Playing in their fourth game in five nights, the No. 5-ranked South Wasco County Redsides had four players hit double figures to defeat Horizon Christian for the first time since 2010, a 58-49 victory Tuesday, in a Big Sky Conference boys’ basketball matchup played in Hood River.
The Redsides fell behind 14-11 after one quarter of action, but then turned the tables in the second quarter with a 20-15 output to lead 31-29 at the half.
In the third quarter, SWC came out tough and used defense and a transition game to spearhead a 19-9 run to make it a 50-38 game.
Ellis Rager scored 16 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, Travis Hayes added 14 points, six assists and two steals, Ty Herlocker had 10 points and six boards, and Brody Myers had another all-around effort with 10 points, seven rebounds, eight steals and four assists.
SWC shot 25 of 52 from the field for 48 percent and out-rebounded Horizon Christian by a 31-16 margin.
For Horizon Christian, they hit 17 of 42 field goals and shot 9 of 14 from the line, as Ethan Evans led the way with 23 points, five in the second half.
Monday, the Redsides played on the road in Turner against the No. 16 Powers Cruisers and held on for a 56-53 win.
Through three quarters, SWC led 46-38, but then shot of 2 of 5 from the line late in the fourth quarter and allowed a couple of breakaway layups to give Powers a chance to tie with less than 20 seconds left in regulation.
Hayes hit 1 of 2 free throws to put SWC ahead by three points with 15 seconds left.
Powers called timeout, and then moved the ball down the floor to set up a 3-point shot.
On the first 3-point attempt, Myers blocked the shot, so then the cruisers called another timeout with four seconds remaining. Powers then tried another long 3-point attempt, but the shot by Austin Stallard went off the mark, allowing the Redsides to pick up the victory.
Hayes had a team-high 17 points and added five assists and two steals, Rager scored 14 points and totaled 11 rebounds, and Myers notched 12 points and eight boards for the Redsides, who ended up shooting 24 of 48 from the field.
Jack Lehnherr led the Cruisers with 20 points and Jackson Stallard added 19, 11 of 16 coming from the free throw line.
Hull said his team is fixated on their next game, not any further ahead to the schedule.
SWC had been challenged in its last four games, and now they must contend with Ione and Mitchell-Spray over the weekend.
Both teams have a combined overall record of 8-19, and each is near or at the bottom of the Big Sky Conference standings.
“It comes down to practice and keeping that intensity at practice at a high level,” Hull said of his team’s preparation. “With these four tough games in a row, if we keep ourselves at that high level, we should not take our feet off the gas pedal. Ione and Mitchell-Spray are not top-tier teams this year, but we still have to come in and do our part and not let one of them sneak one out on us and put us in a bad place. I think there is a lot of motivation. These kids have something to prove every single day.”
SWC (13-2 overall, 4-1 league) hosts Ione at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
SWC girls split two games
The South Wasco County Redsides salvaged a split in two games played on Monday and Tuesday, beating Powers by a 34-25 score, and losing 36-22 to Big Sky Conference opponent Horizon Christian on Tuesday in Hood River.
“Horizon came to play,” said SWC head coach Bill Mead. “We were sluggish on defense and offense.”
The Hawks staked control to the action in the opening quarter by taking a 10-7 lead, but the Lady Redsides got their game going in the second quarter.
Cassie Davis, Abby Birman and Jada Myers each hit field goals and both Chloe Huot and Myers added 1 of 2 free throws to cap an 8-3 run to give SWC a 15-13 halftime advantage.
Horizon Christian guard Paulina Finn then had her shooting stroke going in the final 16 minutes, as she hit on six field goals to help start a 23-7 second-half run.
Birman had seven points, Davis totaled five and Myers had four points for the Lady Redsides, who hit seven field goals and converted 7 of 16 free throw attempts.
Finn led Horizon with 18 points and 12 rebounds, Jodee Hicks tacked on 11 and Kaitlin Wenz posted 18 rebounds.
Horizon head coach Brian Stevens said most of the players on his roster do not have more than three years of basketball experience on any level, so his emphasis has been placed on the fundamentals.
So far, this team has responded with five wins.
“Tonight is the first time in the 18 months I’ve been coaching Horizon girls’ basketball that we ran our offense to near perfection,” Stevens said. “As long as we continue to be patient and play smart basketball, we can be a force to reckon with in district playoffs.”
SWC (7-7 overall, 2-3 league) travels for a league contest at 4 p.m. Saturday against Mitchell-Spray.
TD boys lose to No. 5 Summit
The Dalles boys’ basketball team, playing without Colton Walker and with Dakota Murr under the weather, gave No. 5-ranked 5A Summit everything it could, but could not contain Came Baker, Cole Collins and Kyle Cornett in an 87-23 loss Tuesday in The Dalles.
Summit led 12-4 through the first four minutes of the first quarter, but then pulled away.
The Storm led 39-9 at the half and 61-20 through three quarters of play.
Baker had 21 points, Cornett had 11 and Collins poured in 10 for the Storm.
Colin Noonan led TD with 12 points, Murr added four and John Miller hit three points.
“I told the kids that the best thing for us to do is forget about this game and move forward,” said TD coach Nathan Morris. “It is just a league game. Yes, I would have liked to win, but in the bigger picture, our focus is on league play and doing well there. I still believe we have the talent here to do very well from here on out. We just have to keep working.”
TD (3-11 overall) heads to Hermiston (7-8) for a league game at 7 p.m. Friday.
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