In the OSAA Girls’ 2A tournament, the Central Linn Cobras faced the Bandon Tigers for 3rd place. While the teams were evenly matched, Central Linn’s Maya Rowland‘s spectacular performance proved to be the decisive factor in the 63-41 Central Linn victory. The first quarter was electric. Bandon and Central Linn went back and forth down the court exchanging baskets. By the end of the quarter, the score was tied at 14. The second quarter went much the same way, with the only distinguishable difference between the teams being in the 3-pointer shooting percentage. The difference in 3-point shooting allowed Central Linn to built a 6-point lead by halftime. While Rowland’s 14 first-half points was an impressive feat, her second half performance would be nothing short of legendary. Rowland did not miss a single shot the second half, going 4-4 from the 3-point line and 6-6 from the free throw line. Bandon could not find a way to shut Rowland down. When Bandon guarded Rowland close, she used the attention she drew to facilitate the rest of her team. This allowed Bri Beauchamp and Raleigh Nofziger to score 11 and 7 points respectively. When Bandon guarded the middle of the floor, Rowland would inevitably sink a 3-point shot. There was no answer to her prowess. Not only was Rowland efficient, but the junior guard made good decisions with the ball, only turning the ball over once the entire game. But Rowland could not do everything herself. The Central Linn defense shut down the outside shooting of Bandon in the second half, holding the Tigers to 0-7 on 3-point shots and 5-20 overall. Rowland shot 9-11 in the game from the field and scored 32 points. This makes her shooting efficiency 2.91 - meaning that Rowland essentially scored 3 points every time she shot. "{Rowland} is a great player and leader," Central Linn coach Wendi Farris said after the game. "It's what you expect [from her]." Rowland was stunned by her own performance. "I don't know what to say. I've never done that before, [but] I wasn't going to let us lose." With the win, Central Linn claimed third place in the 2A division - the highest finish in school history. "It's not first place, but it's almost just as good," a smiling Rowland commented.

The Knappa Loggers squared off against the East Linn Academy Eagles yesterday in the 2A Boys’ 3rd-place game in Pendleton, Oregon. Knappa entered the game off of an emotional loss to Salem Academy late the night before. The cinderella-story East Linn came into the game missing their top player after losing to Western Christian. After a slow first half for the Loggers, Knappa would go on to dominate the second half, winning 49-37. East Linn started the game explosively. The Eagles played a strong man-to-man defense with Ashton Sewell guarding Knappa’s Shane McMahon. Sewell kept McMahon in check with an “incredible performance” and Sewell ”left it all out there” according to East Linn coach Jonathan Whitehead. East Linn handled the press from Knappa well, and led for most of the first half. The turnovers that East Linn did commit rarely led to points which allowed them to hang in with Knappa. Additionally, the Eagles did a great job of holding Logan Morrill to just 6 points all night with the use of double teams. The turning point in the game came at the end of the second quarter. As time wound down, McMahan tossed a no-look, over-the-head pass to Brandon Gale who sunk a 3-pointer as time expired. This gave Knappa their first lead since 1:59 in the first quarter. The Loggers shook off the cobwebs in the third quarter. Tanner Jackson hit a 3-pointer to start the quarter and give Knappa their biggest lead in the game. Gale hit another 3-pointer on the next position and the Loggers did not look back. After shooting 30% in the first half (12.5% from 3-point range), the Loggers shot 39% in the second half (more importantly, 40% from range). East Linn fought hard, but could not match the depth of Knappa who continued to pull away the entire second half. McMahan led all scorers with 14 points with Gale scoring 12. Sewell led the Eagles with 11 points and Devin King added 10 for the Eagles. Despite the loss, East Linn was rightfully proud of their season, “It’s everything to be here [Pendleton]. It was our goal to get to Pendleton.” East Linn was seeded 13th in the state tournament and emerged with a 5th-place finish. Knappa captured their highest finish at Pendleton in a while. “It was a gutty performance,” Knappa coach Paul Isom said. “We knew that we wouldn’t come out the same [after last night’s game], but the guys still battled through.”

Saturday morning, the Lakeview Honkers took on the Standfield Tigers in the 2A girls’ consolation finals. Lakeview battled back from a 7-point deficit at halftime to force an overtime period. In overtime, the Honkers edged out the Tigers 48-41. The game was a battle of wills between balanced and deliberate Stanfield and the dynamic and powerful Lakeview. For most of the first half, Stanfield controlled the pace of the game and had significant offensive contributions from Zuri Reeser, Alexis Shelby, Mazie Reeser, and Maggie Sharp. Zuri Reeser had a slew of athletic floaters while Shelby provided outside shooting and power to the attack. On the inside, Mazie Reeser and Sharp gave Lakeview difficulties. Stanfield shot 46% in the first half. Lakeview struggled to match Stanfield at the slower pace, but their press was led to fast-break opportunities. However, the slower pace restricted Laeview’s offense, who shot a mere 22%. Out of the break, Kenna Stratton took over the game for Lakeview. A woman on a mission, Stratton scored 11 points on 10 shots in the second half and secured 5 steals. ”I knew that my errors needed to stop. We came together as a family and played with grit,” Stratton commented after the game. Stanfield struggled to stop Lakeview’s pick and roll offense and did not adjust to the faster pace of Lakeview. The Honkers forced 13 turnovers in the second half, leading to 26 points off of turnovers in the game. With 1:33 remaining in regulation, Sharp drove confidently to the hoop and scored to put Stanfield up by 1 point. When Lakeview missed a shot to go ahead, Karlee Vickerman hauled in an offensive rebound and was fouled - she hit 1 of 2 free throws to tie the game. Each team would get a chance to win the game, but neither shot fell; forcing the game to overtime. Stanfield struck first in overtime, going ahead by as much as 4 with 2:28 to play, but Stratton scored 5 points. Stanfield fouled Vickerman to extend the game, but she hit all 6 free throws to secure the game for Lakeview. “[Stratton] Hadn’t had her ‘coming out’ game yet. It was great to see her show up like she did,” Lakeview coach Cody Blair said afterwards. Stanfield earned themselves a 6th-place finish at state and returns much of their roster for next season. With the win, the Honkers earned the 4th-place trophy to cap their successful season. Lakeview returns all of theif roster as they make the jump up to the 3A-level next season. “People better watch out because we‘re coming in hot. We will be dangerous,” said Stratton.

It was a disappointing result for Knappa fans on Friday afternoon as Salem Academy held on to beat the Loggers 39-34. Salem Academy won the Tri-River Conference regular season crown, but lost in the league title match to Western Christian. This semi-finals matchup was a rematch of last-years‘ tournament where Salem Academy beat the Loggers 55-33. This go-around the game was much more evenly matched Between the 2nd-seeded Loggers and 3rd-seeded Crusaders. The opening quarter mimicked a match between two heavyweight fighters that circle and test each other before launching punches at each other. The Loggers started the game strong with a 13-7 first quarter. Defense and the 3-pointer defined the game. With 11 players 6’2” or taller (3 over 6’7”), every player struggled to get clean looks at the basket. Salem Academy held Knappa to under 26% shooting in the game. Knappa also held Salem Academy to a 32% for the game. The biggest difference came from the 3-point line. Salem Academy shot 8/20 from range while Knappa struggled to hit. Salem Academy’s John Pass made 4/6 from deep. After a few lead changes in a back-and-forth first half, Salem Academy took over the lead with 3:09 remaining in the second quarter, and would not trail the rest of the game. Going into the break, Salem Academy had a 5-point lead. Out of halftime, the defenses clamped down further. Knappa scored four points in the third quarter, but Salem Academy’s Jaren Oglesby sunk a 3-pointer to keep the Crusader lead. The only consistent source of offense for Knappa came from Logan Morrill. The 6’9” post fought through double and triple teams all night, but foul trouble forced Morrill to spend more time on the bench than usual. With 2:36 left in the fourth quarter, Nicolas Ogier hit a 3-pointer to bring the Loggers back within 1 point of the Crusaders, but Pass hit his final 3-pointer of the game - a dagger. Knappa fouled several times, but Salem Academy was efficient from the line and held on to the lead. “Losing a game like that is always tough,” Knappa coach Paul Isom commented after the game. Knappa will face East Linn Christian tomorrow at 12:15 for third place. “East Linn is playing really good basketball team peaking at the right time... I have every confidence in the world that these guys [Knappa] will come out and play ‘Knappa Basketball.’” Salem Academy advances for a rematch of the Tri-River Conference title game against Western Christian at 5:45. “It was amazing to have all the fans here tonight,” Salem Academy coach Ben Brown said after the game. “It [the game] will come down to who’s under more control and unknown variables tomorrow,” he continued.

“It’s special to win. We have had a goal since we were here as sophomores to win the title,” senior Logan Morrill said after Knappa beat Heppner 63-50 in the night cap game on opening day of the 2A state finals. Knappa fans came en force, traveling four and a half hours to cheer on their Loggers. For all of Knappa’s dreams, Heppner would not roll over and capitulate to the Loggers. The first minute went better than the Loggers could have planned - a 7-0 run to open the game. But the seniors of Heppner pulled their team together and began to fight back. “It’s our first time here in 5 years,” Heppner head coach Jeremy Rosenbalm said after the game. The Mustangs started to figure out the Knappa press and to get into their offense. On defense, Heppner was physical, not allowing Morrill any easy points under the basket. The game broke down into chaos with teams and players flying all over the court and often ending up littered across the gym floor. Knappa’s strong defense held firm, despite the chaos. In the first half, the Loggers held Heppner to just 1/8 on 3-point attempts and to 29.2% shooting in general. Shane McMahan and Morrill also combined for 20 points in the first half, giving the Loggers a 35-18 edge heading into the break. But Heppner still refused to surrender. Despite a size disadvantage, Heppner outscored the Loggers 16-10 in the paint in the third quarter. Heppner relentlessly crashed the offensive glass and they out-rebounded Knappa 20-17 in this category. Additionally, the Loggers could not seem to get their rhythm back on offense. In a quarter that almost always belongs to Knappa, Heppner outscored the Loggers 18-15. Unfortunately, this would not be enough to make up the deficit for the Mustangs. “We [Knappa] always would go on a run when we needed to,” Knappa coach Paul Isom said after the game. With 1:12 to play, Knappa had a 19-point lead and both teams subbed in their benches. Heppner would hit threes on back-to-back possessions, to bring the deficit to 13 points before waiving the white flag. McMahan led all scorers and finished with 23 points. Morrill ended the game with 20 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Senior Joe Sherman led Heppner with 14 points. ”I’m proud and happy with how my boys played,” Rosenbalm said after the game. ”We [Heppner] are here for a reason,” he continued describing his thoughts on tomorrow’s game against Regis. “The first win is always nice,” Isom said of the game, “We are here to win three games, but you can’t win the third until you win the first two.” Knappa feels optomistic about the matchup against Salem Academy. “We are prepared this year,” Morrill said. Isom echoed the sentiment, “We have circled Salem Academy all year and we knew we would see them in an important game.” Last year Knappa lost to Salem Academy 55-33, but both teams have shown to be near equals on paper this season.

The third quarterfinal matchup of the boys’ 2A championship tournament saw the Salem Academy Crusaders face off against the Regis Rams. Salem Academy entered as the #3 overall seed and Regis claimed the Central Valley league title and #6 tournament seed. Despite a valiant effort by Regis, Salem Academy would hold on to win 59-49. In the first few minutes of the game, the Crusaders jumped out to an 8-0 lead. Just when the game looked out of hand, the Rams went on an 8-0 run of their own to tie the game. While Salem Academy held an athletic and depth edge over the Rams, the Crusaders’ own mistakes cost them. Regis senior Nick Woods drew multiple charges that helped the Rams build a 5-point lead with 5:22 to go in the second. But Salem Academy fought back. The Crusaders stopped turning the ball over and reduced their fouling. This allowed them to regain the lead with 3:53 to go in the second quarter. The critical moment came at the start of the second half. Salem Academy jumped out on a 7-2 run. Regis was unable to execute on the offensive end, going scoreless for almost 4 minutes of game play. Although Regis would pull to within 2 points with a minute to go in the third, the Rams would never be able to regain the lead. Freshman Isaiah Koehnke and senior Tanner Manning kept hopes alive for the Rams. Unfortunately, Regis had no answer for junior Jaren Oglesby and senior John Pass who drained 5 threes and dominated the paint respectively.

The Toledo Boomers gave the Knappa Loggers a scare on Friday night in the first round of the OSAA state playoffs. Knappa fought through trickeration and heroic gameplay by Toledo to win 62-53 and advance to the quarterfinals. Although Knappa won the first meeting this year by 27 points, the Boomers executed a disciplined game plan to give themselves a chance to win the game. The majority of the first half, Toledo played a 4-man zone on defense and left one player on their offensive end of the court. This helped negate Knappa's offensive rebounding and press as the Loggers were forced to defend their basket. "Knappa is a very good team, so I tried some funky stuff," Toledo head coach Bart Rothenberger said after the game. Without the press and offensive rebounding, the Logger offense went through dry spells. Only 4 players would score for Knappa all night. On offense, the Boomers did what they do best: let junior Gunner Rothenberger shoot. Despite double and triple teams, Rothenberger posted 31 points (including all 9 of his free throws). "We couldn't stop Gunner [Rothenberger]," Knappa senior Shane McMahan said after the game. Despite Rothenberger's heroics, the Boomers struggled to stop the Northwest League MVP, Logan Morrill, and McMahan for Knappa. Morrill scored 10 of his 20 points in the second quarter while McMahan scored 12 of his 23 points in the third. The explosive second and third quarters lifted Knappa to a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter. But Toledo refused to throw in the towel. Senior Sterling Buckley hit two big 3-point shots in the fourth as the Boomers surged back into the game. The Boomers pulled to within 6 points of the Loggers, but clutch play by the Loggers kept the game out of reach. "I was so stressed out at the end," McMahon said at the end of the game. "It has been our goal to win a state title since freshman year." Despite "taking years off" of Knappa coach Paul Isom's life, Isom said he was proud of the way the Loggers performed down the stretch. This playoff run has special meaning for Isom, "They're a special group. They're my first class and we've grown up together." The Loggers advance to play 7th-seeded Heppner in Pendleton in the Quarterfinals next Thursday at 8:00pm.

"I like going into battle with seniors," North Clackamas Christian (NCC) head coach Grant Nelson said after his team edged out the St. Paul Buckaroos 43-35 on their home court. The NCC Saints hosted the Casco League #3 St. Paul in the first round of the OSAA 1A Classification state basketball tournament as the #2 Valley-10 team after upsetting Open Door last weekend. Despite defeating the Buckaroos 51-18 earlier this season, both teams knew this game would be different. St. Paul did not have all their players and only had a limited number of practices in the first go-around. Further, St. Paul was much younger and needed "time to gel" as head coach Kevin Baker put it. St. Paul was a completely different team. Led by 6'6" Junior Warren Rose, the Buckaroos controlled much of the game. "We just wanted them to play hard," Baker said after the game. And the Buckaroos did just that. Their high-energy defense held the 3-point powered offense of NCC to just 3-22 shooting from beyond the arch. With the 3-ball not falling, senior Landon Meuser took over as the most consistent source of offense for the Saints. Meuser drove aggressively to the basket and grabbed several offensive rebounds. Meuser would be the only NCC player to score in every quarter. On offense, the Buckaroos did an excellent job of running set plays to create offense, "They're well coached and have great set plays," NCC coach Grant Nelson said after the game. The Saints did their best to contain Warren, but the junior forward still scored 16 points and facilitated the offense for his team. "He made some great decisions with the ball," Baker said. As Grant Nelson put it, "We said to not let 22 [Warren] beat us, and it looked for a while like he would. But where NCC had an edge was in guard play of their seniors. All night seniors Luke Nelson and Meuser harassed the Buckaroos' young backcourt. The constant pressure allowed the undersized Saints to keep Warren's domination to a manageable level. "I tried to be handsy and limit his game by not letting him go to his left," Meuser said after the game. Every possession, St. Paul keyed on Luke Nelson, keeping the senior to just 8 points in the first half. It would take until the fourth quarter for Luke Nelson to take over. He scored 10 of his team's 18 points in the fourth. "As a senior, Luke has been there and knows what to do," Grant Nelson said of his son. For all their difficulties from range, two of the three made 3-pointers could not have been better timed for the Saints. On back-to-back possessions, seniors Isaac Minnie and Luke Nelson hit deep shots to give the Saints a 5-point lead. NCC did not look back once they had claimed that lead, outscoring St. Paul 18-9 in the fourth. An unexpected hero for the Saints emerged in the form of another senior, Kaden Brent. With Minnie in foul trouble, the Saints called on Brent, who did not play in the district tournament, to take over big minutes. "He's tough minded and brings intensity," Grant Nelson said after the game. Brent played in the third and fourth quarters, often times relieving Meuser from guarding Warren. When Minnie fouled out with 3:10 remaining in the game, Brent was subbed in and played the remainder of the game. As St. Paul tried to pull back into the game, Brent pulled in a crucial rebound through a foul and knocked down a free throw to put the Saints up by three possessions. "I was a little nervous, but you get in the groove. It was awesome to be on the [free throw] line," Brent said after the game. "I don't normally give out game balls, but I gave Kaden one tonight," Grant Nelson said, adding, "he's one heck of a kid." With the win, the Saints advance to the round of 16. They play at 4th-seeded Crosshill Christian at 8:00pm Friday. "We're going to give it everything and hope for the win," Meuser said. Unfortunately for the Buckaroos, their season is over. However, the team returns all of their players next season and will be a force to be reckoned with. "They have great chemistry, they love each other, and they are great learners," Baker commented on his team.

Coming off of a double-overtime win against Columbia Christian on Friday night, the Mannahouse Christian Academy Lions looked to topple the Knappa juggernaut in the Northwest League title game. Knappa did not play all week after winning the regular season title. While both teams had secured playoff bids, the winner would be guaranteed a top-8 seed and a home game making the path to Pendleton that much easier. Despite an effective fight from Mannahouse, Knappa would go on to win 52-27. Knappa quickly built a 10-3 lead in the first quarter, but then Mannahouse’s game plan started to take effect. The Lions kept a very slow and deliberate pace to the game - not allowing Knappa to get live ball turnovers and transition baskets. Knappa went through a 6-minute drought on offense and that allowed Mannahouse to climb back into the game. At halftime, Knappa led 15-9. “Mannahouse took the air out of the ball and made our guys frustrated,” Knappa coach Paul Isom said after the game. “It was a great coaching job [by Ryan Bjornsgard],” Isom also commented. It would take until the end of the third quarter for Knappa to finally pull away. With guards Shane McMahan and Tanner Jackson struggling to find their rhythm and Northwest League MVP Logan Morrill in foul trouble, seniors Brandon Gale and Carter Morrill took over the game. After hitting the first three point shot of the game for the Loggers, Gale then hit a double-clutch 15-foot shot. This offensive spark allowed Knappa to get into their press and force turnovers that have been the crux of their offense this year. Carter Morrill scored 8 points in the fourth quarter alone by positioning himself to receive passes from his teammates. On the defensive end, Carter Morrill “dominated the paint” as Isom described it. Both Carter Morrill and Gale led Knappa in scoring with 11 points a piece. Gale has always been an offensively-gifted player, but against Mannahouse he had a breakout game as an all around player. On the defensive side of the house, Gale registered a couple of blocked shots, steals, and transition defensive stands. “I really just needed to put more effort in on defense [than I did as a freshman],” Gale said after the game, “My teammates are all so good at defense that it motivated me to become better at it.” The disruption from all the Knappa players forced Mannahouse to shoot off-balance and oddly-angled shots, reducing the Lions’ accuracy the entire game. Seniors Devin Johnson and Chisom Okafor led Mannahouse in scoring with 6 points a piece. With the win, Knappa secured the #2 seed in the 2A playoff bracket. They play Toledo at home next Friday. The last meeting between those two teams this year ended in a 65-38 Knappa victory. Mannahouse moved up to the #11 seed in the playoffs and will play at #6 Regis at 7:00pm Friday.

The #7-ranked Cougars of Country Christian looked to finish their league competition undefeated against the #17 North Clackamas Christian School Saints. The Saints were looking to win the district tournament for the first time in head coach Grant Nelson’s tenure. The Cougars won both regular season matchups by a combined 9 points and would hold off a determined Saints team to win 40-35 in another close matchup. The first half was a low scoring affair with the teams combining for 23 points. “That is the best we have performed on defense against Country,” Grant Nelson said after the game. The Cougars and Saints both crashed the boards all night and allowed very few second chances for each other. Both teams gritted out long defensive possessions in the slow-paced game. North Clackamas was coming off an overtime win the night before, and the fatigue showed in the deliberate pace the Saints chose. At halftime, the Saints led 12-11. It is never easy to beat a team so close in skill three times in a season. Country Christain coach Dawson Nofziger said that his team needed to be “mentally prepared” to win the game and also cited his team’s depth as a big factor all season. The Cougars did a good job of keeping seniors Luke Nelson and Isaac Minnie (who combined for 40 points against Open Door the previous night) to just 11 and 10 points respectively. This opened up another senior, Landon Meuser, to make aggressive drives to the basket and score 8 of his own points. Scoring picked up in the second half. North Clackamas went on a 5-0 run to start the third quarter, but Junior Matthew Weissenbrunner hit a 3-pointer for Country Christian to bring the game back to one possession. Weissenbrunner would carry the Cougars to the win, scoring all 12 of his points in the second half, including the dagger 3-pointer with under a minute to go. It was a classic ‘picket fence’ inbound play where three players screened out the defense to give Weissenbrunner an open shot that proved decisive. “I just read the defense and the pass was good, so I shot,” Weissenbrunner said of his final 3-pointer. The Saints had an opportunity to tie the game late, but they lost the ball out of bounds on their possession. North Clackamas fouled to try to get the ball back, but Country Christian sunk both free throws to go up by 5 with 6.5 seconds to go. The Cougars were also effective inside. Junior post Rhett Johnson was a consistent option for Country Christian as he towered over the North Clackmas players. The junior post hauled in numerous rebounds and provided the most consistent source of offense in the game from start to finish. Weissenbrunner led all scorers with 12 points, followed closely by Johnson with 11. With the win, Country Christian earned themselves a bye during the first round of the playoffs and a home game in the second round. They play on Friday, February 25th against a to be determined opponent. North Clackamas earned a home game by being the Valley-10 runner up and will host St. Paul on Tuesday, February 22nd at 7:00pm.