FOREST GROVE — Down by 20 points with 5 minutes remaining in Friday night’s 4A semifinal against Henley, the Philomath girls could’ve easily accepted defeat and gone through the motions in the time that remained.
Perhaps it was time to move on and fight another day.
But no, that’s not the mentality of this Warriors contingent. The next 22 seconds served as the perfect example of the fight that remained.
Gallery: PHS girls basketball vs. Henley in 4A tournament (March 8, 2024)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s 4A girls basketball tournament semifinal against Henley on Friday.
Aspen Russell took a pass from Anneka Steen and thought she had an opening to get the ball inside to Mica Boynton. Henley’s Anna Harper stepped in the way for a steal but on an attempt to get off an outlet pass, Philomath’s Shaylee May took the ball away.
May looked back inside to Boynton, who had a shot attempt underneath blocked by Henley’s Annie Campos. Russell ran down the rebound and reset the offense with a pass up top to Steen. Seeing an open shot, Steen attempted a 3-pointer that bounced off the front of the rim. Again, Russell was in position for the offensive board but got tied up with Henley’s Kennedi Modin as they both fell to the floor. The possession arrow was pointing in Philomath’s direction.
May found Steen on the ensuing in-bounds pass but Henley was whistled for a quick foul. Again, May in-bounded the ball, this time to Zoee Howard in the lane just inside the free-throw line. Howard went high off the glass for two points.
That small, seemingly insignificant stretch of the game featured several of the qualities that coaches like to see in their players — particularly hustle to maintain possession and set up second and third chances. The play also sparked a 10-1 run to cut Henley’s lead down to 11 points with just under 3 minutes left.
In the end, Henley regained its composure and posted a 61-44 victory.
“That says a lot about them,” PHS coach Ben Silva said about the team’s willingness to play to the final buzzer. “I think that showed some growth as well, you know, some maturity to battle with them. A lot of teams might’ve given up when you’re down 20 in the fourth but they battled and I’m proud that they didn’t give up. They represented themselves really well.”
Philomath (21-6) will face conference rival Cascade in the third/fifth game at 2:15 p.m. Saturday. The Warriors and Cougars split a pair of games during the regular season. Cascade lost in the semifinals to Astoria, 45-36.
“There’s 30 other teams that would love to be playing for a third-place game so that’s the mentality you have to have,” Silva said. “It’s tough but I think we’ll be able to bounce back.”
Philomath had a fairly good start with a defensive approach that stymied Henley’s high-octane offense. The game remained close through the first quarter and halfway into the second quarter with the Hornets clinging to a 17-15 lead.
“We talked about controlling the tempo on both ends,” Silva said. “We did a good job on the defensive end early on and were able to score a bit on the offensive end but we didn’t do a very good job controlling the tempo. We kind of fed into their pace for the game, which isn’t our style.”
The Hornets ended the first half with a 9-2 run and led by nine points at the intermission.
“They gave us some trouble and we went through a stretch where our offense struggled,” Silva said. “We didn’t score much for half of a basketball game. It’s hard to win if you do that.”
Henley came out of the locker room and took control with a 9-0 run to build an 18-point lead less than 2 minutes into the second half.
“It seemed like everything they were throwing up was going in,” Silva said. “They’re a good team, so you tip your hat to them and give them credit.”
Henley’s Campos, a senior, seemingly couldn’t be stopped with 23 points while shooting 66.7% from the field and making 7 of 8 from the foul line.
“We haven’t been able to (stop her) since she was a freshman,” Silva said. “She’s a great player … It’s been fun coaching against her.”
Henley led by as many as 24 in the second half and as mentioned, held a 20-point lead as the fourth-quarter clock dipped under 5 minutes. Philomath followed with its 10-1 run to make things interesting late.
After the Howard hoop off the glass, Philomath took two more points off the deficit with a pair of free throws by Boynton. Henley hit a foul shot on the other end to go back up by 17 with 3:34 left but the Warriors rallied for six straight points — an Emily Taunisila 3-pointer, a Howard free throw and a tip-in by Reagan Heiken.
Philomath called a timeout with 2:50 remaining and the Hornets leading 52-41. Over the final few minutes, a lot of fouls were called and a lot of foul shots attempted as Henley ended up with a 17-point victory to move on to Saturday night’s championship match against Astoria.
In addition to the 23 by Campos, Henley’s Harper finished with 17 points. The Hornets shot an astounding 75% from the field in the second half.
Heiken had 16 points, nine rebounds and five steals for the Warriors — all of those team highs. Russell had seven boards, Taunisila had four steals and Howard scored nine points.
