The last time Philomath High didn’t reach the Class 4A state tournament in girls basketball, sophomore starter Reagan Heiken was in the third grade.
Yes, it’s become a tradition for the Warriors to compete for the top trophy. Philomath has moved on to the tournament every year since 2019 — a run that includes advancing as the No. 1 seed in 2020 before officials called it off because of COVID and in 2021 when the Warriors finished as the runner-up in an unsanctioned 4A “culminating event.”
How gas prices have changed in Oregon in the last week
Stacker compiled statistics on gas prices in Oregon using data from AAA. Gas prices are as of May 1. Oregon by the numbers- Gas current price: $5.21- Week change: +$0.20 (+3.9%)- Year change: +$1.30 (+33.4%)- Historical expensive gas price: $5.55 (6/15/22) – Diesel current price: $6.25- Week change: +$0.03 (+0.5%)- Year change: +$2.34 (+59.9%)- Historical…
“This program has obviously just been really strong and I’m glad we’re continuing that tradition,” Heiken said following Philomath’s 58-23 first-round win Friday night to advance the Warriors to their seventh straight state tournament. “I think it kind of gets looked over because we’re used to it — like, it’s normal for girls basketball to go to state. But if you think about it, it’s special for us and for the town and for everyone.”
The tournament at Forest Grove opens Thursday with top-seeded Philomath (21-5) facing eighth-seeded Crook County in the first of four quarterfinal matchups. The Cowgirls (16-9) moved on with a 59-46 win at home over Astoria.
The winner will advance to Friday’s semifinals against the winner of No. 4 La Grande and No. 5 Cascade. The tournament’s championship game is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. Saturday.
Heiken and senior Anneka Steen were a potent 1-2 scoring combination for the Warriors in the win over North Bend. Heiken finished with 18 points and Steen had 16, a performance that included a pair of 3-pointers.
“Reagan had a number of good blocks and we rebounded really well — especially our offensive rebounding was very good,” PHS coach Ben Silva said. “We did have some height and we used it to our advantage.”
North Bend, which played its way into the playoffs with a 36-35 win over North Marion, stuck with the Warriors through the first eight minutes. Philomath led just 12-10 at the end of the first thanks to a Heiken shot that bounced around on the rim a few times before falling through the net as the buzzer sounded.
Helping the Bulldogs were a couple of 3-pointers — junior Erica McClintock buried one 2-1/2 minutes into the game to give her team a 5-3 lead and junior Carley Lucero sank one with 17 seconds left to knot the score, 10-10.
“They had an interesting offense … it was kind of hectic,” Heiken said. “We’re really good at defense and normally good at shutting down offenses that look planned out — and they had kind of a scramble offense so our defense wasn’t quite used to that in the first quarter.”
Silva said it wasn’t unexpected to see North Bend come out with its unique style.
“Just from what we saw on film, that’s a little bit of the way North Bend plays,” he said. “They just track it out and create a little bit of chaos. Their girls work super hard but they’re undersized. … So we anticipated that coming in and we just had to control the chaos and not get into it too much.”
In the second quarter, Philomath started to pull away with a 15-2 run. Heiken was in top form with a basket early on off a pass from senior Aspen Russell and after North Bend responded, Heiken hit again off an in-bounds pass. She scored on a turnaround jumper with 3:32 left in the half to give the Warriors their first double-digit lead, 22-12.
Steen scored back-to-back baskets on layups from each side of the glass. Then late in the half, freshman Reagan Nuño contributed with two points on a drive with 2:52 remaining and later with just 2 seconds on the clock, hit a 3-pointer for a 27-12 halftime lead.
“When we started to pull away, we were able to use it to our advantage,” Silva said, continuing references to North Bend’s chaotic style. “We started pressing them and they started turning it over a little bit. So we did a good job.”
In the third quarter, the two teams traded baskets much of the way but the Warriors did increase their advantage to 18 by the time the fourth started. A key moment occurred with 3:18 left in the third when Heiken blocked a shot and took possession and moments later, Steen buried a 3-pointer on the other end for a 15-point lead. Heiken scored two straight hoops off the glass for a 38-20 lead.
Philomath then dominated the fourth by outscoring the visitors, 20-3. Highlights included three straight hoops by senior Mica Boynton, a traditional three-point play by sophomore Jordyn Hood and a 3-pointer in the final minute by freshman Libby Kramer. Those were all in addition to Steen scoring the first two points of the quarter after picking up a loose ball under the hoop and scoring on an easy layup.
Silva rotated 10 players in and out of the lineup through the course of the game and by the final buzzer, all 12 that suited up had played.
“We have some people banged up a little bit, we’re not 100% and so based on that, we went to some different rotations,” Silva said. “We just focused on giving different kids opportunities.”
Junior Shaylee May returned to the floor after injuring an ankle 2-1/2 weeks ago in a win over Cascade although the coach limited her minutes as she works back into top form.
McClintock led the Cowgirls (14-11) with seven points.
In other first-round results, all but one of the higher seeds won their games — No. 2 Stayton (65-26 over Phoenix), No. 3 Henley (72-60 over St. Helens), No. 4 La Grande (48-28 over The Dalles), No. 5 Cascade (47-38 over Junction City) and as mentioned, No. 8 Crook County. The lone lower seed to pull out a victory was No. 11 Baker over No. 6 Marshfield (59-46).
“I think we’re going to do really good — I’m happy with our bracket,” Heiken said. “As long as we play like we should, I think we could bring home a state title.”
