PHS girls roll past Cubs, refocus for second half of Oregon West play

Following a week with back-to-back conference losses at the hands of Cascade and Stayton, the Philomath High girls basketball team needed a positive boost to wrap up its first trip through the league.

Going up against an overmatched Newport squad Tuesday night, the Warriors posted a 73-29 victory in the PHS gym.

“We had a tough week last week but we bounced back, had a good practice yesterday and played well tonight,” PHS coach Ben Silva said. “I thought we shared the ball really well tonight. It was a good team effort.”

Philomath (10-9 overall, 2-2 Oregon West) won’t play again until Feb. 10 at Sweet Home. And since North Marion isn’t playing a varsity schedule this season, the Warriors will then have second chances against Cascade on Feb. 17 and Stayton on Feb. 20.

Silva said the team has been focusing on specific areas of improvement in practice and in the Newport game to put itself in a better position for success in those rematches against the top teams 

“In the game, we put an emphasis on some things we wanted to see and I think the girls did a really good job of executing that,” Silva said. “We were right there in both of those games last week and we think there are some easily identifiable things that we can improve to maybe make the difference in those games.”

Cascade, Stayton and Philomath are all top-10 caliber teams in Class 4A. Perhaps even top five.

“There’s some other good teams out there but I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised if the top three teams in the conference make a push in the playoffs,” Silva said.

In the win over the Cubs (1-15, 0-4), Philomath built a 21-8 lead by the end of the first quarter and was up 38-14 by halftime.

Junior Annaleise Brown had a big night for the Warriors with 20 points on nine field goals and a couple of free throws. Junior Reagan Heiken was also around the hoop a lot and finished with 18 points on nine field goals.

“Khali Toombs came in and had some big minutes and some good putbacks and looked really aggressive,” Silva said when asked what players stood out to him in addition to Brown. “Heiken had a deep 2 — she can shoot it (from long range). … Nuño did a good job getting downhill and getting out in transition.”

Philomath 73, Newport 29
Tuesday, Feb. 3, at Philomath HS

NEWPORT (29)
Iyanna Erwin 1 0-0 3, Rhianna Silva 2 4-9 8, Kiley Humphrys 3 0-0 7, Briahna Kirchner 2 0-2 4, Addison Taylor 0 0-0 0, Olivia Greenawald 1 2-4 4, Brehenna Baley 1 0-0 3, Peyton Moody 0 0-0 0, Natasha Perez 0 0-0 0, Izzie Stark 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 6-15 29.
PHILOMATH (73)
Reagan Nuño 4 0-0 8, Annaleise Brown 9 2-4 20, Shaylee May 2 3-4 7, Jordyn Hood 2 0-0 5, Reagan Heiken 9 0-0 18, Libby Kramer 2 0-0 4, Isabelle Muir 1 0-0 2, Parker Maxey 1 1-2 3, Bethany Cannon 0 0-0 0, Khali Toombs 3 0-0 6, Sienna Bushnell 0 0-0 0. Totals 33 6-10 73.

3-Point Goals—Newport 3 (Humphrys, Erwin, Baley), Philomath 1 (Hood). Fouled Out—None. Total Fouls—Newport 14, Philomath 11. Technicals—None.