Jesuit's Pat Kilfoil drives to the basket in the Crusaders' 6A playoff win at Nelson on Saturday. (Photo by J.R. Olson)

HAPPY VALLEY – It took a while, but Jesuit's boys basketball team has saved its best for last.

The Crusaders, who had their ups and downs in the first two months of the season, continued their stellar play down the stretch Saturday by going on the road to defeat Nelson 74-62 in the 6A playoff round of 16.

No. 11 seed Jesuit (17-10) will carry an eight-game winning streak into the eight-team 6A tournament at the Chiles Center next week. That streak includes wins over Southridge, Westview and Nelson, teams seeded fifth, seventh and sixth, respectively.

The Crusaders' fortunes seemed to turn after three losses during a four-game stretch in the first round of Metro League play.

“We all came together and we talked it through,” senior guard Ryan Fraser said. “We were going through some stuff within our team. We ultimately just decided that we've got to come together. When we play together, we can do this. We're definitely peaking late right now, which is the perfect time.”

After making going 12 of 28 from three-point range in a first-round win over Gresham, Jesuit went 11 of 25 against Nelson (21-6). Fraser went 5 for 5 from deep and scored a team-high 17 points. Sophomore Isaac Bongen came off the bench to make three three-pointers and score 11 points.

Why are the Crusaders sizzling from the perimeter?

“It's just us understanding how you actually play real basketball, and not getting a good shot, but a great shot,” coach Gene Potter said. “We're starting to pass up good shots to get great shots. Sometimes it takes teams a while to figure it out. We're really enjoying the extra pass, and getting excited for each other.”

Senior point guard Pat Kilfoil said the Crusaders had a change of mentality early in the winning streak when they took to heart the words of assistant coach Daniel Feest.

“He said, 'You can say whatever you want, but if you don't act like it, it doesn't matter,'” said Kilfoil, who had 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists Saturday. “He told us that before our Westview game. Ever since, we've been playing as a family.”

Fraser, who made four three-pointers against Gresham, got Jesuit started Saturday by opening the game with a three-pointer. Junior Ryan Barone hit a triple and Bongen made two more as the lead grew to 24-10.

“Shooting the ball well in the first half gave us a lot of momentum,” Potter said. “We felt good about ourselves.”

Nelson, which entered on an eight-game winning streak, got three-pointers from seniors Jaiden Pickett and Ahshua Neal during a 12-0 run that cut the lead to 24-22.

But just as quickly, Jesuit responded with its own flurry, a 16-2 burst over the next 2:30 that pushed its edge to 40-24 midway through the second quarter. During that run, Fraser made three three-pointers and Barone hit one.

“We've got to get a lot of guys going in order to win,” Kilfoil said. “Ryan Fraser and Ryan Barone and Isaac Bongen, we get them going, we win games. That's the biggest separator for us.”

Jesuit opened a 57-39 lead in the third quarter, but Nelson fought back to within 61-55 on a basket by sophomore point guard Braylon Gaines with 6:32 left in the game. The Hawks could get no closer, though, as the Crusaders buckled down on defense and started attacking the basket, scoring their last eight points on free throws.

Everyone got into the act for Jesuit, which shot 52 percent. Junior guard Joe Stimpson added 12 points, five rebounds and three assists. Senior post Grady Kelso put up eight points, 11 rebounds and three assists.

Nelson, a fourth-year program, was bidding to make the state tournament for the first time. But the uphill battle was too much for the Hawks, who beat No. 1 Barlow and No. 3 Central Catholic in the second round of Mt. Hood Conference play to share the title with both teams.

“They got hot to start the game,” Nelson coach Daniel Blanks said. “My team battled back, but we didn't go on a run like they did. I felt like we were in the game the whole way, we just didn't have our best shooting game.”

Gaines, who scored a career-high 38 points in a first-round win over Lake Oswego, finished with 22 points. Pickett also scored 22 points, hitting six three-pointers.

Jesuit returns to the state tournament, where it lost to eventual champion Central Catholic 59-33 in the quarterfinals last year. The Crusaders have proven they can beat elite teams, but also have lost to them.

“Our biggest thing is just to stay humble,” Kilfoil said. “We got a good win and we're going to the Chiles Center, but last year we kind of got overly excited about that, and then got killed. So this year, we're just playing to compete. We can beat anyone in the state if we just play to our standard of basketball.”

Potter – who has coached Jesuit to seven titles, the last one in 2019 – believes the tournament is wide open.

“We always kind of refer to 2019,” he said. “Were we the most talented team? No. But on three consecutive nights, we played the best basketball. That's all you need to do is focus on one night at a time.”