MCMINNVILLE – South Albany won a Mid-Willamette Conference clash with the defending girls’ 5A champion on Friday afternoon. The RedHawks beat Silverton, 48-39, vanquishing the Foxes for the third time in as many tries this year in the semifinals at the OSAA / OnPoint Community Credit Union 5A Basketball State Championships conducted at Linfield University.
South Albany opened up a 7-1 lead to start the game and never trailed. One year after making the state semifinals for the first time in school history, the RedHawks are now in the finals for the first time ever. South Albany will meet top-ranked Crater, which trounced Redmond in the other semifinal, for the title on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
“It means everything,” said Marc Cordle, South Albany’s third-year head coach. “I took over this program and everyone believed in me and I believed in them. We’re just a tight-knit family. This is what we work for. We weren’t going to settle for anything less. This group only knows about winning.”
Beating Silverton, a team with championship pedigree and a terrific head coach in Alyssa Ogle, for the third time in as many games this season, was anything but easy. As you might imagine with conference foes that know one another, the game was ultra-physical and points were at a premium.
“I was so nervous coming in,” Cordle admitted. “That’s always in the back of your mind, especially with that program and what Alyssa has done. She’s an incredible coach. It was absolutely in my mind and we got it done.”
South Albany moved to a 9-6 lead after one with no contributions from its junior superstar Taylor Donaldson. Donaldson, who netted 35 in the RedHawks’ quarterfinal win over Springfield; was blanketed all over the floor, first by Brooklyn Pfeiffer and later by Marley Wertz. They never let her go more than a few steps without contact and did an effective job of denying her the ball.
“It’s frustrating,” she admitted. “That’s the third time they’ve done it to me this season.”
With Donaldson a non-factor early, South Albany got points from unusual sources, Hannah Patten from long range and Phara Dickson, Neveah Ukaoma and Taelyn Bentley, in opening up a 9-6 lead after one.
Donaldson also was a non-factor in the second eight minutes, save for two free throws. A triple from Kaylee Cordle and buckets in the paint from Taylor Bailey and Maddie Angel picked up the slack and helped the RedHawks extend their advantage to 22-14 at intermission.
“My teammates are amazing,” Donaldson said. “They’re the reason we were in that game.”
The other reason was defense. South Albany held Silverton to 25 percent shooting from the field – including 0-for-4 from long distance – and forced 10 turnovers.
“Our defense held them the right way,” Coach Cordle said. “It is what sustains everything. If you’re not having a good offensive night, you have to have defense to sustain things.”
Silverton struggled to get offense from anyone other than Hadley Craig, who had seven points and five rebounds after two periods; for most of the half, although Allie Mansur was able to finish with her left hand in the closing seconds to give Silverton hoping going to the locker room.
The second half started and it was more of the same until midway through the third quarter. The teams were physical with one another, the teams could not find space and the game had no consistent flow.
South Albany’s lead reached double digits midway through the quarter when Patten took a Dickson pass and drained a three. Silverton responded with six straight points to pull back within five, including a stop-and-pop from Mansur and Craig’s steal, spin and score.
With South Albany facing a crossroads, the RedHawks (24-4) moved Donaldson inside. The decision made the difference in the game. She scored nine second-half points, including a critical “and-1” off of the ensuing inbounds play following a time out, to put South Albany up eight again.
“I really tried to get in the paint,” Donaldson explained. “I realized that the three-point line wasn’t really going to be an option.”
Silverton never got closer than seven points the rest of the way. Craig, the Central transfer, was brilliant for the Foxes and almost single-handedly kept them in the game. Donaldson also was stout when it mattered for South Albany, but so, too, was Cordle, whose three-ball made the lead nine with three minutes remaining. Cordle also had two loud blocks and a critical steal when Silverton (24-4) was desperately trying to rally.
Craig finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds for Silverton in the loss. The Foxes shot 34 percent from the field for the game, did not make a three-point basketball in 11 launches and committed 21 turnovers.
Donaldson finished with a team-high 11 points for South Albany, and snagged eight boards. Bentley had 10 points and four rebounds. Cordle finished with eight points and three blocks.
The RedHawks shot 44 percent from the field for the game and made five threes, which turned out to be a huge weapon on their way to the ‘Ship.
“This is what you put all the sweat in for, to be in this environment,” Coach Cordle said. There’s nothing like it.”
And Crater?
Cordle said it was fitting that it’s South Albany/Crater for the title.
“Whoever stays strong and is mentally tough is who wins the game tomorrow,” he concluded.
In the other girls’ semifinal
No. 1 Crater 72, No. 4 Redmond 44
A 15-0 Crater run midway through the first quarter broke open a close game and propelled the top-seeded Comets to their second straight 28-point win during the tournament.
Taylor Young, a South Medford transfer, scored 10 during that stretch, including two layups that she generated by stealing the ball. The junior guard was brilliant throughout and finished with 34 points, six assists and eight steals.
Sage Winslow, Young’s “partner-in-crime,” only played five minutes in the first half after two early fouls, but she scored two points and had two assists during her brief time in the second quarter to extend Crater’s lead, which had been 30-15 after one, to 21, 38-17, with 4:36 to play before the break.
When Winslow went back to the bench again, however, Redmond rallied. Aspen Morris was a force inside late for the Panthers, who scored 11 of the half’s final 14 points to cut the lead to 13, 41-28, after two quarters.
Redmond’s hopes of a colossal upset were foiled early in the second half. Crater (27-1) scored the first six points of the third, and 12 of the first 14, to grow its lead to 23 with 3:19 left in the period.
Freya Snow and Mylaena Norton had good moments for the Panthers to close out the quarter and into the fourth, but Crater was relentless. The Comets went up by more than 30, triggering a running clock, on Young’s steal and score with 4:28 remaining. Redmond scored the game’s final five points, after both teams cleared their benches, to bring the margin back under 30 by game’s end.
Norton had 13 points to lead Redmond (21-6). Snow finished with five points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Addi Dippel complemented Young’s monster afternoon with 13 points, including 11 in the first quarter. She was essential to Crater’s first-quarter surge after Winslow left the game due to fouls. Lydia Traore, Crater’s 6-4 anchor in the post, added 10 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks. Winslow finished with eight points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals in limited time.
Girls consolation semis (Thursday)
Wilsonville 73, Summit 41
Wilsonville never trailed and won every quarter in its decisive win over a Summit team making its first appearance at the state tournament in 16 years.
Paced by 12 first-half points from Audrey Counts, the Wildcats led 6-0 after three minutes of play, 16-6 after one and 32-13 at halftime. After outscoring Summit, 24-14, in the third quarter, Wilsonville went up by more than 30, triggering a running clock, when Gabi Moultrie hit a three pointer with 6:43 left to play in the game.
Moultrie finished with a game-high 28 points, 21 in the second half, for the victorious Wildcats (18-10). She added five steals. Counts amassed 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Fareeda ElManhawy added nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Kayln Christ scored nine to lead Summit, which hurt itself by turning the ball over 20 times and shooting poorly from the field and the free throw line.
Springfield 56, West Albany 55
Springfield’s suffocating defense prevented West Albany from getting a good look as time ran out for the Bulldogs in the Millers’ win.
With the score tied at 31-31 early in the third quarter, Springfield (19-8) went on a 15-2 tear over the next three minutes, sparked by two three pointers from Sailor Hall and one each from Darissa Romero-Ah Sam and Iyahna Woodard; to take control.
West Albany (20-8) never led again, but made it a game midway through the fourth quarter when Karlee Martirano drained a three to get the Bulldogs within 52-46 and end a period of futility for both teams. After a Payton Starwalt steal and score, Natalie Tidwell’s 5A-record-tying seventh triple of the game cut the Miller lead to just three.
The lead was a scant one after Martirano scored in the key with 1:14 seconds to play. Springfield missed a three pointer and turned the ball over once, preventing it from augmenting its lead. West Albany’s first possession to take the lead was foiled by a turnover, but it got the ball back with 14.8 seconds to play.
Springfield had committed only one fourth-quarter foul by that point and wisely fouled three times, using more than 11 seconds of the game clock. The Millers then extended their zone and collapsed on Starwalt when she got the ball on the wing, leaving a desperate left-handed fling in the direction of the basket as her only recourse.
Tidwell finished with 21 points to lead West Albany, whose top six players are all underclassmen. Martinaro added 12 points and 15 rebounds. Lily Hamblin had 10 points and eight rebounds. Starwalt, the team’s leading scorer who had 30 in Wednesday’s tough loss to Silverton, was held to just five points.
Hall matched Tidwell with a record-tying seven triples and 21 points for Springfield. Romero-Ah Sam had 12 points and eight assists. Woodard added 10.
In the boys’ semifinals
No. 9 La Salle Prep 55, No. 4 Wilsonville 46
After falling behind for the first time since early in the second quarter, La Salle Prep outscored Wilsonville, 16-6, over the final 5:48 to complete the upset in a tournament filled with them. With that, the Falcons will be heading to the state championship for the first time since 2014, seeking their first title since 1986.
When these Northwest Oregon Conference rivals first met on Jan. 31, Wilsonville won in a blowout. When they met again on March 3, Wilsonville won again, but it was much closer.
The third time? Well, let’s just say that after beating the No. 4 seed one day after knocking off top-seeded Caldera, La Salle Prep is living a charmed life.
Friday’s win ended Wilsonville’s eight-year streak of appearing in every championship game.
“We were definitely the underdogs in this game but we showed out tonight,” said senior Aidan Kelly. “We have been putting in the time to get to this point. We’ve got a bunch of dogs on this team.”
No dog was bigger than Kelly himself. After Drake Devin scored on a runner for Wilsonville to give the Cats their first lead since 16-14 in the second quarter, Kelly hit the first of successive three pointers to put La Salle back on top again.
“That was magical,” Kelly said. “All season I have not had a good shooting night from the outside. It was the right time against our rivals.”
Vance Sheffield added another triple for the Falcons, to extend their lead to six with 2:26 to play. La Salle was able to hold on, despite going 3-for-10 from the line over the last 80 seconds, as Wilsonville’s shooting woes continued to the end.
There were so many heroes in the win for La Salle (20-8). Kelly led with 17 points and Sheffield had 12, but Ridghen Khyungra also was a big factor with 16 points. Paul Skoro controlled the tempo from his point guard position, Sam Johnson came off the bench to score a key bucket. Last, but certainly not least, Mason Mueller scored two critical energy buckets, and his rebounds and assists in the end game were critical to team success.
Cole Hammack scored 22 and had four assists for Wilsonville (24-4). Jacob Boss contributed six points and a game-high 11 rebounds.Wilsonville shot just 33 percent for the game and was done in by far too many shots from in close hanging on the rim before falling off.
No. 7 Summit 47, No. 14 Canby 45 (O.T.)
Rowan Blossey made a layup under pressure with 0.9 seconds on the clock to send the defending champion Storm back to the final for the second straight year,
Summit trailed by three with 12.7 seconds left in regulation but Canby was in position to shave precious time off the clock because the Cougars had four fouls to give. Canby chose to play defense straight up without fouling and it proved costly, as Matthew Tompkins attacked the cup then dished up top to Will Manfredi. Manfredi had made two early three pointers but had been 0-for-4 since. This one, with less than four seconds remaining in the fourth, was pure and sent the game to a four-minute overtime period.
The teams traded points in two-point increments in the extra period, with Summit never trailing. Blossey’s layup attempt, towards the same goal where Mac Bledsoe made hit championship-winning alley-oop last year, hit hard off the front rim after caroming off the backboard, but the ball found the bottom of the net for the game winner.
Blossey finished with 12 points for Summit (20-8), while Manfredi and Ryder Grieb scored 11 apiece.
Jaxon Lawson and Jack Brauckmiller combined for 29 for Canby (17-11) in a game that was played end-to-end throughout.
Summit led 8-2 to start but gave up nine straight until Foster Kettering’s 3-ball and a reverse layup by Grieb the lead back after one complete.
With Brauckmiller, a 6-6 sophomore, in a starring role, Canby three times tied the game in the second quarter on big-man buckets. The Cougars then went ahead on an effort steal from Cohen Vandecoevering, which led to Brauckmiller’s dish to Jaxon Lawson for a deuce.
Vandecoevering for Canby and Summit’s Matthew Tompkins dueled down the stretch to the end of the half, with Canby taking a one-point lead to the locker room.
The third-quarter was played to a practical standstill, with the Canby lead still one headed to the fourth. The lead changed hands four times over the final eight minutes of regulation, the last when Lawson scored twice around a Vandecoevering steal. The first bucket beat the end of the shot clock by a fraction; the second was a driving layup that gave Canby the three-point lead that Summit tied on Manfredi’s triple.
Boys consolation semis
West Albany 75, Caldera 69
The lead changed hands 15 times in this fast-paced, well-played affair, but when Grey Nieman had a three-pointer for West Albany with 1:04 remaining in the third, the Bulldogs never trailed again in their win over the top-seeded Wolfpack.
West Albany (21-7) seized the lead, 36-30, with a 7-0 run, keyed by five Grey Nieman points, to close a back-and-forth first half.
The Bulldogs extended their advantage to 10, 45-35, on a Gavin Aguilar triple, only to see Jack Bents key an 11-0 Caldera run to give the lead back to the Wolfpack. Nieman’s three-ball put West Albany on top once again and the Bulldogs took a 56-53 lead to the final eight minutes.
Twice, in the final period, Caldera used Aiden Cruz long balls to slice West Albany’s lead to a single possession. Each time, West Albany was up to the task, whether it was Jonah Lasselle scoring in close or Aguilar going 4-for-4 from the line in the end game to ice the win.
Senior Will Jenson finished with 21 points and 18 rebounds for Caldera (18-9) in his final high school game. Cruz, another senior, added 19, while the senior, Bents, contributed 17 points and six assists.
Aguilar had 19 points and four assists to lead West Albany’s effort. The Bulldogs got 15 from Owen Hopkins, a dozen from Tyson Walker, 10 from Nieman and nine from Laselle.
West Albany shot 54.5 percent from the field for the game and committed just eight turnovers.
Thurston 50, Crescent Valley 49
Freshman Trayson Hill made a runner in the lane as time expired to send Thurston to a thrilling win over Crescent Valley.
Crescent Valley led for only 4.9 seconds of this game. When Kavanaugh Jensen hit a turnaround jumper in the lane and then converted the “and-1” free throw, the Raiders led a game they’d trailed by between five and nine points for most of the 32 minutes.
A series of unfortunate events late in the fourth helped Crescent Valley back in, starting with a deliberate Thurston foul with 9.5 seconds left by a player thinking the Colts had a foul to give. Lucas Ikjaer made both free throws to cut Thurston’s lead to two.
Thurston then threw away the inbounds pass; threw it out of bounds, in fact, so that the ball was returned to the previous spot with no time having run off the clock. The ball came to Jensen, who made the shot and gave the elated Raiders the lead they’d fought from behind to obtain virtually the entire game.
Thurston had one more arrow in its quiver. Nate Stiffler, who’d made clutch free throws in the fourth when the Colts were clinging to their lead, inbounded the ball to Brock Johnson on the run towards Crescent Valley’s basket. Johnson tossed the ball on the wing to Hill under heavy pressure. He faked and, as the clock wound down, put the ball on the floor and tossed up a shot as the game clock expired. The ball bounced off the front of the rim, hit the backboard and bounced once on the front rim again before dropping through for the game winner, Hill’s only bucket of the game.
Noah Blair had 10 points to lead Thurston (23-4) in scoring. Stiffler and Lucas LaBounty had nine each. Matthew Newell scored seven off the bench.
Ikjaer and Truman Brasfield combined for 29 points in the loss for Crescent Valley (20-7)
johnt@osaa.org
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