Gresham went on the road to take down Central Valley Conference champion West Salem 72-67 in overtime in the first round of the 6A boys basketball playoffs Tuesday.
The 20th-seeded Gophers (15-11), the fourth-place team from the Mt. Hood Conference, built a 40-25 lead in the second half. No. 13 West Salem (15-10) rallied to force overtime, but Gresham made the plays that counted in the extra session.
Sophomore guard Ter'Rae Foster scored 21 points and senior guard Jeremiah Pichon added 15 points for the Gophers, who advance to play at No. 4 Tualatin in Friday's round of 16.
“It was urgency,” Gresham coach Cliff White said of his team's mindset. “We’re on the road, we had to play for each other. I’m really proud of my guys.
“We were on the road with a really tough team. They won conference, coach of the year, they’re a well-coached team, and we stick to our guns to pull off that win.”
Down by 15 points, West Salem came back behind sophomore guard Jonah Munns (30 points) and senior wing Diggs Sladek (15 points).
Sladek made a layup with 15.8 seconds left in regulation to put the Titans ahead 62-60. Pichon answered with a basket with eight seconds remaining to force overtime.
-- Jeremy McDonald
Highlights from Tuesday's other first-round games:
West Linn eliminated visiting South Medford 74-63, outscoring the Panthers 18-9 in the fourth quarter. Blake Lampert scored 18 points to lead the Lions, who also got 16 points apiece from Sloan Baker (four three-pointers) and Tyson Donnerberg. Quinton Ritchie led South Medford with 16 points. … No. 1 seed Southridge routed No. 32 Century 81-30. The Skyhawks led 27-4 after one quarter and 48-12 at half. Drew Groenig scored 18 points for Southridge, making four three-pointers, three in the first quarter. Ryder Zanon and Elijah Thompson added 17 and 14 points, respectively, in the win. Century got 11 points from Adam Walkenhorst. … Nelson made 10 three-pointers -- four by Jaydon Schregardus and three by Ashton Cantwell -- in its 77-62 home win over Lincoln. Carter Lockhart had a team-high 18 points and Braylon Gaines (15 points), Schregardus (14 points) and Cantwell (10 points) each scored in double figures for the Hawks, who led 39-27 at half. …
Eli Hopkins scored 16 points and Alarion Scott added 14 points for Oregon City, which handled visiting Roosevelt 58-40. The Roughriders got 20 points from Andrew Kim. … Jesuit built a 17-point halftime lead and held off Lakeridge 72-61. Ryan Barone (16 points) and Joe Stimpson (15 points) led the Crusaders. Logan Baertsch Kovalchick had 20 points for the Pacers. … Trailing reigning state champion Barlow by nine points at halftime, visiting Sunset came back to win 69-64. Shay Thompson scored nine of his 31 points in the fourth quarter as the Apollos outscored the Bruins 18-7. Stan Bozhduga had 30 points for Barlow, all in the first three quarters. …
Jalen Nicholson scored 20 points for Central Catholic, which rolled past Forest Grove 83-46. Donovan Miller and Malcom Weatherspoon each made three three-pointers for the Rams, who led by nine points at half and outscored the Vikings 31-10 in the third quarter. Andwele Bridges scored 15 points for Forest Grove. … Seven different players made three-pointers for Sherwood, which shot down Grants Pass 83-36. Brody Rygh scored 14 of his team-high 20 points in the first half for the Bowmen. … Grant knocked out visiting Beaverton 76-59 behind 24 points from Jacob Harper-Grant, who scored 15 of his points in the fourth quarter. Njenga Mungai had 29 points for Beaverton. …
Lake Oswego connected for 12 three-pointers in dominating South Eugene 88-60. Liam Rigney led the Lakers with 28 points and Jimmy Keyser added 16 points, hitting five three-pointers. South Eugene got 20 points from Calvin Yoder (four three-pointers). … Clackamas held on for a 52-49 home win over McNary. Max Martinov (18 points, five rebounds) and Syrius Owens (12 points, five rebounds) led the Cavaliers. Andrew Marcoe went 4 for 4 on free throws in the last 30 seconds to seal the victory. … Teagan Scott scored 27 points to lead host South Salem past Mountainside 81-70. Scott became the Saxons' all-time leading scorer with 1,840 points, passing Jaden Nielsen-Skinner (1,821 points, 2016-19). Eli Vizconde made five three-pointers and scored 24 points for the Mavericks. …
Benson outscored Sheldon 24-12 in the fourth quarter for a 65-52 road win. Freshman Kendall Hopkins-McGlothen scored 24 points for the Astros, including 12 in the fourth quarter, when he made all eight of his free throws. Kai Holmes had 19 points for the Irish. … Dayton Jenkins scored 21 points for Westview in its 51-39 home win over Wells. The Wildcats trailed by six points after one quarter but outscored Wells 24-8 in the second quarter to take control. … Tualatin turned back visiting Jefferson 74-63 behind guards Jemai Lake (27 points) and Pat Vialva Jr. (16 points). Vic Jackson led Jefferson with 22 points.
jerryu@osaa.org
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