The Philomath High School boys basketball team ran onto the home court Tuesday night against Cascade with plenty of motivation to perform well.
The Cougars came into the contest with an eight-game winning streak over the Warriors, dating back to the 2021-22 when this season’s seniors were eighth graders. The streak included three painful losses to Cascade in 2022-23 — 50-49 and 64-61 during the regular season and 61-52 in the state championship game.
Gallery: PHS boys basketball vs. Cascade (Jan. 27, 2026)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s 69-62 boys basketball win over Cascade on Tuesday.
“I haven’t seen our varsity basketball team ever beat Cascade,” junior forward Hamish McConnell said. “We wanted to come out here and destroy them and we did that in the first half.”
Philomath stopped the streak with a 69-62 victory.
“It’s always a good one to win — no doubt about it,” PHS coach Blake Ecker said. “But we’re not satisfied … we need to do better and get better … We’ve got to regroup and get ready for Friday night.”
The Warriors (9-6 overall, 3-0 Oregon West) opened with an offensive outburst in the first quarter and led by 15 points at halftime. The Cougars rallied in the second half and cut their deficit to two points early in the fourth quarter but the Warriors persevered and finished strong.
The victory represented Philomath’s first over Cascade since Jan. 7, 2022, when the Warriors pulled out a 51-48 victory. Ty May scored 14, Chad Russell added 11 and Cole Matthews finished with 10 in that one.
Philomath played perhaps its best eight minutes of basketball so far this season in the first period by shooting out to a 29-14 lead.
“We were playing ‘D’ and getting some good transition buckets, passing the ball well,” Ecker said. “We came out and had a really good first quarter and the second quarter wasn’t bad either.”
Cascade started to see more success against Philomath’s defense in the second quarter and played the Warriors even on the scoreboard. By halftime, the Warriors held a 47-32 advantage.
“In the first half, it was just coordination,” said McConnell, who had 14 points and eight rebounds. “I mean, we were all just feeling ourselves with each other and came out with the right energy — we usually don’t and tonight we did.”
Philomath went cold to start the second half and didn’t convert a basket until just 57 seconds remained in the third when McConnell scored. The only previous point in the quarter had been scored on a free throw by junior Kaden Howard at the 2:23 mark.
But Philomath finished those final seconds strong with junior Esias Sapp getting a steal and a hoop followed by a Howard basket to push the lead back up to 14.
Cascade had a run in the fourth quarter and pulled to within 56-54 on a 3-pointer by sophomore Brysen Higgins with 5:44 remaining. Philomath survived the moment, however, and responded with a McConnell bucket on a putback. Junior Jamin Peters followed with a couple of free throws and Philomath maintained at least a two-possession lead the rest of the way.
“We got some key stops and we had a charge called that went our way finally and that was good,” Ecker said about the fourth quarter. “We hit some key free throws, too. Jamin hit four of them right at the end.”
The charge occurred with 2:37 remaining and the Warriors up by four points. Sophomore Dreyton Nuño stood his ground to draw the foul, which was the fifth on Cascade’s Higgins. Sophomore Cole Barron at 2:07 and Sapp at 1:15 both had important hoops down the stretch. Peters iced it with two free throws at the 20-second mark.
“We got some key rebounds and some key putbacks thank goodness,” Ecker said. “They were making a run on us and I don’t think they ever took the lead but got to within two. We just needed to keep plugging away.”
Sapp had a team-high 23 points on eight field goals, two of those 3-pointers, and 5 of 7 from the foul line. In addition to McConnell’s 14 points and eight rebounds, Peters also scored 14 and Howard had 10. Barron grabbed eight boards and Nuño had five assists.
Higgins led Cascade (6-7, 0-3) with 25 points, a performance that included a 3-pointer and 10 for 10 at the free-throw line.
Philomath has now won five straight games. McConnell believes the team has come a long way since the 1-4 start with players connecting much better on the court.
“Team chemistry,” McConnell said when asked how the team has progressed. “Honestly, I think we’re all fairly great players and any of us can play on the court but I think the biggest struggle we had at the beginning of the season was team chemistry. And that’s changed a lot.”
Philomath will next face Stayton on the road at 5:30 p.m. Friday. The Eagles (10-6, 3-0) knocked off Newport on Tuesday, 56-55.
Philomath 69, Cascade 62
Tuesday, Jan. 27, at Philomath HS
CASCADE (62)
Felix Prenevost 4 3-4 11, Brysen Higgins 7 10-10 25, Jamison Walsh 0 0-0 0, Brody Anundi 6 0-0 12, Trajan Merriman 2 0-0 6, Jay Erickson 2 0-0 4, Jameson Acker 0 0-0 0, Cam Wilson 1 1-3 4, Dominick Salvo 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 14-17 62.
PHILOMATH (69)
Dreyton Nuño 1 1-2 3, Kaden Howard 4 1-6 10, Hamish McConnell 5 3-6 14, Esias Sapp 8 5-7 23, Jamin Peters 5 4-7 14, Ace Gerding 0 0-0 0, Cole Barron 1 2-2 4, Nathan Seits 0 1-2 1, Lucas Lewetag 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 17-31 69.
Team 1 2 3 4 F Cascade (6-7, 0-3) 14 18 10 20 62 Philomath (9-6, 3-0) 29 18 7 15 69
3-Point Goals—Cascade 4 (Merriman 2, Wilson, Higgins), Philomath 4 (Sapp 2, McConnell, Howard). Fouled Out—Anundi, Higgins, Walsh. Total Fouls—Cascade 24, Philomath 17. Technicals—Howard.