PORTLAND – For the second time in the history of the program, West Salem girls basketball is headed to the state tournament.
The ninth-seeded Titans went on the road to earn their spot Saturday, shaking off a eight-point, first-half deficit to eliminate No. 8 Jesuit 52-43 in the 6A round of 16.
Portland State-bound senior wing Emma Zuniga led the way for West Salem (17-10), which made its only tournament appearance in 2023. Zuniga scored a game-high 17 points and used her strong 5-foot-10 frame to play stout defense on 6-5 sophomore Ceanna Forney, holding her six points, well under her team-leading 14-point average.
“She's unbelievable. She's going to be so good at the next level,” Titans coach Justin Duke said of Zuniga. “There are very few players that can play positions one through five, and she's one of them. She's a senior, and she's got to lay it on the line. One time to get back to the Chiles Center and she wanted it pretty bad.”
Zuniga was part of West Salem's last state tournament team.
“It's super exciting,” she said. “I went my freshman year and it was one of the coolest experiences. I'm so excited to do it again my senior year.”
Zuniga also had eight rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal. Sophomore guard Lily Griffin had 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists and senior wing Samantha Griffin contributed nine points and 11 rebounds.
Last year, West Salem lost at Jesuit 55-41 in the first round of the playoffs. But the Titans got some payback in a nonleague game this season when they won 53-48 at Jesuit, an outcome that fueled their belief Saturday.
“It helped us feel more confident coming into this big game,” Zuniga said. “We lost here last year, so it was a little intimidating, but I think that win helped us get our mind around the fact that we can beat them, and we can go to the Chiles Center.”
Duke, who took over at West Salem this season after a successful 10-year run as the coach at 5A Wilsonville, sensed his players “had a lot of confidence” coming into Saturday's game against the Crusaders (17-8).
“We had to come prove it one more time,” he said.
West Salem was missing two Central Valley Conference second-team picks in sophomore guard Lilea Burns, who suffered a torn ACL in a loss at Southridge on Feb. 17, and sophomore post Tamara Kosso-Quaye, out since spraining her knee Feb. 27 against Sprague.
With Kosso-Quaye sidelined, that meant that Zuniga drew the assignment of guarding Forney. Zuniga fought for position inside and got plenty of help from her teammates against Forney, who did not get her first field goal until the final minute of the third quarter.
“She's a great player. I've played with Cece for club, so I know her,” Zuniga said. “The least you can do is push her out of the paint.”
Jesuit freshman point guard Sam Harris had three baskets as the Crusaders took a 13-5 lead. When Harris followed a jumper with a three-pointer in the second quarter, Jesuit was up 20-13.
But West Salem fought back to tie 22-22 at half, getting a banked three-pointer from Lily Griffin in the final seconds, and took over the the game in the second half. The Titans went on a 15-2 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to lead 42-30 with 5:22 remaining.
“We all just took a moment to realize that we can get this if we really want it, and we're all pulling together,” Zuniga said. “The thing for us is defense. I think we're really turned it around this season. It's something that helps us a lot now.”
The Titans made every pass difficult for the Crusaders and beat them down the court in transition.
“When they started going on a run, we kind of slowed down,” said Harris, who led Jesuit with 16 points. “In general, we just needed to calm down. We were being sped up by their defense. We needed to make better passes, keep being aggressive and not get sped up and worried about what they were doing.
“The biggest thing was we really needed to get back in transition.”
West Salem advances to play top-seeded and reigning state champion Tualatin (25-1) in the quarterfinals March 12 at 1:30 p.m. The Titans lost at home to the Timberwolves 65-45 on Dec. 11.
“In the first half, we competed with them really well,” Lily Griffin said. “We lost by 20, but I think that was one of the best games that we've played.”
The Titans, who won the Central Valley title, believe they are playing their best ball of the season.
“We've had some hard games that we've lost, but we've come back from it and showed what we can do,” Lily Griffin said. “If we can keep the energy up, we can do really well at the Chiles Center.”
jerryu@osaa.org
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