The thought crossed his mind — just for a moment.
With the game tied, 41-41, with less than a minute to play Saturday night, Philomath sophomore Esias Sapp took possession of the ball at midcourt following a Junction City turnover and had a clear path to the basket.
Just for a split second, Sapp’s body language suggested that he wanted to slam dunk the ball to not only give the Warriors the lead but send a message to the opponent that this wasn’t going to be their night.
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Sapp has the vertical ability to slam dunk a basketball, but he ultimately thought better of it in such a pivotal moment.
“It has to be in certain places where I can dunk it,” Sapp said following the 43-41 victory. “I was like, ‘I don’t want to risk going up and then missing a dunk.’ … It rushed through my head, ‘you’ve got to make this.’”
Philomath had trailed by as many as nine points in the second half before staging the comeback. The Warriors’ defense combined with Junction City’s futility at the free-throw line both played into the final result.
“It was definitely our defense that got us back in the game and being able to attack a little bit and get some transition baskets,” PHS coach Blake Ecker said.
Philomath (1-1) entered the game with a need for something positive to happen on the floor. Just two days earlier, the team had struggled in a 22-point loss at Crescent Valley.
“I’m glad we got the win … There’s no doubt about it, It feels good to win one,” Ecker said. “To get that win is pretty good for us right now. The locker room mood is a little bit better.”
Throughout the first half, the score remained close and the lead exchanged hands several times. Neither team held a lead of more than four points — and that was the margin at halftime with the visiting Tigers holding a 27-23 advantage.
Philomath’s offensive performance was inconsistent for the most part through the first two quarters. Caleb Russell and Logan Matthews each hit 3-pointers and Zack Powers had his moments inside with all eight of his points on the evening coming in the first half.
Junction City (0-2) kept pace with all five of its starters contributing points. Gaven Grover led the way with 12 of his 14 points coming in the first half, including the final four points of the second quarter to break a 23-23 tie.
“We’ve got to take care of the ball. We just had so many unforced turnovers — we’ve got shore that up,” Ecker said. “We’re still missing some easy ones. I mean, sometimes we’ll bring the ball down low and it’ll get stolen and we teach them to keep the ball up high.”
In the second half, Junction City started to create some separation. Grover scored on a fast break with 5:10 left in the third to give the Tigers their biggest lead of the night at 32-23. The Philomath defense, however, stepped up and allowed only two more points the rest of the quarter — that coming with 3 seconds left.
Russell had a steal and a basket and following another turnover, Matthews slammed the ball home to excite the PHS crowd. But the Warrior offense still lagged overall with the home team trailing by seven going into the fourth.
Philomath finally made a serious dent in the deficit in the opening minutes of the final period. Jamin Peters drew a couple of fouls and came through at the free-throw line to get the Warriors to within 35-31. Then with 4:55 remaining, Peters drove the lane for another two points.
On the other end, Junction City’s offense could not handle what Philomath’s defense was showing and appeared to panic at times while trying to move the ball. The Tigers also struggled at the free-throw line and made just 2 of 14 in the fourth quarter and finished 8 of 28 for the game.
Sapp came onto the floor with hopes of providing a spark.
“At that point, we weren’t as hyped up as we could’ve been,” Sapp said. “So I just tried to come in with as much intensity as I could to try to get all the players all hyped up and ready to play some basketball and go get a win.”
Philomath tied the game, 35-35, with 3:36 left on a Kaden Howard basket with an assist to Sapp.
“He came in and brought some energy and our guys started following him,” Ecker said about Sapp. “He led that comeback there, so he did a fantastic job.”
Philomath took the lead after another Junction City turnover when Grant Niemann drove to the hoop.
Junction City finally scored its first points of the fourth quarter with 2:37 remaining on a 3-pointer by Kaden Shafer. Philomath countered a short time later when Matthews came up with a steal and Sapp finished in transition for a 39-38 lead.
Then with 1:38 left, Junction City regained the lead on a nice move inside by Shafer. The Tigers hit one of its few free throws in the period a short time later for a 41-39 lead.
With 51 seconds remaining, Peters scored after snagging an offensive rebound off a teammate’s miss. That tied the score at 41-41. Sapp followed with what would be the game winner with 36 seconds left.
Junction City had opportunities to tie the game at the free-throw line but missed six straight foul shots over the final 25 seconds. Then with 0.9 showing on the clock, Philomath had possession and attempted a throw-in deep downcourt. The Tigers’ Shafer intercepted the pass and got off a 3-point attempt from 60 feet before the final buzzer. The ball nearly went in for a miracle finish for the visitors but clanged off the rim.
Sapp, who scored 21 points earlier in the evening during the junior varsity game, may have played himself into more varsity floor time.
“We’ll see what happens for him coming up but he did a really good job,” Ecker said. “I was proud of him.”
Sapp hopes the win translates into better play down the road.
“Over in CV, we didn’t play too great,” Sapp said. “I think this is going to help us in future games play better as teammates.”
Philomath has a very tough schedule coming up over the rest of the month — all games on the road. The Warriors play at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Marist Catholic (0-1) followed by games Dec. 13 at West Albany (1-0) and Dec. 17 at South Albany (1-0) — both 5A opponents.
“We’ve got our work cut out for us next week with Marist and West Albany — it’s a gauntlet we’re going through right now,” Ecker said.
