Reigning 4A girls basketball champion Stayton came through with its most important win of the season Tuesday.
The Eagles, ranked No. 1 in the OSAAtoday 4A coaches poll, won 38-29 at No. 3 Cascade in a game critical to their chances in the Oregon West Conference title chase.
Stayton (15-3, 4-1), which lost at home to Cascade 41-35 in the first round of conference play, pulled even with the Cougars (10-8, 4-1) for first place, one game ahead of No. 7 Philomath (11-9, 3-2). A loss would have put the Eagles two games behind Cascade with three conference games remaining.
“I was thinking, 'We can't go down 0-2 against them,'” Stayton coach Tal Wold said. “But in 22 years, I haven't met a group like this that shows up the next day and it's a new day. I'm glad I didn't have to find out.”
Juniors Zuri Andersen and Kathryn Samek each scored 10 points to lead Stayton. Samek, sophomore Laela Hunt and senior Makenzie Schacher each made two three-pointers in the win.
The teams traded baskets until the fourth quarter, when Samek hit a three-pointer and Andersen powered to six consecutive points inside during an 11-0 run as Stayton opened a 32-21 lead with 3:04 left.
“We got a few looks at the rim,” Wold said. “That was really important to us, trying to get some points in the paint. That kind of turned the tide. The first time we played them, we had some really good looks that didn't go in. I'm glad this time some of our shots went and we were able to separate, and hit some free throws down the stretch.”
Andersen heeded the call to be more aggressive inside.
“I just knew I had to step up for my team and do what we needed to do,” Andersen said. “We were shooting a lot of threes at the beginning, and our coach said that we need to score in the paint, so I just tried to find a way and it ended up working, which was great.”
Senior post Rozalyn Schmunk had 11 points and six rebounds to lead Cascade.
“At the beginning, it was very neck-and-neck, and then towards the end, we started to slack off,” Schmunk said. “It really taught as a lot. We learned a lot from that game, and we can only take those things that we learned and get better from them and use those things in the future.”
Wold said the game had the feel of an intrasquad scrimmage because the teams know each other so well.
“It was really hard to score,” Wold said. “We made some shots in the fourth quarter that were super helpful, but to get to the fourth, we kept defending and really stuck to it.”
-- Jeremy McDonald contributed to this report
West Albany wins MWC showdown
No. 5 West Albany is alone in first place in the tough 5A Mid-Willamette Conference after a clutch 60-53 home win over No. 2 South Albany on Tuesday.
Junior point guard Payton Starwalt racked up 31 points, five assists and six steals for the Bulldogs, who rebounded from a 63-53 loss to No. 7 Silverton that ended their nine-game winning streak. Starwalt shot 9 of 12 from the field, including 5 of 8 on three-pointers, and made all eight of her free throws.
The win gives West Albany (14-5, 10-1) a two-game season sweep of South Albany (15-4, 9-2). The Bulldogs hold a one-game lead over the RedHawks and Silverton (14-6, 9-2).
Starwalt scored 22 points in the first half Tuesday as West Albany opened a 30-14 lead. She was limited to nine points in the second half by the RedHawks, who rallied to take a one-point lead.
But the Bulldogs controlled the game down the stretch. They got key contributions from junior forward Lola Chamberlain, who scored eight of her 12 points in the second half, and sophomore post Payton Warner, who scored five consecutive points as West Albany regained the lead.
Chamberlain and Warner capitalized on the attention Starwalt drew from the defense.
“It really got everyone else open,” Starwalt told the Democrat-Herald. “I really like that, where I can help my teammates score. They responded well when South adjusted.”
Senior Taylor Donaldson led South Albany with 25 points.
Akpan's return sparks South Medford
South Medford got a boost from the return of senior post Mayen Akpan in tightening its grip on first place in the 6A Southwest Conference with a 76-33 win at second-place Grants Pass on Tuesday.
The San Diego State-bound Akpan, sidelined for five weeks after suffering a concussion Jan. 8 at Sheldon, had 27 points and 10 rebounds in limited playing time as the No. 3 Panthers (18-2, 9-0) dominated Grants Pass (12-9, 7-2), ending the Cavemen's six-game winning streak.
The win opens a two-game cushion atop the conference and puts South Medford in position to win the Southwest title for the sixth time in seven seasons.
The 6-2 Akpan, who is averaging 13 points and 11 rebounds this season, helped the Panthers open leads of 29-4 after one quarter and 50-10 at half.
“It felt great, I can tell you that, getting to run up and down the court again,” Akpan told the Rogue Valley Times. “It’s probably the most fun I’ve had in a long time being on the court with my team. I got to laugh a lot on the court with them and on the bench, so it was a lot of fun.”
Senior guards Dyllyn Howell and Jordan Barlow added 18 and 17 points, respectively, for South Medford.
Young leads Crater past Henley
Senior guard Taylor Young scored 39 points as 5A No. 4 Crater shook off a slow start on the road and blew past 4A No. 4 Henley 70-57 on Wednesday night.
The host Hornets (15-5) made five three-pointers in the first quarter to take a 24-13 lead. The Comets (17-4) pulled within 34-31 at half and controlled the game the rest of the way.
Senior Jazmine Fernandez added 20 points for Crater. Senior Lily Fussell and sophomore Makayla Schroeder scored 15 and 12 points, respectively, for Henley, which lost for the first time in nine games.
In the teams' previous meeting this season, Crater won 80-57 in the Central Oregon Tip-Off Classic on Dec. 5.
jerryu@osaa.org
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