In a conference loaded with quality programs with a number of individual athletes that can take over a game, Philomath High’s boys basketball team knows a good start in Oregon West play can go a long way toward the goal of winning the league title.
Two major tests for the Warriors awaited on the schedule with a Friday evening game against visiting Newport before hitting the road Tuesday for a showdown at North Marion. Philomath passed the first in a 57-33 victory over the Cubs.
Philomath (11-3) led just two points after the first quarter but went on a 19-5 run in the second to build a lead that the Cubs could not overcome.
“They have some shooters, I mean, they were shooting a lot of 3s in that first quarter and if they would have dropped a few of those, it could have been a different ballgame,” PHS coach Blake Ecker said.
Now, the Huskies await.
“We go to North Marion and they’re a very good team as well,” Ecker said. “They have the returning (Oregon West) Player of the Year in Cole Hammack and we’ll see if we can keep him in check.”
In Friday’s win, Newport’s inability to handle Philomath’s 1-3-1 defense played a pivotal role in the outcome.
“It bothered them, no doubt about it,” Ecker said. “It bothered them and we got our hands on a lot of basketballs with it.”
Newport intended to give Philomath a battle and led 11-6 halfway through the first quarter. The Warriors responded with a 7-0 run behind a spark from senior Kaden Muir, who buried a 3-pointer and followed with a drive in the lane for two more. Senior Preston Kramer then scored in transition for a 13-11 lead and the Warriors never trailed the rest of the night.
Senior Jacob Peters was a force in the first half with 14 points. In fact, he scored four consecutive baskets over a stretch of 3:22 in the second quarter as part of a 12-0 run.
“We did enough on the defensive end to get some stops and create some turnovers and score points out of it but we started off kind of ticky-tack in the first quarter,” Ecker said. “We didn’t allow a lot of points after that so we did a good job but we were rusty in all facets I thought.”
By halftime, the Philomath lead was up to 34-18. Peters and Kramer had scored 76% of the team’s points at that point.
In the third quarter, the scoring slowed down for Philomath but more importantly, the Warrior defense never allowed Newport to find much success and get back into the game. Ecker knew the Cubs had weapons capable of putting up points.
“They’ve played some decent teams and they lost to Junction City by two,” Ecker said. “No. 3’s (Aaidyn Bokuro) a really good player and their point guard, No. 21 (Braxton Blaser), he’s very athletic and a very good player as well.”
Junior Logan Matthews, senior Mason Stearns and junior Caleb Russell were major contributors off the bench.
“Matthews had a 3 and Mason had a couple that rattled in and popped out but those guys step up when we need them to,” Ecker said. “I thought Caleb Russell gave us some spark in the second quarter — he didn’t hit a shot but he had a couple of really nice passes to Preston inside.”
Matthews finished with nine points in the game with seven in the second half. The 3-pointer that Ecker mentioned came with 2:22 left in the third quarter and gave the Warriors a 41-14 lead.
Philomath got all of its players into the game. Among those, sophomore CD Nuno popped a 3-pointer late.
Kramer ended up with 20 points and Peters scored two more hoops in the second half to finish with 18.
For the Cubs (8-4), Bokuro had a team-high nine points. Newport hit five 3-pointers in the game but otherwise were unable to do much on offense.
Philomath’s game Tuesday at North Marion is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off. The Huskies will bring an 11-4 record into the game after defeating Stayton, 57-36, on Friday.
