The Philomath High School boys basketball team opened the Les Schwab South Coast Tournament Thursday with a 54-36 victory over North Bend.
The victory advances the Warriors into the semifinals of the tournament, which is hosted by Marshfield High School in Coos Bay. Philomath (2-4) will play the winner of Marshfield vs. North Marion at 8:30 p.m. Friday.
The Warriors led 13-11 after the first quarter with sophomore Esias Sapp coming off the bench to score five, including a 3-pointer. By halftime, Philomath extended its advantage to 27-17. Junior Josiah Peters found a rhythm and scored 10 of his 14 points to offset the team’s 0-for-5 performance in the quarter at the free-throw line.
By the end of the third, Philomath had a 40-25 lead. Senior Logan Matthews scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half. Sophomore Jamin Peters also had a big second half with eight of his 10 points.
North Bend sophomore Hunter Christensen led the Bulldogs with eight points.
One note on the final score: The OSAA website shows the final as 53-36. The report here of 54 points for Philomath is based on field goals and free throws that were recorded in the team’s scorebook.
If the Warriors ended up facing Marshfield as anticipated, the Pirates would bring a 6-1 record into the game. Marshfield was ranked No. 3 in the most-recent OSAAtoday coaches poll.
