The Philomath High School girls basketball team won the championship game of the Les Schwab South Coast Tournament Saturday with a 49-39 victory over Sutherlin.
Senior Anneka Steen, sophomore Reagan Heiken and junior Shaylee May scored 41 of the team’s 49 points and the PHS defense held the opponent to under 40 points.
“Our defensive effort was very, very good,” PHS coach Ben Silva said. “If we can hold teams to under 40 points, we’ll be good.”
Philomath (6-1) shot out to a 20-4 lead in the first quarter and Sutherlin was not able to recover the rest of the way.
“We controlled it pretty much the whole time,” Silva said. “We had it up to 20 points (the lead) at one point.”
Steen scored 17 points on seven field goals and 2 of 3 on free throws, a 3-pointer among her baskets. Heiken had 13 points on four buckets and 5 of 8 on free throws. May finished with 11 points on three field goals, including a 3-pointer, and 4 of 6 on foul shots.
Steen was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Both Steen and Heiken were included on the all-tournament team.
“It’s good to play in these win-or-lose bracket scenarios,” Silva said about Philomath’s participation in the tournament with another one coming up Dec. 27-29 in Alaska. “It doesn’t have to be pretty as long as you have more points than the other team at the end of the game.”
Forward Addyson Clark had a game-high 22 points for the Bulldogs (5-2).
Philomath and Sutherlin will play again Jan. 14 on the Bulldogs’ court.
The Warriors will next travel to Ketchikan, Alaska to compete in the Clarke Cochran Christmas Classic.
