A8
FRIDAY
March 18, 2022
Winter Sports
SeasideSignal.com
PLAYOFFS ROUNDUP
Gulls knocked out by Junction City
By GARY HENLEY
Seaside Signal
Seaside’s run at a fifth
straight championship game
appearance in the 4A boys
basketball state tournament
came to an end last Friday
afternoon at Marshfield High
School, where No. 1-ranked
Junction City held off the
Gulls, 43-35, helping the
Tigers secure a spot in Sat-
urday’s championship game.
The Gulls were bounced
into Saturday’s third-place
consolation game.
Seaside still managed
to trim a nine-point defi-
cit down to 35-32 early in
the fourth quarter, but less
than 24 hours after a dra-
matic comeback win over
Philomath on the previous
day, Seaside had used up all
of its miracle points for the
tournament.
The top-ranked Tigers,
who trailed by three points
early, led the rest of the way
to win the semifinal game.
Both teams struggled
from the field (Gulls 10-for-
33, Tigers 10-for-34), but
Junction City was 20-of-25
at the free throw line, 8-of-
12 in the last 3:28 of regula-
tion, to hold off any Seaside
comeback.
More impressive was the
Tiger defense, which held
Seaside’s Ever Sibony to just
six points (one field goal and
four free throws), after Sibo-
ny’s 25-point outburst in
Thursday’s game.
Seaside’s Cash Corder
scored a team-high 15 points
before fouling out late in the
game, while Junction City
used just six players the
entire game, and effectively
ran time off the clock in the
final quarter, allowing just
five points for the Gulls in
the fourth period.
Junior Kaleb Burnett led
the Tigers with 16 points and
seven rebounds, while team-
mate Colby Evans added 10
points, including 6-for-6 at
the free throw line.
Connor Langmo chipped
in nine points and seven
rebounds for Seaside, which
had appeared four straight
state championship games
(2016, ’17, ’18, ’19), with the
state tournament canceled in
2020 and 2021.
On Saturday, Seaside lost
the consolation game to rival
Banks, 62-54 at Marshfield
High School. The Gulls fin-
ished 20-8 overall.
The Gulls celebrated a great season in 2021-22, although title hopes were dashed by Junction City.
Jeff TerHar
Students give a royal send-off to the Gulls as they headed to the state tournament last Wednesday.
John Gunther
Ever Sibony moves past three Philomath defenders.
Gulls defeat Philomath
The last time they took
part in a 4A state tournament,
the Seaside boys basketball
team walked off the court as
a loser in the 2019 4A state
championship, when the
Gulls came up on the short
end of a 62-56 loss to Banks
in the title game in Forest
Grove.
Fast forward to 2022. A
different location, but the
Seaside Seagulls are still a
traditional power in 4A boys
basketball.
Division 4A basketball
hasn’t played a champion-
ship game without Seaside
since 2015.
Not deterred by a 20-point
deficit in the first half, the
Gulls clinched their spot
in the Final Four with a
62-61 victory over Philo-
math last Thursday at North
Bend High School, as Sea-
side’s Cash Corder drained
a 3-pointer with 9.2 seconds
left for the game-winner.
(Ironically, Philomath is
the last non-Cowapa League
team to win a 4A boys bas-
ketball state title).
It was the Warriors who
came out firing in the first
half of the game, as they
turned an early 5-4 defi-
cit into a 25-7 lead late in
the first quarter, following a
3-pointer by Cole Beardsley.
Philomath’s largest lead
came late in the second
period, a layup by Chad Rus-
sell for a 38-18 advantage.
But the Gulls just stuck
with their brand of basket-
ball, relying on 3-pointers to
get themselves back in the
game.
Seaside made four tri-
ples in the second quarter,
the last three by Ever Sibony,
who brought the Gulls back
to within 38-27 at halftime
after back-to-back 3-point-
ers in the final minutes of the
first half.
And the Gulls picked up
where they left off to start the
second half, and their state
Player of the Year candidate
led the charge.
Sibony scored on a steal
and layup to start the third
quarter, and scored twice
off steals later in the period
to bring Seaside to within
42-37.
Philomath, meanwhile,
lost starting forward Logan
Carter to a foot injury in the
first half, and went cold from
the field in the third quarter.
And the Warriors just had
no answer for Sibony, who
scored 12 points in the third
and helped Seaside pull to
within 47-46 going to the
fourth quarter.
The Gulls — who out-
scored Philomath 37-21 over
the second and third quarters
— tied the game 53-53 on a
layup from Conner Langmo
with 4:48 left, then took the
lead, 58-56, when Sibony hit
a free throw line jumper at
the 2:53 mark.
Seaside lost Carson
Kawasoe and Jared White to
fouls, and the Warriors took
advantage, making 5-of-6
free throws to grab a 59-58
lead on two foul shots by
Jacob Peters with 1:15 left.
With Philomath still lead-
ing 61-59 following a timeout
with 16 seconds left, Corder
was cash on a 3-pointer to
give the Gulls the game-win-
ning points with 9.2 seconds
remaining. The Warriors
committed a turnover as time
ran out.
Sibony finished with a
game-high 25 points, fol-
lowed by Corder (18) and
Langmo (14), as the Gulls
shot 51% from the field.
Braves win finale
It was only fitting that one
of the final basketball games
of the 2021-22 season would
pit the Banks Braves against
the Seaside Seagulls.
The only thing wrong
with Saturday’s boys basket-
ball final between the long-
time rivals — it wasn’t the
state championship game.
As it was, third place
was on the line between the
Braves and Gulls, the two
Cowapa League teams who
were playing for the fourth
time this season, this time in
the 4A state tournament at
Marshfield High School.
The teams also met four
times in the last full winter
sports season of 2018-19,
when the Braves beat Sea-
side 62-56 in the state cham-
pionship game in Forest
Grove.
Saturday’s winner was
Banks again, with a score
of 62-54. It was a statement
victory for the Braves, as the
Cowapa League’s smallest
school secured a third-place
finish at state in their final
basketball game at the 4A
level. Banks will move to the
3A Coastal Range League
next school year.
It wasn’t easy, but the
Braves led from start to finish
on Saturday, holding a 24-10
lead early in the second quar-
ter, only to see it dwindle in
the second half.
Going out in a blaze of
glory in his final game with
the Gulls, senior Ever Sibony
hit four 3-pointers in the
second half on his way to a
game-high 25 points, with
four assists and three steals.
Fellow senior Carson
Kawasoe drained three treys
in the third quarter, and Sea-
side (10-for-30 from the arc)
rallied from a 34-22 half-
time deficit to within 42-41
in the opening seconds of the
fourth quarter.
But as they did three years
ago, the Braves countered
with another Gobel — Coo-
per — who led Banks with
22 points, including eight in
the fourth quarter, answering
almost every Seaside score
with a basket of his own.
A 3-pointer by Sibony
had the Gulls within 51-47
with 4:28 left, but Gobel
responded with two-point
scores at the 2:26 and 1:08
marks, and two free throws
with 44 seconds left for a
seven-point lead. Gobel also
had seven rebounds and three
assists.
Cash Corder had four
assists and 13 boards for Sea-
side, which out-rebounded
Banks 35-25.
Seaside left the tourna-
ment with a fifth-place tro-
phy, one last award for a
senior group that had to bat-
tle just to have a full sea-
son for the first time since
2018-19.
The Gulls lose every
starter to graduation, but Sea-
side will return a strong group
in 2022-23, including fresh-
men Austin Palmer, Jordan
Westerholm and Jake White,
along with sophomores Izzy
Jantes, Kyler McCleary and
Ruger Thompson, and junior
Tanner Kraushaar.