FOREST GROVE -- Seaside reached its season-long goal of returning to the state championship game for a fourth consecutive season by pulling out a 49-40 victory over Stayton in the second OSAA Class 4A boys semifinal game Friday at Forest Grove High School.
The No. 2-ranked Seagulls are seeking a third consecutive title, but they must go through league rival and No. 1 seed Banks to get it.
“This is where we expected to be all year,” said senior Chase Januik, who led Seaside with 15 points. “This was our only goal; anything less than this was a failure of a season for us.
“Not getting over excited right now, just ready to go tomorrow.”
Seaside and Banks are Cowapa League foes who know each other well. Seaside has won 21 of its past 22 games, with the loss coming at Banks on Feb. 14 by one point, 54-53. Banks has won 26 of its past 28 games, losing only to Seaside -- twice. The Seagulls defeated Banks 51-42 on Feb. 16 in the league championship seeding game and 60-51 on Jan. 29.
The schools also faced off in the Class 4A football state championship game last fall, with Banks claiming the title with a 31-20 win.
Seaside (23-3) finally was able to break free from Stayton (21-4) in the fourth quarter by holding the Eagles scoreless for nearly six minutes. The Seagulls made 9 of 13 free throws in the final four minutes to close it out and halt the Eagles’ win streak at 14 games.
After a tight first half during which neither team led by more than four points, Seaside took a 23-22 advantage into the locker room.
Payton Westerholm, a 6-foot senior guard, got Seaside going in the second half with a couple quick three-pointers. When teammate Beau Johnson drilled a three-pointer with 3:41 left in the quarter, the Seagulls had pushed to a 36-27 lead, their largest of the game, and it seemed as though they finally had some breathing room.
The Eagles responded immediately with six consecutive points as their two big posts went to work. Kaleb Anundi, a 6-foot-8 senior, got two baskets and 6-foot-7 senior Riley Nichol added one.
“Those are two really good posts and Stayton is a really good team,” said Seaside coach Bill Westerholm.
Stayton had an obvious size advantage, but that is nothing that Seaside hasn’t faced all season.
“We are used to fighting adversity,” Januik said. “We know those big guys for Stayton can get going and we just kept working. They started to get frustrated on offense. We think we are the best defensive team in the state, because we compete harder than anybody in the state. Our mentality is just to compete.”
Brayden Johnson, a 6-foot junior, answered for Seaside with a layup, giving the Seagulls a 38-33 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
The Eagles were not done, though, as they scored two quick baskets in the first minute of the quarter to pull within one point, 38-37. Seaside buckled down on defense from there, holding Stayton to one field goal over the final seven minutes.
“They pressured the heck out of us,” Eagles coach Joseph Kiser said. “They are really good on the ball and our offensive execution suffered because of that. We had turnovers and lacked offensive execution and then we started to press a little bit when we got down by five. We started casting instead of getting a bucket by the rim.”
Said Bill Westerholm: “Our kids are in great shape. We have a big workout regimen that we put our kids through. We know we can go four quarters of basketball and some other teams can’t. They had four starters play 16 minutes in the first half and we knew that it would be a matter of time to have a momentum swing in our favor.”
Senior guards Januik and Westerholm led the way for the Seagulls, combining to make 5 of 12 three-pointers with five assists each. Westerholm had 14 points and eight rebounds.
The Seagulls forced 14 turnovers by the Eagles and committing only four themselves.
“Defense is what they are known for,” Kiser said. “Hats off to them; they did a great job of frustrating our guards.”
Nichol finished with a game-high 18 points to lead Stayton. Anundi added 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
There will be no secrets between Seaside and Banks when they face off Saturday afternoon with the state title on the line.
“They have some great players on Banks,” said coach Westerholm. “They are very competitive. They know how to win. I’ve got a feeling it’s gonna be a pretty good basketball game. We are going to come out and compete like heck tomorrow.”
Added Januik: “We’ve been looking forward to this all year. This is kind of a revenge game for our football guys. We are really excited to play against them. We feel confident. We are 2-1 against them, both of our wins close to double digits. Their win was at their place by one, so we think we have a little bit of an edge on them.”
***
Photos from Seaside’s quarterfinal win over North Marion
Photos from Stayton’s quarterfinal win over Henley