In a girls basketball showdown Friday evening between two early-season ranked unbeatens, Philomath came through for a 54-48 victory on the road at West Albany.
The Warriors, ranked No. 1 in the OSAAtoday Class 4A coaches poll, goes to 3-0 on the season. West Albany, ranked No. 6 in the coaches poll for 5A, drops to 3-1.
West Albany hangs on to beat Philomath in boys basketball
The Philomath High School boys basketball team erupted for 27 points in the fourth quarter but it wasn’t enough to overcome 5A West Albany in a 69-61 loss on the road. The Bulldogs (2-1) opened up a 25-17 lead by the end of the first quarter, held a 39-29 advantage at halftime and then went…
The two schools were even through the first two quarters with the game tied 26-26 at halftime. But the Warriors started to pull away in the third quarter behind 55% shooting from the floor and better success at the free-throw line when compared to the first half. Senior Anneka Steen found a rhythm and scored nine of her 16 points in the third quarter, one of those baskets being a 3-pointer.
Heading into the fourth, Philomath held a 43-36 lead and the two teams were nearly even the rest of the way.
The Warriors shot 44.2% from the field in the game compared to West Albany’s 35.4%.
Individually, Philomath had three players hit double figures for scoring. In addition to Steen’s 16, junior Shaylee May scored 13 and senior Zoey Howard scored 10 in her first action this season. May hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first half. Howard also hit a 3.
For the Bulldogs, Natalie Tidwell and Payton Starwalt each scored 14 with Karlee Martirano adding 11 — all three of those players being sophomores.
Philomath is scheduled to play at 7 p.m. Tuesday at South Albany.
