CORVALLIS For the Seaside girls basketball team, the 2013-14 season has been all about reaching goals and breaking down barriers.

After capturing the Cowapa League championship and securing a spot in the final eight for the first time since 2008, the Lady Gulls cleared two more big obstacles Wednesday afternoon in Corvallis.

First, their thrilling 51-48 win over Henley gave the Gulls their first victory ever at Gill Coliseum, and puts Seaside into the Class 4A semifinals also a first for the Gulls.

It was also Seasides 23rd win of the year unofficially the most in one season in the history of the program.

The Lady Gulls (23-2 overall, with 15 straight wins) will go for victory No. 24 Friday, when Sutherlin and Seaside arguably the two best teams in the tournament face off at 1:30 p.m. at Gill Coliseum for a spot in the championship game.

But for now, the Gulls will savor Wednesdays historical win.

It was nerve-wracking, but Im glad we pulled it out, said Seasides Haylee Dundas, who admitted the Lady Gulls were a little nervous to start. Definitely, playing here and knowing that we were the first (Seaside team) to win a game here afterwards. I had no idea, personally.

In a game that featured five ties and nine lead changes, it was a 15-foot jumper by Dundas that snapped a 46-46 tie to give Seaside a 48-46 lead with 1:30 remaining.

The Hornets who trailed by as much as eight points in the third quarter answered almost every Seaside basket down the stretch, including the jump shot by Dundas.

With 1:06 left, Henleys Brittany Kochenderfer made a short jumper that knotted the score at 48-48.

But Henley did not have an answer for Seasides next shot, which came from Dundas, again.

Deciding not to hold for the final shot which Seaside did in the first half  Dundas launched a 3-pointer that found the mark with 49 seconds left, and gave the Gulls their final margin of victory.

The Hornets had two desperation 3-point attempts in the final seconds, but missed both. Henley had a tough day from all over the court, finishing 16-of-53 from the field, 3-of-12 from the 3-point line.

I think we were nervous, but I felt like we played better than we did against Phoenix, as far as nerves, Seaside coach Wally Hamer said of his own players. Overall, I was just really pleased with how the kids played the whole game.

The Gulls managed to hold slim leads after the first two quarters 14-13 and 24-23 but it came at a cost, as senior Kaitlin Lewis had three fouls in the first half, while Dundas and Maddi Utti both had two by halftime.

Our defensive philosophy changed because of the fouls, Hamer said. We werent going to front their big girl (Natalie DeLonge), we were just going to play behind her and get a hand up.

If the Hornets had a game plan for Utti, the Gulls high-flying freshman, it didnt exactly go according to plan.

Utti knocked down a 3-pointer to close out the first period, then opened the second quarter with an old-fashioned three-point play. She made another shot from beyond the arc for a 22-20 lead, then went back inside for her final two points of the half in the closing seconds of the second quarter.

Utti had 13 of her team-high 21 points in the first half, and was named Seasides Player of the Game. Utti now has 46 points in her first two state playoff games, as it seems no one can stop the freshman.

Utti also led with eight rebounds, to go with two blocks, two steals and two assists.

After Henley had closed to within 35-32 late in the third quarter, the Gulls scored five straight on a 3-pointer by Whitney Westerholm and a steal and layup by Utti.

The kids made big plays today, Hamer said. Haylees two baskets were huge, and Whitneys shot was big.

Im just so proud of our girls, in the sense that we played together. Tough and together I thought that was extremely important for us to get this win tonight.

Dundas added 13 points, while Henleys 1-2 punch of Kochenderfer and DeLonge combined for 34 points and 17 rebounds. The Hornets outrebounded Seaside 42 to 21. Henley had 25 offensive rebounds alone, but missed on most of its offensive putbacks, so the rebounds did not play too big of a factor.

Our one big deficiency today was rebounding we didnt rebound as well as we could have, Hamer said.

(Kochenderfer) gets to the hoop well, and she gets it to 24 (DeLonge) really well, Dundas said. (DeLonge) is big, and shes great at rebounding and getting the ball up.

Katy Kawasoe had two 3-pointers for the Gulls, who were 6-of-16 from behind the arc.

In looking ahead to Fridays semifinal, Sutherlin (25-0) will be Seasides toughest opponent this year. But Seaside will no doubt be the toughest match of the season for the Bulldogs as well.

Its going to be a tough one, Dundas said, but I think weve prepared well enough this season to come out and play hard.