Philomath High’s girls basketball team rolled to a significant early advantage to put North Marion on its heels en route to a 58-20 victory on Thursday night on the Aurora school’s campus.
Behind strong starts in the scoring column by sophomore Anneka Steen and senior Abigail Brown, the Warriors built a 19-2 lead by the end of the first quarter. During those eight minutes, Steen scored seven of her 11 points on the evening while Brown was well on her way to what ended up as a 22-point game. Sophomore Zoee Howard, freshman Emily Taunisila and senior Ingrid Hellesto also had buckets in the opening period.
By halftime, Philomath’s lead had grown to 27 points with a 37-10 advantage. Brown scored 10 points in the second quarter and had 16 at halftime. Steen, Hellesto and junior Ahnika Tryon also found the hoop.
Said head coach Ben Silva, “We got out and ran early and then executed well.”
Brown continued to pile up points in the third quarter with three more baskets and sat out the fourth to finish with 22. Howard, who has been an effective option off the bench for Silva, hit a couple of baskets, Taunisila scored again and senior Ally Todd sank a couple of free throws as Philomath took a 49-16 lead into the fourth.
The pace let up in the fourth as Silva cleared his bench for minutes on the floor. Sophomore Mica Boynton hit the only two baskets of the quarter for the Warriors and added a free throw. Freshman Shaylee May also sank two foul shots.
Philomath (13-6 overall, 6-1 Oregon West) will head to Sweet Home for a Monday night contest. The tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. Sweet Home will come into the game with records of 4-16 overall and 0-7 in the conference.
North Marion dropped to 5-16 and 1-6 with Thursday night’s loss.
