NORTH BEND — Cascade Christian, Valley Catholic and Banks are making their final appearance in the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 3A boys basketball championships a memorable one.
The three schools, all moving up to 4A in the fall, advanced to the semifinals with quarterfinal wins Thursday at North Bend High School.
Cascade Christian topped Creswell 56-37, Valley Catholic beat Blanchet Catholic 90-71 and Banks continued a magical playoff run with a 72-68 win over St. Mary’s of Medford. They will be joined in Friday’s semifinals by tournament newcomer Riverside, which beat Pleasant Hill 61-57.
Riverside and Banks meet at 1:30 p.m. at Marshfield High School and Cascade Christian and Valley Catholic battle at 3:15 for spots in Saturday’s final. The consolation games are at 9 and 10:45 a.m. at Marshfield.
Cascade Christian’s win over Creswell came by the typical style for the Challengers.
“Defense, defense defense,” Cascade Christian coach Brian Morse said. “Defense wins championships.”
And for three quarters, Cascade Christian’s defense was stifling.
Creswell had just 19 points through three quarters before making a run in the fourth with the Challengers far ahead.
“It’s hard to ask the kids to play 32 minutes of perfect basketball,” Morse said. “But they played really tough.”
He was particularly pleased with the Challengers’ efforts on the boards.
“The physicality was really, really good,” Morse said, adding that was one of his big goals for the game.
Cascade Christian led 9-7 through one quarter and 22-14 at the break, with Creswell shooting just 5-for-24 from the floor in the first half.
“We played a really good first half defensively,” Cascade Chrstian’s Andy Alvarez said. “Our offense was a little slow. We picked it up in the second half.”
The Challengers pulled away in the third quarter, when they outscored Creswell 22-5, including scoring the first 17 points of the half. The run started with a layin by Deryk Farmer and ended with a 3-pointer by Brady Kleker. In between Hudson Gotzman, Jake Holden, Hutton Walker and Noah Darland all scored as the Challengers spread out the offense.
The lead grew as high as 27 points early in the fourth quarter before Creswell finally found its offensive groove. By then it was too little, too late for a complete comeback.
Alvareez finished with 14 points and Holden 11 for the Challengers. Ace Arnold had 16 points for Creswell.
Cascade Christian missed the semifinals last year, so Alvarez was pleased to be back in the final four. He said the win was a good way to start the tournament.
“Overall, it was a good game,” he said. “We love playing Creswell. We played them during the season and in the summer. It’s always a good game.”
Cascade Christian won its 17th game in a row.
“We’re playing our best basketball at the right time,” Morse said. “I love this time of year.”
VALLEY CATHOLIC 90, BLANCHET CATHOLIC 71: Cascade Christian’s defense will be put to the test by the best offense in 3A when the teams meet in the semifinals.
The Valiants hit 12 3-pointers, shot nearly 50 percent from the floor and scored more than 20 points in three of the four quarters to hold off a tough challenge from Blanchet Catholic.
“’When we make shots, it’s always a good thing,” Valley Catholic coach Bryan Fraser said. “When we get out in transition it’s a good thing.”
The Valiants scored the most points in a 3A tournament game since the tournament was moved to the Bay Area in 2011 and the most for a 3A school since OSAA went to six classifications. Philomath has the state record for most points in a tournament game, a 111-74 win over Coquille in the old 3A (when there were just four classifications) in 1989.
The Cavaliers stayed with Valley Catholic through most of the first three quarters, trailing just 21-19 after one quarter and 47-38 at halftime. The Cavaliers often found good looks inside against Valley Catholic’s defense.
But ultimately, Blanchet Catholic couldn’t counter Valley Catholic’s hot shooting outside and strong passing inside in transition.
Hank Lomber shot a blazing 8-for-13 from 3-point range on the way to 34 points for the Valiants. His eight 3-pointers and 34 points matched the record for 3A set by Derek Piete of Regis in 2009. Lance Nelson of Amity also scored 34 in 2016.
Garrett Frank did his work inside adding 18 points on 5-for-6 shooting from the field and 8-for-9 shooting from the line for Valley Catholic. Michael Mehta scored 11 for the Valiants.
Adam Barnett had 24 points and Sam Mosar 22 for Blanchet Catholic while James Barnett scored 11. The Cavaliers actually shot better than Valley Catholic overall, hitting 56 percent from the floor and 50 percent from 3-point range. But their 19 turnovers and 17 offensive rebounds by Valley Catholic gave the Valiants more chances.
Fraser was a little concerned about his defense heading into the semifinals.
“We’ve got to tighten up the defense against Cascade Christian,” he said. “They are a good team.”
But so, he added, are the Valiants.
“We aren’t done yet,” Fraser said.
BANKS 72, ST. MARY’S 68: The Braves continued their underdog run through the playoffs by holding off a big comeback by the Crusaders.
Banks, which won on the road over Lakeview and then at defending state champion Westside Christian to reach the tournament, led 29-12 in the second quarter after a pair of free throws by Fisher King.
St. Mary’s finished the first half on a 18-7 run and the second half was competitive all the way.
The contest was tied with 6 minutes to go after a three-point play by Jax North of St. Mary’s but Nate Lyda put Banks up for good with a bucket on the following possession. The Braves eventually led 69-62 after a bucket by Lyda with 1:24 to go but St. Mary’s had one more push and pulled within 70-68 on two free throws by Isaiah Mcfarlane with 10 seconds to go. King clinched the win for Riverside with two free throws with 4 seconds to go.
Ryder Powell had a game-high 27 points and King added 26 points and 12 rebounds as the Braves reached the semifinals. Four players scored in double figures for the Crusaders. North had 22 (and 15 rebounds), Tai Zimmerman 13 and McFarlane and Cooper Anderson 12 each.
RIVERSIDE 61, PLEASANT HILL 57: Just like Banks, the Pirates built a big lead and held on.
Riverside built a 30-15 lead late in the second quarter and was in front 34-22 at the break. The lead was 15 again midway through the third quarter after a jumper by Cougar Philippi before the Billies rallied.
Pleasant Hill, which lost in the championship game last year, pulled within 51-49 on a basket by Jarren Mayernick. After Riverside went up nine again on a three-point play by Cooper Cemore, the Billies got within four twice, the last time on a 3-pointer by Dougals Green for the final points.
Cemore had 22 points for Riverside, at the final site for the first time since 2007. Philippi added 16.
Logan Melvin had 28 points to lead the Billies. Luke Melvin added 10.
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