Hood River Valley dug itself too big a second-quarter hole and the result was a 74-61 loss March 4 in the first round of the Class 5A boys basketball state playoffs at Eagle Point.
Flexibility is a fact of life in high school sports nowadays, as coaches adjust rosters based on available players (and in some cases, available coaches).
The Hood River Valley boys basketball team made such adjustments this past week — to its roster and schedule — and the results were a couple of non-league losses to Washington schools.
Tenth-ranked Hood River Valley overcame an 18-14 first-period deficit and went on to defeat visiting Milwaukie, 82-71, in a non-league boys basketball game Dec. 14.
Senior Clayton Cook’s two free throws with 12 seconds remaining clinched Hood River Valley’s, 69-64, boys basketball win Friday against visiting Mt. View of Vancouver.
A definition of relevancy in high school boys basketball: Good teams schedule non-league games against you because they want to play better competition, not because they want an easy win; or, they schedule you because a win or a loss won’t adversely affect their power ranking.
Either way, the Hood River Valley boys hoops program, under seventh-year Coach Christopher Dirks, is relevant once again.
