Their faces tell it all. Gulls punch their ticket to Gill Coliseum
Published 4:00 pm Thursday, March 6, 2014
- <p>From left, a wave of euphoria rushes over Seaside's Kaitlin Lewis, Maddi Utti, Whitney Westerholm and Allison Bussert after the final horns sounds on a 42-39 Seagull victory over the Phoenix Pirate. The win propels the Lady Gulls onto the quarterfinals at Oregon State University's Gill Coliseum.</p>
SEASIDE The stretch run for a state title starts now for the Seaside girls basketball team.
The Lady Gulls opened post-season play Friday night, and overcame their two-week layoff to defeat Phoenix 42-39 in a first round Class 4A state playoff at Seaside.
And now it’s off to Corvallis and Gill Coliseum, where the Gulls will make their first appearance since 2008, and their fifth overall.
Maddi Utti scored 25 points (including 17 of Seaside’s 19 points in the first half), and the Gulls overcame a 30-27 deficit after three quarters to win Friday’s game.
With their victory over the Pirates, the Gulls have now reached 22 wins for the season the most since the 1999-2000 squad which, ironically, was coached by Ginny Hamer and husband Wally Hamer.
Wally Hamer’s current team has won 14 in a row and is 22-2 overall.
Seaside will head to Corvallis as one of the favorites in the 4A state tournament, where the No. 4-ranked Gulls will open play at 3:15 Wednesday at Gill Coliseum against Henley (21-3 overall).
