If it wasn’t for Philomath, the Junction City girls basketball team would be undefeated.
For the second time this young season, the Warriors defeated their neighbors to the south — this latest meeting coming Friday in the semifinals of the South Coast Les Schwab Tournament at Marshfield High School in Coos Bay.
Philomath won the game, 49-38, to move on to the tournament’s championship game against the winner of a late Friday matchup between Class 5A schools Crook County and Redmond. The game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. tip-off on Saturday.
PHS senior Sage Kramer scored 24 points on seven field goals — one of those a 3-pointer — and 9 of 11 on free throws.
“We did a fantastic job on the defensive end,” PHS coach Ben Silva said about Friday’s victory. “Sage did a great job with a ton of pressure. In the second half, a bunch of other players also stepped up and contributed.”
Silva mentioned 3-pointers that junior Hailie Couture and senior Reagan Larson buried as well as effective finishes to the net by junior Abigail Brown. Also, junior Mia Bennett came off the bench and “was aggressive and played really well in both halves,” Silva said.
The Warriors led just 20-19 at halftime but started to pull away in the third quarter with a 15-6 stretch.
Brown ended up with eight points with all of those coming in the second half. Bennett and Larson each had six.
Junction City, which lost on its home floor to the Warriors on Dec. 4, falls to 4-2. The Tigers had two players in double figures on Friday with 15 from senior Cienna Hartle and 10 from junior Ashlynn Long.
Also on Friday, Kramer won the tournament’s 3-point shooting contest. Couture made the semifinals.
Philomath entered the week ranked No. 2 in the OSAAtoday coaches poll and moves to 4-1 on the season.
Philomath 49, Junction City 38
Friday, Dec. 17, at Marshfield HS, Coos Bay
TEAMS (RECORDS) 1 2 3 4 FINAL Philomath (4-1) 10 10 15 14 49 Junction City (4-2) 6 13 6 13 38 PHILOMATH FG FT-FTA PF TP 13 Ingrid Hellesto# 0 0-0 1 0 15 Sage Kramer# 7 9-11 2 24 32 Abigail Brown# 3 2-3 3 8 33 Hailie Couture# 1 0-1 2 3 45 Reagan Larson# 2 1-2 1 6 3 Mia Bennett 3 0-0 1 6 1 K Bacho 1 0-0 1 2 10 Ahnika Tryon 0 0-0 0 0 23 Cassidy Lewis 0 0-0 1 0 TOTALS 17 12-17 12 49 # Starter JUNCTION CITY FG FT-FTA PF TP 1 Faith Marshall# 0 2-2 2 2 2 Brenna Wilson# 0 0-0 4 0 12 Cienna Hartle# 6 0-0 3 15 20 Adiana Taylor# 1 0-0 4 2 24 Ashlynn Long# 3 1-2 2 10 5 Molly Nelson 3 3-5 3 9 10 Addison Sangermano 0 0-0 1 0 21 Kendra Evans 0 0-0 1 0 TOTALS 13 6-9 20 38 # Starter 3-Point Goals: Philomath 3 (Kramer, Couture, Larson), Junction City 6 (Long 3, Hartle 3)
Fouled Out: None
Total Fouls: Philomath 12, Junction City 20
Technicals: None
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