Although Henley’s girls basketball team appears to be a strong No. 1 team in Class 4A with a 14-0 record, Philomath is definitely in the conversation as a team that could challenge come tournament time.
The Warriors were sitting at No. 2 in the Oregon School Activities Association’s rankings following Friday night’s results, which included Philomath’s 65-25 rout over Newport. Coach Ben Silva has a roster loaded with underclassmen but despite the youthful feel, he believes the team can reach pretty good heights this season.
“Ahnika Tryon is our one senior and she does a good job leading up but everybody else will have at least another year after this,” Silva said. “The future is definitely very bright but I think we can also do good things this year as well. I think we’ve got a good opportunity to make a push here.”
Philomath (10-3) worked through early issues in Friday’s win over the Cubs before rolling in the second half. The Warriors (10-3) outscored the visitors 39-15 in the second half.
Silva said the team needed time to find a rhythm after missing time in the gym because of the recent ice storm.
“I thought things came together a little bit better in the second half,” he said. “In the first half, we looked a little sluggish and didn’t really look like we were in much of a flow but we were able to find that in the second half.”
Philomath had an optional practice Thursday and all varsity players participated. A game that had been scheduled for Tuesday at Pleasant Hill was canceled. (An addition to the schedule is a Feb. 10 game at Westside Christian, a 3A school in Tigard).
Despite the early breakdowns, Philomath never trailed Newport. The Warriors got out to a 9-0 lead in the first five minutes on an Anneka Steen drive to the hoop, a Reagan Heiken hoop and the back-to-back baskets by Emily Taunisila, the latter being a 3-pointer. Mica Boynton buried the first of her two 3-pointers in the final seconds to give PHS a 14-3 lead at the end of the first.
Steen picked up two early fouls and had to sit for a good stretch but returned in the second quarter and hit a 3-pointer at the 2:36 mark for a 24-9 lead. The Warriors had a 16-point advantage by halftime.
In the second half, Philomath played at a higher level and outscored the Cubs 22-4 over the eight-minute stretch of the third quarter. Taunisila buried a couple of 3-pointers and Zoee Howard scored three baskets.
Heiken scored three straight baskets over the first 1:43 of the fourth, had eight overall in the quarter and ended up as the night’s top scorer with 17. Silva cleared the bench with 12 players getting into the game.
A Newport player inadvertently scored two points for Philomath with 58 seconds left after coming up with a rebound on a missed free throw and went in for an uncontested layup. Under the rules, Philomath’s Shaylee May received credit for the two points as the closest player to the Newport girl who put in the basket.
Besides the 17 from Heiken, Taunisila finished with 13, which included three 3-pointers, and Howard had 10 points on four baskets and a couple of free throws.
Sahaylee Mason scored 12 points on four 3-pointers for the Cubs (2-10).
Philomath is scheduled to play Tuesday at North Marion. The Huskies fell to Stayton by 13 points Friday and will come into the game with a 7-8 record.
