ALBANY — Down by three points on the road against Class 5A’s No. 4-ranked South Albany squad, Philomath still had a chance to send Tuesday night’s girls basketball game into overtime with 4 seconds remaining.
The Warriors, ranked No. 1 in Class 4A, got the ball downcourt in plenty of time but failed to get a 3-point attempt set up in time and the RedHawks walked off the court with a 47-44 victory.
Gallery: PHS girls basketball at South Albany (Dec. 17, 2024)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s 47-44 girls basketball loss at South Albany on Tuesday.
It only made sense that the game between two of the top girls basketball teams in the state would come down to the final play. Warriors coach Ben Silva said to give South Albany credit for pulling out the win.
“It was two good teams battling,” Silva said. “It was a very physical game in both directions and that made it difficult to score. They just happened to get a couple more shots that fell towards the end than we did, which made the difference down the line.”
The RedHawks (3-1) had taken the lead in the game’s final three minutes. Philomath (3-1) opened the fourth quarter with senior Anneka Steen burying a 3-pointer for a 41-39 lead. But the Warriors had few opportunities the rest of the way offensively and managed only one other field goal the rest of the game — that coming with 11 seconds left when senior Zoee Howard scored underneath.
In the meantime, South Albany tied the game on a basket at the 5:23 mark by junior Kaylee Cordle only for Philomath to regain the lead a little more than a minute later when Howard hit 1 of 2 free-throw attempts. RedHawks senior Taelyn Bentley scored from the floor with 3:19 left and buried two free throws at 2:14 to give her team a 45-42 advantage.
Philomath had an opportunity late when South Albany turned the ball over on an offensive charge foul. Howard then scored that hoop inside to pull Philomath to within 45-44. On the other end, however, South Albany made it 46-44 with junior Maddie Angel hitting a free throw with 10 seconds remaining. Missing the second attempt, Cordle came up with the rebound and Angel got the ball again and was fouled. She again hit 1 of 2 foul shots and it remained a one-possession game with 4 seconds left.
Silva called a timeout to draw up a play.
“With 4 seconds, it’s tough to be able to get any sort of a shot,” Silva said. “I actually thought we executed the first half of the play pretty well but then we’ve just got to pull up for a shot because you have to have a 3 there. We got the ball down the floor pretty quickly and I think we had time to maybe get some sort of a shot off.”
The two teams battled all evening with the lead exchanging hands several times. The Warriors led by two at halftime and the RedHawks were up by one at halftime and heading into the fourth.
Defensively, Philomath was able to cause problems for South Albany.
“That’s a great team, South Albany has a great team,” Silva said. “He (SA coach Marc Cordle) does a good job, his girls execute well.”
The Warriors caught South Albany on a night without junior Taylor Donaldson — considered to be the team’s top player — absent from the lineup.
“I believe there was some illness but they’re tough,” Silva said. “I mean, they’ve been to the tournament the past two years with the same group. They’re a well-seasoned team.”
Sophomore Reagan Heiken finished with a team-high 13 points for the Warriors. Steen scored 11 and Howard had nine off the bench.
For South Albany, Cordle and Bentley provided an effective 1-2 punch with 18 and 16 points, respectively.
Playing an opponent the caliber of South Albany only helps Philomath improve, Silva said.
“It’s very valuable for us,” Silva said. “I mean, they were the third-place team in the state last year in 5A and they brought pretty much everybody back. So it’s good to play those tough teams and tough games — that’s how we get better.
“There were definitely things we did that we could have improved on, a couple of letdowns that we’ll be able to learn from and get better from,” he added.
The Warriors will play Thursday in the Les Schwab South Coast Tournament at Coos Bay. Hosted by Marshfield, Philomath will open with an 8:30 p.m. game against Coquille, an unbeaten Class 3A team that is ranked No. 3 in the latest coaches’ poll.
If the Warriors can get past the Red Devils, they would play the winner of Mountain View-Junction City at 3:30 p.m. Friday. The championship game is scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday.
