Bulletin E-Edition:
Cougars reach state tourney
Mountain View holds off Corvallis behind 21 points from Seth Brent
By Beau Eastes / The Bulletin
Published: March 07. 2010 4:00AM PST
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Mountain View’s James Reid (11) shoots over Corvallis’ Ross Orman (5) to score during a second-round Class 5A state playoff game Saturday night at Mountain View High School.
Ryan Brennecke / The Bulletin
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Mountain View coach Craig Reid was refreshingly honest after the Cougars' 67-62 boys basketball playoff victory over Corvallis on Saturday night, a win that sent his team to the Class 5A state tournament for the third time in four years.
“I don't want to take anything away from the regular season,” said Reid, whose Cougars brought a 23-1 record into the postseason and won the Intermountain Conference with a 13-1 record. “But if we would have lost tonight, it would have negated those things a little bit.”
Almost a year to the day Mountain View was upset at home by Century in the 2009 state playoffs, the Cougars won a back-and-forth home matchup against the Spartans that included 10 lead changes and six ties. Seth Brent scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Mountain View, and Jesse Zapata came off the bench for 14 points — 12 in the fourth quarter. Also for the Cougars, Isaiah Mitchell added 13 points, and James Reid contributed 11 points and four assists.
“It's just a huge relief,” said Brent, who kept Mountain View in the game early, scoring 10 of the Cougars' 14 points in the first quarter. “The goal all season long has been to get back to Mac Court.”
That would be the University of Oregon's McArthur Court in Eugene, where Mountain View will play Glencoe of Hillsboro on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the championship quarterfinal round of the 5A state tournament.
Glencoe, 16-9 overall and runner-up in the Northwest Oregon Conference, advanced to the tournament with a 64-61 road playoff victory Saturday night over Southern Sky Conference champion Ashland.
Saturday night at Mountain View, the Cougars took a 50-49 advantage into the fourth quarter and finally pulled away from the Spartans (17-10) in the final two minutes. Zapata received the ball near the baseline on the right side of the court and used a spin move that led to a layup and a 62-56 lead for Mountain View with 1:38 left to play.
“He was rock solid in the fourth (quarter),” Craig Reid said about Zapata, who scored the Cougars' last seven points of the night. “For the last three or four weeks he's ended the season the way a senior wants to.”
Clay Callahan led the Spartans with 18 points, 12 of which came on three-pointers. Jake Ehlers and Max Gorschels each added nine points for Corvallis, and Nolan Hansen contributed seven points and eight rebounds in the losing effort.
“We did a good job denying the ball at the start of the second half, but then I thought we got knocked on our heels,” said Spartan coach Greg Garrison, whose team led 41-40 with less than three minutes left in the third quarter before Mountain View took the lead for good. “Obviously, (the Cougars) are a tough matchup. But we didn't do a very good job defending the three-pointer.”
Mountain View connected on nine of 19 three-point attempts in Saturday's win. Brent and Reid each had three three-pointers, while Mitchell recorded two and Zapata added one.
“Threes are momentum changers,” said Brent, who was also a force on the defensive end of the court with three blocked shots. “When we get going (from the outside), we're tough to stop.”
After ending the first half with a 34-32 lead, the Cougars opened the third quarter with a string of sloppy possessions. Corvallis kicked off the second half with a 7-0 run to go ahead 39-34, in large part because of five consecutive Mountain View turnovers.
The Cougars kept their cool, though, and scored their first basket of the half three minutes into the third quarter to pull within three points of the streaking Spartans, 39-36. Mountain View regained the lead less than three minutes later on a Reid three-pointer, making the score 43-41 Cougars.
Mountain View, which ended the season a perfect 11-0 on its home court, did not trail the rest of the game en route to its 10th consecutive win.
“All season long we've been preparing for this game,” Craig Reid said. “Our first goal is always to win the IMC, and we did that. But going to Mac Court and competing at state has been this team's goal from the start of the season.”
Beau Eastes can be reached at 541-383-0305 or at beastes@bendbulletin.com.
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