Cascade broke open a close game in the fourth quarter Tuesday evening for a 49-40 win over Philomath to force a three-way tie atop the Oregon West Conference’s final regular-season standings.
Philomath (18-5), Cascade (16-7) and Stayton (17-4), which beat Sweet Home Tuesday night, each finished league play with 8-2 records. The Warriors and Cougars, ranked No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, in the OSAA rankings, earned automatic berths in the Class 4A playoffs. Stayton, ranked No. 6, will need to win a play-in game against The Dalles to advance into the field of 16.
Philomath, seeded third, will host a first-round game against the No. 14 seed on March 2. If the Warriors win, they would advance to the tournament March 7-9 at Forest Grove.
Against Cascade, Warriors junior Anneka Steen scored 19 points, which included a pair of 3-pointers, in an aggressive offensive performance on the Turner school’s home court. Junior Zoee Howard added seven and sophomore Emily Taunisila and freshman Reagan Heiken each had six.
“Steen played great on both ends,” PHS coach Ben Silva said. “She had a tough defensive matchup and was still effective at scoring on the offensive side.”
Philomath held a 12-6 lead lead in the first quarter with six straight points scored by Steen — on a jump shot at 4:33, a 3-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer at 2:02 and on a rebound and coast-to-coast layup at 1:24.
But Cascade recovered with senior Maddie Dustin sinking a pair of foul shots and then following up with a steal and hoop with 27 seconds on the clock. The Philomath lead was 12-10 going into the second.
Philomath maintained the lead through 7:59 of the second quarter with Cascade scoring at the buzzer for a 20-19 lead at the break. Steen, senior Ahnika Tryon and Heiken all had baskets during an eight-minute stretch that featured strong defense and inconsistent shooting by both teams.
With 3:13 left in the first half, Heiken scored with a basket off the glass for a 19-14 lead. Cascade finished with six straight, however, the buzzer-beater coming on an offensive rebound and put-back by Pearl Pruett.
In the second half, the point production picked up and the two teams were tied, 33-33, going into the fourth quarter. Cascade led most of the quarter and held a six-point lead on two occasions.
Down 30-24, Philomath finished with a 9-3 run to force the tie. Howard and Heiken scored back-to-back hoops off the glass to cut the deficit to two. Then after Cascade got the lead back up to five, Steen answered with a 3-pointer to bring the Warriors to within 33-31.
With 35 seconds left in the quarter, Heiken found the net with a feed from Taunisila. Philomath preserved the tie on the other end with 13 seconds left when Heiken blocked a Cascade shot inside.
In the fourth, Philomath was limited to just four points through the first 7-1/2 minutes. The Warriors led 37-36 with 3:44 remaining when Steen scored. On the play, junior Aspen Russell got a long rebound and executed a quick outlet pass to Steen, who was able to go the length of the court for the hoop.
However, Cascade followed with a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to take control. Philomath’s final points came on a Taunisila 3-pointer with 34 seconds left.
“All the kids played hard,” Silva said. “They just had some shots fall late in the game and we didn’t. That’s the way it goes sometimes. I’m still very proud of the girls.”
Cascade’s Dustin finished with 21 points, which included a 3-pointer and 8 for 8 from the foul line.
Philomath has scheduled a tune-up game for 6 p.m. Friday at Marist Catholic in Eugene. The two teams played on Dec. 29 with the Warriors taking a 46-32 win. Marist (11-10) finished second in the Sky Em League and also earned an automatic berth in the state playoffs.
