Basketball: Astoria girls claim rubber match against Seaside

Published 10:00 am Friday, February 21, 2025

Elbows flying, foul trouble, last-second shots and one team going home happy.

The third and final Clatsop Clash Tuesday between the Astoria and Seaside girls basketball teams had all of that, but it was the Fishermen who earned a 48-45 win.

In their first match, Seaside used its home court and physicality to lead wire to wire, but Tuesday’s game saw the Fishermen flip the script. The Fishermen led 16-9 after the first quarter and 24-17 at halftime, only to see Seaside storm back to take the lead in the fourth quarter.

After trading baskets and defensive stops down the stretch, Astoria’s Emery Young rebounded a missed shot and scored her only points of the game, giving the Fishermen a two-point lead. A late free throw by Astoria pushed the final margin to three points.

“There’s a certain level of mental toughness behind being able to execute when the game shifts,” Astoria head coach Teke Silva said. “Basketball is a game of mistakes, we know this, and luckily we made one less mistake tonight and got out by the skin of our teeth. Credit to our kids for just continuing to grind and make things difficult. Seaside is an incredibly tough basketball team, they keep coming at you and you can’t get complacent against them.”

“We talked about how physical they are, so we talk about being able to punch back when they punch,” Silva said. “I thought we did a better job this game of not letting it disrupt us as much as it has in the past.”

Astoria was led by senior Malory Dundas, who scored 21 points in her final Clatsop Clash.

“Malory doesn’t get talked about enough on this team,” Silva said. “She’s our sole senior leader, she never asks to come out off the floor … I am so proud of that kid.”

Astoria moved to 5-2 in league play, 12-8 overall.

Despite the loss, the Seagulls (6-2 in league play, 12-8 overall) remain in the mix for a league title.

“I am extremely proud of the girls,” Seagulls head coach Marla Olstedt said. “I don’t like to talk about moral victories because that was an extremely important game, but I’ve got a group that’s going to battle and it was extremely evident tonight.”

After defeating St. Helens, 46-37, on Wednesday, the Seagulls have one more game left in the regular season, Friday at St. Helens. A victory would allow them to clinch no worse than a share of the Cowapa League title. That game was played after The Astorian’s print deadline.

“We talked in the locker room about bouncing back from something like this,” Olstedt said. “It hurts, but we are just fine where we are. There’s a lot of teams around the state who are playing meaningless games now. We control our own destiny.”

Lili Miller led the Seagulls with 11 points.

Seaside boys complete sweep

Astoria boys hung in and stayed competitive, but in the end Seaside came out victorious on Tuesday’s senior night to claim their third win of the season over their Clatsop County rival.

The 53-44 victory for Seaside was their ninth straight and moved them within two games of clinching a Cowapa League title. A title will give the Seagulls a home playoff game in the 4A state tournament.

Seaside followed up its Astoria win with a Wednesday victory, 58-43, against St. Helens. The win moved the team to 14-8 on the season and 9-1 in league play. The Seagulls played at St. Helens Friday and wrap up the regular season with a Tuesday game at Tillamook. The game begins at 5:30 p.m.

The Fishermen, now 4-17 on the season and 2-8 in league play, wrap up their season with a Friday game at Scappoose and a Tuesday game at home against St. Helens.