The Wasco County girls basketball team poses with their trophy after taking fourth place n the Oregon Class 1A Community Bank/Steens/Baker County State Tournament.
The South Wasco County girls basketball team enjoyed its most successful season in 20 years by taking fourth place in the Oregon Class 1A Community Bank/Steens/Baker County State Tournament June 21-24 at Baker High School and Powder Valley High.
South Wasco, guided by fourth-year coach Carly Johnson, won 60-58 over Trinity Lutheran Saints to earn the fourth-place trophy June 24 at Baker High School. It marked the Lady Redsides’ highest state tournament finish since 2001, when they won the state title.
The Wasco County girls basketball team poses with their trophy after taking fourth place n the Oregon Class 1A Community Bank/Steens/Baker County State Tournament.
Mike Weber photo
“For our seniors this was a great way to conclude our season and it was so exciting for them,” said Johnson. “I’ve coached them since they were in eighth grade, so this was a great experience for them. After four years, all our hard work finally paid off. We all cried our eyes out in the locker room after the game because we were so emotional and so happy with the way our season ended. It was a wonderful experience for the whole team.”
The Redsides won three of four games in the 16-team tournament, including a 52-48 win over the No. 8 seeded North Douglas Warriors in the first round.
“The girls played awesome in the first game, and it was such a relief to know that they could play so well after making the long drive out there,” said Johnson. “It was a great way to start off the tournament and just being able to stay in the winners bracket was just awesome too, because we clinched a spot in the Baker eight-team quarterfinals.”
Senior Destiny Mora-Lopez scored 23 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and had two blocked shots to help lead the Redsides. Senior Jade McCoy had 14 points, five rebounds and three assists and junior Kylie Iverson had 11 points and four rebounds.
South Wasco lost 65-26 in the June 22 quarterfinals versus the eventual state champion and No. 1 seeded Crane Mustangs (13-0). The High Desert League champions won their second consecutive title with a 75-54 win over the Country Christian Cougars June 24.
“We played awful against Crane, but they were the only team we lost to, and they won the championship,” said Johnson. “We’ve played them several times over the last few years. Obviously, they’re a great team, they played very well, but we just made too many mistakes and that’s something that we normally don’t do. They’re a fantastic team and we just didn’t play very well.”
The Redsides shot 17 percent from the field and committed 28 turnovers. The 26 points were fewest for South Wasco in a game this season. Mora-Lopez led the Redsides with 15 points and six rebounds.
South Wasco bounced back with a 64-44 win over the No. 5 seed Nixyaawii Golden Eagles June 23. The Redsides led from the entire game and the 64 points were the most they scored in any game. Mora-Lopez had a career high 24 of those points and added 20 rebounds and two blocks. Jade McCoy had 17 points and seven rebounds.
“The Nixyaawii game was my absolutely favorite game of the tournament,” said Johnson. “My girls were very fired up before the game and it was really an intense game too. We had lots of fouls and it was a pretty rough and physical game and we got kind of frustrated at times. We battled through it though and we shot the lights out offensively and we just played a really great game against the No. 5 ranked team in the tournament.”
The players had what they called a good luck charm, which was a little squeeze toy spirit pig that they used often to make a squeaking noise. Johnson said it always made them happy to have it and helped provide them with an upbeat and positive attitude throughout the four-day tournament.
In last Thursday’s fourth-place contest versus No. 11 seed Trinity Lutheran, South Wasco jumped in front 16-6 after the first quarter and led 23-15 at halftime. The Redsides’ momentum continued in the third as they extended the margin to 46-29 after three quarters. The Saints fought back, outscoring the Redsides 29-14 in the fourth to trim the margin to two at the end. Iverson scored a career-high 20 and had eight rebounds and Miles scored 14 and had four assists. “All the girls seemed to be really inspired to play an outstanding game and that’s exactly what they did,” said Johnson. “In the last minute, we were up by 10 points and then number 42 (Eli Kent) just went off and she was able to score some quick baskets and then our lead was down to only two points. Luckily, we were able to hold them off.”
The senior duo of Mora-Lopez and Jade McCoy played the final game of their South Wasco High School careers. Mora-Lopez scored 10 points and had 15 rebounds and five blocks. Mora-Lopez was selected by coaches to the all-tourney second team. Jade McCoy had 12 points, eight rebounds, three steals and three assists. Jade’s sister Sadie had four points and a team-high five assists. Kent scored 42 of her team’s 58 points for Trinity.
Mora-Lopez will continue her basketball career in college, as she received an athletic scholarship to attend Central Maine Community College.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.