The coronavirus threat put an end to high school athletics in March on the morning of the day that Philomath High’s boys and girls basketball teams were scheduled to play state playoff games at Forest Grove.
In this year-in-review series, I took a look at January in Monday’s blog and February in Tuesday’s blog. Here today is a rundown of athletics from March through the rest of the year.
• March 7: The Philomath girls basketball team advanced past the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs with a 66-40 win over Phoenix. The Warriors pulled away to a 33-14 lead by halftime. Sage Kramer had 35 points and Mia Rust scored 15 in the win.
• March 7: The Warrior boys downed Phoenix in the first round of the state playoffs with a 48-45 win. Ty May scored 16 and Michael Lundy added 11.
• March 12: Philomath girls were scheduled to play Cottage Grove at 1:30 p.m. in the 4A quarterfinals at Forest Grove but the OSAA canceled the tournament. The No. 1 Warriors finished the season with a 24-1 record, unbeaten against 4A opponents. Three players would make all-state — Sage Kramer (first team), Emma Pankalla (second team) and Mia Rust (honorable mention). Kramer would also be later named 4A player of the year.
• March 12: The PHS boys were scheduled to play at 6:30 p.m. against Klamath Union in the 4A quarterfinals before the tournament was canceled. The Warriors finished with a 20-4 record. Michael Lundy would later be named to the all-state team (second team).
• March 13: The OSAA announces that all spring sports activities are suspended through April 28.
• April 8: The OSAA officially cancels sports for the rest of the academic year.
• April 10: PHS students begin gathering at the football and baseball fields as part of a #BeTheLight movement as a show of support for the Class of 2020 that was losing so much because of the pandemic.
• June: PHS announced Dylan Bennett as Male Athlete of the Year and Maggie Ross as Female Athlete of the Year.
• Aug. 5: The OSAA cancels fall sports and adopts a plan that would allow practices from Aug. 28 into mid-December to be followed by shortened seasons for winter sports, fall sports and spring sports.
• Dec. 7: The OSAA announces a new calendar with shortened seasons for fall sports, spring sports and then winter sports. The competition dates were identified as early March into late June.