Here are recaps of the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 1A girls and boys basketball state tournament semifinals played Friday at Baker High School in Baker City:
No. 1 Union 43, No. 4 North Clackamas Christian 38: A low scoring fourth quarter allowed No. 1 Union to hang on to the lead and advance past No. 4 North Clackamas Christian on Friday at Baker High School.
The game didn’t start that way, especially for Bobcats junior Landon Fratzke. He went 5-for-6 from the field in the first frame with a made 3-pointer and 11 points to push Union ahead 14-8 after one.
The Saints hit back in the second though with their heavy hitters in sophomore Brandon Lee, who was dealing with foul trouble all afternoon, and junior Ethan Hiebenthal.
The duo scored all 15 points for NCCS in the second with Lee going for nine points and Hiebenthal draining two 3-pointers to score six.
The Saints took a brief 23-22 lead on an 11-2 run, but Fratzke hit twice in the closing minute to make it a 24-23 Union lead at the break.
“That was incredibly clutch of Landon,” Union head coach Odin Miller said. “To see him take control of the game when we needed someone to break the ice was so big for us. I’m so proud of him, that truly set the tone.”
In the third, the Saints kept coming up and went up 31-26 with 4:31 to go, but a fourth foul on Lee forced him out of the game and Union attacked from there.
The Bobcats closed the third frame with an 11-2 run, highlighted by a made 3-pointer each from senior KJ Klebaum and sophomore Jace McCraw, to take the 37-33 lead into the fourth.
Klebaum was calm and collected as he hit a couple shots in the fourth when both sides dug in defensively. His two makes put it at 41-34 Union, but Lee was back in the game and had a response.
Lee scored the next four points for the Saints to make it a 41-38 game with 2:58 to go in the game.
Union started to play keep away and running the shot clock down as far as possible. NCCS would get a board and a shot at a three, but missed at the 1:50 to go mark.
The Bobcats then swung it around on offense, got an offensive board, swung it around some more and got a second offensive rebound with 37 seconds to go and Klebaum was fouled 10 seconds later to go to the line.
Klebaum hit the first, but missed the second and NCCS raced up the floor on the rebound. However, Hiebenthal got to the free throw line and raised his forearm up to the chest of a Union defender and was called for the offensive foul with 17 seconds to go.
Fratzke was fouled immediately on the inbounds and he hit the second free throw to put Union up 43-38. NCCS missed its shot on the other end, got an offensive board, but a 3-pointer from Lee was no good and Union got the rebound to end the game.
“The late game execution was on point,” Miller said. “That shows basketball IQ, focus and heart. They wanted it bad and that was how it showed through. Those are championship quality ingredients right there and we will need it again tomorrow.”
Fratzke finished with a game-high 20 points along with three rebounds. Klebaum had 17 points, 10 in the second half, and had seven rebounds. Sophomore Dawson Miller was the unsung hero with no points, but 12 rebounds while senior Joey McCraw was in a similar boat, scoring two points with 12 boards as well. Union scored 24 second-chance points compared to NCCS’ seven.
Leading the Saints was Lee with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Hiebenthal hit three 3-pointers en route to 12 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Sam Fulcher had seven points and 11 rebounds.
Union heads to the 1A title game for the first time since 1949, the first and only time the Bobcats boys basketball team has ever won the state title. The opponent will be No. 2 Country Christian at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, March 7 at Baker High School.
NCCS will play for third place against No. 6 Open Door Christian starting at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
No. 2 Country Christian 57, No. 6 Open Door Christian 56: Trailing by 13 going into the fourth quarter, it looked like Country Christian might be dead in the water in the 1A state semifinals against Open Door Christian.
Tyson Smith hit a couple early shots for the Cougars to cut the deficit down to 51-42 with 6:39 and the comeback was on.
Ryan Gordon and Danyon Schneider were next with Gordon hitting a jumper, Schneider hitting another one and then Gordon hitting again to make it a 55-48 Open Door lead with 3:12 to go.
Blake Halverson came up with a steal and turned it into two more, 55-50 Open Door with 2:28 to go.
Halverson came up with another steal and that eventually turned into a 3-pointer from Schneider after Gordon came up with an offensive rebound.
ODCA added a free throw to make it 56-53 Huskies with 1:05 to go.
Then it was time for the hero of the night in Hayden Hernandez, who came up with a steal and scored with 37 seconds left to make it a 56-55 ODCA lead.
The Huskies had their chance to seal it, getting fouled three times by the Cougars in the final 30 seconds, but they missed all six of their free throw attempts.
That opened the door for Hernandez to hit a jumper with 5 seconds to go that put Country Christian up 57-56.
ODCA missed its final three and Country Christian escaped with the one-point victory to move on to the finals.
“I’m still trying to process that last quarter and last minute,” Cougars head coach Dawson Nofziger said. “These boys are just resilient and they’ve proven that in a lot of games this year. To show that toughness and determination at the biggest stage was cool to see, so proud of them.”
Those four points from Hernandez were his only buckets of the whole game, but he was ready for when the moment called on him.
“Hayden is a player every coach loves to have, works his tail off, is coachable and can step up when needed,” Nofziger said. “He stays ready when his number is called and we called on him tonight. Couldn’t be happier for him.”
Halverson led the way with 16 points and six rebounds. Smith chipped in eight points and five steals, Gordon had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Schneider had 11 points and four rebounds.
The Huskies were led by Ethan Zelenivskiy who had 17 points and nine rebounds, meanwhile Ben Buzhduga had 14 points and four rebounds. Zach Thibodeaux had 17 points and three rebounds as well.
Country Christian moves to the final for the first time since 2015 when the Cougars won their one and only state championship. The opponent will be No. 1 Union set for tipoff at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, March 7 at Baker High School.
ODCA will head to the third/fifth place game to play No. 4 North Clackamas Christian at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
No. 1 Imbler 55, No. 12 Crane 26: Right when it seemed like the two-time reigning champions in Crane might be inevitable, Imbler changed that outlook in a hurry.
The Panthers threw the first punch and kept landing them in the blowout win over the Mustangs, the team that eliminated the Panthers last year in the semifinals.
Imbler took a 10-6 lead after the first quarter thanks to six points from Madillyn Burright. Then the second quarter came where the Panthers won it 13-2 and held a 23-8 lead at halftime.
The scoring kept coming for the Panthers in the third period Whitney Haddock went off for nine points in the frame alone and Imbler went 3-for-3 from deep as a team.
When the dust settled, it was a comfortable 43-18 lead going into the fourth where the Panthers coasted from there.
Imbler held Crane to 28% shooting from the floor and outrebounded the Mustangs 45-27 to punctuate the revenge win.
“Very proud of the girls for coming out and playing solid basketball,” Imbler head coach Darci Sweet said. “Crane is a good team and very pleased with moving on to the championship game.”
Burright finished with 12 points and nine rebounds while Haddock had 11 points and nine rebounds. London Kunz and Jeytt Cant each had eight points.
Ava Bowen and Kamryn Dunten led the Mustangs with eight points each.
No. 1 Imbler will go for its first state title since 2010 and is looking for the third crown in program history. The Panthers will take on No. 2 North Clackamas Christian at 8:45 p.m. Saturday, March 7 at Baker High School.
Crane will fight for third place against No. 6 Echo at 1:15 p.m. Saturday.
No. 2 North Clackamas Christian 58, No. 6 Echo 47: North Clackamas Christian took the early lead and held Echo at bay most of the way to take the win in the 1A girls basketball state semifinal matchup.
Both sides came out firing in the first where the Saints marched to a 21-18 lead behind eight points from Lexis Devries and seven from Keslynn Turner. Echo got eight points from Kenzie Hendrix to try and keep pace.
NCCS created some space in the second quarter, winning it 18-10 to grab a 39-28 lead at halftime. Turner scored seven more points to have 14 at the break.
In the second half, the closest Echo ever got to tying the game was getting within eight points as the Saints consistently had an answer for each shot the Cougars may have made.
The two sides both scored 19 points in the second half, giving the win to the Saints and sending them to their first ever championship game.
Keslynn Turner finished with 21 points, five rebounds and five assists while Devries had 12 points and Kaylee Turner had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Jaycee Campbell led the Cougars with 16 points and four rebounds, Hendrix had 10 points and five rebounds.
NCCS will take on No. 1 Imbler looking for the program’s first state title, tipoff is set for 8:45 p.m. Saturday, March 7 at Baker High School.
Echo falls to the third/fifth place game to battle No. 12 Crane for bronze at 1:15 p.m. Saturday.
Girls consolation semifinals
No. 8 Powers 58, No. 4 Jordan Valley 57: Powers got the party started in Baker thanks to a game-winning 3-pointer with 16 seconds left to advance in the consolation bracket.
Trailing 44-33 going into the fourth, The Cruisers outscored the Mustangs 25-13 in the fourth quarter to get the win by one.
The driving force was KaiLey Jo Swenson who had 12 points in the fourth quarter. However, it was Kendra Bushnell hitting the 3-pointer with 16 seconds left to put Powers in front 58-57.
Kendra Bushnell finished with 12 points and four assists, meanwhile Danika Bushnell led the team in scoring with 20 points. Swenson had 16 points and six rebounds.
Deni Maestrejuan led Jordan Valley with 20 points and 12 rebounds while Jalee Maestrejuan had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Ryann Skinner had a strong morning as well with 19 points and six rebounds.
Powers will play No. 3 Country Christian in the fourth/sixth place game at 9:45 a.m. Saturday, March 7 at Baker High School.
No. 3 Country Christian 54, No. 10 Union 44: Union threw the first punch, but Country Christian worked its way back in the second half to take over the lead and eventually the consolation semifinal win.
The Bobcats led 20-17 after the first quarter but the Cougars took the lead into halftime up 34-32.
A 13-3 third quarter in favor of Country Christian increased the lead and Union could only come within five points in the fourth quarter as the Cougars closed out the win.
Adelynn Smith had 18 points, four rebounds and four steals to lead Country Christian. Emma Seubert had 13 points and 12 rebounds, Cara Mulhern had 11 points and seven rebounds.
Union was led by another big performance from Taylor Browning who had 21 points and seven rebounds.
Country Christian will play for fourth place against No. 8 Powers at 9:45 a.m. Saturday, March 7 at Baker High School.
austinw@osaa.org
Subscribe
