Philomath junior Esias Sapp connected on five 3-pointers and scored 19 points to lead the boys basketball team to a 56-46 victory Friday morning over North Bend at the South Coast Les Schwab Tournament in Coos Bay.
Sapp was on fire from the opening tipoff with three of those 3-pointers coming in the first quarter. Along with a couple of free throws, he had 11 points over the first eight minutes to help the Warriors get out to a 21-10 lead.
Coach Blake Ecker said junior Kaden Howard had a good performance for the second straight game and junior Jamin Peters was a force on the boards with 11 rebounds.
“Gradually we’re seeing some improvement,” Ecker said.
In addition to Sapp’s 19, Howard finished with nine and sophomore Cole Barron, junior Hamish McConnell and Peters each added eight.
Ecker said although the victory was encouraging to see, the team still has things to shore up.
“They had a kid that hit a bunch of shots and we didn’t want to guard him,” Ecker said, a reference to North Bend freshman Gavin Snoddy, who hit five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 21 points. “He gets two 3s in a row and we still wouldn’t get up on him. So it’s fun, just different things like that to figure out.”
Philomath (2-4) advances to the consolation final at 10:45 a.m. Saturday to face North Marion, a rival out of the Oregon West Conference. The Huskies will enter the game with a 3-3 record under first-year coach Trevor Bodine.
“They ran a lot of half-court trapping 1-3-1 today, which we’re pretty familiar with,” Ecker said about North Marion’s 62-56 win Friday over Sutherlin. “We’ve got to play, we’ve got to hit shots, we’ve got to make the passes.”
Philomath 56, North Bend 46
Friday, Dec. 19, at Marshfield HS, Coos Bay
NORTH BEND (46)
Brody Kyllo 1 0-0 3, Easton Ford 1 0-0 3, Hunter Christensen 4 1-2 9, Gavin Snoddy 8 0-0 21, Gavin Riddle 1 0-0 2, Exavier Selby-Morgan 1 0-0 2, Max Verdal 2 1-2 6. Totals 18 2-4 46.
PHILOMATH (56)
Dreyton Nuño 0 0-0 0, Kaden Howard 4 1-6 9, Esias Sapp 6 2-2 19, Cole Barron 3 2-4 8, Jamin Peters 2 4-8 8, Hamish McConnell 4 0-0 8, Lucas Lewetag 1 0-0 2, Ace Gerding 1 0-0 2, Nathan Seits 0 0-0 0, Hudson Jones 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 9-20 56.
Team 1 2 3 4 F North Bend (2-4) 10 15 10 11 46 Philomath (2-4) 21 14 11 10 56
3-Point Goals—North Bend 8 (Snoddy 5, Kyllo, Ford, Verdal), Philomath 5 (Sapp 5). Fouled Out—Riddle. Total Fouls—North Bend 18, Philomath 15. Technicals—None.