After a rocky start – largely due to an injury to its best player – McMinnville's girls basketball team is finding its stride.
The No. 7 Grizzlies, co-champions in the 6A Pacific Conference last season, have won nine games in a row and 11 of their last 12. McMinnville (12-5, 5-0) got its biggest win of the season Friday, prevailing 69-61 over visiting Century (14-3, 4-1) in a first-place showdown.
Macie Arzner, a 5-foot-11 senior point guard, had 25 points and 12 rebounds to lead the way against the Jaguars. Senior guard Rylie McManus had 19 points and junior post Brooklynn Summers added 10 points for the Grizzlies.
McMinnville has made gains since a four-game slide early in the season. Arzner was sidelined after suffering a sprained ankle in the first half of a 47-39 loss to 5A No. 2 Silverton and was not available when the Grizzlies lost to No. 3 Jefferson 74-39, No. 6 Benson 63-19and No. 5 South Medford 76-29.
“We're really inexperienced and we were putting kids in new roles,” coach Sean Coste said. “Our point guard position, it was just a struggle to understand the offense.”
Arzner, who has signed with Pittsburgh, returned to action for a win over 5A No. 3 South Albany. With her back in the lineup, the Grizzlies also have defeated Metro League frontrunner and ninth-ranked Beaverton twice, No. 8 West Linn and 5A No. 8 Wilsonville. They topped Century, which had won nine in a row.
“She's tough,” Coste said of Arzner, who is averaging 24.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 3.4 steals. “If she's not the best, she's definitely in the top two or three players in the state. She can do everything. She gives us such a presence at point guard. She understands the offense, and you can't take the ball away from her.”
McMinnville has not lost since falling to No. 4 Willamette 62-40 in the POA Holiday Classic in late December.
“It just took us a while to play together and play crisp and move the ball,” Coste said. “The execution has gotten better over time. We've settled into some defenses that our team has kind of found an identity with. We're playing more efficient.”
The Grizzlies brought back three key contributors from a 22-4 team in Arzner, Summers (6-1) and McManus (5-5), a fourth-year starter. Junior forward Ruby Riddle (5-11) and senior guard Alison Jensen (5-9) moved up from JV to join the starting lineup.
Summers is averaging 12.0 points and 8.4 rebounds and McManus is putting up 10.0 points, 3.1 assists and 2.4 steals.
Against Century, McMinnville jumped ahead 17-4 and led 39-25 at half. The Jaguars battled back to within 43-39, but the Grizzlies regained control behind Arzner, who scored 12 points in the fourth quarter. She scored her team's last six points after Century again cut the lead to four points in the last two minutes.
“We didn't play as well in the second half, but we still did enough to hold them off,” Coste said.
Century got 18 points from junior guard Mia Brownson and 15 points from senior guard Alyssa Loza. Jaguars center Kiara Green, a 6-5 junior who averages 15.4 points, was held to 11 points as Riddle battled her inside.
“Ruby kept her away from the basket, boxed her out,” Coste said. “It allowed us to free up Brooklynn to move and be able to help on other kids and drivers.”
Entering the week, McMinnville is No. 6 in the OSAA 6A power rankings. If the Grizzlies can finish in the top eight, that would assure them of home games in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Last year, as the No. 3 seed, they lost at home to No. 14 Grants Pass 54-45 in the round of 16, narrowly missing the state tournament.
“That was really tough to handle,” Coste said.
The Grizzlies are hopeful to redeem themselves this season. Coste likes his team's chances “if we take care of the ball, and are patient and execute. We're big and we're long. We don't give up a lot of second shots. We have the capacity to score. I think we can compete with anybody.”
No. 1 Philomath stops unbeaten Stayton
Philomath handed Stayton its first loss of the season, grinding out a 27-26 home win over the Eagles in a 4A Oregon West Conference showdown Friday.
With the win, No. 1 Philomath (14-3, 3-1) is tied for first place with No. 2 Stayton (17-1, 3-1) and No. 3 Cascade (12-4, 3-1).
Philomath's Reagen Heiken, a 5-10 sophomore, scored the go-ahead basket with 7.1 seconds left. Heiken, who missed seven of her first eight shots in the game, scored six of her game-high nine points in the fourth quarter.
Stayton had taken a 26-25 lead on a three-pointer by senior Brooklynne Morley with 32 seconds to go. Warriors coach Ben Silva drew up the play for Heiken during a timeout with 14 seconds remaining.
“I was pretty nervous and I really, to be honest, didn’t want to let everyone down,” Heiken told the Philomath News. “I missed a few shots that I thought should have gone in, so I wasn’t super confident, and they have pretty good defenders.”
Stayton failed to score on its final possession, settling for a heave just inside half-court.
Stayton opened a 21-16 lead early in the fourth quarter on a three-pointer by sophomore Kathryn Samek. Philomath rallied and pulled ahead 25-23 when senior Anneka Steen converted a layup with 1:01 on the clock, setting the stage for the dramatic finish.
Philomath bounced back from a 46-44 loss at Cascade on Tuesday.
Crater takes Midwestern lead
Crater, ranked No. 1 in the OSAAtoday 5A coaches poll, stayed unbeaten against Oregon teams this season by holding off No. 5 Springfield 53-47 on Friday in a game between leaders in the Midwestern League.
Lydia Traore, a 6-4 senior post, had 15 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks for the host Comets (18-1, 6-0), who moved ahead of the Millers (12-6, 5-1) atop the standings. Junior point guard Taylor Young made three three-pointers and scored 16 points and senior post Alexa Gugliotta added seven points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals for Crater.
Crater led 29-16 at half and was ahead by 14 points in the fourth quarter before Springfield surged, cutting the gap to 48-42. But Traore stemmed the tide with a putback basket with 1:45 left.
“It’s hard because all of the teams that we play, we’re blowing them out by a lot of points and stuff,” Traore told the Rogue Valley Times, “so just making ourselves better at practice every day, and trying to become a better team for games like these has been important so we can prepare for state.”
Crater won despite shooting 18 for 61 from the floor..
“It wasn’t even like our best game — I feel like we have so much more in us — so facing adversity and having good teams play us like that, it’s all just about making sure we’re working hard and getting better for state,” Traore said.
Sophomore Sailor Hall had 18 points and six rebounds for Springfield.
Notes: With first place on the line in the 6A Metro League, No. 9 Beaverton outlasted visiting Jesuit 45-43 in double overtime Friday. Sophomore guard Dara Oluwafemi had 21 points and 10 rebounds and senior guard Embrie Honnold came off the bench to score nine points in the second half for the Beavers (9-9, 4-0), who lead Jesuit (9-8, 3-1) and Southridge (11-7, 3-1) in the standings. Junior center London Bologoff came through on defense, holding Jesuit 6-4 freshman post Ceanna Forney to five points on 1-for-6 shooting. … Junior guard Harper Smith had 22 points and five steals as Crook County maintained its hold on first place in the 4A Tri-Valley Conference with a 61-43 home win over Madras on Friday. Freshman Hayden Decker scored all 12 of her points in the second half and had team highs of eight rebounds and six steals. The Cowgirls (9-9, 4-0) own a one-game lead over The Dalles (13-3, 3-1). …
No. 4 Coquille handed Sutherlin its first league defeat in six years Friday, dispatching the No. 10 Bulldogs 38-28 at home in a battle for first place in the 3A Far West League. Sutherlin had not dropped a league game since Feb. 2019, a streak that covered 59 league games, 63 counting league playoff games. Senior point guard Holli Vigue scored 16 points for Coquille (16-1, 4-0). Senior wing Madison Huntley led Sutherlin (12-6, 3-1) with 11 points. … No. 8 Wilsonville (9-9, 7-0) gained sole possession of first place in the 5A Northwest Oregon Conference with a 69-36 rout at La Salle Prep (9-8, 5-1) on Friday. Junior guard Gabi Moultrie scored 21 points, seniors Audrey Counts and Payton Ratcliffe had 14 points apiece and senior Ryme Jaekel added nine points and nine assists in the win.
jerryu@osaa.org
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