NORTH BEND/COOS BAY — In a battle of the top offense and the top defense Thursday in the 3A girls quarterfinals at North Bend High School, the offense won out convincingly.
Top-ranked Amity ran past Coquille, 60-27, to advance to the semifinals against league rival Jefferson on Friday afternoon in the OSAA / OnPoint Community Credit Union State Basketball Championships. The Lions beat Cascade Christian 44-34 in their quarterfinal to advance to the noon matchup at Marshfield High School.
On the other side of the bracket, No. 3 Vale will meet No. 2 Banks in the 1:45 p.m. semifinal after Vale beat Burns 66-52 and Banks used a strong second half to top Taft 55-36.
Coquille had come into the tournament with the top defense in 3A and Amity the top offense.
The Warriors solved Coquille’s defense with a combination of strong outside shooting, a frenetic fast break off Coquille’s turnovers or missed shots and multiple second-chance opportunities.
“We shot the ball well,” Amity coach Jed McMullen said.
Also not to be overlooked: Amity has a strong defense, too.
“Our defense is pretty darn good,” McMullen said. “They always defend really well and today they were just special.”
Coquille struggled to get anything going against Amity’s defense, unable to convert on opportunities inside or hit from outside.
And the Red Devils got in a quick hole in part due to their own miscues. Coquille had far more turnovers (13) and missed free throws (seven) than points in the first quarter as they fell behind 17-3.
By halftime, Coquille had 21 turnovers and 10 points, was shooting just 20 percent (4-for-20) from the floor and had missed all its 3-point attempts.
Amity, meanwhile, shot over 50 percent in the first half overall (17-for-32) and from 3-point range (6-for-11) and had garnered rebounds on several of the misses leading to 3-pointers.
When Haley Miersma beat the first-half buzzer with a running 3-pointer, the Warriors led 41-10 to the delight of their large, vocal crowd.
McMullen praised his team’s transition offense, often fueled by the defense.
“We are really fast,” he said. “We are in the passing lanes all the time, we’re tipping balls. We cause a lot of problems with our speed.”
Coquille finally had a little success offensively in the second half, but wasn’t able to dent the big lead.
Alyssa McMullen led the way for Amity, connecting on eight of her 10 shots overall and four of six 3-pointers for a game-high 20 points. Miersma added 16.
The Warriors shot 46 percent from the floor and made seven of nine free throws. Coquille finished at just 26 percent from the floor and went 4-for-16 from the line. Holli Vigue led the Red Devils with 10 points.
Coquille coach Marty Stallard said his team was out of sorts all game.
“They’re a pretty darn good team, but it was us,” he said. “We lost our composure. We never got in any flow, especially in the first quarter.”
Amity, which lost in the championship game to Corbett last winter and returned almost its entire roster, remained unbeaten on the season.
“This group is on a mission,” Jed McMullen said, adding he expects his team to continue playing at a high level.
“It’s good to get the first one out of the way. We’ll continue to take it one game at a time, one quarter at a time, one possession at a time. We’ve just got to stay the course.”
Coquille will try to bounce back in the consolation bracket at 8 a.m. at Marshfield High School against Cascade Christian.
“We’re much better than that,” Stallard said of his team’s effort Thursday. “When we play, we can play with anybody.”
In other quarterfinal action on Thursday
GIrls
No. 5 Jefferson 44, No. 4 Cascade Christian 34:
Jefferson got off to a slow start, but dominated the middle two quarters to advance to face familiar foe Amity.
“I’m thrilled,” Jefferson coach Zach Maison said. “I told the girls, if we are playing Amity for the fourth time, it’s in a big game.”
Amity won the first three meetings over the Lions by an average of 20 points.
Cascade Christian led Jefferson, 14-5, through one quarter Thursday, but scored just seven points the next two quarters. Jefferson started the second quarter on an 11-0 run and pulled away in the second half.
Aziza Saad had 19 points and Gretchen Orton had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Lions.
“I think in the first quarter, we were a little nervous and a little rattled,” Maison said.
The Lions settled down after that.
“I was happy with our effort,” Maison said. “Even when we weren’t playing well on offense, our defense kept us in the game.”
Isabel McCauley had 10 points and Emma Coats nine for the Challengers. Jordynn Jones added eight points and 13 rebounds. Cascade Christian shot just 5-for-39 from the floor after the first quarter.
No. 3 Vale 66, No. 11 Burns 52:
The Vikings beat their rivals from the Eastern Oregon League for the fourth time this year in a roller-coaster game that saw big runs by both teams. Vale’s second-half surge was the biggest.
Burns led 23-8 just over a minute into the second quarter, but Vale erased the lead in less than three minutes with its pressure defense.
Burns had another run to take a 35-27 lead into halftime, but Vale erased that lead in less than 100 seconds and then surged ahead. By the 2-minute mark in the quarter, the Vikings were up by 17 points — they outscored the Hilanders 29-6 in the quarter.
Banks eventually led by 21 points, while Burns trimmed the lead to 10 in the fourth quarter but could get no closer.
“Burns is a really good team,” Vale coach Randy Seals said, adding that he thinks the Hilanders have the best athlete in 3A in Akylah Kaino.
“I felt our whole season, we were a little deeper. I told the girls there would be waves, but I thought we would wear them down.”
The Vikings forced 24 turnovers in the game, including 17 steals, but the biggest change in the rally was that Vale started making shots. In the first half, the Vikings went 2-for-19 from 3-point range. In the second, they were 8-for-12.
“We take really good, quality shots,” Seals said. “We have so many players who can make shots. Eventually, they are going to fall.”
Bella Johnson and Elli Jacobs made four 3-pointers apiece and each scored 16 points for the Vikings. Kesley Stepleton added 14.
Bailey Temple had 19 points for the Hilanders. Kaino added 13 points and 14 rebounds and Caitlyn Horrell scored 11.
Burns meets Taft at 10:45 a.m. in the other consolation semifinal.
No. 2 Banks 55, N0. 10 Taft 36:
The Braves and Tigers were in a tight battle for a half before Banks used its defense to break the game open in the third quarter.
Banks led 25-24 at the break, but the Braves scored the first 11 points of the second half. Taft didn’t score until Siena Lillebo hit a 3-pointer after the Braves had gone up 36-24.
The Braves were back in front by 12 entering the fourth quarter and led by as many as 19.
“We came out a little tight and it looked like state playoff nerves from the get-go,” Banks coach Nick Rizzo said. “I was really happy with how we settled down.
“The third quarter, we got reorganized on defense and started making them earn things. We were getting steals and just playing good defense.”
When Taft wasn’t turning the ball over, the Tigers weren’t having much success shooting. Taft shot just 4-or-26 in the second half.
Nylah Vanthom had 17 points to lead the Braves and McKenna King added 11. Rizzo said his entire team contributed.
Lillebo hit four 3-pointers and had 16 points for Taft. Olivia Davis added 10 points and 14 rebounds.
Boys
No. 1 Westside Christian 62, No. 12 Banks 47
Westside Christian outscored Banks, 10-0, to start the fourth quarter to break open a competitive quarterfinal game.
The top-seeded Eagles led 19-14 after one, but not before ceding a 4-0 lead to Banks to start the game. The Braves’ 1-2-2 zone defense gave Westside trouble, as did the Braves’ rugged interior play.
Westside took advantage of its superiority from beyond the arc and the strong inside/out play of Kyler Crites to lead by as many as seven points three times in the first half. Max Walker and Jarrett Martin were effective for Banks and helped keep the Braves in the game. Martin’s steal and score sliced the Banks deficit to just one at the half.
Banks caught Westside Christian at 31-31, the first tie score since 10-all in the first, but a Crites three-ball from the wing put Westside back on top for good. Cole Chiong’s rebound and stick back extended the lead to five and Banks never got closer than that the rest of the way.
Crites, Jack Leland and Chiong combined for 44 points in the win for the Eagles, who were outrebounded, 26-19, but won the turnover battle, 17-11.
Martin was 5-for-5 from the floor and had 14 points, total, to pace Banks. Walker added eight points and nine boards.
No. 5 Oregon Episcopal School 52, No. 11 De La Salle North Catholic 47
Oregon Episcopal clung to a one-point lead halfway through the fourth quarter, the same margin it held at the half, when Max Holzman hit back-to-back threes for the Aardvarks. Kais Elabdeia then added two buckets at the rim, one off a steal at midcourt, to extend the lead to seven in a game OES won by five.
Jaylin Hill, De La Salle’s 6-4 senior big man, was a brute inside and scored 12 first-half points to keep the Knights in the game. He also had a hand in getting DLS back in the game after strong work from Joe Schwalbach at the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth turned a tie score late in the third into a nine-point OES lead with 4:25 to play. Hill, Jacory Jackson and Noham Yared helped the Knights close within 50-47, but time ran out on De La Salle’s comeback, as OES defeated its conference rival for the third time in four games this year.
Hill led De La Salle North with 24 points and 13 rebounds.
Elabdeia and Holzman teamed for 29 in the win. Schwalbach added nine and Sunny Liu had seven, including six huge points in a ragged third quarter where, other than for Liu, who was 3-for-3; there seemed to be a lid on the basket for both teams.
No. 3 Valley Catholic 55, No. 6 Cascade Christian 43
Valley Catholic knew that it would take an extraordinary effort to knock off three-time defending state champion Cascade Christian.
An extraordinary effort is what the Valiants delivered. Making the extra pass, contesting shots, winning 50-50 balls, getting hands in the passing lane, the Valiants did all that and more.
Cascade Christian fought like champions. But after taking a 5-0 lead to start the game, the Challengers seemed to be playing catchup the rest of the way. Valley Catholic led, 13-10, after one quarter, 26-20 at the half and 37-30 after three quarters. The 12-point final margin was the Valiants’ largest of the game.
In a game where everyone on Vally Catholic’s roster made an impact, the biggest difference maker was senior Jackson Farris. Not only was he charged with shadowing Cascade Christian’s best player, Derek Farmer, he also rebounded like a fiend, authored momentum-shifting blocks, handed out timely assists and scored the basketball effectively at the basket. He finished with nine points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals and held Farmer to seven points on 3-of-13 shooting.
Luke Jarussi and Zach Pippin also were Valley Catholic standouts. They combined for 22 points and 16 rebounds.
Jaren Fronckowiak topped Cascade Christian in scoring with 14. Andy Alvarez was a spark off the bench with eight points, five rebounds and two blocks.
No, 2 Pleasant Hill 61, No. 9 Creswell 47
Pleasant Hill bolted to a 20-8 lead after one quarter and never looked back in winning its 18th game in a row. Creswell scored the first two points of the game but Pleasant Hill countered with the next 11, with Riley Smith and Gavin Inglish combining for nine early points, all from close range. Tannier Frieze gave Creswell a spark off the bench and helped cut the Billies’ lead to seven, but a long three from Noah Johnson and buckets from Jacob Neely and Landen Mevin sent the lead to double digits after eight minutes.
Pleasant Hill extended its advantage in the second quarter, thanks to three-balls from Neely and Chase Vargas. When Inglish finished with his left late in the half, the lead had blossomed to 17, 34-17. The lead fluctuated between 13 and 21 points the rest of the way.
Smith and Inglish combined for 30 points and 13 rebounds for the victors, who shot 50 percent from the field and had only nine turnovers.
Luke Bailey and Tyker Whitson scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, to pace Creswell, which shot just 37 percent from the field for the game.
John Tawa contributed to this report.
dorklefin2003@yahoo.com
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