FOREST GROVE — In a high-stakes showdown Friday afternoon between two conference rivals and a trip to the Class 4A state championship game on the line, Philomath High senior Anneka Steen and sophomore teammate Reagan Heiken provided a strong 1-2 punch that the opponent could not match through the game’s first 16 minutes.
Playing Cascade, Steen’s 15 and Heiken’s 10 in the first half helped the Warriors to what proved to be an insurmountable 27-13 lead. The Cougars made things interesting in the second half with a barrage of 3-pointers but Philomath was able to hang on for a 43-37 victory.
Gallery: PHS girls basketball vs. Cascade (March 14, 2025)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s 43-37 girls basketball win over Cascade in the Class 4A state playoffs on Friday.
Philomath (23-5) will face Stayton (25-1) at 5:45 p.m. Saturday in the 4A finale. The No. 2-seeded Eagles advanced with a 59-35 blowout over 11th-seeded Baker in the other semifinal.
“We put the work in to get to this point and this is just the payoff,” PHS coach Ben Silva said. “We want to go out and enjoy it and have fun.”
Steen and Heiken certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves in the first half. Philomath’s relentless defense caused all kinds of problems with pressure-induced turnovers and haphazard shot attempts plaguing the Cougars. On many of those plays, the Warriors scored quickly in transition on the other end.
“That’s our bread and butter on the defensive end — always has been,” Silva said.
The Warriors ended up with a 24-6 advantage when it came to points in the paint.
“We have so many kids that can finish at the hoop in different ways … whether it be attacking from the outside and finishing at the hoop or with our back to the basket,” Silva said. “On the offensive end, that’s who we are, it’s our identity.”
Steen came out of the gate with an intensity that the Cougars could not handle. In fact, it might’ve been her best half of basketball all season.
“I’ve seen it a few times throughout the course of the season and she’s been tough all year for us,” Silva said. “Not to take anything away from the non-seniors but this means something different to a senior. Tomorrow night’s her last game and she wanted to be in that fight.”
Said Steen, “We made it a big point to come out strong, come out with energy, play together and have fun.”
Cascade held a 4-3 advantage past the midway point of the first quarter. A Steen jump shot sparked a 13-0 run over the final 3:50 to give the Warriors a 16-4 lead. By the break, PHS held a 27-13 advantage.
The Cougars simply looked frazzled on the offensive end in the first half, particularly over the game’s first eight minutes.
“When you play a team two times, this being the third, you’re able to get prepared and see some things on film,” Silva said. “They’ve done things in the past to make it really hard. I thought we made some adjustments that worked really well in the first half to allow us to still get those looks in the paint.”
After playing two close matchups during the regular season — each team won on their home floor — it seemed within reason that another tight one would unfold in the 4A semifinal. Sure enough, Philomath’s double-digit lead disappeared in the second half with the Cougars fighting back to within five with 2:53 remaining.
Cascade junior Olivia Bennett drilled four 3-pointers in the second half and senior teammate Lexi Newton hit a couple of her own to lead the second-half charge. That came after the Cougars had gone 0 for 9 from three-point range in the first half.
“Maybe we sagged off a little bit too much but we still on defense (had) hands in the face,” Silva said. “They just had some players that hit some shots. But that lead we built allowed us to weather that.”
Cascade’s second-half rally didn’t surprise Philomath’s players — not with a history of close games between the two schools.
“We knew it wasn’t a certain win,” Heiken said. “When they got hot in the third quarter … somehow we still were able to keep the lead because of the first half. We put in the work and coasted towards the end but we got back in it as we expected.”
Bennett finished with a game-high 18 points for the Cougars.
“They have some good shooters but we held them off,” Heiken said. “We shut down their best player at the end.”
Asked if Philomath started to panic a little in the second half when Cascade made a serious run at the lead, Steen pushed aside that sort of talk.
“I believe that we are the better team,” she said. “We work harder. We’ve been prepared for this.”
The officials let the kids play in this one with a lot of bodies flying around on the floor, which seemed to play into Cascade’s favor during its comeback.
“The game became very physical with not a lot of foul calls and we turned the ball over a few more times than we’d like to,” Silva said. “At this point in time, we’ve just got to find ways to win.”
Cascade shot just 41.7% from the foul line on 5 of 12 free throws. Philomath did a little better at 14 of 25 for 56%.
Steen and Heiken each finished with 15 and junior Shaylee May added 11, a performance that included a 3-pointer and 6 of 8 from the foul line. Sophomore Annaleise Brown had 10 rebounds.
“It’s definitely exciting — I’ve been excited all year,” Steen said about moving on to the finals. “I think we have a great team. I love my team and I’m just happy we’re here together.”
Silva and the Warriors have become a program to reckon with in recent years.
“This is the third one of these I get to coach in over the last six, seven years so I’m pretty fortunate,” Silva said. “I’ve had a lot of very talented players and kids that buy in and play their role.”
Philomath will attempt to win its fifth state championship Saturday evening — the last of those coming in 2022.
Said Silva, “I really appreciate the fans that showed up but we’d love to see a Philomath section filled with fans tomorrow.”
