In a low-scoring matchup between two girls basketball teams that reached their respective state tournaments last season, 5A South Albany pulled away from 4A Philomath Tuesday night, 47-27.
The Warriors struggled offensively in the first half with 11 points at the break.
Gallery: PHS girls basketball vs. South Albany (Dec. 5, 2023)
A collection of photos from Philomath’s 47-27 girls basketball loss to South Albany on Tuesday
“We dug ourselves a hole and struggled the whole first half executing,” PHS coach Ben Silva said. “We knew they were going to bring pressure like that — they always do. They’re a tough team and we didn’t do a very good job handling it, so we’ve got to be better in that aspect.”
Philomath (1-1) had trouble finding any rhythm offensively in the game.
“The bright side was the few times we actually ran our offense, we got ourselves good looks,” Silva said. “We have to be able to do it with more consistency … there wasn’t any flow on the offensive end.”
South Albany (1-0) led by 10 points by the end of the first quarter on the strength of a 7-0 run over the final 90 seconds. In the second quarter, Philomath hit just one field goal on a basket by Zoee Howard off a screen — the team’s other five points were on free throws — and the RedHawks led 23-11 at halftime.
The Warriors played their best over a seven-minute stretch from late in the third quarter well into the fourth quarter with an 11-3 run. Reagan Heiken’s hoop on an exceptional pass from Mica Boynton, a fast-break basket by Emily Taunisila and another bucket by Heiken cut South Albany’s lead to 13 — a margin that had been as high as 21.
“The rotation we had in there in the fourth quarter beared down on the defensive end and then we were able to execute again and got some good looks,” Silva said.
The RedHawks regained momentum over the final 2:20 and ended up with the 20-point victory.
“They’re a tough 5A team and so on the defensive end, to hold them to 45 against a team that’s pretty prolific offensively like that, we should be putting ourselves in a good position. We’ve just got to be able to do better on the offensive end.”
Heiken, a freshman, finished with a team-high 10 points off the bench on five field goals — eight of those points in the second half.
“I’m happy we battled all the way to the end,” Silva said. “We just dug ourselves too deep of a hole.”
Among the starters, sophomore Emily Taunisla scored seven on two baskets and 3 of 4 on free throws.
Sophomore Taylor Donaldson scored 15 for the RedHawks.
“We’re still young and learning and coming together as a group and we definitely have some work to do,” Silva said. “We’re going to get back in the gym tomorrow for practice and hopefully get better.”
Philomath will host Pendleton at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. The Buckaroos come into the contest with a 2-1 record with wins over Gladstone (81-30) and St. Helens (50-44) and a loss to Clarkston, Washington (67-28).
“They score a ton of points … lots of ball pressure and they have a bunch of seniors,” Silva said.
