Philomath High School’s Blake Ecker was named Coach of the Year and three Warriors were named to the all-Oregon West Conference’s second team in boys basketball.
PHS seniors Caleb Russell, Logan Matthews and Zack Powers earned spots on the all-league second team. Each of those three players have contributed in a significant way to the team’s success this season in the conference.
On any given night, any of those three starters could lead the team in scoring. Russell has been potent from 3-point range, Matthews can do a little bit of everything whether it’s driving for a layup or hitting a jumper in the lane and Powers has been the difference on several occasions with his ability to muscle for points inside.
Ecker, meanwhile, reached the 400-win plateau this season for his high school coaching career at Philomath but on top of that, he notably took a team that got off to a 2-6 start and ended up finishing second in a very tough Oregon West Conference for an automatic berth in the 4A playoffs.
The Warriors finished the regular season with a 13-10 record and ranked No. 7 by the Oregon School Activities Association. Philomath was seeded ninth for the playoffs and will play at 6 p.m. Saturday at Seaside in a first-round matchup.
Cascade’s Landon Knox was named Player of the Year and Newport’s Aaidyn Bokuro was Defensive Player of the Year. The first team included Knox, Bokuro, Cascade’s Kaiden Ford, North Marion’s Cade Hartenstein, Newport’s Rory Barber and Stayton’s Ethan Whieldon (yes, the first team has six players).
Joining Russell, Matthews and Powers on the second team were Stayton’s Ean Dillingham and North Marion’s Reece Hartenstein.
The all-conference team for girls basketball has not yet been released.
PHS boys to play at Seaside
The Warrior boys will make the three-hour drive to Seaside this week for a Saturday evening playoff game. The tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for students and can be purchased online.
Philomath comes into the game at 13-10, which perhaps is a little bit of a deceiving record. The Warriors struggled early in the season with a very difficult schedule that included losses in six of their first eight games. Out of those early six losses, five of those teams have advanced to the state playoffs — and three of those are 5A schools.
In fact, all but two of Philomath’s losses this entire season were against schools that are alive in the state playoffs.
Seaside, meanwhile, was seeded one spot higher than Philomath by the OSAA based on its Cowapa League title. The Seagulls won 11 of 12 games in their conference and finished 16-8 overall. They finished No. 13 — six spots lower than Philomath — in the final OSAA rankings.
The two schools had several common opponents during the season. Philomath went 6-3 in those games and Seaside was 4-5. For example against Newport, Seaside lost 74-37 (in its season opener) while the Warriors swept the Cubs this season, 52-48 and 46-45. The Seagulls lost to Junction City, 68-54, a team that Philomath defeated 43-41. On the other hand, Seaside beat Marist, 46-43, a school that the Warriors lost to by a 44-29 margin.
The last time these two teams met was in the 2022 state playoffs. Seaside pulled out a 62-61 win over the Warriors in the quarterfinals. And for those who have followed the program for a while, you may remember the 2016 state championship game when Philomath beat Seaside, 55-45 (Austin Gerding scored 21 in that game — Riley Davis and Cal Stueve also hit double digits). That was Philomath’s last state championship in boys basketball. Seaside followed in 2017 and 2018 with state titles of its own.
Warrior girls to face North Bend
The Philomath High girls are also preparing for the state playoffs as the No. 1 seed in Class 4A. The Warriors will take on 16th-seeded North Bend in a first-round matchup at 7 p.m. Friday in the PHS gym.
Philomath comes into the game with an overall record of 20-5 while the Bulldogs are 14-10. Tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for students and can be purchased online.
The two schools had four common opponents this season — Newport, Marist Catholic, Junction City and North Marion. Against those teams, Philomath had a 6-0 record while the Bulldogs were 2-6.
Against Marist, for instance, the Warriors posted a 63-23 victory while North Bend lost to the Spartans on three occasions in league play, 53-33, 37-28 and 57-39. The same thing can be seen against Junction City with Philomath posting a 45-19 win over the Tigers while the Bulldogs lost three times in the league by scores of 50-30, 57-51 and 45-42.
North Bend defeated North Marion in a play-in game this past Saturday by the slimmest of margins, 36-35, to advance into the playoffs. Philomath beat North Marion this season by scores of 48-18 and 46-18.
The two schools have not played in recent years in girls basketball.
Shining Stars hosting event
The Shining Stars dance and drill team will host Dancing With the Stars on Saturday in the PHS gym. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for students and seniors, and free for children ages 5 and under.
The event begins at 9 a.m. with team competitions. The afternoon session is scheduled to begin at approximately 1 p.m. and will feature solo and duo competitions. (See the team’s event flyer here).
The dance and drill team is being coached this year by Jordyn McMullen with assistance from Ava Schwartz, Michelle Park and Stefanie Larson.
According to the Philomath High roster as published by the OSAA, team members include senior Elizabeth Burriel, juniors Astrid Cropp and Glnnah Hopper, sophomore Kate Burriel and freshmen Hannah Best, Kaihautu Cropp, Rebecca Larson, Sofia Nanoski and Isla Smith.
Katherine Burriel is the team’s student manager.
This will be the final weekend of competitions before the state championships, which are scheduled for March 21-22 at the Salem Pavilion. At the recent Sprague event, the Shining Stars won the Pom category in a 1A-4A division.
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).
