Recaps of the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 1A boys basketball state tournament quarterfinals played Wednesday at Baker High School in Baker City:
No. 1 Union 55, No. 9 Crosspoint Christian 43: Senior KJ Klebaum was a calming presence with 17 points, five rebounds and three steals as No. 1 Union controlled the matchup against No. 9 Crosspoint Christian throughout the afternoon in Baker City.
The Bobcats went up 14-11 after the first frame thanks to five points from sophomore Dawson Miller and another four from sophomore Jace McCraw.
Klebaum put home seven points in the second quarter, and McCraw had six more to pump the halftime lead up to 34-19.
“KJ was doing KJ things,” Union head coach Odin Miller said. “He’s been an absolute dawg for us all year and I look for him to continue that through the rest of the tournament. He’s ready for the moment and can flat out get it done.
“I’m so proud of his leadership and how he approaches the game. He lifts his teammates up and builds a belief in all of them that they can compete at the highest level.”
Klebaum and Miller each dropped five more points in the third quarter, which the Bobcats won 12-11 to increase the lead to 46-30 entering the fourth.
Jace McCraw finished with 15 points while Miller had 10 points and eight rebounds. Senior Joey McCraw chipped in eight points on two made 3-pointers along with six rebounds.
Crosspoint senior Davis Hartwell led the Warriors with eight points on two made 3-pointers. Junior Dylan DeJong had eight points and seven rebounds, and junior Caden Moritz had seven points and eight boards.
For Union, it returns to the state semifinals for the first time since 1949 when the Bobcats won their first and only state championship in program history.
Odin Miller, a player on the 2000 Union team that made it to the quarterfinals for the first time in 50 years, is understandably proud of the huge milestone the program has reached with the win.
“I’m incredibly proud of this group,” Odin Miller said. “They are coachable and driven. I never have to worry about the effort they put forward. It’s inspiring. As an alumni of Union, this means a lot to our community and our athletic programs in general.”
Union gets No. 4 North Clackamas Christian in the semifinals at 1:30 p.m. Friday, March 6 at Baker High School. The Bobcats won a nonleague matchup with the Saints 64-50 back on Dec. 27 at Umatilla High School.
Crosspoint Christian will take on No. 5 Valor Christian/Tualatin Academy in the consolation semifinals at 9 a.m. Thursday, March 5.
No. 4 North Clackamas Christian 56, No. 5 Valor Christian/Tualatin Academy 40: Trailing by three at 10-7 after the first quarter, North Clackamas Christian needed some kind of spark.
Enter sophomore Brandon Lee as he scored 11 points in the second quarter while the defense held Valor to just nine to make it a one-point deficit at the break at 19-18.
In the third, it was Ethan Hiebenthal lighting it up from deep with three made 3-pointers and scoring 10 in the frame.
However, the Saints’ league foe in Valor Christian wasn’t going away that easy. Junior Jason Wu and senior Isaac Sady had four and three points respectively to limit the damage in the third, an 18-16 advantage for NCCS that made it a 36-35 Saints lead after three.
In the fourth though, it was all Saints as they won the frame 20-5 behind Lee scoring five, Hiebenthal hitting another three and scoring five more, and sophomore Sam Fulcher scoring six.
Lee finished with 22 points and six rebounds while Hiebenthal’s four made 3-pointers left him with 15 points along with three rebounds and three assists. Fulcher finished with 11 points and nine rebounds, and senior Dylan Bowker filled in well with four points and seven rebounds.
The Knights had a spread out night with Sady going for 13 points and six rebounds. Wu had seven points, five rebounds, four steals and two assists. Senior Zeke Clements had six points and six rebounds, and senior Austin Renner had five rebounds and three assists.
The Saints return to the state semifinals for the first time since 2004 when they last won the state title, and they’ll be up against No. 1 Union at 1:30 p.m. Friday, March 6 at Baker High School. The Bobcats won a regular season matchup back on Dec. 27 64-50 that the Saints will look to avenge.
Valor Christian/Tualatin Academy will take on No. 9 Crosspoint Christian in the consolation semifinals at 9 a.m. Thursday, March 5.
No. 6 Open Door Christian 65, No. 3 South Wasco County 60: Everyone knows about South Wasco County senior Jason Hull and the single-season scoring record he’s trying to chase down.
So Open Door head coach Edwin Lugo told his team that if they could keep Hull to under 25 points, the Huskies would have a shot.
Lugo was right as Open Door held the state’s leading scorer to just 15 points and pulled away late after trailing by one going into the fourth.
“Our boys did a great job of making every look difficult for (Hull),” Lugo said.
The Redsides took the early lead, up 16-13 after senior Rowen Huff stepped up as a scorer with 10 points in the frame.
Open Door came swinging back around in the second with a 17-8 advantage, highlighted by eight points with two made 3-pointers from junior Ben Buzhduga. That gave the Huskies a 30-24 advantage at the break.
Hull found a groove in the third, hitting three triples while freshman teammate Ryker Thompson also scored nine in the third. Those two helped push South Wasco back in front up 46-45 after the third period.
In the fourth though, Open Door was able to hold Hull to just one made three, meanwhile it hit four as a team, two from Brendan Tischler, to win the quarter 20-14 and the game 65-60.
“Our game plan was to keep it close and make a big push late,” Lugo said. “We have some very capable shooters and we knew if we valued the ball that we would have open looks. The question was, could we hit them? And we did.”
Junior Ethan Zelenivskiy was a steady presence throughout, scoring 21 points and grabbing 13 boards along with four steals. Buzhduga had 16 points with four made 3-pointers and grabbed three rebounds. Junior Zach Thibodeaux had 13 points and five rebounds, Tischler had 11 points with three made triples and senior Eric Johansen had four points and eight assists.
Huff led the Redsides with 20 points and six rebounds while Hull finished with 15 points and five boards. Thompson chipped in 16 points.
Open Door returns to the semifinals after making it this far in 2023, but are still in search of the program’s first state title.
The semifinal opponent will be Valley 10 League foe No. 2 Country Christian, set to tipoff at 3:15 p.m. Friday, March 6 at Baker High School. The two matched up once during league play with the Huskies winning at home 62-54.
South Wasco County will take on No. 23 Prairie City/Burnt River in the consolation semifinals set for 10:45 a.m. Thursday, March 5.
No. 2 Country Christian 53, No. 23 Prairie City/Burnt River 33: Country Christian slowly chipped away and finally broke free in the fourth to put an end to the Cinderella run from the No. 23 seed Panthers.
Senior Tyson Smith got the party started with six points in the first frame, helping the Cougars grab a slight 10-9 advantage after the first eight minutes.
But scoring wasn’t what head Country Christian head coach Dawson Nofziger was most concerned with, rather it was crashing the glass against a good rebounding Panthers squad.
So when the second quarter came around and the shots still weren’t falling, the Cougars made sure to limit Prairie City’s looks as well and still came away with a 20-16 lead at halftime.
“We knew we had to beat them on the boards and limit their second chance opportunities because they crash so hard and are extremely athletic,” Nofziger said. “Barely won that battle but I thought our defense set the tone and carried us when the shots weren’t falling in the first half.”
The Cougars started to hit in the second half by attacking the paint, led by six points from senior Blake Halverson in the third. Country Christian won the third 15-10 to open up a 35-26 lead heading to the fourth.
From there, the Cougars were able to break away as they only gave up seven more points and scored 18 to put the game away.
“I’d say the turning point was our shot selection in the second half,” Nofziger said. “Getting it inside and attacking the hoop.”
The Cougars only hit two 3-pointers as a team but didn’t need them with Halverson leading the way with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists. Senior Danyon Schneider had 12 points, making both of those threes. Junior Ryan Gordon was massive on the glass with 15 rebounds to go along with nine points as the Cougars won the rebounding battle 43-38.
The Panthers were led by junior Chet Workman with eight points and five rebounds. Senior Kingdon Mitchell-Kirby had 11 rebounds and three points and senior Maison Teel had seven points and six rebounds.
Country Christian, who made the semifinals last season, plays a familiar foe in league-mate No. 6 Open Door Christian next in the semis at 3:15 p.m. Friday, March 6 at Baker High School. The Huskies won the lone matchup 62-54.
Prairie City/Burnt River will take on No. 3 South Wasco County in the consolation semifinals set for 10:45 a.m. Thursday, March 5.
austinw@osaa.org
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