PENDLETON — Saturday night’s championship game will be a rematch of last year’s after Western Christian topped Regis 75-48 in the first semifinal game of the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 2A boys basketball tournament Friday at the Pendleton Convention Center.
Portland Christian beat Oakland 60-53 in the second game to put together a dream matchup.
“This has been circled on the calendar since last year when they beat us up pretty good,” Portland Christian coach Erik Lyslo said. “Western Christian is a good team. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
Western Christian coach Geoffrey Martin is excited for the game.
“Our goal all year has been to go back-to-back,” Martin said. “The last team to do it was Irrigon (2014-15). We are happy to have a chance.”
The Pioneers and Royals will tip off at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
Regis and Oakland will play in the third-place game at 2:15 p.m.
The top-ranked Pioneers (26-3) wasted no time in setting the tone for the game, taking a 21-6 lead after the first quarter, getting seven points from Logan Hill and six from Zach Sommer.
Regis’ Isaiah Koehnke, who needed three points to surpass Kevin Love as the state’s all-time leading scorer, tied Love with a jumper with 2:41 left in the first quarter. Koehnke hit a free-throw line jumper just 36 seconds into the second quarter to pass Love.
“I haven’t really thought about it,” Koehnke said of the record. “It’s just something that happened. It’s cool to be up there with him.”
Martin said Koehnke is to be applauded for his achievement.
“He deserves it,” Martin said. “He’s an incredible kid and so fun to compete against. He deserves the recognition."
Koehne’s record didn’t help the Rams, who fell behind 47-21 at the half as the Pioneers hit nine three-pointers in the first half.
“They hit everything early,” Regis coach Jason Koehnke said. “They are a really good team. We have to tip our hats, they hit their shots. Sometimes, that’s how it goes. You have to bounce back.”
The Pioneers stretched their lead to 63-37 after three quarters, and went on a 12-11 run in the fourth to close out the game.
“It was great,” Martin said. “We had a phenomenal first half and hit a lot of really big shots. We knew Isaiah would get his points, but we were able to limit their role players.”
Gavin Hall led the Pioneers with 22 points — including four three-pointers — and six rebounds, while Hill had 12 points and five rebounds, and Sommer 11 points.
Eli Silbernagel led the Rams with 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Koehnke had 15 points and six assists. Roman Gould hauled down 16 rebounds.
No. 2 Portland Christian 60, No. 3 Oakland 53: Keylon Kittleson poured in 28 points to lead the Royals past the Oakers in a semifinal game at the Pendleton Convention Center.
In a fast and furious first quarter, Portland Christian (27-2) took a 15-12 lead behind eight points from Kittleson. Gavyn Woody had 10 points for the Oakers, who led 5-1 just two minutes into the game.
The Royals extended their lead to 34-26 at the half, with Kittleson scoring 11 points.
“He has played so much high-level basketball,” Portland Christian coach Erik Lyslo said of Kittleson. “To be a sophomore and do what he does, he’s incredible. So glad he’s on our side.”
The Oakers pulled with 39-36 in the third quarter after Ryan Fullerton scored, but the Royals stretched their lead to 45-38 with a pair of baskets by Kittleson.
Oakland refused to quit. The Oakers opened the fourth quarter with six consecutive points to pull within 45-44, but Portland Christian came right back with six points of its own for a 51-44 lead.
The teams traded free throws and a couple of baskets down the stretch, with the Royals holding on for the win.
Ethan Warner and Joseph Diesel each added nine points for the Royals, while 6-10 post Colby Getting chipped in seven points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
Joseph Fusco led the Oakers with a game-high 29 points and six rebounds, while Woody had 12 points, and Gabe Williamson 10 rebounds.
Girls semifinals
No. 3 Western Christian 54, No. 2 Weston-McEwen 27: Runon Muroya scored a game high 24 points to lead the Pioneers back to the 2A championship game with a win over the TigerScots at the Pendleton Convention Center.
“We’ll give it a shot,” Western Christian coach Ben Brown said of going after another title. “Yesterday, we did not shoot the ball well. Tonight, they wanted to get that monkey off their back and came out hot.”
The Pioneers (25-3) will play Salem Academy in the championship game at 5:45 p.m. at the Pendleton Convention Center.
Weston-McEwen (23-7) will play Bandon for third place at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
“We thought they had a great team,” W-M coach Jeremy Wolf said of the Pioneers. “We would have had to play exceptional to win. Our defense got out of position, then we were in position and they were still hitting shots. No. 15 (Muroya) was hitting shots and kept our defense on its heels.”
The Pioneers jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the first quarter, getting five points from Kinsey Wark.
Weston-McEwen scored its only basket at 6:25 of the quarter, then went scoreless the rest of the way.
Lily Langford hit two free throws and added a basket to open the second quarter, pulling the TigerScots within 11-6. Then the flood gates opened as the Pioneers went on an 18-4 run to close out the first half.
Muroya, a Japanese exchange student, scored 13 of her points in the first half.
“She is super smart and shoots the ball well,” Brown said of his star player. “She’s also a good defender.”
A 23-10 run by Western Christian left Weston-McEwen with a 52-20 deficit entering the fourth quarter. Muroya had 11 points in the quarter, including a pair of three-pointers in the final 6 seconds. Her last shot, just a tip over half court, hit nothing but net.
The TigerScots went on a 7-2 run in the fourth quarter, but the game was already out of hand.
Mirthe Oud, an exchange student from the Netherlands, capped W-M’s scoring with a basket with 16 seconds left in the game.
“I expected them to come out hard,” Brown said of Weston-McEwen. “Our girls did a good job in the middle. I thought our zone worked well against them. They played hard.”
Wark added 10 points for the Pioneers, while Kylie Sommer had seven points, five rebounds and three steals.
Langford and Charlotte Hansell each had eight points for the TigerScots, while Brooklyn Parker had four points and five rebounds.
No. 4 Salem Academy 43, No. 8 Bandon 34: The Crusaders are looking for a state title, and they will get a chance to play for one after beating the Tigers in a semifinal game.
Salem Academy (25-4) will play defending state champion Western Christian for the title at 5:45 p.m. Saturday at the Pendleton Convention Center.
Bandon (21-8) will play Weston-McEwen in the third-place game.
“It’s been two years since we’ve been in Pendleton,” Salem Academy coach Derek Imig said. “We have a core group of seniors who wanted to come here and compete. It’s extra for them to play for a title.”
Salem Academy, which last played for a title in 2008, led 14-8 after the first quarter, starting the game with a 7-0 run.
The Crusaders led 26-20 at the half as Clara Persons had nine points, all off three-pointers.
Each team scored four points in the third quarter, and Salem Academy sealed the win with a 13-10 run in the fourth quarter.
Jordyn Copeland, who scored seven points in the fourth quarter, led the Crusaders with 14 points and six rebounds. Persons added 11 points and three steals, and Celia James had 10 points and six steals.
Makenna Vierck led Bandon with 16 points and five rebounds, while Caitlyn Michalek added seven points and seven rebounds.
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