WILSONVILLE -- Addison Wedin shook off the pain in her foot -- and a 12-point, fourth-quarter deficit -- to will La Salle Prep to its biggest win of the girls basketball season Tuesday night.
Despite injuring her foot in a fall in the snow Saturday, the 5-foot-11 sophomore point guard decided to suit up for the game at No. 1 Wilsonville, which held a one-game lead over the No. 3 Falcons at the top of the 5A Northwest Oregon Conference standings.
She proved to be the difference, coming through with a game-high 26 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter as La Salle Prep surged from behind to win 55-50.
“I swear I thought her foot was broken. She could not even walk,” said Falcons coach Kelli Wedin, Addison’s mother. “She practiced yesterday in a lot of pain, and I think it was just adrenaline today.
“It’s a pretty good sprain. The bottom of her foot is totally bruised. But she said, ‘Mom, I don’t care if it’s broken, I’m taping it up and let’s go.’”
La Salle Prep (17-4, 9-1) not only handed Wilsonville (16-5, 9-1) its first loss to an Oregon team this season, but the Falcons got revenge for a 71-59 home loss to the Wildcats that ended their 83-game conference winning streak. The teams are tied for first place with four games left in the regular season.
Addison Wedin said her team was determined to prevail Tuesday.
“We went into a huddle and we were down 10, and we all looked at each other and we were like, ‘We’re not losing,’” she said. “We went out there and I feel like it just switched.”
Falcons junior guard Emily Niebergall sensed the team’s positive energy, too.
“We had the ‘we’re-going-to-win-or-we’re-not-leaving’ kind of attitude,” Niebergall said. “Once you get everyone on the same page, it’s crazy what you can do.”
Wilsonville appeared to be in total control when sophomore guard Sydney Burns sparked a 12-0 run to open a 42-30 lead with 7:25 remaining. But La Salle Prep scored the next eight points – four by senior forward Lauren Vreeken – to make it 42-38 with 5:49 left.
The Wildcats still led 50-46 after senior guard Cydney Gutridge hit a three-pointer with 3:09 to go. That would be Wilsonville’s final points, though, as Wedin took over down the stretch.
“The fourth quarter, seeing that’s all the time we had left, and this is the second time we’re playing Wilsonville, it was all the time we had,” Addison Wedin said. “So I just said to myself, ‘I’m not losing.’ I just went out and did everything for my teammates.”
Wedin made a three-pointer from the corner off an assist from Niebergall, then drove for an acrobatic reverse layup in transition to put the Falcons up 51-50 with 2:15 on the clock.
“That was nuts,” Kelli Wedin said of Addison’s shot.
Holding the lead, La Salle Prep spread the floor and made the Wildcats chase. Wedin and Vreeken added two free throws each, and Wilsonville came up empty on the other end.
“We played a perfect game that last three minutes,” Kelli Wedin said.
Addison Wedin finished 8 of 14 from the field, including 4 of 6 from three-point range. For the season, she is averaging 21.1 points per game and shooting 48 percent on three-pointers (60 for 125).
“She’s definitely one of the best players in the state,” Wilsonville coach Justin Duke said. “We spent a lot of our game plan kind of marking her, and making sure we knew where she was. And we just lost her a few too many times there in the fourth quarter. She hit some big shots.”
Wilsonville got a big game from 6-2 sophomore post Emilia Bishop, who scored a career-high 24 points and punished the Falcons on the boards. Bishop managed only three points in the fourth quarter, however, as the Falcons adjusted their defense to play behind her and have the guards dig down to help.
“That was huge. We were just out of rebound position for three quarters,” Kelli Wedin said. “We made that adjustment and then we were able to rebound. That was it.”
Duke lamented not being able to get Bishop the ball in the final minutes. He said his team also had defensive breakdowns.
“We haven’t played a close game in a while, and it really showed,” Duke said. “We made some poor decisions with the ball. We’ve got to close out a good team. We had them on the ropes. They’re a great team, and they made some plays, and we didn’t at the end.”
The final buzzer set off a big celebration for the Falcons, who have been stewing about their loss to Wilsonville for nearly a month.
“It was a devastating loss,” Niebergall said. “But this game, we just felt like all the pressure was off us. We were just having fun. I think now our team, because of this win, we’re like so much closer already.”
Vreeken added 11 points for La Salle Prep. Burns chipped in with 12 points for Wilsonville.
Heavy heart: The Falcons have drawn closer through tragedy in the last two weeks. Niebergall’s mother, Katie, suddenly passed away two weeks ago.
“It’s good that we’re all here for her,” Addison Wedin said of Niebergall. “It’s been pretty hard. I feel like with our support, she’s taking it way better than we thought.”
Niebergall has been rocked emotionally but has decided to play through it. She has not taken a day off from basketball.
“My mom was my best friend,” Niebergall said. “I look over at my family, and I expect to see her there cheering me on, and she’s not. But I keep my necklace from her, and my water bottle, and I keep her hat on the bench. She’s not gone. She just plays through me and I play for her.
“I know my mom would want me to go out there, want me to be as tough as I can. She really has taught me to be as hard as nails.”
Niebergall said she is drawing support not only from her team, but from the basketball community.
“I had Wilsonville girls texting me,” she said. “I know we’re rivals on the court, but there’s no better feeling than knowing that people around me care about me.”
Shorthanded: Both teams were missing key players.
La Salle Prep senior guard Alyson Miura, a transfer from Clackamas who has signed with USC, has been out with a shoulder injury since playing in the season opener. Miura has been cleared for non-contact drills this week and is hopeful to progress to full contact drills next week, according to Kelli Wedin.
Wilsonville senior Reese Timm, a starting guard, has been sidelined since suffering a torn MCL in the first game against La Salle Prep. It is possible she could return for the playoffs.
jerryu@osaa.org
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