What made the No. 3 Parkrose boys basketball dangerous all season was the ego-less brand of basketball it played.
So when the Broncos found themselves locked in an overtime thriller against No. 1 Crook County at the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 5A state championship Saturday, March 14, at Linfield University, they went to what they do best:
Play as a team.
In the extra four minutes, each one of the six rotation players for the Broncos made a play. Senior Adrian “Fuzzy” Montague hit a layup, then junior Varryk Hardges made one at the rim. Sophomore Jayden Hall hit two free throws, junior Keone Gates hit a layup through contact, then poked a rebound free that went straight to Montague for two more. And for good measure, Hardges had a 3-point play.
Those final plays added up to a 65-57 overtime win over the Cowboys, giving the Broncos their first boys basketball state title since 1982 and their fourth in program history.
“Poise, it’s just a testament to what we’ve been through all year,” Parkrose head coach Kendrick Williams said of the state title. “Hard practices, the hard coaching I give them. It was built for times like this. Things stopped going our way in the fourth quarter, but we just held our composure and made plays down the stretch.
“That was a heck of a team, Crook County is very good, they’re well coached. They gave us everything we could handle, but down the stretch we made some plays with our athletes.”
Parkrose grabbed the lead 8-7 at the 2:44 mark in the first quarter and led nearly the entire way.
In the fourth with Crook County down 44-31, the Cowboys finally got off the mat though.
Seniors Jace Jonas and Gabriel Lopez scored, followed by a 3-pointer from senior Ke’nan Twigg that quickly cut the deficit to 44-38 with 4:36 to go.
Twigg hit another layup, senior Bryce Lowenbach connected at the rim and then hit two free throws to pull within 46-44 with 2:57 to go.
Eventually, after a turnover on an inbounds pass gave the ball back to Crook County, the Cowboys tied the game at 48 thanks to two Jonas free throws with 1:21 to play.
Crook County, a team with eight seniors, was too experienced to let the state title game slip away that easily.
“You’re not 26-1 if you don’t have guys who can make shots,” Crook County head coach Jason Mumm said of his team’s comeback. “They just did a good job of not getting rattled, having that senior leadership will do that. They just never went away, they kept coming.”
Hall hit a 3-pointer for Parkrose, followed by a layup from Jonas to make it 51-50 Parkrose. The Cowboys swarmed Montague on the next possession to create a turnover, and Lopez hit inside to give Crook County the 52-51 lead with only 16 seconds to go.
“We’re such a tough team,” Jonas said of the comeback. “Not a single moment of giving up in us. We played until the very end.”
Gates raced down the floor and was fouled, but missed the front end of the two free throws. He hit the second to tie the game at 52 with 12 seconds to go.
Jonas drove toward the baseline on the ensuing play but had his floater blocked. Parkrose battled for the rebound and the clock expired before a late heave could be tossed.
In overtime, Crook County was answering each time Parkrose hit thanks to big man Lowenbach as he hit a layup and three free throws to keep it a 58-57 Parkrose advantage with 52 seconds to go.
“Baby (Nikola) Jokic, he is very good, he’s cerebral,” Williams said of Lowenbach. “It’s not just that he’s big, the basketball IQ. He made the right reads, made us foul him at the rim, he finished. He doesn’t pass out of double teams all the time, and he makes the right play. I was very impressed, I think he’s better than I thought he was.”
What sealed the deal though was Gates and Montague. Gates hit a layup through contact and went to the line. He missed the free throw, but poked away the rebound from Crook County’s hands and it went straight to Montague under the hoop who spun it up and in to make it 62-57 with only 32 seconds left in OT.
Lowenbach shot a three on the other end that missed, and Parkrose came up with the rebound and sent the pass forward to Hardges for the game-ending three-point play.
“We just gotta stay composed, gotta stay disciplined on defense,” Hardges said of the team's message in overtime. “We gotta stay true to ourselves. We gotta stay together, can’t get sloppy and stay sharp.”
Lowenbach, the Intermountain Conference Player of the Year in the Cowboys’ first year back at the 5A level, was a difficult matchup for a Parkrose squad without a true big.
He finished with 30 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks this game, but was the driving force all season for a Crook County team playing in its first-ever state title game.
“I think if he’s not the best player in the state, he’s definitely the best big man in the state,” Mumm said of Lowenbach. “In my eyes – I might be a little biased – he is the best player in the state of Oregon. I think he showed that in this tournament, he definitely showed that in this state championship game.”
On the other side was Montague, the Northwest Oregon Conference Player of the Year, who finished with 22 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Montague, who started high school at Jefferson before moving to Roosevelt and finally Parkrose this year, the chance to compete for a state title took some sacrifice. But he always believed in Williams and the culture the first-year head coach was trying to establish at Parkrose.
“This program would not be where it’s at without Adrian Montague,” Williams said. “It’s not just on the court. Off the court, he’s an astounding young man, an exceptional young man. He leads, he doesn’t get into trouble, 3.9 GPA, I can call on him to do anything.”
“I grew up in Northeast Portland, nobody can say anything to me about loyalty,” Montague said. “I make sure I get it done at the end of the day. You can see how much they care for me. I’m so proud and I’m so happy.”
“I look at good basketball, but what a good person,” Mumm said of Montague. “You don’t get to be an elite player like he is without being a good person as well.”
While Montague is the leader, Parkrose basketball didn’t get to a 26-3 overall record and the state title alone.
Hardges had 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals while Hall and Gates each had 12 points. Senior Keion James was the heart and soul of the team with his big-man attitude in a smaller frame, and freshman Victor Norris had his moments all season as well.
“Just not letting go of the prize, when we go, we know it’s not over until the buzzer ends,” Gates said of the team’s resilience.
“We’re just a real team, those guys have to be happy if it’s not their night,” Williams said. “Each night is going to be somebody else, and some games it’s going to be everybody contributing. … I preach defense, I really don’t care what goes on on the offensive end. Everybody can play defense.”
For Crook County, the greatest season in program history ends with a silver trophy, but that doesn’t mean the Cowboys didn’t have tremendous success.
The town of Prineville showed out in a big way at Linfield, and those are moments that’ll stick with the players forever.
“It means everything, I wouldn’t want to be with any other program, any other coach or any other players,” Lowenbach said. “It means everything to me.”
“Obviously we wanted to win, but it’s super amazing,” Jonas said. “We know a lot of the older guys who just came through the program. They’re supporting us and wanting us to be good, so just playing for them. Some of them didn’t get the opportunity to play their senior year, so getting to play for them and showing out for them.”
For Parkrose, the state title is a continued celebration of the deep basketball history within the NE Portland community.
From Jefferson’s run in 5A and battles with Grant throughout the years, and now to a state title 44 years in the making for Parkrose, the moment means more to the Broncos than almost anything.
“40 years, to not to do it for 40 years and coming back and doing it for them in one year, that’s special,” Gates said. “I love everybody that played, I love everybody that’s on this team, the coaching staff. We couldn’t do it without them.”
“I trust in my teammates too much and I knew we were going to pull it out,” Montague said. “I knew it from the beginning, I said it when we met each other. We all knew it was going to be a war against whatever team we played against. … Everybody does play a part. I’m so proud of them, I’m so happy for them, more than I am for myself.”
And with four of those core six as juniors or younger, the Broncos might just be starting something even bigger.
“This is my first time winning state, this is great,” Hardges said. “Hopefully we can come here next year and win it again.”
Third/fifth place
No. 5 Summit 77, No. 15 Centennial 71: Summit finished the season with a win behind a stellar performance from senior Foster Kettering who finished with 26 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
The Storm led after the first and traded blows with the Eagles all afternoon as the game remained tight throughout.
Sincere Powe had 19 points to lead the Eagles, followed by Drake Walsh with 15 and Dakari Mitchell with 12.
Centennial led 65-60 with 3:59 to go, but a 3-pointer from Summit’s Abe Taylor and two consecutive buckets from Kettering turned it into a 67-65 Storm lead less than a minute later.
Bledsoe and Taylor hit back-to-back shots to put the game out of reach in the closing moment for the Eagles. Caleb Branch was next highest in scoring though with 13, followed by Taylor with 12, Matthew Tompkins with 10 and Bledsoe with nine.
Fourth/sixth place
No. 4 Thurston 59, No. 6 Canby 57: It was tight in the early game as well where Thurston erased a seven-point deficit going into the fourth to take home fourth.
Senior Lucas Labounty was his elite-scoring self in the final frame, putting home 13 of his game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter alone.
Treyson Hill and Leofatu Filipe had their moments in the fourth as well and ended up scoring 10 points each for the game.
Jaxon Lawson closed his Canby career with 21 points while Ben Twitchell chipped in 17 points and Cohen Vandecoevering had 11.
austinw@osaa.org
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