While talking to his team during a timeout in Friday night’s season opener against Woodburn, Philomath High boys basketball coach Blake Ecker issued an important reminder to his players.
“I told them that it’s the little things here that are going to get you the win — taking a charge, hitting those free throws, chasing the big 3, rebounding so they couldn’t get the second and third shots,” Ecker said. “It was the little things that we did right there that was able to push us over the top.”
The Warriors rallied from nine points down in the second half to take a 52-48 win over the visiting Bulldogs.
Ecker’s reference to the “little things”:
• Senior Chase Beardsley hitting two free throws to tie the game with 1:41 remaining.
• Senior Mike Lundy sinking two foul shots to give PHS a 50-48 lead with 1:09 left.
• Sophomore Ty May taking a rough offensive charge to stop a Woodburn threat with 48 seconds remaining.
• May’s key rebound with 10 seconds on the clock and calling a quick timeout while on the floor to make sure Philomath would maintain possession.
• Sophomore Cole Beardsley’s free throws with 8 seconds left to put the game away with a four-point lead.
“With a 3-point shooting team like that, they can get ahead real quick,” said May, who scored 23 points on nine field goals and 5 of 7 free throws. “When a team builds a lead like that, you’ve got to chip away and do the small things right — rebounding and we had some clutch free throws there at the end by Mike and Cole. Those were big deal shots.”
The game saw several lead changes in the first half with the Bulldogs taking in a 29-27 lead at the break. In the third quarter, Chase Beardsley hit a jump shot to tie the game but Woodburn responded by reeling off nine straight points with two 3-pointers and three foul shots.
May broke the scoring spell with a basket inside that drew a foul and he made the free throw for a three-point play. But Woodburn came right back and hit another 3-pointer for a 41-32 lead with 2:54 left in the third quarter.
Heading into the fourth, the Warriors had cut their deficit to five points.
“We weren’t playing very good defense in the first half and our transition game was terrible,” May said. “They were coming down and burning us quick on their transition offense and we weren’t getting back and playing defense, weren’t manning up very well.”
Over the final 8 minutes, Philomath was finally able to frustrate Woodburn on offense.
“They were a very fast-paced team so we wanted to get back and slow their offense down, slow the game down … because we can beat them in the slow game,” May said.
Philomath took its first lead of the second half with 3:28 remaining on a 3-pointer by Chase Beardsley, who was playing with four fouls. After Woodburn had tied the game with a free throw, the Warriors regained the lead on a May offensive rebound and basket with 2:54 left.
Woodburn again tied the game on a put-back hoop and then took the lead with a steal and quick basket. That set up the stretch run that started with Chase Beardsley tying the game with two free throws.
“We found a way to win … we didn’t win looking great by any means,” Ecker said. “We went to that little zone and that kinda bothered them, no doubt about it.”
In addition to May’s 23, Chase Beardsley finished in double figures with 11 points. Jeovanny Marroquin had 15 for the Bulldogs (0-1).
May was just glad to get back into a PHS basketball uniform.
“I was playing some AAU ball and stuff, but it’s nothing like playing high school basketball,” he said. “I missed this place, I definitely love the atmosphere that we have, we had a great turnout tonight, it was a great group, people were cheering loud.”
Philomath (1-0) plays again Saturday with a trip over to Cascade. The Cougars opened the season Friday with a 56-54 win at home over Stayton.
Philomath 52, Woodburn 48
Friday, May 21, at Philomath HS
| TEAMS (RECORDS) | 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | HT | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodburn (0-1) | 15 | 14 | 12 | 7 | 29 | 48 |
| Philomath (1-0) | 16 | 11 | 9 | 16 | 27 | 52 |
| WOODBURN | FG | FT | PF | TP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Marroquin | 2 | 4-5 | 4 | 8 |
| Spencer Karsseboom | 3 | 0-0 | 4 | 8 |
| Tomas Veliz | 1 | 0-0 | 3 | 3 |
| Jeovanny Marroquin | 4 | 5-7 | 3 | 15 |
| Tony Carrasquillo | 3 | 1-2 | 3 | 8 |
| Jordan Blem | 1 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 |
| Cole Beyer | 0 | 2-2 | 2 | 2 |
| Riley Johnson | 0 | 2-2 | 1 | 2 |
| Kaleb Robles | 0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | 14 | 14-18 | 22 | 48 |
| PHILOMATH | FG | FT | PF | TP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Lundy | 1 | 6-9 | 2 | 8 |
| Ty May | 9 | 5-7 | 3 | 23 |
| Chase Beardsley | 4 | 2-2 | 4 | 11 |
| Dillon Olsen | 1 | 0-0 | 2 | 3 |
| Chad Russell | 0 | 0-0 | 5 | 0 |
| Cameron Ordway | 1 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 |
| Mark Grimmer | 0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 |
| Cole Beardsley | 0 | 3-4 | 1 | 3 |
| Isaac Lattin | 1 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 |
| Caleb Jensen | 0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | 17 | 16-22 | 22 | 52 |
| 3-Point Goals: Woodburn 6 (Karsseboom 2, Je. Marroquin 2, Veliz, Carrasquillo), Philomath 2 (Ch. Beardsley, Olsen) Fouled Out: Russell Total Fouls: Woodburn 22, Philomath 22 Technicals: None |
JUNIOR VARSITY
Philomath 65, Woodburn 34
Friday, May 21, at Philomath HS
| TEAMS | 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | HT | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodburn | 1 | 9 | 17 | 7 | 10 | 34 |
| Philomath | 25 | 19 | 9 | 12 | 44 | 65 |
| JV GAME NOTES |
|---|
| Philomath’s JV opens the season with a 1-0 record. … The Warriors led by 24 after one quarter and 34 at halftime. … Preston Kramer scored a game-high 18 points on eight field goals, including a 3-pointer, and 1 of 2 free throws. … Cameron Ordway had 15 points with his game time limited to the first half because he would play with the varsity. … Jacob Peters finished with 14 points on seven field goals. … The JV team is scheduled to play Saturday at Cascade. |
JUNIOR VARSITY 2
Philomath 62, Woodburn 45
Friday, May 21, at Philomath HS
| TEAMS | 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | HT | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodburn | 6 | 20 | 4 | 15 | 26 | 45 |
| Philomath | 12 | 15 | 15 | 20 | 27 | 62 |
| JV2 GAME NOTES |
|---|
| The JV2 team opens the season with a 1-0 record. … The Warriors led by just one point at halftime but pulled away in the third quarter with a 15-4 run. … Simon King scored 15 points on six field goals, one of those a 3-pointer, and 2 of 2 free throws. … Kaden Muir threw in 11 points on five field goals and 1 of 3 free throws. … Mason Stearns also scored 11 on five field goals and 1 of 5 free throws. … The JV2 squad is scheduled to play again on Saturday with a trip to Cascade. |
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