Philomath High School boys basketball coach Blake Ecker had a memorable evening Tuesday and not only because his Warriors won for the seventh time in their last eight games. Prior to the opening tipoff against Sweet Home, Ecker was given special recognition for reaching 400 career coaching victories.
Meeting at midcourt, Ecker was presented with a framed photo signed by members of the team. And in the stands were a collection of past players that wanted to be in attendance to celebrate the occasion. They signed a basketball for their former coach.
A player from Ecker’s first team at Philomath in 2002-03 was among those in the PHS gym Tuesday night — AJ Gonzalez, who fans might remember as AJ or Adrian Bowman back when he wore the Warriors uniform.
“He was young and motivated at that time … he seems to have mellowed out a little bit now,” Gonzalez laughed. “I think all these wins later, he’s probably chilled out a little bit.”
Ecker said he was young and felt like he had something to prove, especially with the Warriors winning the state title in 2001-02 during Garvin’s final season.
“In your early years, there’s kind of a step-by-step process where you’re looking for help anywhere you can and trying to prove yourself,” Ecker said.
Gonzalez was one of two returning starters from the state title team for the Warriors in Ecker’s first season as head coach (Jake Kettles was the other). The team faced tremendous pressure to keep its winning ways intact and didn’t have a bad season with a 22-7 record and a victory in the first round of the 3A state tournament at Gill Coliseum.
Ecker remembers Gonzalez as a “heck of an athlete” who went on to serve on his coaching staff for a short time.
Gonzalez, 39, credits Ecker for important life lessons in basketball, including developing the ability to resolve differences during moments of conflict.
“During my senior year, some of us kind of got into it a little bit … There was a time where I had walked off the court in practice and I think I was about ready to quit,” Gonzalez said. “He came into the locker room and consoled me, was that mentor for me, and kept me engaged.”
Ecker told him that he wasn’t going to quit — not during his senior year.
“He got me back in and got my head right,” he added. “It was one of those moments that kind of set me forward for the rest of my life.”
Gonzalez went on to join the military, where he has remained for over 20 years.
“It’s moments like that that I look back on to be like, ‘he was a good mentor and a good, good coach to have and just set you up for life.’”
Gonzalez went on to serve as an assistant coach under Ecker for a short time.
Ecker stuck around during the varsity girls basketball game to chat with the group.
“It was great to see all those guys,” he said. “You know, that’s probably the most important thing — seeing those guys come back and support the program, support our current players and support me tonight. That was cool and I was super happy to see them.”
Stevens included on all-time list
For fans of Philomath High sports history, Trisha Stevens is a name that will always be among the first mentioned when talking about the best athletes to ever wear the Warriors uniform. Stevens (who is now Trisha Lamb) played girls basketball, volleyball and track at Philomath from 1983-87. She was inducted into the PHS Hall of Fame with the inaugural class in 2022.
Last week, sports journalist René Ferrán published a piece at the High School on SI website with his 50 greatest female athletes in Oregon high school sports history. Stevens was prominently featured at No. 6.
“Stevens was a virtually unstoppable basketball player at the Class AA level during the mid-1980s, but her talents stretched further than just the hardcourt,” he wrote. “She was a two-time all-tournament selection who led the Warriors to back-to-back volleyball state titles, and she won four consecutive high jump state championships with a career-best leap of 5 feet, 7 inches. She added two state medals in the 100-meter hurdles (third as a freshman and sixth as a senior).”
Stevens was especially dangerous on a basketball court and her name remains etched in PHS record books to this day. A four-time first-team all-state selection, she earned several honors and awards, including second-team Parade All-American after averaging 27.2 points per game her senior season.
“As a freshman, she blocked 16 shots in a game, still the 4A state record,” Ferrán wrote. “She is No. 2 in state history in blocked shots (428) and rebounds (1,597) and No. 4 in points (2,483), and she led Philomath to back-to-back state championships in 1986-87.”
He also mentioned her final game at PHS.
“Stevens scored an all-classifications tournament record 47 points, making 19 of 22 shots as part of a triple-double with 12 rebounds and 10 blocked shots in a 71-40 victory over Marist Catholic — Philomath’s 50th consecutive victory,” Ferrán wrote.
You can read the entire piece online. If you just want to see the section on Stevens, scroll down to the No. 6 entry.
Ferrán compiled the list in recognition of National Girls and Women in Sports Day as part of a series of articles published by SBLive Oregon and High School on SI (Sports Illustrated).
PHAST competitors continue season
The Philomath High Alpine Ski Team’s season continued over the past week with Emerald Ski League competitions Saturday at the Willamette Pass Ski Area and Wednesday at Hoodoo Ski Area.
For the boys in the giant slalom Feb. 5 at Willamette Pass, senior Joe Barnes placed third with a two-run combined time of 1:57.41, just four-tenths of a second out of second place. Bend’s Gray Tasler was the winner with a time of 1:53.73. Barnes had runs of 1:01.63 and 55.78.
Montgomery Jones, junior, was 46th in 2:31.10 with runs of 1:19.70 and 1:11.40.
Then at Hoodoo on Feb. 12, Barnes placed second at 1:07.37 in the slalom. Styopa Myagkov of Sisters won at 1:05.28. Barnes had runs of 33.02 and 34.35. Jones was 26th in 1:40.14 with runs of 50.84 and 49.30.
In the girls’ competitions, junior Ana Candanoza was not able to finish her first run and was disqualified from the overall standings in the Feb. 5 giant slalom races at Willamette. She had the seventh-best time on her second run at 57.86 seconds.
Following up with the Feb. 12 appearance at Hoodoo, Candanoza placed third with a combined time of 1:16.42 with runs of 37.89 and 38.53. Ella Eby of Sisters won at 1:13.85.
The state championships are scheduled for March 6-7 at Mt. Ashland.
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).
