Competing in the Newport Coastal Classic boys basketball Tournament Dec. 28-30 at Newport High School, The Dalles High Riverhawks won their first game of the season, 58-52, over the Santiam High Wolverines.
The win snapped a five-game, season-opening losing streak. But that happiness turned into sadness one day later. The Riverhawks, guided by first-year Coach Jordan Rowland, lost their most talented player — senior starting guard Styles DeLeon — to a season-ending, left leg injury during a 58-52 win over the Elmira High Falcons (2-8) on Dec. 30.
“I’m happy that we’ve won two in a row, but it was a major setback for our team with Styles suffering an achilles tendon injury on his left leg, that is probably a season-ending injury,” said Rowland. “He’s the best player on our team and now we’ll have to play without him. Other than that, we’re doing good now though, since we finally got a couple of wins, which is what we’ve been searching for.”
Despite experiencing the thrill of getting a second straight win, the Riverhawks were certainly in no mood to celebrate because of DeLeon’s injury.
In their first game of the tournament Dec. 28, against the No. 6-ranked Seaside High Seagulls (8-2), the Riverhawks got off to a slow start with eight first-quarter points. The Riverhawks developed a good offensive rhythm over the next three quarters though as they scored 48 points to nearly pull out a win before Seaside prevailed, 57-56. DeLeon and junior guard Henry Begay led the Riverhawks in scoring with 17 points each, and junior center Will Lee added 12 points.
“I think we played a really awesome game against Seaside, and I think we actually should’ve won,” said Rowland. “I think the refs kind of took it out of our hands. I don’t want to blame the refs, but they shouldn’t have called a foul on us with nine-tenths of a second left to give Seaside a chance to win the game at the free-throw line, but that’s what happened.
“I watched the game film of that particular point of the game over and over and over again. There was no way that Styles fouled the Seaside player. That was the best game our kids played this year in terms of heart and will and playing with an attitude to win and they really battled hard.”
In the win over Class 2A Santiam (5-3), the Riverhawks displayed a potent offense early with 20 first-quarter points. The Riverhawks scored in double figures in every quarter to get the win over the Wolverines, of the Class 2A Tri-River Conference. The Riverhawks had four players score in double figures, led by Lee with 14. DeLeon and Begay had 13 each and junior forward Andre Niko added 11.
In the match-up versus Elmira (2-8), of the Class 3A Mountain Valley Conference, the Riverhawks came out with a strong offensive surge to gain the momentum early in the first quarter as they scored 18 points. Despite scoring only four in the fourth quarter, the Riverhawks managed to hold on for 43-31 win. The 31 points by Elmira represented a season low for a Riverhawk opponent this year.
“Obviously, losing Styles in the game with Elmira kind of really takes away all the positive aspects that are usually accompanied by a win,” said Rowland, who celebrated his birthday Jan. 3. “It’s heartbreaking to lose our best player. I feel bad for him since it’s his senior year and it’s the last time he’ll play high school basketball.
“We had hopes of doing some good things this year with Styles and I think we still have a chance to do that. Obviously, his injury changes everything. We all feel bad for Styles, but the season still goes on. We just have to figure out some new roles for our players and we’ll have to see who’s going to be willing to step up.”
The Riverhawks will be seeking to win their third straight game Wednesday when they face the Pendleton High Buckaroos (5-8) in a 6:30 p.m. home game at The Dalles High School’s Kurtz Gym.
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