SILETZ — One boys basketball team’s season had to end Tuesday night, and after a bit of a shaky start, the Siletz Valley Warriors made sure it wasn’t going to be them.
In a Tuesday night 1A-3 Mountain West League playoff game between Lincoln County rivals, the Warriors extended their season with a 63-31 victory over neighboring Eddyville Charter before a packed house in Siletz’s gym.
Junior guard Josh Martin and junior post Jacob Vasquez tallied 12 points apiece to lead the Warriors (6-13), who faced a second win-or-go-home Mountain West League playoff game Thursday night at Mapleton (8-13).
The winner there advanced to the league’s 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, third-place game, and secured a spot in the 32-school 1A state playoffs. First-round 1A playoff games are scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 22, at the home of higher-seeded schools, yet to be determined.
Though the final score tells a different story, the Warriors’ third win over the Eagles this season was no walk in the park. Siletz didn’t take its first lead of the night at 11-10 until 1:18 to play in the first quarter on a basket in the paint by freshman Aiden Brown.
Eddyville senior guard Drake Dougherty trimmed Siletz’s advantage to 21-19 after hitting the first of two free throws with 4:19 to play in the first half, but it was all Warriors the rest of the way. They closed the first half with back-to-back Vasquez buckets, followed by a Miles Case trey and a Martin layup to take a 32-19 lead into the break.
Martin began the Warriors’ second half the way they ended the first with a steal and layup, starting an 18-2 burst that all but put things out of reach for the visiting Eagles, who found themselves down 52-26 at the start of the fourth quarter.
The Eagles’ senior backcourt duo of Dougherty and Anthony Guenther paced Eddyville as they finished at 5-17. Dougherty connected twice from 3-point range and finished with 11 points, while Guenther tallied all eight of his points in the opening three quarters.
Eddyville entered having scored a 47-43 victory over Crow in a league playoff play-in game the night before after winning at McKenzie 41-40 on Feb. 9 in the Eagles’ regular season finale.
Siletz came into Tuesday’s game having lost its final four regular season games, including a 43-36 loss Feb. 7 at Mapleton, and a 40-34 defeat at home against Crow.
ELSEWHERE:
Toledo 50, Waldport 45, 2OT
At Waldport, senior guard Garrett Hinds left everything he had on the court Feb. 9 during his last game in a Boomer basketball uniform, seemingly using his sheer determination to help push Toledo to the thrilling double-overtime 2A-3 Valley Coat Conference win at Irish Pavilion.
Hinds made two free throws with 1.5 seconds left in regulation to send it to a first overtime period, and after the teams traded baskets, the Boomers and Irish headed to another four-minutes of OT, tied at 39-39. Once there, Hinds was nearly unstoppable.
Beginning with his sinking a 12-foot jumper with 3:07 left, Hinds scored all but one of Toledo’s 11 points in the second extra session, capping his night by going a perfect 8 of 8 from the foul line during the course of the final 2:35 of play. With a 48-45 lead, Hinds iced the win with a pair of free throws with 4.7 seconds left.
After being held scoreless the entire first half, Hinds finished with 26 points to lead all scorers. Visibly exhausted, he left the court with smile on his face while getting mobbed by celebratory teammates.
“We definitely had a rough season, so winning this game tonight was just great,” Hinds said after Toledo snapped its five-game losing streak. “For me, and all the guys, this is something I don’t think we’ll ever be able to recreate. It’s just one of those special moments.”
The Boomers, who celebrated their victory on their rival’s court by posing for photos with the “Fight for the Fish” trophy at midcourt, closed the campaign 3-13, 3-21.
Justin Gainer scored 17 points, and Jacob Gainer added 16 for the Irish, who finished 2-14, 2-19.
Cubs win, lose twice
After Newport picked up a 54-43 victory in 4A-3 Oregon West Conference play Feb. 9 over Sweet Home, the Cubs returned to Spangler Court the next evening and fell 60-55 to non-league foe Marshfield. On Monday night, the Cubs fell, 65-25 in league play at eighth-ranked Stayton.
Last Friday night, Marshfield bolted to a 10-2 lead out of the gate before the Cubs found their footing and pulled even at 26-26 on a Caleb Malloy hook shot halfway through the second quarter.
Newport took a 48-42 lead with 51.8 seconds to play in the third quarter on an old-fashioned 3-point play by sophomore forward Rory Barber before the Pirates received eight unanswered points from Mekhi Johnson in surging to a 57-53 lead they didn’t relinquish.
Steele Carpenter scored 18, and Johnson added 15 to lead Marshfield, while the Cubs received a game-high 20 points off the bench from junior Braxton Blaser.
Newport played a Thursday night league game at No. 2 Cascade, then closes the regular season at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, with a conference battle against North Marion at Spangler Court.
Taft closes with win
At Lincoln City, following the Tigers’ 61-58 loss Feb. 9 at home to Jefferson, Taft capped its season on a positive note last Saturday night by breaking a three-game 3A-3 PacWest Conference losing streak with a 75-53 win in Lincoln City over Scio.
Taft ended the season at 3-9 in league games, 7-17 overall.
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