CLACKAMAS – Down by six points with 1:14 left in overtime, No. 1 Clackamas was reeling toward a disappointing loss in its girls basketball season opener against No. 3 Willamette on Tuesday night.
But USC-bound senior guard Jazzy Davidson – in the throes of a poor shooting night – refused to let the host Cavaliers lose.
The 6-foot-1 Davidson scored the game's final seven points, including the game-winner on a coast-to-coast drive with six seconds left, as Clackamas outlasted the Wolverines 66-65 in a 6A nonleague game matching two semifinal teams from last season.
Davidson grabbed the rebound off a missed three-point attempt by Willamette senior Brynn Smith with 10 seconds left and drove through the defense to convert from point-blank range. The Wolverines quickly inbounded, but Smith's shot from near half-court caromed off the backboard at the buzzer.
“It was wide open,” Davidson said of her winning basket. “They kind of recognized that I wasn't shooting the best, so I just took the shot because we needed it, and it ended up paying off. There wasn't much defense back, so I just kind of recognized I had to take it.”
Senior guard Dylan Mogel said the Cavaliers had “full confidence” in Davidson to make something happen.
“It was like, 'Go do your thing, we'll try to stay out of the way,'” Mogel said.
Davidson, rated the No. 3 senior recruit in the nation by ESPN, finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds. Mogel, committed to Seattle University, added 20 points.
Willamette, which forced overtime when senior guard Victoria Nguyen calmly dropped three free throws with 0.7 seconds left in regulation, led 65-59 when Nguyen hit two free throws with 1:14 left.
But Davidson countered with a three-pointer – her first of the game – then came up with a steal and made two free throws to pull Clackamas within 65-64 with 45 seconds on the clock. The Cavaliers forced the three-point miss by Smith, and Davidson took care of the rest.
Clackamas coach Korey Landolt liked how her team responded with their backs against the wall.
“Not only Jazzy doing her thing, but the collective defensive effort in the last minute-and-a-half, we turned up the defensive intensity,” Landolt said. “They see that they’re down six, and they didn't give up.”
The Cavaliers led 16-2 after one quarter, but Willamette wouldn't go away, finally pulling even at 29-29 by scoring the first eight points of the third quarter.
The Wolverines got a big lift from senior wing Diamond Wright, a transfer from 5A Springfield, who scored 16 of her 19 points in the second half. Wright, committed to Grand Canyon, had five three-pointers in the game.
“They're a great team,” Davidson said. “Adding Diamond – she was probably the best player on Springfield last year – so adding that piece to the team makes them even tougher.”
Willamette senior wing Isabella Harms said that Wright “brings a different type of energy” to the team.
“She plays so hard and with so much passion,” Harms said. “She really brings us up and helps everyone play better.”
Clackamas appeared ready to win in regulation when Davidson hit two free throws for a 57-54 lead with 20 seconds to go. But Nguyen drew a foul on senior guard Avery Peterson on a three-point attempt with 0.7 seconds left, and showed nerves of steel in tying the game.
“She's always been like that. You can always count on her,” Harms said of Nguyen. “She's very consistent. I would want the ball in her hands at the end of the game. She makes those free throws every time.”
The University of Portland-bound Smith, who scored 50 points as Willamette opened the season last week by beating North Eugene 83-22 and Astoria 79-37, tied Wright for team-high honors with 19 points.
The loss stung the Wolverines, but considering they lost handily in both meetings with Clackamas last season – 69-51 in a nonleague game at home and 65-37 in the third-place game at the state tournament – the performance represented improvement.
“It was a close game. It could have gone either way,” said Harms, a Boise State commit. “We'll just take it as motivation moving forward into our next games.”
The senior-led Cavaliers, who won the 2023 state title, are looking to go out on top this season. They showed some rough edges in their first game but found a way to prevail.
“Our shooting performance wasn't amazing. That's something you're going to have to fight through,” Landolt said. “But I never felt like we stopped playing defense. They hit some tough shots.”
jerryu@osaa.org
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