The Hood River Valley High Eagles took a big step towards possibly achieving their goal of reaching the OSAA Class 5A boys basketball state playoffs following a, 66-50, Northwest Oregon Conference home win over the Putnam High Kingsmen on Jan. 27.
The Eagles (4-3 league, 7-8 overall), guided by Coach Christopher Dirks, moved ahead of Putnam (4-4 league, 10-6 overall) and into fourth place in the league standings. The top four teams in the NWOC qualify for the state playoffs that begin March 4.
“I am proud of the guys and we’ve kind of been through a lot this year while putting a lot of pressure on ourselves,” said Dirks. “In the last three games, it feels like we’ve relieved some of that pressure and it’s been a super fun to be a part of that right now. Obviously, finishing in near the top of the standings is something that’s in the back of our minds.
“We’re trying not to focus on that so much, because we just want to come out and just play without that additional pressure. The guys love playing at home and they love our hometown crowd and they love playing where we practice every day, so that has a huge effect upon our team.”
Hood River jumped out to an 8-1 lead on a basket by senior wing Chris Johnson (seven points). The two teams then traded baskets and an outside jumper by junior wing Sawyer Clemett (team-high 22 points), gave the Eagles a 15-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“It was a good game, and we kept our energy level up high the entire game,” said Clemett. “We fought the whole game. I think they (Kingsmen) kind of overlooked us. We just came out hitting three pointers and making lots of layups and we were just playing as team better than they were. We’re on a three-game win streak now and I think we’ll keep our momentum going for sure. Most of the games we’re playing on the upcoming schedule are against teams that we should have a good chance to beat. I’m just playing loose and I’m feeling free to attack the basket and of course it’s fun to score points.”
Putnam came back in the second and trimmed the deficit to 20-16 midway through the quarter. The Eagles responded well to the challenge with a 13-2 run, fueled by Grady Williams and sophomore guard Zak Poole (18 points), who fired in back-to-back three-point field goals to help lift the Eagles in front 33-18 at halftime.
Hood River’s momentum continued in the third as they remained on top, 41-28, after three quarters. The Kingsmen kept fighting, trimming the margin to 41-33 with 7:27 remaining in the game. The Eagles rebuilt a comfortable double-digit advantage with a 10-2 run, capped by Clemett’s rebound and putback shot in the lane, making it 51-35, forcing a Putnam timeout with 4:48 left.
The victory was the third straight for Hood River, which won, 76-42, at home over the struggling Hillsboro High Spartans (0-15 overall) on Jan. 24. Against Hillsboro, Clemett scored a team-high 25 points to lead three Eagles in double figure scoring. Aidan Smith scored 12 and Poole had 10.
The Eagles were seeking to notch a fourth straight win in Tuesday’s home game versus the Canby High Cougars (result after the printed edition deadline). There are eight games remaining on the schedule and HRV’s next game is Thursday at home at 7:15 against the Centennial Eagles (1-6 league, 2-13 overall).
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