COOS BAY — Amity earned the right to defend its 3A girls basketball championship and secured a spot in its third straight title game on Friday at Marshfield High School. After near misses the past two years, the team opposite the Warriors on Saturday night will be Vale.
Amity topped Banks 40-32 in a rematch of last year’s championship game and Vale beat Creswell 48-29 to set up championship night in the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union State Championships title game at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Both the Warriors and Vikings used the same playbook — build a big early lead and let a stingy defense deny any chance for a comeback.
“We played great defense,” Amity coach Jed McMullen said. “We flew around. We were relentless the whole time.”
McMullen noted that’s the general plan for his team, Banks and Vale.
“We’re really good defensive teams,” he said. “We really brought it tonight.”
And the Warriors got off to a good start offensively and were able to play from in front the whole time.
Amity got on the board first when Eliza Nisly had a steal and fed teammate Kylie Wilson for the opening bucket and then, after another Banks turnover, Haley Miersma nailed a 3-pointer.
By the end of the first quarter, the lead was 14-6. Amity extended the lead to 25-11 in the second quarter on a basket by Nisly before Banks got three straight hoops — two from Clarissa Shurts and one from Sydney Phillips — to briefly pull within eight before Amity went in front by 10 at halftime on a hoop by Eliza Nisly’s twin sister Adie.
The lead got as high as 19 in the fourth quarter before Banks finally broke through with a three-point play by Shurts, a hoop from Nylah Vanthom and a trio of 3-pointers, one by Naomi Brown and two by Brooklyn Evans. By that time it was far too late for a complete comeback.
“We couldn’t hit until the fourth quarter,” Banks coach Nick Rizzo said. “They played really tough defense. It was tough for us to get going.”
Rizzo said he was proud of his own squad’s defense and holding Amity to 40 points, but also was complimentary of the Warriors.
“They score it well when they need to,” he said. “That’s a good team.”
The Nisly twins led the way on offense for Amity.
Adie Nisly hit two 3-pointers and finished with 13 points while Eliza Nisly, essentially playing post though she is just 5 feet, 6 inches tall, added 12 points and 10 rebounds. Miersma scored seven points and Wilson, the Warriors’ other post, added six.
Amity found ways to get through the Banks defense and get to the hoop for a number of easy shots.
“We got to the basket,” McMullen said. “We don’t always do it well. Tonight we did.”
While the players were pleased with their offense, they were more excited about the defense. That was especially true since the opponent was the team they beat by just two points in last year’s championship game.
“We really wanted to prove ourselves,” Eliza Nisly said. “We wanted to show everyone how much better we could be.”
The early lead helped.
“It’s great energy for us,” Eliza Nisly said. “Scoring gives us a lot of confidence.”
Amity also got a big boost, the twins said, from its enormous crowd that almost completely filled half of the entire north side of the Pirate Palace with blue-clad, loud fans.
“We’re calling it Amity’s favorite holiday,” Eliza Nisly said of how the town travels well every year for the state tournament. “I love to look up in the stands every game and see all the fans.”
“It’s really special,” Adie Nisly said.
The fans will be back in force Saturday night. McMullen said Amity’s experience should help a lot in the championship game — the team’s six seniors (the twins, Miersma, Wilson, fellow starter Alyssa McMullen and Lyliana Rideout) have played a lot of minutes in the big game.
“They’re built for these moments,” Jed McMullen said. “They didn’t play tight tonight. That’s good.”
That will be his message Saturday, too.
“Defend, play free, play loose, plan to win, relax, enjoy the moment, compete and outwork them,” McMullen said.
Banks has another game Saturday, too, and though it isn’t the championship game, Rizzo said his team has a lot to play for in the third-place game against Creswell, scheduled for 2:15 p.m.
“We’re one of the six teams in the state still playing,” he said. “We’ll go out and give it our all.”
Evans led the Braves Friday night with 11 points and Shurts added nine points and seven rebounds.
VALE 48, CRESWELL 29: The Vikings did what they weren’t able to the past two years in advancing to the title game.
“We finally got over the hump,” Vale coach Randy Seals said.
And after near-misses — a one-point loss to eventual champion Corbett in 2024 and a three-point loss to Banks last winter — they didn’t let this one come down to the final moments.
Vale scored the first seven points — baskets by Kesley Stepleton and Karlee Crane and a 3-pointer by Elli Jacobs — and kept pouring it on early.
After Creswell got on the board with two free throws by Raelee Green, Vale scored 10 more in a row.
“That first six minutes killed us,” Creswell coach Tyler Hollingsworth said. “It set the tone. We were scrappy, but they’re a good enough team it’s hard to claw back against them.”
After the Vikings got in front 17-2, the lead stayed in the 12- to 18-point range the rest of the way, a testament both the Vale’s defense and Creswell’s own play, Seals said.
“Creswell’s tough,” he said. “They won’t give up. They just kept battling. I was super impressed with them.”
But he also was impressed with his own squad.
“As a team we just played good defense,” Seals said. “To hold a team like Creswell to under 30 points is big.”
He said a key element was the play of his bench, especially Makayla Officer, stepping up with teammates in foul trouble.
“We had some girls who don’t play a lot of minutes who came in and played big minutes defensively for us,” Seals said.
He also praised the effort of Jacobs against Creswell’s Elliette Kinney.
“Elli did a great job defensively,” he said. “And Elli shot the heck out of the ball.”
Jacobs scored 19 points for the Vikings, including shooting 5-for-10 from 3-point range.
Her teammates, meanwhile, found success getting to the basket.
“I think we pushed the ball well,” Jacobs said.
Crane finished with nine points, Izzy Maag added eight and Bailey Blake six.
The result was a long-awaited trip to the championship game.
“It’s definitely something that I’ve always wanted,” Jacobs said.
Creswell, meanwhile, will try to claim the third-place trophy when it meets Banks.
“We’ve got another game to play,” Hollingsworth said. “We’re going to shake it off, get ready for tomorrow. We’re still playing for a lot of pride.”
Kinney and Green had nine points each for the Bulldogs in the loss.
Consolation Semifinals:
SISTERS 37, SUTHERLIN 34: The Outlaws secured a trophy in their first-ever trip to the final site, holding off the Bulldogs in the first consolation game Friday morning at North Bend. Sisters faces Valley Catholic at 10:45 a.m. Saturday in the fourth-place game.
Audrey Corcoran had 11 points to lead the way for Sisters, which outscored Sutherlin 21-14 in the second half.
Khloe Grotting had three 3-pointers and she and Jordan Harris scored 12 points each for Sutherlin. Harris also grabbed eight rebounds.
Sisters used a 7-0 run early in the fourth quarter to build a lead that Sutherlin couldn’t completely erase.
VALLEY CATHOLIC 44, PLEASANT HILL 39: The Valiants advanced to the consolation final by holding off a comeback attempt by the Billies in the final quarter.
Pleasant Hill fought from behind all game after scoring just three points in the first quarter. Until the final moments, every time the Billies got as close as six points, Valley Catholic extended the lead again.
Calista Everson and Emmee Kinder scored 14 points each for Valley Catholic and Brooke Wilson added nine. Anna Crawford had 18 points for the Billies.
dorklefin2003@yahoo.com
Subscribe
