THE GORGE - Just two of the nine Big Sky League basketball teams – the district champions, Dufur girls and South Wasco County boys – remain in the OSAA Class 1A state playoff picture after the first round.
South Wasco County overwhelmed visiting Jordan Valley, 82-38, in their first-round contest in Maupin on Feb. 24. Senior Jason Hull scored 28 points and had five assists, 6-foor-6 senior Rowen Huff added 10 points and game-high 15 rebounds, and freshman Ryker Thompson scored 21 points for the third-seeded Redsides (26-2).
South Wasco plays its next game at 5 p.m. Feb. 27 in Maupin against Joseph (17-17), a 55-43 first-round winner over visiting Condon. The winner of that contest advances to the 2026 1A state tournament March 4-7 in Baker City.
Four other Big Sky boys teams qualified for the playoffs, including Gorge-area teams Klickitat/Glenwood and Horizon Christian. Horizon (14-11) lost at Adrian, 66-47, despite double-figure scoring from Ben Chapman, Landon Whitaker, and Charlie Haynie. Klickwood (13-10) lost, 86-50, to a physical Crosspoint Christian team from Klamath Falls.
The Dufur girls advanced to the second round with a 57-38 home win against CS Lewis of Newberg. The Rangers (22-3) were led by Hailee Pechanec’s 22 points and the 14 from Makaila Miller.
Dufur jumped out to a 38-19 halftime lead. Pechanec scored the Rangers’ first eight points of the second half and Dufur led by as many as 24 points in the final period.
Dufur will host 19-6 Union in a play-in game to the state tourney on Feb. 28. The winner advances to the eight-team 1A state tournament March 5-7 at Baker City High School. Union finished second at the 2025 state tourney.
The Trout Lake and South Wasco County girls teams also lost first-round games. South Wasco (10-16) fell, 43-29, to Southwest Christian of Beaverton. Trout Lake (17-9) lost 54-31 at Powers. Junior Eden Anderson led Trout Lake with 12 points.
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