Eagles eye boys basketball state playoff berth

Pendleton is winless in nine Intermountain Conference games and 1-20 overall. Hood River had to come from behind in the fourth quarter Feb. 4, when the teams played in Pendleton.

Fifteen teams, including three from the Intermountain Conference, automatically qualify for the OSAA’s 16-team playoff bracket. Hood River, ranked 10th in the OSAA ranking, will be on the road in the first round of the state playoffs. The eight-game, first-round is scheduled for March 4, with winners of those games qualifying for the eight-team 5A state tournament, March 9-12 at Gill Coliseum on the campus of Oregon State University in Corvallis.

But first things first — the Eagles have to qualify for the postseason. It was a grueling week last week for HRV, according to assistant Coach Noah Noteboom. He said the Eagles’ effort against fifth-ranked Redmond kept them in the game.

“Versus Redmond we came in with a ‘why not us’ attitude,” Noteboom said. “We made some game-plan adjustments and played much better overall team defense.”

But offensively, the Eagles couldn’t keep pace with the Panthers (18-5 overall), who are on an 11-game win streak. Hood River shot 32 percent from the field and committed 19 team fouls. Redmond also had 18 second-chance points and outrebounded HRV, 55-33.

Tommy Ziegler had 17 points, four rebounds and three assists to lead Hood River; teammate Emanuel Romero added 12 points, four assists and two steals before fouling out.

Rebounding was again a problem against Ridgeview, which held a 46-34 advantage in that category over HRV. Noteboom said poor shooting — particularly around the basket — plagued the Eagles (HRV shot 25% for the game and was 4-of-26 on 3-pointers).

“Despite just 11 turnovers we couldn’t find our stride in the second half as the Ravens slowly built up a 20-point lead,” Noteboom said. “The Ravens attacked the basket with a vengeance.”

Geoffrey Shoaf had eight points and four rebounds, and Ziegler scored a team-high 11 points.