MCMINNVILLE – Paul Skoro made a free throw with 1.2 seconds on the clock to lift La Salle Prep past Summit, 57-56, at the 2025 OSAA / OnPoint Community Credit Union Boys 5A State Basketball Championships Saturday night at Linfield University. The Falcons, who were seeded ninth, became the highest-seeded team ever to win a boys state title.
How the game was won – sending LSP to its first state title since 1986 – will be talked about for years to come.
***
The clock ticked under 30 seconds in regulation and the overflow crowd was equal parts amped and exhausted. The championship game, between ninth-seeded La Salle Prep and seventh-seeded Summit, the defending state champions; had been a thrill ride from the first tip. La Salle Prep led by as many as 18 points in the third quarter, but Summit came all the way back to get within a point, 56-55. The Storm had the ball and were poised to win a game in the closing moments that they had not led since 4-3.
One year before, facing Wilsonville, another team from the Northwest Oregon Conference; Summit won its first-ever title on a buzzer-beating alley-oop layup from Mac Bledsoe. Could the Storm walk it off again this year?
Skoro said “No!” with a series of game-changing plays, good and bad, over the final 15 seconds in what was the most bizarre finish ever to an Oregon high school championship game.
“For 30 years in college coaching I knew to expect anything,” La Salle’s head coach Sean Kelly said. “Coaching high school these past five years it’s even crazier. With 16-18-year-old boys you just don’t know.”
Summit was setting up for a go-ahead shot attempt when Skoro, one of four seniors who grew up in the La Salle program; came from the backside to steal the ball! Summit fouled him with 11.1 seconds left.
That proved to be an eternity in this game because SO MUCH HAPPENED over the final 11.1 seconds.
Summit was down a point, but still had three fouls to give before being able to put the Falcons on the line. The Storm fouled twice, paring the game clock to 8.5 seconds, and were preparing to foul again when Skoro did the unthinkable: he committed an offensive foul!
“I made a mistake pushing off and got a dumb foul,” the senior guard said. “That was poor execution by me.”
Summit took possession of the ball with another chance to win, but La Salle Prep had a foul to give. The Falcons took it courtesy of a body block by Skoro near the top of the key with 4.5 seconds to go.
Summit got the ball to Will Manfredi, a brilliant shooter whose three three-pointers in the first quarter helped temper La Salle’s early onslaught from beyond the arc. Manfredi turned to attack the basket, but was fouled by Aidan Kelly. Not only did the Falcons no longer have a foul to give; the foul was No. 5 on Kelly.
2.9 seconds showed on the clock.
Manfredi was going to the line for two.
“We were up one and just hoping he misses one,” Skoro said. “That’s all we could do at that point.”
“A pressure-packed free throw…” Coach Kelly said. “Will Manfredi is an amazing player. I did not expect him to miss a free throw. But it happened.”
Manfredi’s first effort was too strong and clanged off the back iron. His second was true. The game was tied. Only a desperation last-second shot attempt for La Salle Prep separated the teams from overtime.
Summit still had a foul to give, as Skoro’s push off had negated the Storm’s need to use it eight seconds before (though it felt like an eternity). A Storm player went to use it as Skoro received the inbounds pass with his momentum going towards Summit’s basket.
The Summit player got there a little late.
Skoro launched a desperation three-point heave to avoid overtime at the same time as Summit was trying to foul him. The contact was significant and was judged to have come in the act of shooting. Yes, it was not a shot that was likely to go in but it was a shot nonetheless from beyond the three-point line.
Three free throws.
“Coach told me to try to bait a foul at the end and try to get to the free throw line and that’s what I did,” Skoro said. “I got the guy to jump and leaned in to him.”
Skoro went to the line with 1.2 seconds still remaining to be played and missed the first free throw attempt.
“There’s no reason to be nervous,” Skoro said. “I know how hard I’ve worked; how many reps I’ve taken. I knew the next one was going in.”
Before the game, Coach Kelly had written on the board, “32 minutes.”
“Thirty-two minutes no matter what,” he stressed. “We play for 32 minutes and don’t stop.”
La Salle Prep (21-8) needed all but a second of it.
Skoro made the second free throw, as, on the bench both Coach Kelly and his son, Aidan, exhaled.
“Just stay in the moment, keep trudging and good things will happen,” Coach Kelly said.
“That was hectic,” Aidan Kelly added. “I got my fifth foul and felt helpless on the bench. We had big time plays made by big time players on this team. The feeling of helplessness was worth it because I knew we would come out with a ‘W.’ It was amazing.”
Skoro intentionally missed the third free throw. Summit rebounded but with no time to attempt a shot before the game clock expired.
“Once I made one to take the lead I had to miss the last one on purpose to make it a tough shot for them,” Skoro said. “Now we’re state champions!”
“Wow!” Aidan Kelly exclaimed “We’ve been working this for four years. There have been a lot of late nights and a lot of early mornings. This is magical.”
“My guys just hung in there,” Coach Kelly said. “I just can’t tell you how proud I am of the whole team.”
On the other side, Joe Wells, Summit’s first-year head coach, was equally proud.
“Our guys showed resilience all year long,” he said. “They’ve been counted out all year long. They got themselves to the championship game and made a heck of a game out of it. Yes, it was a very bizarre ending. That’s what the basketball gods wanted to happen. I live with our effort and I live with what our guys have done all year long. I am so excited to have had them be a part of this experience.”
***
When the state tournament began on Thursday afternoon, few could have predicted that La Salle Prep and Summit would be tipping off for the state title on Saturday. La Salle Prep started the year 7-6, losing to four teams that were at, under or barely above .500.
“La Salle is a multi-sport athlete school,” Coach Kelly said. “When you have guys who play multiple sports you know to just keep going because they are going to get better and better. I didn’t pay too much attention to the beginning. I just knew these athletes were going to get better.”
Summit, which lost all of its impact players from last year, started similarly. With a lineup of players who were varsity swing guys last year, the Storm were 6-6 at one point, including an 11-point loss to La Salle on Dec. 17.
“This is a team that has been doubted since [last year’s] seniors graduated,” Wells said. “The minute those guys left everyone in the league said we wouldn't compete. New coach, new team, but the thing a lot of people didn't know is that this this group was excited to show the basketball community what they were capable of.”
Both teams came to State with similar end-of-season arcs. La Salle went 10-2 down the stretch, losing only to Wilsonville, then won its first round playoff game over Woodburn comfortably. Summit went 11-2 to finish the regular season, losing only to Caldera, then won its first round playoff game comfortably over South Albany.
La Salle Prep knocked off the No. 1 seed, Caldera, in a Thursday quarterfinal on its way to the championship game, Summit defeated No. 2 Thurston in its quarterfinal.
“Our goal was to peak at the end of the year and I’m assuming theirs was the same,” Wells said. “They did it very well.”
The game started and La Salle Prep came out red hot. The Falcons hit seven of their first nine three-point attempts. Summit could not match the firepower of LSP’s guards and fell behind, 17-7, on a corner three by Vance Sheffield in the same spot as earlier threes by Mason Mueller and Aidan Kelly. The lead was 24-17 after one and grew to 32-17 three minutes into the second quarter, courtesy of an 8-0 run that included a 3-ball from speedy sophomore Rigdhen Khyungra.
Nice work to end the half from Matthew Tompkins and Ryder Grieb helped Summit pare La Salle’s lead to 11 at halftime, 38-27, but the Falcons used another run, this one seven points, to open the third quarter. Khyungra scored five, including a layup on a nifty Skoro pass; and Mueller added a deuce to make it 45-27 Falcons with 6:22 left to play in the third.
Despite the big lead, Coach Kelly knew that this game was far from over.
“I’ve been in too many games to ever think it’s over,” he said. “Uncle Mo can change in a heartbeat. It can change with a foul or a big three or amazing play. That’s what happened. We had a run of 2-3 minutes with no points and they had a run with a couple of put backs and a couple of big threes. That’s what they do so well. He is such a good coach and that is such a good program. I knew it was not going to be easy.”
Summit closed the third period on a 15-3 run. It started with a Rowan Blossey bucket on a feed from Grieb and continued with buckets from Manfredi, Tompkins, Kal Scalley, Andy Bledsoe and Foster Kettering. What had been a La Salle Prep runaway was now a game in the balance, 48-42, as the fourth quarter began.
“The balance this team has is very unique,” Wells explained.
The final eight minutes began with a Skoro steal and score, but there was a lid on the La Salle basket on long range attempts. After starting 7-for-9 from distance, the Falcons went 1-for-13 from beyond the arc the rest of the way. If they were going to hold on and win, it would need to be a gritty effort.
After a Grieb hoop for Summit, Skoro splits the defense for an answer, putting La Salle Prep back up by eight. Summit kept coming, even as LSP tried taking the air out of the ball by using the entire shot clock on each possession. Summit cut the deficit to four on Grieb’s elbow jumper, but Skoro rose to the occasion again with a great finish as the shot clock was set to expire.
“It was wild,” Aidan Kelly said. “We couldn’t have done it without Vance, Paul and Riggie. Mason Mueller stepped up big time, too, and hit some huge threes.”
Skoro third field goal of the quarter did not stop Summit’s relentlessness. Scalley put back an air ball to get the Storm within 54-50. He scored again a minute later on a runout assisted by Grieb. The La Salle lead was just two with 2:37 to play and Summit had all the momentum.
Sheffield slowed Uncle Mo with a teardrop finish to put La Salle up four with 2:11 on the clock. Summit answered with a Manfredi hoop and harm on an inbounds play to make the lead a scant point with just over one minute left.
Grieb blocked Mueller’s layup attempt subsequently, which gave the ball back to Summit with the chance to win when the Skoro steal led to all that drama to conclude what was an epic game between two championship-caliber opponents.
Manfredi finished with 17 points to lead Summit (20-9). Scalley added 12 and Grieb had 11 and 10 rebounds.
Sheffield scored 20, with six rebounds and four steals, to lead four Falcons in double figures. Khyungra had 13, Mueller scored 10 and Skoro finished with 11 and five assists.
“La Salle plays hard,” Wells said. “That’s a great team. Still, it was really exciting to get our guys here and be able to do this.”
When the clock ran out and La Salle finally had time to exhale, the fans spilled onto the court and enveloped their champions.
“That feeling was surreal,” Skoro said. “The whole school came out to support. Friends, family...those four years of hard work hit you to know that you finished strong.”
In the boys 3rd/5th game:
Wilsonville 61, Canby 48
Drake Devin made a three-point field goal with 2:33 remaining in the first quarter and Wilsonville never trailed again in its 13-point win over its Northwest Oregon Conference rivals. With the win, the Wildcats (25-4) clinched third place in 5A and defeated Canby (17-12) for the third time this season.
The final margin of victory was the largest lead of the game for Wilsonville, which was tested by the Cougars for the better part of three and one-half quarters. The Cats put the game essentially out of reach on the strength of a 6-0 run that pushed the Wilsonville lead to double digits with 4:02 remaining. Canby never got closer than eight points again.
Junior point guard Jaxon Lawson had another exceptional game for Canby, finishing with 18 points, six rebounds and eight assists. No other Cougar scored more than seven points, had more than five rebounds or more than three assists. The team played hard and got a jolt in the second half courtesy of two Cooper Cousin threes, but could not find the run it needed to remain competitive late.
Emmitt Fee, a 6-6 senior, had a terrific game to pace Wilsonville, which has finished no worse than third at state every year for the past decade. Fee finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Point guard Cole Hammack added 13 points, four rebounds and five assists. Drake, Jett Bruce and Jacob Boss combined for 32 more points in the win. Boss matched Fee with seven rebounds.
In the boys 4th/6th game:
West Albany 58, Thurston 47
A 17-4 run to close the third quarter turned a close, three-point game with second-seeded Thurston into a comfortable West Albany win. The fourth-seeded Bulldogs, who lost to Wilsonville in a tight Thursday quarterfinal, claimed fourth place for the second straight year and avenged a December loss to the Colts (23-5) in the process.
Gavin Aguilar, Jonah Lasselle and Owen Hopkins were catalysts in the run for West Albany (22-7). The Bulldogs had led by as many as 12 in the first half, but were up just seven at the half and then surrendered the first four points of the second half before they surged again.
West Albany’s lead, which was 16 after three quarters, grew to as many as 18, 54-36, on a Jonah Chamberlain layup, before back-to-back triples from Lucas LaBounty and inspired play late from Nate Stiffler brought the game back within a bucket of single digits.
Aguilar, Lassell and Hopkins combined for 38 points in the win for West Albany, which shot better than 50 percent from the field, which turned the ball over just 13 times.
LaBounty scored 20 and Stiffler added 10 for Thurston in the loss.
All-State Tournament First Team
Rigdhen Khyungra, La Salle Prep
Cole Hammack, Wilsonville
Jaxon Lawson, Canby
Ryder Grieb, Summit
Gavin Aguilar, West Albany
All-State Tournament Second Team
Jack Brauckmiller, Canby
Aidan Kelly, La Salle Prep
Will Jenson, Caldera
Rowan Blossey, Summit
Will Manfredi, Summit
Sportsmanship trophy
Thurston
johnt@osaa.org
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