The Philomath High School boys and girls basketball teams will host a round-robin tournament Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with the Warriors facing Sutherlin, Scappoose and Marist Catholic.
The Philomath girls play at 2 p.m. Wednesday vs. Sutherlin, 3:30 p.m. Thursday vs. Scappoose and 3:30 p.m. Friday against Marist Catholic. The boys schedule shows the Warriors playing at 5 p.m. Wednesday vs. Sutherlin, 5 p.m. Thursday vs. Scappoose and 7 p.m. Friday vs. Marist.
The Philomath girls have played well over the past four games with four straight wins, which included the Les Schwab South Coast Tournament title. The lone loss in a 5-1 season so far came against a 5A South Albany squad.
The team’s top scorer is sophomore Emily Taunisila at 10.3 points per game but the Warriors have been a very balanced team with freshman Reagan Heiken (8.5 ppg), junior Zoee Howard (7.0 pgg) and junior Anneka Steen (6.7 ppg).
The Warriors have one of the top scoring defenses in 4A at 34.7.
In the OSAAtoday coaches’ poll released a week ago had the Warriors up to No. 3 behind only Henley and Astoria. Philomath is also No. 3 in the current OSAA rankings behind Henley and Klamath Union.
The Sutherlin girls enter the tournament riding a five-game winning streak with an overall record of 6-1. Sutherlin is now a 3A school that has played a few tough opponents in Amity (a 47-41 loss), Westside Christian and Riverdale — three schools with a combined 19-5 record. The other four wins were over teams with a combined 7-26 record. One of those wins was over De La Salle North Catholic by a final of 46-5.
The Bulldogs are ranked No. 5 in the most-recent OSAAtoday coaches’ poll and No. 9 by the OSAA. The team placed third in last season’s Class 3A state tournament when then-senior Micah Wicks, the Player of the Year in that classification, was on the roster. Madison Wagner, a third-team all-state guard last season, is back this year.
Scappoose is another formidable foe with a 5-2 record heading into the Philomath Tournament. The Indians got off to a 4-0 start but have lost two of their last three with the losses coming to Coquille (41-32) and Banks (50-34). Philomath was able to get a look at Scappoose a couple of weeks ago in the South Coast Tournament.
Scappoose is ranked No. 5 in the OSAAtoday coaches’ poll and is sitting No. 7 in the OSAA rankings. The two schools haven’t played since January 2018 (a 52-25 Warriors win). The Indians made the 4A playoffs last season but lost to Henley in the opening round. Top players appear to be seniors Peyton Lennox, Megan Earl and 6-foot Kaitlyn Ventris.
Marist Catholic comes into the tournament with a 4-4 record, which includes losses of 5 and 2 points, the most recent being 56-54 to Creswell on Dec. 20.
The Spartans and Warriors met twice last season with drastically different results. Marist took a 40-17 win over Philomath in mid-December but the Warriors turned the tables when it counted in the first round of the 4A playoffs with a 46-39 victory in Eugene.
Marist appears to have lost most of its firepower from the 2022-23 playoff team, including Paige Doerr, a player that scored in double digits in both of those meetings against Philomath last season.
For the boys, the Warriors have been on a roll in recent outings with three straight victories in the Marshfield tournament — 69-62 over Hidden Valley, 51-38 over Marshfield and 60-36 over Crook County. Philomath is sitting at 5-2 overall with the losses coming to two very good teams — Junction City, the No. 4 team in 4A, and North Eugene, the No. 3 team in 5A.
Seniors Preston Kramer and Jacob Peters have accounted for most of Philomath’s scoring so far this season. Kramer is averaging 21.7 points per game, which included four games with 20-plus points. Peters has a 16.6 scoring average with a consistent presence on the floor — inside and outside.
Philomath was ranked at No. 6 in last week’s OSAAtoday coaches’ poll and is No. 2 in the OSAA rankings behind only Junction City.
Sutherlin enters the tournament struggling with a season record of 2-5. The two wins by the 3A Bulldogs came over a pair of schools with a combined 2-15 record with one of those by just four points. The five losses have come by an average margin of 26.4 points.
As far as top players, senior post Bradley Ohler had 11 points in the team’s biggest win of 11 points over Rogue River. A sophomore that received all-conference honorable mention recognition last season is not on this season’s roster.
Scappoose brings a 4-3 record into the tournament with its most-recent game being a 19-point victory over Banks (the Braves are struggling at 1-7). The Indians also have wins this season over Gladstone, Amity and Harrisburg, the latter probably representing their best victory. Philomath and Scappoose haven’t met in basketball since 2017-18 when the Warriors won 59-44.
The Indians have a new head coach in Robby Backus and top returnees this season include juniors Evan Barham and Quinton Olson — both receiving all-conference honors last year.
Marist Catholic might be the toughest opponent for the Warriors on the final evening. The Spartans are currently 5-3 but haven’t really posted any spectacular victories during this early stretch. In its last outing, Marist beat Creswell, a .500 team in 3A. The Spartans placed sixth in last season’s 4A tournament.
Philomath and Marist haven’t played since the 2014-15 season when the Warriors posted a 46-41 victory. The team’s top player from last season, Cooper Mullens, graduated. Senior Kaden Erlenbush, a 6-6 forward, is among the top returning players.
The full boys schedule:
• Wednesday — Sutherlin vs. Philomath, 5 p.m.; Marist Catholic vs. Scappoose, 7 p.m.
• Thursday — Scappoose vs. Philomath, 5 p.m.; Sutherlin vs. Marist Catholic, 7 p.m.
• Friday — Sutherlin vs. Scappoose, 5 p.m.; Marist Catholic vs. Philomath, 7 p.m.
The full girls schedule:
• Wednesday — Sutherlin vs. Philomath, 2 p.m.; Marist Catholic vs. Scappoose, 3:30 p.m.
• Thursday — Sutherlin vs. Marist Catholic, 2 p.m.; Scappoose vs. Philomath, 3:30 p.m.
• Friday — Sutherlin vs. Scappoose, 2 p.m.; Marist Catholic vs. Philomath, 3:30 p.m.
The late Ed Young, a top PHS wrestler
Ed Young, one of Philomath High’s all-time best wrestlers, passed away Nov. 27 in Blodgett. A 1965 graduate of the local high school, he served in the U.S. Army from 1968-72 and had a successful career as Corvallis city inspector. He also served as the Blodgett-Summitt Rural Fire Protection District’s chief.
Young had an incredible run during his senior season with the Warriors when he went 30-0, capped off by the state title at 115 pounds in the A2/B division. He finished his high school career with an impressive 95-6 overall record.
Young was named Philomath High’s top athlete of 1964-65. In addition to wrestling, he was the starting halfback and safety for the football team, and a top sprinter on the track team.
At state in March 1965, Young won in the first round on a 7-1 decision over Siuslaw’s Dick Pickett, defeated Henley’s Dick Rodriguez in the quarterfinals on a pin and then got past Brookings’ Jim Garberry on a late pin in the semifinals. In the championship match, he battled to a 3-1 decision over Ulan Moore of Gervais. The state tournament was held at that time in Gill Coliseum at Oregon State.
Based on the state wrestling archives as listed by the Oregon School Activities Association, it appears that Young was Philomath High’s first ever state champion in wrestling.
Young had advanced to state after winning the Yawama League title. Also competing at state that year from Philomath were Willie Williams (106), Milo Askay (157) and Tom Arneson (168).
After high school, Young competed in wrestling at the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls.
Swim team headed to Stayton
Philomath High’s swim team is scheduled to be a participant in Thursday’s Stayton Christmas Invite.
The Warriors have been busy over the holiday break — not just in the pool but in the weight room. It makes sense since in swimming, you engage all of multiple muscle groups to stay afloat and propel yourself in the water. In fact, many folks with expertise in such things believe swimming provides the ultimate total body workout.
The appearance in Stayton will be the team’s sixth competition over a period of about three weeks and will represent the second away from the home pool. The invite begins at 10 a.m. at Stayton Community Pool.
After this meet, the Warriors will get a break from competitions with the schedule not resuming until Jan. 9 with a home tri-meet against Blanchet Catholic and Stayton. A key and beneficial sprint meet follows on Jan. 13 at South Albany, the pool that hosts districts.
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).
