The Philomath High School boys basketball team erupted for 27 points in the fourth quarter but it wasn’t enough to overcome 5A West Albany in a 69-61 loss on the road.
The Bulldogs (2-1) opened up a 25-17 lead by the end of the first quarter, held a 39-29 advantage at halftime and then went on a 13-5 run in the third quarter. Trailing 52-34 and the game’s outcome pretty much decided, the Warriors worked through the situation and put together one of its best quarters offensively so far this season.
“We played much better tonight,” PHS coach Blake Ecker said. “It’s a game we can build on.”
Long-range shooting boosted the Warriors over those final eight minutes with the team converting on six 3-pointers. Sophomore Esias Sapp came off the bench to bury two treys with the others scored by senior Caleb Russell, senior Hudson Raab, junior Josiah Peters and senior Grant Niemann.
Peters scored seven of his team-high 12 points in the fourth quarter.
In all, the Warriors made eight 3-pointers in the game — Russell, Peters and Sapp with two apiece.
Niemann, who scored six points in the second quarter, finished the game with 11 points. Russell had 10 and sophomore Jamin Peters added nine.
West Albany entered the game after splitting its first two games — a 65-58 win over Sheldon and a 70-59 loss to Thurston. Three players scored 50 of the team’s 69 points against PHS with senior Gavin Aguilar and sophomore Grey Nieman each scoring 17 and senior Owen Hopkins finishing with 16.
Philomath (1-3) will play another 5A school Tuesday with a trip to South Albany. The tip-off for the boys game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. The RedHawks have a 2-0 record heading into a game Saturday against Westview at the Moda Center in Portland.
