The No. 1 ranked Horizon Christian boys basketball team moved one step closer toward its goal of winning the 1A state championship with an impressive 52-21 second-round state playoff win over Triangle Lake Friday at Horizon Christian High School.
The Horizon Hawks (25-3) took control from the outset of the contest, jumping ahead 14-0 to the delight of an enthusiastic and capacity crowd at Horizon’s “Hawk Nest” gym. The Triangle Lake Lakers (15-11), of the Mountain West Conference near Eugene, never provided the high-flying Hawks with much of a challenge at any point of the one-sided matchup.
Horizon, guided by coach Darrin Lingel, advanced to the OSAA/U.S. Bank/Les Schwab Tires State Championship Tournament Mar. 4-7 in Baker City for a fifth straight year. Horizon was scheduled to play Crosshill Christian at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in a quarterfinal game.
“I’m extremely proud of the seniors, who have been with us since they were in junior high,” said Lingel. “Their commitment to the program and the amount of time spent in offseason activities really shows how dedicated they are to the team. This wasn’t the best game we’ve had, but everyone played really, really hard. All I ask of these guys is to come out and give it all they have and they did that. We’re excited to be heading off to Baker City and we’re looking forward to another matchup against Crosshill Christian.”
The five-time Big Sky Conference champion Hawks utilized an aggressive and suffocating defense to completely overwhelm the Lakers. The Hawks went up 9-0 at the end of the first eight-minute period, marking the second time this year they’ve limited a team to a scoreless quarter.
“Our zone defense was very effective, just like it has been all year long,” said Lingel. “The kids all did a good job with our variety of defensive concepts. Our full-court and half-court presses worked well for us. We really have a number of different schemes that we use in our defensive arsenal that we can utilize depending on each game situation. The kids are ready to go to Baker and hopefully stay there until Saturday. We have two more games that we need to win to get to the championship game.”
The Lakers, who had some momentum by winning seven of their last nine games, couldn’t establish any offensive rhythm, as they were stymied by the Hawks’ two-three zone defense and full-court press. A young Lakers squad, with just two seniors, didn’t get its first basket until Cole Younger’s (eight points) layup with 5:51 left in the second, making it 14-2.
A more experienced Hawks team (six seniors) continued to maintain its intensity level while displaying a potent offensive attack that’s ranked fifth at 61.9 points a game. Senior Nick Andersen (two pts.) grabbed a rebound and scored on a put-back shot underneath late in the second to provide Horizon with a 20-8 halftime advantage.
“We played good defense and that’s what we like to focus on,” said Andersen, who made the game-winning free throw in Horizon’s 48-47 win in their last game Feb. 21 versus Sherman. “We really made them work hard for every point. I felt like we kind of had a little bit of a letdown, but we’ll be ready to play up to our maximum potential at the state tournament. We’ll take it one game at a time though and we won’t look ahead to any game other than our matchup against Crosshill Christian on Wednesday.”
Led by seniors Jared Davis (10 pts., five assists) and center Mason Bloomster (18 pts., 12 rebounds, three blocks), the Hawks continued their strong performance in the third. Two free throws by senior Ryan Aldrich (two pts.) and a jumper in the lane by junior Jared Bryan (eight pts., eight rebs.) helped Horizon extend its lead to 31-14 after three quarters.
“It was definitely a pretty weird feeling playing in our final home game ever,” said Aldrich. “It really didn’t seem too emotional for me, but it just seemed to be a little different type of atmosphere. We have lots of momentum going into the tournament and I think it will continue in our next three games. We plan on getting three more wins so that we can achieve our goal of winning the state championship. It would be an awesome way for the seniors to conclude our career.”
The Hawks continued displaying a high intensity level in the fourth, outscoring the Lakers 21-7, while playing near flawlessly on offense and defense. A Davis steal and breakaway layup, followed by his outside jumper, made it 38-19.
A 10-0 Hawks run was ignited by the highlight basket of the game. On a Hawk fast break, Davis lobbed a pass up near the hoop toward a high-leaping Bloomster, who dropped the ball in for an alley-oop shot that brought the hometown crowd to its feet. Senior guard RJ Hicks (five pts.) capped the rally with his layup and free throw for a three-point play, making it 48-19 with 1:51 remaining in the game.
“If feels good to be going to Baker City and knowing we have momentum of being undefeated against every 1A team we’ve played this year,” said Davis. “I know that we’ll be seeing every team there playing their best basketball. We just have to continue playing with lots of confidence while we should also have a humble attitude as well. If we do that, then I think we’ll be OK.”
The victory was Horizon’s 19th in a row over 1A teams, as they remained undefeated at that classification level. The 21 points by the Lakers marked the lowest total Horizon has allowed this year. It was the 13th time Horizon won by 20 or more points. However, the Hawks didn’t have one of thier best shooting performances as they shot 21-for-55 (38 percent) in total field goals, including going 0-10 from the three point arc.
It marked the final home game of their career for seniors Davis, Bloomster, Hicks, Aldrich, Andersen and Wesley Johnston.
“We won by 31 points even though we were not shooting very well,” said Johnston, who had three points and three steals. “We definitely played well, but the shots that we normally make just didn’t seem to fall. If we keep playing with the same intensity level, then I think that we’ll continue having success at the tournament in Baker City. It would be great to win the championship. It felt kind of exciting for myself and my teammates to be playing the final home game of our career and it was definitely a different type of experience for us.”
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