The Philomath High School boys basketball team rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit in the second half on Scappoose’s home floor Sunday but the game slipped away late in a 65-60 loss.
The Warriors (4-6) went into the weekend with a three-game winning streak. But despite back-to-back losses, which came to teams with a combined 14-4 record, veteran coach Blake Ecker believes his team has turned a corner.
“These last two teams have been very good, but we’re right there,” Ecker said, referencing games vs. Marshfield and Scappoose. “We just need to shore some things up and we’ll be fine. We’ve got two nonleague games left and then we’re in the games where it matters.”
Philomath will square off against Astoria on Jan. 10 on the road and Gladstone on Jan. 13 at home before opening Oregon West Conference play on Jan. 20 against Sweet Home.
“We’re going to give them a few days off and come back and do some open gyms and then come back full-time on the 5th,” Ecker said. “They need a couple days of rest and we’ll go from there.”
In the loss to Scappoose, the Warriors got into a big hole in the first quarter for the second straight game.
“They hit a bunch of 3s in the first part of the game because we weren’t closing out very well and getting out,” Ecker said. “We weren’t transitioning on defense very well and they were getting down the floor.”
The Warriors were stuck in a frustrating cycle with the Indians finding open players and picking up points. Scappoose had a 24-14 lead at the end of the first and stretched its advantage to 40-26 by halftime.
“Then we played pretty well after that,” Ecker said. “Fouling hurt us — we had guys in foul trouble all night long.”
Still, Philomath outscored the Indians, 21-14, in the third quarter and trimmed its deficit to single digits. In the fourth, the Warriors tied the game at 54. But the momentum shifted when Philomath was whistled for a flop, which is a technical foul. Scappoose capitalized on the opportunity, took the lead and never trailed the rest of the way.
“We just couldn’t quite get back over that, we didn’t have enough time,” Ecker said. “But it’s our own fault. We need to clean up some things on our end and we’ll be just fine.”
Junior Esias Sapp had a double-double for the Warriors with 14 points and 11 rebounds. On the offensive end, Sapp had four field goals and went 6 for 6 at the foul line.
Junior Kaden Howard added 12 points, one of his hoops being a 3-pointer. Junior Jamin Peters threw in 11 points and also grabbed eight rebounds. Sophomore Cole Barron had seven boards, junior Lucas Lewetag had a team-high three assists and junior Hamish McConnell had a 3.
For Scappoose (8-1), five players hit double figures led by junior Elijah Greenan Biggs with 16. The Indians hit six 3-pointers in the game.
Scappoose 65, Philomath 60
Sunday, Dec. 28, at Scappoose HS
PHILOMATH (60)
Dreyton Nuño 3 1-1 7, Kaden Howard 5 1-4 12, Esias Sapp 4 6-6 14, Cole Barron 4 1-2 7, Jamin Peters 4 3-7 11, Hamish McConnell 2 0-0 5, Lucas Lewetag 0 0-0 0, Ace Gerding 1 0-0 2, Nathan Seits 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 12-20 60.
SCAPPOOSE (65)
Trever Olsen 4 2-3 12, Nolan Lennox 4 1-4 10, Brayden Miller 5 1-4 12, Elijah Greenan Biggs 5 5-6 16, Drew Butler 5 1-3 11, Dexter Olsen 1 0-2 3, Eli Holm 0 1-2 1, Justin Darco 0 0-0 0, Canyon Sprenger 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 11-24 65.
Team 1 2 3 4 F Philomath (4-6) 14 12 21 13 60 Scappoose (8-1) 24 16 14 11 65
3-Point Goals—Philomath 2 (McConnell, Howard), Scappoose 6 (T. Olsen 2, Lennox, Miller, Biggs, D. Olsen). Fouled Out—Lennox, Butler, Howard, McConnell, Barron. Total Fouls—Philomath 27, Scappoose 20. Technicals—Butler, Gerding, Lewetag.