In a physical matchup with tough play underneath, 6-foot-5 Philomath senior Owen Heiken planted his feet to put himself in position to take a charge against a Stayton player who had lowered his shoulder on a drive toward the hoop.
The official didn’t blow his whistle and a short time later, the same type of call went against the Warriors. That’s life in high school basketball and those moments didn’t hurt the Warriors much on the scoreboard in a 61-36 win Friday night in the PHS gym.
Gallery: PHS boys basketball vs. Stayton (Jan. 29, 2024)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s 61-36 boys basketball win over Stayton on Monday.
Heiken and his 6-4 senior teammate Connor Harms enjoy the roles they play inside.
“Definitely,” Heiken said after the win when asked if they pride themselves on being physical. “We get a lot of fouls but we keep their bigs from scoring a lot … Connor did a good job inside.”
Philomath dominated the first half with a 30-9 lead at the break. Stayton simply couldn’t produce much against an effective Warriors defense. The Eagles made four field goals through the game’s first 16 minutes and really struggled at the foul line by going 1 for 10.
“I feel like we played real well in the first half,” Heiken said. “Keeping them to nine points in the first half is a big defensive feat so I think we played well together.”
Senior Preston Kramer had 16 and senior Jacob Peters added seven to help the Warriors build the first-half lead.
The two teams were more even in the second half with the Warriors holding a 31-27 advantage. Stayton sophomore Mason Silbernagel helped the Eagles stay in the game with three 3-pointers in the third quarter and another one in the opening seconds of the fourth.
“We didn’t do a very good job getting through those staggers on the backside,” Ecker said. “We run the same play, basically, and we’re able to defend that in practice but not in a game, so that was a little frustrating.”
Stayton trailed by 27 points two minutes into the third quarter but trimmed its deficit to 13 with 5:45 remaining. The Warriors regrouped and finished the final four minutes on a 14-2 run.
“It wasn’t a great game for us, especially in the second half,” Ecker said. “But like I told the guys, to not play very well and still win is a sign of a good team.”
Kramer finished with 24 points on 10 baskets and 4 of 7 from the foul line. Peters had a strong finish in the fourth and ended up with 15 points on six field goals and 2 of 2 on free throws. He had one of the team’s 3-pointers — the others by junior Caleb Russell in the third and senior Kash Lindsey in the fourth.
Philomath (11-3 overall, 4-0 Oregon West) needed to stay focused against the Eagles with a showdown against Cascade on the schedule for Thursday. The 4A champions last season defeated Philomath three times — the last time for the state title.
“It’s a little hard to not look forward to that one,” Heiken said. “I think we’re all excited and feeling ready to play them at home Thursday.”
Both teams are in the OSAA’s top five and the Cougars will bring records of 10-5 and 3-0 into a home conference game Tuesday against Newport before facing the Warriors.
“They lost some of their guys to graduation that were more physical, so they’ve changed in that regard,” Ecker said. “But they do have a point guard back who is very good along with a left-handed shooter and they have a post back who is a little older now and is really good as well. So they have three really solid guys that they can turn to.”
Four of Cascade’s five losses came to opponents in higher classifications — three in 5A and one in 6A. The lone loss against a 4A team occurred earlier this month at No. 1 Astoria.
“They’re our league rival right now and playing at home, we definitely want to give it our best shot,” Ecker said.
The boys will play the early game Thursday with the tip-off scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
