OREGON CITY – No. 4 Tualatin injected some drama into the 6A Three Rivers League boys basketball race Thursday night with a 59-55 win at No. 2 Oregon City.
The Timberwolves led by 12 points after one quarter and 17 points early in the second half before surviving a desperate rally in the final minute to emerge with the clutch win, which ties them for first place with the Pioneers.
Junior guard Pat Vialva Jr. scored 24 points and senior guard Jemai Lake added 18 points for Tualatin (15-5, 5-1). The Timberwolves avenged a 66-64 home loss to Oregon City (18-2, 5-1) in the first round of league play.
“We were hungry, of course. We wanted that so bad,” Vialva said. “Our league is strong, and we've got to take it game by game, but this is the one we've been looking forward to all the time. It's good to get them at their house, they got us at our house.”
Tualatin seized the momentum early, not allowing the Pioneers to feed of their home crowd.
“That was our goal was to jump out, make them a little startled,” Lake said. “They probably thought we were playing man-to-man, and we jumped out in a high zone. We tripped them up a little bit and got us a couple steals and a couple fast breaks.”
Timberwolves coach Bubba Lemon liked his team's intensity.
“Our guys were energized and ready to go,” Lemon said. “They were ready to get their get-back. We had a lot of good energy. It's a tough place to play, and our guys built their own energy.”
What was different for Tualatin than in the first meeting between the teams?
“Just staying in it the whole time, playing defense the whole time,” Lake said. “They came back a little bit, and we kind of struggled on defense a little bit, but most of the game, we kept to it.”
Vialva said rebounding -- holding the Pioneers to one shot – and defense were the key factors.
“Our defense, in general, you could tell that we wanted it bad,” Vialva said. “We wanted it as a team.”
Vialva scored seven points in the first quarter, including a three-pointer, as Tualatin opened a 16-4 lead. Lake scored seven points in the second quarter, hitting one triple, to send the Timberwolves into halftime ahead 33-19. When Lake made two free throws with 6:02 left in the third quarter, the lead was 36-19.
But Oregon City, which had won 11 in a row since a 63-61 loss to No. 3 Southridge, began to chip away at the lead.
Seniors Alex Hoff and Alijah Scott made back-to-back three-pointers and senior Connor Lemmon scored inside in an 8-0 surge that pulled the Pioneers within 38-29. When junior Eli Hopkins swished a triple with 2:44 left in the game, the lead was down to 49-45.
Tualatin appeared to restore order when Vialva made four free throws and junior Carter Lemon added two more free throws for a 57-49 lead with 19 seconds left.
Oregon City had one last gasp, however. Hopkins made two free throws with 13 seconds left, Tualatin was called for a moving screen on an inbounds pass, and Pioneers junior Alarion Scott drilled a three-pointer to make it 57-54 with 10 seconds to go.
Vialva missed two free throws with 5.2 seconds on the clock, and Hoff drew a foul on Lake while trying to catch a long pass with 1.5 seconds left. Hoff missed the first free throw and made the second to draw Oregon City within 57-55, then Vialva sealed the win with two free throws.
The rugged road win underscored the Timberwolves' belief that they are gelling at the perfect time.
“We're a team that hasn't peaked yet, and we're starting to see it,” Bubba Lemon said. “That's what I love about it.”
Said Vialva: “It's only up from here. We're going to keep going.”
Hopkins and Lemmon each scored 15 points to lead Oregon City.
jerryu@osaa.org
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