime.
The Gulls pulled into a
23-23 tie in the third quarter,
and the game settled into a
free throw shooting contest
from there.
Seaside was 1-for-9 at the
line in the second half, to
3-for-11 for the Braves.
Lilli Taylor had 16 of
Seaside’s 26 points to lead
all scorers.
The Gulls played a
makeup game Saturday at
Valley Catholic, where the
Valiants posted a 42-17 win
over Seaside.
By GARY HENLEY
The Astorian
Seaside’s Maddi Utti is
making the most of what
could be her final season
of college basketball.
The senior at Long
Beach State is leading her
team in almost every cat-
egory, following a stand-
out senior season last
year at Fresno State.
The Beach (formerly
the 49ers) won 74-63 last
Thursday night against
California State Univer-
sity, Bakersfield.
And Utti is playing a
big part in the team’s suc-
cess, as she played all
40 minutes and scored
a team-high 21 points
in Thursday’s win, with
10 rebounds and three
assists, her fourth dou-
ble-double of the season.
The graduate of Sea-
side High School and
a former star at Fresno
State, Utti was granted an
extra year of athletic eli-
gibility, and she’s making
the most of it.
Utti leads Long Beach
in several statistical cate-
gories at both ends of the
floor. She leads the Beach
in scoring (13.3 points
per game), rebounding
(8.7 per game), steals
(53) and blocks (17).
Utti has topped the
20-point mark four times
this season, has led the
team in scoring eight
times, and has regis-
tered five double-digit
rebounding games.
For her efforts, she has
twice been named Big
West Conference Player
of the Week.
Before Thursday’s win
over Bakersfield, Long
Beach State had a three-
game win streak snapped
with a 68-58 loss to Uni-
versity of California,
Davis last Saturday. Utti
had 18 points with a team-
high nine rebounds, four
steals and two blocks.
Mitchell sets Oregon
State record
Kaylee Mitchell, who
attended Astoria High
School for two years
before transferring to
Sprague High School, is
now an official record-
holder at Oregon State.
After graduating from
Sprague and attending
Seattle Pacific Univer-
sity, Mitchell transferred
to Oregon State, where
she has added to her
already impressive list of
accomplishments in track
and cross-country.
Oregon State University/
Contributed Photo
Kaylee Mitchell, one-time
runner for Astoria High
School, on her way to a
school record in the 3,000
meters for Oregon State.
Mitchell, who com-
peted in the women’s
steeplechase at last sum-
mer’s Olympic trials
but failed to make the
U.S. track team, recently
shattered the Oregon
State record in the 3,000
meters.
As the Beavers were
closing out competition
at the UW Invitational
in Seattle last Friday and
Saturday, Mitchell fin-
ished third in the 3,000 in
a time of 9 minutes, 3.26
seconds.
It was a new personal
best for Mitchell and also
set a new Oregon State
school record, previously
9:23.36, set by Juliana
Mount in 2019.
Mitchell’s teammate,
junior Grace Fetherston-
haugh, finished seventh
in the same race, also
topping the former school
record in 9:06.86.
“We
are
building
great momentum with
this team,” said Oregon
State coach Louie Quin-
tana. “We had huge races
by our 3K group. Kaylee
clocking 9:03 and Grace
with 9:06 is amazing
stuff.”
In her fourth year of
college, Mitchell is still
just a redshirt junior in
athletic eligibility.