They may be young, but the Springfield girls basketball team hasn’t become an Oregon powerhouse for no reason.
So when the young Millers found themselves locked in a battle with the defending 5A runnerups in No. 3 South Albany, they didn’t flinch.
Junior Sailor Hall hit six 3-pointers to score 20 points and freshman Nuari Filipe had 17 to help Springfield survive 55-50 in the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 5A state semifinals Friday at Linfield University.
The Millers advance to their ninth title game in program history looking for state title No. 4. Their opponent will be No. 5 West Albany with tipoff set for 7:45 p.m. Saturday from Linfield.
“We know that’s a good team, but we know we’re a better team,” Hall said. “I think it was about executing our gameplan and trusting in our teammates and our coaches. Executing what we put in four months ago to start the season.”
Springfield started off looking like the better team, grabbing a 12-5 early lead thanks to Hall hitting two early 3-pointers.
The RedHawks stopped the bleeding though and cut the lead to 18-12 after the first frame.
That momentum carried into the second quarter where South Albany won the frame 14-4 and took a 26-22 halftime lead.
RedHawks senior Kaylee Cordle was the catalyst and got her night going in the second quarter with nine points alone in the frame.
“I think she’s just really quick and I think she’s really a floor general,” Filipe said of Cordle. “She’s a great point guard. She’s quick and knows how to feed her team and has a really nice mid-range shot.”
In the third, sophomore Lia Jones continued to have her solid game at the point by scoring six points, grabbing three boards and handing out two assists.
While she wasn’t doing a ton of the scoring, those six buckets were large in keeping the Millers close throughout the third.
“Wouldn’t trade Lia for anybody,” Springfield head coach Joe Williamson said. “Defensively, she locked up their point guard and really made it tough all game for her. It starts with her on the point guard and she met the challenge.”
Defense is where Springfield was able to make a real mark, especially going against Wyoming-bound Taylor Donaldson, a South Albany senior.
Filipe drew the defensive matchup in the second half, which wasn’t the original plan. But the freshman stepped up and continued to stonewall one of the best players in the state.
“She’s incredible, she’s going to be one of the best players in the nation by the time she’s a senior,” Hall said of Filipe. “She’s so calm, she’s way ahead of her years, she’s great and works so hard in practice. She’s so humble and she’s so awesome.”
The game was teetering back and forth in the fourth when Donaldson was able to get hers though on a tough 3-pointer to put the RedHawks ahead 44-43 with 4:46 to go.
However, Filipe came back with an important 3-point play, the Millers got the stop and Hall drained her sixth three of the night to go up 49-44 with 3:42 to play.
“I love seeing her succeed, I love seeing my teammates succeed,” Filipe said of Hall. “I think I was really happy and just really proud of her for stepping up in that moment because before the game I told her, ‘We need you today.’ And she stepped up, she did what we needed and she got that win for us.”
Donaldson kept fighting and got a bucket back to cut the lead to three. But then it was Filipe’s turn for a big corner 3 to keep the advantage up 52-46 now with 2:53 to play.
Both sides traded a free throw and then Springfield locked up inside, forcing the RedHawks into some difficult threes that didn’t connect.
South Albany’s Maddie Angel finally hit one to make it 53-50 Springfield, but there was only 22 seconds to go.
Hall was fouled with 14 seconds, stepped to the line and hit them both to put the game away.
“Execution, we really executed and got Sailor some open looks and she’s got to hit them,” Williamson said. “We executed and made shots down the stretch. You gotta execute on one end and walk down on the defensive end and rebound.”
Hall finished with a team-high 20 points and also grabbed six rebounds while Filipe had 17 points and five boards. Jones had nine points, six rebounds and six assists.
For South Albany, Cordle had a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Donaldson was held to 15 points.
“Going into it we gameplanned a lot, we were up at 11 watching film, walkthrough and I think there was a lot of preparation put into it,” Filipe said. “Basketball, you go on runs. You go through ups and downs in a game, but at the end of the day, it’s who wants it more and I think we came out wanting it.”
With three state titles in program history and plenty more final appearances and former star players, the bar is set high for the Springfield program.
But despite their age, the young Millers understand where that expectation is and have continued to meet it in a season where it was expected to be more growing pains.
“There’s a lot of expectations, not just from the program but from the coaches, we expect a lot,” Williamson said. “This our third state championship game in five years, the expectation is high. Yesterday there was no celebration, we knew we had this one to get. Today, I think we let loose a little bit because we got there.
“The expectation is to get here, and now win it.”
The opponent will be No. 5 West Albany, who will make just its second ever title game appearance, the last in 2011 that ended with a loss to Springfield.
South Albany heads to the third/fifth place game to take on No. 1 Redmond at 5:45 p.m. Saturday.
The Bulldogs are a great shooting team and played tremendous defense against Redmond in the other semifinal.
Springfield knows that though and is ready to go to battle to continue the Miller tradition of excellence.
“They got shooters, we already knew that,” Hall said. “Every team is beatable and they’re just as good as we are. We’re ready to take it to them tomorrow.”
No. 5 West Albany 63, No. 1 Redmond 37: West Albany junior Natalie Tidwell stayed hot from the quarterfinals with four made 3-pointers in the first quarter against Redmond, putting the Bulldogs ahead 21-5 after the first frame and they never looked back.
The Panthers were able to get a couple points back in the second, but it was still a 34-20 halftime deficit.
“They played with more energy than I’ve ever seen a team have, they were flying around defensively,” Bulldogs head coach Shawn Stinson said. “I was very proud of the way they were moving tonight. The energy was through the roof and the chemistry is unbelievable.”
The lead for West Albany stayed consistent in the third, and then it put the game away in the fourth when Tidwell hit two more triples and junior Payton Starwalt hit two as well to up-end the top seed.
Redmond shot 24.5% from the field while West Albany shot 45.2% and knocked down a total of 12 3-pointers.
Starwalt, the new single-season record holder for 3-pointers made five of them, bringing her season total to 132. She led in scoring with 25 points while Tidwell had 18 points on six made threes and also grabbed 10 rebounds. Lily Hamblin was strong inside and put up 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.
Redmond was led by senior Mylaena Norton with 17 points.
“Seventy-plus years we’ve been trying to get it done,” Stinson said of a state title. “We’ve talked about whenever we have a good team, ‘Hey, there’s a spot missing on the wall for girls basketball.’”
The opponent will be No. 2 Springfield, a program that beat West Albany in the Bulldogs’ lone state title appearance back in 2011.
Redmond falls to the third/fifth place game and will take on No. 3 South Albany at 5:45 p.m. Saturday at Linfield.
The title game is set to tip at 7:45 p.m. Saturday.
austinw@osaa.org
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