Seaside’s Ella Brenden (32) keeps the ball away from The Dalles’ Jackie Begay on Dec. 14.

The Seaside Seagulls hosted the Seaside Holiday Classic, a three-day basketball tournament spanning from Dec. 14 to Dec. 16.

The Seaside girls entered their season with just one senior in their normal rotation. They are one of the youngest teams in the Cowapa League and are in the midst of a program rebuild. With how young the girls are, the Holiday Classic served as a gauge for head coach Marla Olstedt to see how her squad matches up with some of the top teams in the area. Seaside finished with two wins and one loss after a thrilling come from behind victory against Madras High School.

“Today’s game was awesome, end of story,” Olstedt said. “Three games in three days is tough, but I told the girls you’ve got to leave absolutely everything out there and we had girls step up in the fourth quarter and overtime. It was a completely different team from the first three quarters. They’re a young team, but getting the hang of it.”

The Seagulls started out the tournament with a victory over The Dalles, 54-22. This included outscoring The Dalles 26-1 in the second half. The Dalles struggled to cross half court most of the second half against the Seagulls’ swarming defense.

The second game featured the Seagulls facing off against 3A team Corbett. Corbett has been the state runner-up the last two seasons, once in the 4A division and last year in 3A, so the game was going to be a true test for the Seagulls. Corbett also beat Seaside’s rival, Astoria, twice in the young season. The Seagulls answered the challenge.

Corbett led by 13 points after the first half, but the Seagulls fought to get within three points only to see Corbett’s co-captain, Ella Holwege, go on her own personal scoring run to get the lead back to double figures. Though the Seagulls fell 43-33, they outscored the Cardinals in the second half.

“Corbett’s a really good team,” Olstedt said. “They can score the ball, no discount to the teammates, but the Schimel girls and Holwege can score. I’m really happy with the adjustment they made, I worked on something during the timeout and they pulled it off. Our defense was something we never really practiced and they figured it out.”

Perhaps the most exciting game of the whole tournament was Seaside’s come from behind finish against Madras. The Seagulls trailed the whole game, and it took everything they had to come back. Seaside trailed by 12 points after the first quarter and six points going into the fourth quarter.

Seaside missed a lot of layups and 3-pointers as the fatigue from playing three games in three days started to set in. With one minute on the clock, the Seagulls trailed by six points and the situation looked bleak. But five clutch free throws from Ella Brenden got Seaside to within three points. The Seagulls got a stop on defense and sophomore guard Mya Feeney launched a high arching 3-pointer that splashed the net. This basket, which forced overtime, saw the home crowd explode with excitement.

Then, in overtime, the Seagulls defense took over the game as they outscored Madras 10-6 to get the 51-47 victory.

“Madras have been a good ball club for a long time,” Olstedt said. “Our girls found a way and I’m super proud of them.”

Feeney, Carly Corder and Lili Miller led Seaside in scoring during the three-day tournament. Olstedt credits her two experienced players, senior Aubrie Taylor and junior Maddy Wrege, for leading such a young group of girls.

“We worked really hard this week and I just had a feeling as a coach it was going to be a success,” Olstedt said. “We still have a lot of work to do. Aubrie, my senior, she’s an incredible leader, she knows her role and does it really, really well leading these sophomores. Our sophomores have worked hard for along time. Maddy Wrege is a great teammate as well, so very lucky up and down the roster.”

Seaside boys left disappointed

The Seaside boys were filled with anticipation for the Holiday Classic after going a perfect 3-0 in Hawaii at the Moanalua Invitational.

The boys fell short of expectations.

Thursday saw the boys match up with Valley Catholic Valiants. Seaside got off to a great start, leading by seven points, but ended up being outscored, as the size of the Valiants seemed to affect Seaside. The Valiants’ roster included three players, ranging from 6 feet, 6 inches to 6 feet, 8 inches tall. Valley Catholic had only one player under 6 feet tall. The size and athleticism of the Valiants made the Seagulls uncomfortable on offense all night and saw the boys fall 63-52.

Friday saw the boys get back on track as they had an offensive explosion, defeating De La Salle North Catholic 78-61. Izzy Jantes had 27 points and was scoring in 3-pointers all night. This looked like Seagulls basketball: ball movement, player movement, long-range 3-pointers and great defense.

Saturday against The Dalles was when fatigue hit as the Seagulls scored just 35 points in a 42-35 loss. Seaside created quality shots all night long, but were leaving them short or long. This was never more evident than during the fourth quarter, where the boys went scoreless. Seaside had an eight point lead going into the fourth quarter, but did not score a single point. This allowed The Dalles to run right past them as the Seagulls’ defense collapsed with fouling and not being able to keep the Dalles out of the paint.

Jantes led the team in scoring with 17.5 points per game. Austin Palmer, Jake White and Ruger Thompson also had solid showings.