Coming into Thursday night’s girls basketball showdown for first place between Philomath and Cascade, junior guard Aspen Russell had scored just two points in conference play — a second-quarter hoop in a blowout win over Sweet Home.
The 5-foot-5 Russell who wears uniform No. 1 is known more for her defensive prowess and setting up teammates on the offensive end. In other words, it’s a bit rare to see her take shots from the field.
Gallery: PHS girls basketball vs. Cascade (Feb. 1, 2024)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s 45-41 girls basketball win at home over Cascade on Thursday.
But in Philomath’s 45-41 victory over Cascade that gave the Warriors sole possession of first place in the Oregon West, Russell’s long 2 with 2:34 remaining was the shot of the game. At the time, it gave the Warriors a 41-39 lead. Just as important, it provided an unmistakable energy in the PHS gym that remained until the final buzzer.
“I don’t know, it’s like a blur,” Russell said when asked about the shot. “I was open — so I took it.”
Simple, sure, but still a huge shot under pressure as the Warriors were fighting to complete a comeback from nine points down earlier in the fourth quarter.
“She keeps it hidden pretty well but she can shoot the ball very well,” PHS coach Ben Silva said about Russell. “We have all the faith in the world, her teammates trust her. If she steps up and makes a shot, I have pretty good confidence that it’s going to go in.”
The Warriors completed their first run through the conference with a 5-0 record while dropping Cascade to 4-1. In the OSAA rankings, Philomath is sitting at No. 3, Cascade at No. 5 and Stayton at No. 7. The Warriors have a clear path to the league title but will need to find success on the road with their last two games at Stayton and Cascade.
That made Thursday’s home win all the more important.
“It’s a really big win for us,” Russell said. “We’re excited as a team to get out there and try to take this league.”
Cascade opened the game with a 10-0 run, a stretch that included 3-pointers by senior Maddie Dustin and sophomore Olivia Bennett. But that only set up Philomath’s first comeback of the game. By the three-minute mark of the second quarter, the Warriors had gone up 14-13 and at 2:15, the lead was up to 18-13.
It was all part of a 13-0 run with freshman Reagan Heiken, junior Anneka Steen, junior Mica Boynton and senior Ahnika Tryon all scoring points.
Cascade recovered late and led 21-20 at halftime thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Dustin.
Silva said the goal was to hold Cascade’s sharpshooters to under six 3-pointers and if the defense could pull it off, he figured Philomath would get the win. Sure, the Cougars ended up with eight treys but it didn’t matter in the end.
“We were able to weather that and show some resiliency … one of our goals early on in the season was to be resilient,” Silva said. “So that gives them confidence to be able to come back and win that game.”
Cascade came out in the second half and attempted to pull away. Bennett’s 3-point shooting was heating up — she buried three of them in the third quarter alone. The Warriors tried to keep pace and with sophomore Emily Taunisila, Heiken, Steen and Tryon all contributing baskets, the deficit was six going into the fourth.
The Cougars scored a quick two points to lead off the final eight minutes on a hoop by freshman Breeci Hampton. Dustin drew a foul and made a free throw to put her team up 39-30. Then Philomath seemed to flip a switch.
The Warriors limited Cascade to just two points the rest of the game — that was over a stretch of more than six minutes. Meanwhile, the offense got into a groove to overtake the visitors.
“We had girls step up and hit big shots down the stretch,” Silva said. “But I think it all starts on the defensive end — Anneka Steen and Aspen Russell had two tough matchups.”
Dustin and Bennett scored 26 of Cascade’s 41 points.
“Both of those girls are great scorers inside, they can get to the hoop and shoot the ball very well,” Silva said. “But we held them to just enough outside shots to be able to come back and win.”
Junior Zoee Howard had been quiet offensively through the first three quarters but she muscled her way inside to key back-to-back baskets — the first off an inbounds pass — to cut the Cascade lead to 39-34.
Taunisila followed with a clutch 3-pointer with 4:13 left in the game to make it 39-37. Then Heiken went to work and completed an impressive spin move to the basket that tied the score with 3:04 remaining.
Russell followed with her open jump shot to give the Warriors the lead.
Cascade stopped the bleeding and tied the game with a hoop by Hampton but that would be it for the Cougars. Taunisila had a key rebound with 1:04 left and then with 39 seconds remaining, she executed an in-bounds pass to Howard that drew a foul.
Howard went to the foul line and buried both for a 43-41 lead. Cascade missed a 3-point attempt on the other end and Taunisila was fouled with 14 seconds left to get to the free-throw line. She put both through the net to make it a two-possession game with a 45-41 lead.
Cascade didn’t have enough time to do much and missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer but it wouldn’t have mattered.
“It was just finally settling in and not turning the ball over,” Silva said about the win. “When they made their runs, that was when we were making turnovers.”
Heiken finished with 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and 1 of 3 from the foul line. Taunisila ended up with nine.
Dustin scored 14 and Bennett had 12 for the Cougars (11-6, 4-1).
Philomath (14-3, 5-0) will head to the coast Monday for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off against Newport.
