Philomath High School standouts Preston Kramer and Jacob Peters were invited to play in next month’s Oregon Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Series, Warriors coach Blake Ecker said.
Games featuring top players from 2A through 4A are scheduled to be played on June 14-15 at Bushnell University in Eugene. On the first day, boys’ games will tip-off at 2 p.m. (East vs. West) and 8 p.m. (North vs. South). The second-day schedule shows the third-place game at noon and the championship game at 4 p.m. The tournament also includes 4A-2A girls basketball all-star games.
The rosters are still being finalized.
Last year, Philomath’s Ty May and Cole Beardsley played in the series and Ecker was their head coach for the West. The Warriors won the championship game by 20-plus points and both May and Beardsley were among the top players.
“Last year, we had one practice and right after, we had a barbecue… we did it right outside the gym and cooked burgers and then we played the next couple of days,” Ecker said. “It was a lot of fun.”
Ecker himself played in the all-star series during the summer of 1987. He was coming off a senior season with the Warriors when he averaged 16 points and 12.5 rebounds while being.
“It was sponsored by Nike so we got all kinds of cool stuff — shoes, shirts and we got a whole uniform for free,” he remembered.
Called the AA East-West basketball series, it was played June 12 at Woodburn High School and June 13 at Lane Community College. Ecker, who was on the AA West squad, was the lone PHS player in the series. Dan Wheatley of The Dalles was the head coach.
So did Ecker’s West squad win it?
“I don’t remember, it was so long ago,” he laughed. “I remember playing really well in at least one game.”
Both of Ecker’s kids also played in the all-star series — Trey Ecker in 2015 and Haidyn Ecker in 2018.
Looking ahead to cross-country
Just a couple of weeks after winning a state title in track and field, coach Joe Fulton is already looking ahead to cross-country this fall. Earlier this week, he reached out to prospective team members with information about what they can do if they want to consider summer training. An informational meeting for cross-country is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Friday at the track.
The fall schedule shows Philomath opening cross-country season Aug. 30 in Monmouth at The Opener. The annual Paul Mariman Invitational will fall this year on Oct. 12. Other regular-season meets include the Ultimook Race (Sept. 7) at Tillamook, the Country Fair Classic (Sept. 11) at the Oregon Country Fairgrounds at Veneta, the Stayton XC Invitational (Sept. 14), the Northwest Classic (Sept. 21) at Lane Community College, the Nike Portland (Sept 28) at Blue Lake Regional Park at Fairview, the CG Bramble Scramble (Sept. 28) at Cottage Grove, the Woahink Lake meet (Oct. 5) at Honeyman State Park, Florence, and the Mariman Invite (ct. 12) at PHS.
The Oregon West Championships have not yet been finalized but Fulton said they will likely be held Nov. 2 at Philomath. North Marion is scheduled to host this year’s conference meet but does not have a cross-country course. Most coaches in the conference favor Philomath’s course, Fulton said.
State is scheduled for Nov. 9 at Lane CC in Eugene.
As for this summer, it appears Philomath athletes may be participating in the Barrel 2 Keg Relay on July 13. A fundraising event, a team of up to seven members run 69 miles from Harris Bridge to Newport.
Girls basketball camp coming
Coach Ben Silva and the girls basketball program will host its annual Future Warriors Youth Camp from June 18-20.
The three-day camp, which will be led by coaches and players, will focus on skill development such as dribbling, shooting, passing, rebounding, defense and team play. It will be held in the PHS gymnasiums on those days from 9 a.m.-noon.
Girls who will be in the third through eighth grades this coming academic year are invited to participate. The cost is $60 if registered by June 10 or $75 on the day of the event. Registration includes daily snacks and a T-shirt.
Click here for an event flyer and camp registration form that can be printed out and turned in. Or, the forms can be picked up at Philomath Elementary, Philomath Middle School, Philomath High School or Philomath Youth Activities Club.
For those with questions, shoot an email to the coach at ben.silva@philomath.k12.or.us.
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).
