SEASIDE The Gladstone Gladiators spread the floor, took the air out of the basketball and tried to outlast the Seaside Gulls Saturday night.

Smart move, wrong choice.

The Gladiators tried to stall their way to a win in the Class 4A boys basketball Regional Play-in game, and as expected they never really had a chance against the Gulls, who (eventually) cruised past Gladstone, 46-26.

With the victory, Seaside moves on to the Sweet 16, where the Gulls will host Molalla next Saturday, with the winner advancing to face either Mazama or Newport at the state tournament quarterfinals in Corvallis.

Seaside was coming off two straight losses to Scappoose, after winning 22 in a row.

It was tough on em, said Seaside coach Bill Westerholm of his players. They wanted to win the league championship outright, and we didnt handle that opportunity. But we had some good practices last week. With the senior leadership that we have, these guys arent content with having a decent year. They want to go a long ways.

I just cant tell how well we played tonight, because (the Gladiators) stalled the ball.

Seaside had already beaten Gladstone once this season (75-55, Jan. 6), so the Gladiators tried a different approach this time, spreading the floor and running time off the clock.

And it worked to a point.

The Gladiators discovered fairly quick that you cant turn the ball over, and you need to score every now and then. They failed at both.

Gladstone gave the ball up on two of its first three possessions, and the Gulls built a quick 6-0 lead.

It was still a game after one quarter, with Seaside leading 10-4, but the Gulls opened the second period on a 10-0 run, highlighted with a Ben DeGandi score off a steal by Eddie Soller, an offensive rebound basket from Jason Pfund, and a short jumper by Andrew Potter.

By halftime, it was Seaside 20, Gladstone 6. In other words, game over.

We thought of a lot of different stuff they might do, but we didnt think that they were going to come out and spread the floor, Westerholm said. They were without (Ryan) Shephard in the first half for disciplinary reasons, and maybe they thought they could just keep it close until the second half.

But its tough to hold the ball, then try to attack in the second half, he said. Young teams sometimes have trouble hanging offensively. We were able to get traps and force turnovers, and we still got the ball inside the first half.

The bottom line it would have been tough for Gladstone to beat the Gulls with any strategy.

We felt pretty comfortable in what we were going to do, Westerholm said. I thought the kids did a great job of adjusting in the first half. When Gladstone started stalling, we started to trap a little, and we were able to create turnovers and score some easy buckets.

The Gulls finally started playing at a pace more to their liking in the third period, as Potter, Soller and Lucas Clark all scored baskets in transition in the quarter.

Aaron Chesnut hit Seasides first 3-pointer in the third, and Soller knocked down two in a row in the fourth.

Potter led all scorers with 13 points, but wasnt prepared for Gladstones stall game.

It was really shocking, he said. We didnt really expect that, but I thought we handled it fairly well. I felt like it was a great team effort. We all played really good.

He added, we just had to move on from (the loss to Scappoose). It made us stronger. Mentally, we just stayed focused and got ready for the next game.

Now the Gulls have a week off before hosting Molalla.

Its just nice that Ill have the opportunity to have five more days of practice with these kids, Westerholm said.

Said Potter, its good to recuperate a little, but were all ready to play again.