BEAVERTON -- Seaside should have known better.
The top-ranked Seagulls appeared headed toward a routine win Friday night at shorthanded Valley Catholic, leading by nine points at halftime in a 4A Cowapa League boys basketball game.
But finishing off the sixth-ranked Valiants, state runners-up to Seaside the last two seasons, was going to require some extra effort. The Seagulls fell behind by five points in the third quarter and had to regroup before escaping with a 55-49 win.
“We knew they were going to come out hard, the first time we played them since the state championship,” Seaside senior guard Chase Januik said. “But we were not expecting quite that much.
“Going into the second half, we thought we had it locked up, we just needed to stay on them, keep it up in double digits. Then they started off the second half like that, it kind of surprised us. They surprised us tonight.”
Junior wing Ryan Hague scored all of his game-high 15 points in the second half as Seaside (14-2, 2-0) extended its dominance of the Valiants (12-5, 0-1). The Seagulls also got double-digit points from junior wing Brayden Johnson (12), Januik (11) and senior guard Payton Westerholm (10).
“We were just all together, like, ‘Hey guys, we need to finish this game. We’re not losing to this team. We haven’t lost against them, and we’re not going to do that,’” Hague said. “So we pulled together. Unfortunately it was late. It still ended up good for us. But against a team like Banks, it won’t go that way, if we come out this late.”
It would have been a breakthrough win for Valley Catholic, if not a stunning one considering the Valiants were missing two starters in 6-foot-7 senior post Isaac Flemmer, who was on an official football recruiting visit to Eastern Washington, and senior guard Davis Johnson, who has been out since the third game of the season with an ankle injury.
“We said we weren’t going to worry about being shorthanded, but I think it does take a toll, fatigue-wise,” Valley Catholic coach Joel Sobotka said. “Our kids played really, really hard. We didn’t quite execute like we needed to against a team like that, which is unfortunate. Hopefully we’ll get guys back and be ready to go.”
Seaside finished the second quarter with an 8-0 run – seven of the points courtesy of Januik -- to lead 28-19 at half. But while the Seagulls were feeling good about themselves during the break, the Valiants were stewing in their locker room.
Led by jet-quick junior guard Trey Eberhart, Valley Catholic breathed fire to start the third quarter. The 5-9 Eberhart had eight points during a 12-0 run, including a three-pointer that put the Valiants ahead 31-28.
“Eberhart got in the paint and hit a three, and that just kind of killed our momentum,” Januik said. “We lost focus and kind of panicked a little bit.”
Said Hague: “We talked about in the locker room what we were going to do, and we didn’t do it. It was all just talk. We didn’t end up doing anything.”
Valley Catholic led 36-31 before Seaside responded. Hague, operating from the high post against the Valiants’ zone defense, accounted for all of the Seagulls’ points during a 9-2 run as they pulled ahead 40-38.
“I like that high post,” Hague said. “I feel like I can work hard there. First half, that wasn’t a part of it. I felt like I wasn’t given the opportunity to get there. But second half, we adjusted, in the locker room, and we finally talked about it.”
Valley Catholic took its last lead at 45-44 on a free throw by senior Cade Napoli with 4:01 left. Hague made 6 of 8 free throws as Seaside scored 11 of the game’s next 13 points to pull away.
“Just coming from a lot of experience from our top five guys,” Januik said. “We know what it takes to win.”
Seaside coach Bill Westerholm said he wasn’t sure if his team was ready to play Friday.
“We were all here in our physical body, but we weren’t here mentally to start the game,” he said. “Ryan in the second half, kind of finally got things going. … We’re just lucky. We’re glad to get a win on the road, even though we struggled at times.”
Senior guard Jack Tetzloff scored 14 points to lead Valley Catholic. Eberhart had 12 points and junior forward Daniel Pruitt added 12 points and 16 rebounds.
Sobotka said it was an adjustment for his team to play without Flemmer, whose presence inside would have provided an edge against the smaller Seagulls. When the teams meet again Feb. 5 in Seaside, Valley Catholic should have Flemmer and Johnson, who has been cleared for action.
Despite the defeat, Sobotka said he was encouraged by his team’s performance.
“We played well enough at times. I think we were right there,” Sobotka said. “Coming out of halftime, I challenged them to play their hardest, and they did that. The energy was there. We might have run out of gas a little bit. But I give them credit for making free throws down the stretch, and making the plays.”
