Bulletin E-Edition:
Four to the floor
Two boys teams and two girls teams from Central Oregon took very different routes to their respective state tournaments
By Beau Eastes / The Bulletin
Published: March 08. 2010 4:00AM PST
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Bend girls
Bend High, which held opponents to a league-low 40.4 points per game this season, rolled to an Intermountain Conference-best 11-3 mark this year.
Bend's Karleigh Taylor.
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At the start of the high school basketball season, the prospect of multiple teams from Central Oregon advancing to state tournaments seemed slim.
Sure, the Mountain View boys looked strong — the Cougars won their first 14 games of the 2009-10 campaign — but that was about it for local teams. At the start of January, no other programs in the area looked like they would be playing into the middle of March.
Man, that sure changed.
This week, four teams from Central Oregon — the Bend High and La Pine girls, as well as the Mountain View and Summit boys — will be competing at the University of Oregon and Oregon State University for state titles. All four took different paths to get to the state tournaments, and all have compelling plotlines.
Here are their stories.
The favorites
Anything less than a trip to Eugene's McArthur Court for the Class 5A state boys basketball tournament would have been deemed a failure for the Mountain View Cougars. Despite graduating five seniors from last season's squad that went 19-4 and won the 2009 Intermountain Conference title, the Cougars were again league favorites this season with Seth Brent, Jesse Zapata and Mark Claar all back for their senior year.
Mountain View did not disappoint this season, posting a school-best 24-1 record en route to its second consecutive league title.
Brent was arguably the best player in the IMC, averaging 14.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, while Isaiah Mitchell (12.8 points) and Claar (12.1) also posted double-digit scoring averages. Throw in the development of sophomore point guard James Reid, who ended the regular season averaging 7.8 points and five assists per game, and the Cougars, who play Northwest Oregon Conference runner-up Glencoe of Hillsboro at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday in the championship quarterfinals, are the favorites in their half of the eight-team tournament bracket to reach the 5A state finals.
The defensive stoppers
Bend High's run to the Class 5A state girls tournament has been just as entertaining.
Under first-year head coach Todd Ervin, the Lava Bears transformed into the IMC's best defensive team, holding opponents to a league-low 40.4 points per game. Bend, which plays Crater in the championship quarterfinals at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, endured a six-game losing streak during nonconference play early in the season but rebounded in league play to win the IMC title with an 11-3 mark.
The Lava Bears (17-9 overall) enter Wednesday's game at Mac Court on a six-game winning streak. Bend High junior post Karleigh Taylor, the IMC's 2010 player of the year, has scored in double figures in each of the Lava Bears' last seven games, including a team-high 19 points in Friday's 44-41 playoff win over Corvallis.
Bend High has not blown anyone out this season — the Lava Bears average just over 46 points per game — but Ervin's players have been competitive with everyone they have faced. Most importantly, Bend High has excelled in games that have come down to the wire, posting an 8-4 record in contests that have been decided by six points or fewer. Over the past month the Lava Bears are 4-0 in those games.
The underdogs
Summit's boys team has been defying the odds all season.
Entering IMC play in January, the Storm had a less-than-impressive 4-7 record. But in league play Summit started to get hot, and the Storm won five of their first seven conference games before ending tied for third in the IMC standings with an 8-6 league record. (Summit defeated crosstown rival Bend High 69-32 in its final regular-season game of the year to secure the league's fourth and final postseason berth.)
With a Class 5A first-round state playoff game on the road against 10th-ranked Hillsboro, it would have been easy for the Storm to pat themselves on the back for making the boys basketball postseason for just the second time in school history. But instead, Summit upset the Spartans 67-60 on their home floor. In Saturday's second round the Storm pulled off an even bigger shocker, taking down No. 7 North Eugene 57-56 in double overtime, again on the road.
Summit (14-13 overall) looks to keep its Cinderella story alive on Wednesday when the Storm play Crescent Valley of Corvallis at 8:15 p.m. at Mac Court.
The defending champs
La Pine, the reigning Class 4A state girls champion, took a completely different route this season to get back to the 4A state tournament.
After cruising through the 2009-10 campaign with a 25-3 record, the Hawks this season had to battle just to make the Sky-Em League playoffs. La Pine finished tied for fourth in the Sky-Em this year and had to beat Junction City and Sisters in the league playoffs to advance to state postseason play.
The Hawks (19-9 overall) posted a pair of road wins in the state playoffs — including Friday's 37-31 road victory over Hidden Valley — to earn a trip back to Oregon State University's Gill Coliseum.
La Pine senior Kassi Conditt has been instrumental in the Hawks' return to Corvallis. An all-state selection last season as a junior, Conditt scored 26 and 24 points, respectively, in La Pine's two state playoff wins last week.
The Hawks face Cascade of Turner at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the championship quarterfinal round of the 4A state tournament. La Pine, which lost to Cascade 72-60 at home on Dec. 15, has won six consecutive games since a three-game losing streak at the beginning of February.
Beau Eastes can be reached at 541-383-0305 or at beastes@bendbulletin.com.
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