HOOD RIVER — The Hood River Valley boys basketball team entered this week in fifth place in the Northwest Oregon Conference after splitting its past two league games.
The Eagles (7-10 overall, 4-4 NWOC) were scheduled to start the second half of league play Feb. 3 against visiting Wilsonville. The top four teams in the final nine-team NWOC standings qualify for the Class 5A state playoffs. Two at-large qualifiers also will make it to state.
Hood River played with the league’s top team, Parkrose, for a half on Jan. 27 at Vannet Court before the visitors pulled away to a 74-51 win. The third-ranked Broncos (14-2 overall, 7-0 NWOC) play an up-tempo game, which the Eagles were able to stay with through the opening two periods.
Hood River took its first lead since the opening minutes at 36-35 on Deacon Ybarra’s three-pointer to start the third period. But Parkrose responded with the next 12 points and the closest HRV could get after that was 54-45 midway through the final quarter.
Junior guard JJ Poole, who led Hood River with 21 points, sank his fourth three-pointer of the game with 3:01 remaining to make the score 65-51. But those proved to be the Eagles’ final points of the contest.
Parkrose started strong, building a 21-15 first period lead largely because of its ability to get out in transition and finish at the basket. The Broncos made six more first quarter free throws than HRV, which was the scoring margin after the period. The Eagles trailed by 12 points in the second quarter before pulling within 35-33 by halftime.
Hood River controlled its other contest from the outset this past week, a 62-48 win at Milwaukie (7-10, 1-7) on Jan. 30. Milwaukie, whose lone league win was against Putnam, made some runs in the second period, but each time HRV had a three-point answer. The Eagles built a 15-point lead in the second quarter fueled by a 9-0 scoring run. After Milwaukie cut the margin to 30-18, Grant Dunn made a fade-away three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to push the advantage back to 15.
Midway through the third period, Milwaukie used an 8-0 run to pull within 41-28. But Talon Britt was fouled on a three- pointer and converted all three free throws. A few possessions later, Poole answered a Milwaukie three-pointer with one of his own. The HRV lead was 18 points, and the Mustangs didn’t get much closer.
Dunn finished with 22 points and Poole added 16 for Hood River.
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