MADRAS – Down 35-20 at halftime, it appeared as though the Dufur Rangers were dead in the water.
But, the Rangers went on second-half runs of 14-11 and 22-13, and misfired on a pair of 3-pointers in the final 16 seconds, as the Horizon Christian hawks hung on for a 59-56 triumph to secure the third and final state seed in Saturday’s Big Sky Conference consolation game played in Madras.
After the game, Horizon Christian head coach Sam Trevino gave all of the credit to Dufur coach Tony White for making the proper adjustments to get his team back in contention late.
“I was probably the most nervous out of everyone,” Trevino said. “Tony kept his boys coming at us, no matter if they were down two points or 15. We were able to withstand Dufur’s relentless spirit. This proves you can’t take a set off. You take a set off and they are back to within five points and it becomes a battle from there. It went our way in the end, but you have to credit Dufur for fighting the entire way.”
Horizon led 46-40 entering the fourth quarter, but a 3-pointer from Dufur guard Travis Lucas drew his team to within a 48-44 deficit with three minutes and 53 seconds left in the game.
With 2:33 left, Bailey Keever hit a driving layup to inch the rangers to within 53-48 with 2:33 on the clock, but then Horizon answered back with two free throws from Derek Johnston to make it a 56-48 lead.
At the 1:14 mark, Connor Uhalde drilled a 3-pointer to close the gap to 56-51, and on Horizon’s next possession, the junior guard grabbed a steal and went the other way for a layup to draw Dufur to a 56-53 deficit with 1:09 left.
Johnston then hit a layup to increase Horizon’s lead, but Lucas came back and swished a 3-pointer to get the score to 58-56 with 30 seconds remaining.
Horizon committed a turnover on its next possession, so the Rangers had a chance to take the lead.
After a timeout, Dufur passed the ball back to the perimeter for a potential game-winning shot, but could not get it to go.
Johnston then hit 1 of 2 free throws to give the Hawks a 3-point advantage, but Dufur missed another late 3-pointer and Horizon hung on to keep its season going.
“They came out and it was hopeful because they had a good start to the third quarter and it jumpstarted us,” said Dufur coach Tony White. “I really thought we were going to climb back in it there. The final play was designed for high pick for Bailey to come off and penetrate and if the offside wings sucks in, we kick it to the wing and he goes. It didn’t get there. Bailey took about three dribbles, stopped and kicked it out and Connor fired up that three.”
Both teams fought to a 13-all draw through the opening period, but then Horizon went on a 22-7 run to go out in front, 35-20.
In the first half, the Hawks converted on 15 of 21 shots, while Dufur went 7 of 30 from the field for 23 percent.
Dufur went 18 for 59 for the game, as Uhalde led with 18 points, five rebounds and four steals.
Lucas had 16 points on 5 of 11 shooting, and he added three rebounds and five steals.
Keever totaled 14 points, grabbed five rebounds, two blocks and two steals, and Kolbe Bales notched eight points and five boards.
“They stopped us a couple of times, but our shots just weren’t falling,” Lucas said. “We were rushing our shots and they weren’t going in. In the second half, we came out ready to play and they started dropping. We came back, but just couldn’t get the final shots to go for us.”
For the Hawks, Jared Bryan had 19 points on five rebounds, Johnston scored 16 points, and Cody Lingel was good for 10 points and two assists.
Horizon shot 22 of 39 for the game and went 12 for 21 from the line.
Coach White brought his team along for third place in the Big Sky conference with 14-10 record and 10-4 in league play.
Without a handful of graduated seniors and a transfer, coupled with the off three weeks of practice due to an extended football season, he was happy with what his team gave, but will look to further develop depth for next season.
Every player, but senior Steven Bailey is scheduled to return.
“We are still in development mode. We have to get much more work done on our bigs,” White said. “In the offseason, our goal is to develop inside the paint and developing the kids into running the offense together, so we can actually believe in it. We had our bigs open all night, but we wouldn’t throw them to ball. It will get better, but it is going to take a little time.”
In order to take that next step, Coach White has devised a plan of getting his players in the weight room, back in the gym shooting and playing a full summer schedule to prepare for the next season.
“What we need to do is get together and get in the gym after school and on the weekends and keep shooting and playing and having fun,” Lucas said. “Where we are now, we are built to where we can achieve better in the future. Next season, I am really looking forward to seeing how much more of the game we can improve on. I think we have the players to accomplish as much as we want. We aren’t losing anyone but Steven, and other than that, we are going to get better.”
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