The time has come for the Sherman Huskies.
Sherman has won 13 of its past 15 games, has scored 75 or more points seven times in that span and is coming off a gritty road win over Damascus Christian last Friday.
They are the highest seed in the eight-team field.
Making their first state appearance in Baker since the 2011-2012 season, the Huskies take on No. 2-seeded Country Christian at 8:15 p.m. tonight in a first step towards possibly hoisting state championship gold for the first time in recent memory.
“We are motivated. We are playing real good basketball right now and I think we can play even better,” said senior forward Austin Kaseberg. “We know what we are capable of. We need to execute and play good defense if we want to get that championship.”
The Casco League champion and second-ranked Cougars (26-1 overall, 12-0) are headlined by 10 seniors and two juniors on a roster that features JD Wilcox, Derek Halvorson and Avery Nofziger for the seventh-ranked scoring offense at 60.6 point a game.
After a 56-45 loss at Stanfield on Dec. 29, Country Christian is riding an 18-game winning streak.
The Cougars claimed district glory with a 56-29 win over Crosshill Christian and last Friday, defeated Days Creek in a first-round state game by a 57-39 margin to punch a Baker City ticket.
“It doesn’t matter who we face, our goal is to worry about Sherman basketball,” said Sherman coach Bill Blevins. “If we can handle our business in every phase, we know that we can be a very tough team to beat. Every team is very good. We need to come out strong and play a solid 32 minutes if we want to have success.”
The Huskies (21-5, 11-3) defeated Dufur by a 53-44 score in the Big Sky Conference district semifinals to earn a spot against No. 1-ranked Horizon Christian.
In the finals, Sherman wound up losing a close 48-47 contest to the Hawks on Feb. 21.
In a state sub-round matchup, the Huskies dispatched of Life Christian, 79-53 on Feb. 24 in Moro to come within one game of a Baker City berth.
Last Friday in Gresham, the No. 8 Huskies won 48-36 over No. 10 Damascus Christian.
“We are ready for this,” Kaseberg said. “It is exciting for this team and everyone in the community. We want to go there and give it our all. I hope that we can come out on top.”
Horizon Christian played Crosshill Christian at 1:30 p.m. today in the top bracket. In the same bracket are Nixyaawii and Hosanna Christian, who played at 3:15 p.m. today.
Those winners lock horns again on Friday in semifinals action.
Siletz Valley, coming off a one-point overtime win last week over Dufur, hits the hardwood versus No. 3 seeded Yoncalla for a tilt slated for 6:30 p.m. tonight.
Another two teams in the lower bracket are Sherman and Country Christian.
If the Huskies can come out victorious over Country Christian, they will play at 8:15 p.m. Friday.
If they lose, Sherman heads to the consolation rounds for a game at 10:45 a.m. Thursday.
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