Clinging to a two-point lead with 16 seconds remaining Friday night against Stayton, Philomath senior Logan Matthews walked up to the foul line to attempt a couple of free throws.
It’s no secret that as a whole, the Warriors’ shooting performance at the stripe has seen better days. So far this season, Philomath has a success rate of just 44.1%. And in fact, the last time Philomath had an evening better than 50% was clear back on Dec. 13 in a game at West Albany.
A new generation builds on PHRED’s legacy
When Casey Baker walked into freshman orientation at Philomath High School four years ago, a table set up for the school’s robotics program caught his eye. He stopped. He signed up. Now a senior wrapping up his final season as a mechanical co-lead for PHRED — the Philomath High Robotics and Engineering Division — Baker…
Even in the first half of Friday night’s game against the Eagles, the Warriors had made just 3 of 10.
OK, you get the picture. So, perhaps a bit of pressure on Matthews as the Warriors were attempting to knock off another top-10 team.
Matthews calmly knocked down both foul shots to give Philomath a two-possession lead and then added another one with 2.5 seconds left to help the Warriors to a 44-42 victory.
“We’ve had a tough time this year with free throws,” Matthews said as the team celebrated its 3-1 start in the Oregon West Conference. “I was just happy I could come through when we needed them.”
The victory was the 400th in Blake Ecker’s coaching career.
Ecker reaches 400 career wins as Philomath’s coach
Blake Ecker recalls feeling pretty nervous on the evening of his head coaching debut. It was Dec. 6, 2002 and the Warriors were hosting Pleasant Hill in front of fans that had gotten pretty used to winning. Philomath was coming off a state championship season in Dave Garvin’s final go-round as the head coach. Eight…
“It feels great. I mean, to get this one at home against a good team like that, it feels great,” Matthews said.
Stayton (10-7 overall, 1-3 Oregon West) had the better start with a four-point lead through the first eight minutes but Philomath (9-8, 3-1) started to find success in the paint. Senior Zack Powers scored the first two buckets of the second quarter to tie the game and then after grabbing an offensive rebound, got the ball to Matthews for two more and a 12-10 lead.
Philomath knew that it needed to come at the Eagles with a physical style of play. And that’s exactly how the evening unfolded.
“We knew that their posts were some of the better posts in the league,” Powers said. “We definitely worked on that part (in practice) to make sure they didn’t really get the ball down low. We did struggle with that a little bit in the first half but I felt like we did much better in the second half.”
The Eagles came out of the break with energy and vaulted to a 24-18 lead as they threatened to pull away. Coming out of a timeout with 6:38 left in the third, Matthews buried a 3-pointer to turn the tide. On the team’s next possession, sophomore Jamin Peters scored on an open layup after a perfect lob pass over a Stayton defender by junior Josiah Peters. Two minutes later, Powers scored again with an assist by senior Caleb Russell for a 25-24 lead.
“Our guys did a good job coming out in the second half, especially matching that physicality,” Ecker said. “In the first half, they bodied up and manhandled us a little bit inside.”
By the end of the third, the Warriors had a 33-27 lead. Powers scored with an assist to Josiah Peters at 3:14, Matthews sank a pair of free throws at 2:41, Matthews scored on a drive to the hoop at 1:41 and Josiah Peters grabbed a rebound, dribbled and then put up a jump shot with 10 seconds left.
“We just started playing as a team better, honestly,” Matthews said. “I mean, everyone was doing their job and the players were working. It was a great team effort.”
Stayton tried to play catch-up in the fourth quarter and the Eagles tied the game, 36-36, with 2:02 remaining when senior Tanner Starbuck came away with a steal and a hoop. But on the other end, Russell responded by burying a 3-pointer and Philomath never trailed the rest of the way.
Jamin Peters worked hard for a basket at the 1:07 mark to give the Warriors a 41-38 lead. The teams exchanged free throws and Philomath held a 43-39 advantage when Stayton called a timeout. Coming out of that, Eagles junior Ruben Reyes hit a 3-pointer with 5 seconds left to cut the Warriors’ lead to 43-42.
Matthews followed with a clutch free throw for a two-point lead, leaving the door open to Stayton for a possible buzzer beater to either tie or win. But the Eagles in what little time remained could not get off a decent shot as Reyes threw up a ball from half-court.
While his players could be heard celebrating in the locker room, Ecker said the team has come a long way since those early days of practice and a 2-6 start to the regular season.
“We couldn’t even hardly run the offense and now we’ve come together,” Ecker said, repeating what he had told the team afterward. “We talked about the five principles … when the five individuals (on the floor) play together, you have a fist. And that’s what we’re starting to become — that fist.”
Matthews and Powers see a team that’s turning a corner.
“I think at the start there was concern,” Matthews said. “After these last couple games, I think we’re feeling great as a team and I think we could really do something special here.”
“In the Cascade game in the first half, I felt like, ‘we’ve got something here,’” Powers said. “Just being able to come back after that and being able to win another one to be 3-1 — it’s definitely not what I expected at the beginning of the year. But I’m glad we’re in that spot.”
Powers and Matthews were Philomath’s top scorers with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Senior Ethan Whieldon finished with 15 for the Eagles.
Philomath will play at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Newport for its next appearance on the hardwood. The Cubs are also off to a 3-1 start in league play and this past Tuesday were especially impressive in a 61-34 win over Stayton. Newport beat Sweet Home on Friday, 52-43.
“It’s pretty hard to go out there and play but I’m happy with the position that we’re in right now,” Ecker said. “We’ve just got to prepare for the next one. It’s game-by-game, that’s how I take it. This weekend’s all about Newport and we’ll forget about everything else.”
