(The following reprinted by permission from the Corvallis Gazette-Times. This page links to Boys Basketball.)
Overview
Philomath was 18-9 for the 2007-2008 season. After defeating Sisters to advance to the 4A state tournament at Gill Coliseum they lost to Stayton in the quarterfinals and Hidden Valley in consolation. Standout David Sturner is a walk-on with the Beavers.
Learning Bigger Lessons
Commentary (Regarding the Warrior's Alaska Tournament Trip Adventure)
By Kevin Hampton Gazette-Times Reporter (1-21-09)
Some high school holiday basketball tournaments involve a quick trip, a little sightseeing and a lot of games.
If they’re lucky, team members might get to the beach or a local amusement park.
Any real life experience is rare, but always hoped for. Sometimes those experiences come in the strangest places.
Philomath High boys basketball coach Blake Ecker figured a tournament in Ketchikan, Alaska, would be a good destination for his team, so the money was raised and plans finalized.
The Warriors made their way to Seattle and stayed overnight in a church near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
News wasn’t good the next morning, Dec. 30.
“They weren’t sure they were going to be able to land because of the snow and wind,” Ecker said.
Ecker talked to some fellow passengers who had been trying to get to Ketchikan for four days. The plane left for Alaska, but the weather did not get any better.
Sure enough, ice and heavy cross-winds forced the plane to bypass the destination and land in Wrangell, a small town about 100 miles to the north.
Ecker said the Alaska Airlines representative suggested the team stay on the plane until it finished its route back in Seattle and try again the next day.
Ecker called the athletic director in charge of the tournament in Ketchikan and was told that if the Warriors could stay put, there was a ferry to Ketchikan leaving in the morning.
The Warriors decided to stay.
The AD in Wrangell was contacted and he got to work finding the Warriors some places to stay and then headed to the airport with a small convoy of cars to pick up the stranded team.
“He got together the families our players could stay with on short notice,” Ecker said.
When the AD arrived, he suggested the Warriors make the most of their situation by playing the local high school team.
“He said, ‘Our guys haven’t played that much, would you guys want to play a game?’ And I said, ‘Sure, why not? We’re missing some games in Oregon because of the snow down there,’ ” Ecker said.
Ecker and some of the chaperones were given vans to drive anywhere in town, a gesture that flabbergasted Ecker.
The game was scheduled for 5 p.m., so the Warriors headed to a restaurant for lunch and then to the high school.
Word had spread quickly.
“We went out to warm up and there was about 200 people in the stands for a game put together five hours earlier,” Ecker said.
The Warriors won the game, spent the night and then boarded the ferry for a six-hour sea tour of Alaska.
“It was really a neat experience how the people in Wrangell just took it in stride,” Ecker said. “They just all come together as a community and bond. They take people they don’t know into their homes and serve them breakfast in the morning. It was amazing, the generosity we received there.”
On the ferry, the Warriors saw an area of the state that tourists pay a pretty penny to visit.
“It was a great ride through the Inside Passage of Alaska,” Ecker said. “It was a neat experience for the kids.”
The Warriors made it to the venue in Ketchikan with 25 minutes to spare for their game.
The trip back was another unwanted adventure. The airline had cancelled the team’s reservations because they got off in Wrangell, so the players had to go on standby and catch any flight available. Ecker and two of the parents had to stay overnight.
It wasn’t easy, but the experience in Wrangell made the trip worthwhile.
“I think it definitely showed the kids how adversity can be a total positive if you roll with it,” Ecker said. “When people come together as a group they can do some amazing things.”
Kevin Hampton is a columnist for the Gazette-Times. He can be reached at [email protected].
Philomath 58, Junction City 46
Warriors top Tigers
Gazette-Times (12-2-08)
JUNCTION CITY — Four players scored in double figures as Philomath High won its season-opener on Tuesday, holding off Junction City 58-46 in a nonleague boys basketball game.
Dan Haynes had 14 points and Luke Whiteman added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Warriors, who led 44-22 entering the fourth quarter.
“We really learned we need to be in better shape,” PHS coach Blake Ecker said. “The first half we played well defensively. -. It turned sort of ratty in the fourth quarter, which is why we gave up so many points.”
The Warriors had 19 turnovers in the game, most of those coming in the second half.
Trevor Motter added 10 points and four assists for PHS.
Philomath will host Pleasant Hill on Thursday.
Philomath 58, Junction City 46
PHILOMATH 14 14 16 14 — 58
JUNCTION CITY 8 2 12 24 — 46
PHILOMATH: Dan Haynes 14, Luke Whiteman 10, Motter 10, Knudson 10, Straub 9, Thomas 4, Murphree 1, Crowell
JUNCTION CITY: Shelley 15, Price 7, McClintock, Brawn 6, English, Velasquez, DeGroot, Brown 3, Hentzee, Smucker, Bay 6, Harrison, Likens 9
JV: Philomath won
Frosh: Philomath won
Philomath 50, Pleasant Hill 53
Gazette-Times (12-4-08)
PHILOMATH — Luke Whiteman led Philomath with 18 points and 10 rebounds and Dan Haynes had 10 points and nine rebounds, but the Warriors still lost a nonleague game 53-50 to Pleasant Hill.
The Warriors (1-1) had to rally from being down 32-24 at halftime. They were able to get off a game-tying 3-point shot but it missed.
“We didn’t have the energy we needed early, but we made adjustments in the second half and ran more of press,” coach Blake Ecker said. “It was a valiant effort to come back, but we shouldn’t have gotten down that far.”
Pleasant Hill 53, Philomath 50
PLEASANT HILL 18 14 9 12 — 53
PHILOMATH 14 10 10 16 — 50
Pleasant Hill: Kenworthy 17, Beagle 9, Tendick 8, Johnson 7, Jordan 6, Arnold 4, Porter 2, Lowell, Bagwell.
Philomath: Whiteman 18, Haynes 10, Motter 7, Thomas 6, Knudson 4, Straub 3, Hanten 2, Murphree.
JV: Pleasant Hill 37, Philomath 26
Freshman: Pleasant Hill 44, Philomath 38
Philomath 50, Molalla 44
Philomath 24, Phoenix 35
Philomath goes cold
Warriors struggle from the outside in nonleague loss to Phoenix
By Raju Woodward Gazette-Times Reporter (12-8-8)
PHILOMATH — Blake Ecker had a simple answer to why his Philomath High boys basketball squad struggled in its 35-24 nonleague loss to Phoenix on Monday night.
“We just had a hard time putting the ball in the basket from the perimeter,” Ecker said. “Every time we passed it into our bigger guys, there were three guys surrounding them. So we’d kick it out and we just had a hard time putting it in the hole.”
PHS (2-2) was held to under 10 points in every quarter by the Pirates, including four in the second. The Warriors made one basket in that quarter, a 3-pointer by Luke Knudson with 3:20 remaining. Their other point came on a free throw. PHS finished with 10 points in the half.
Posts Luke Whiteman and Dan Haynes scored eight points apiece to lead the Warriors, whose guards were held to a total of eight points in the game. That’s how much PHS struggled against Phoenix’s zone defense.
Whiteman said the Warriors have run their offense well against the zone in practice because they expect to face a lot of zone defenses this season. On Monday, however, it was a matter of not executing like in practice.
“We run this stuff pretty well,” Whiteman said. “But some games, we just can’t do it. It’s good this is preseason, because come league, we are going to have to step it up.”
Ecker also said his team usually shoots much better than it did against the Pirates, and that some of the early misses from the perimeter affected his players’ confidence.
“When you miss a couple shots, you start to think about it a little bit,” Ecker said. “That rim gets a little bit smaller. If you make a few and get some confidence and start feeling good about yourself, they start going. We never got to that point.”
PHS started to get going on offense in the third quarter, as it battled back from a seven-point halftime deficit. Baskets by Cody Thomas and Whiteman pulled the Warriors to within 22-18 by the end of the quarter.
The eight points they scored in the quarter was their highest scoring quarter of the game. On the opposite end of the floor, the Warriors held Phoenix to five points. For most of the game, PHS played strong defense as well; the Pirates only scored in double-figures in the fourth quarter, taking advantage of free throws.
“We really stepped it up on defense in the third quarter,” Whiteman said. “We just need to be able to play like that on defense from the start of the game.”
Skyler Reagan scored a game-high 12 points to lead Phoenix, while Juan Sauceda added 11.
Ecker said the biggest thing he hopes his team takes from Monday’s loss is the importance of working and communicating as a team.
“We really work hard on talking, even in practice,” Ecker said. “We call names and work on talking. It’s the first thing we write on the board before we go out, ‘Communicate and talk to each other.’ It’s hard to get high school guys to communicate sometimes.”
While that hasn’t happened this season as quick as Ecker had hoped, he is confident it will come with time. He said a lot of his players are seeing their first varsity action and are now figuring out what the coaches expect of them.
But Ecker is hoping his team learns to play together a little more effectively by Friday, when it plays at Marist.
“They are the No. 2 team in the state and are very, very athletic,” he said. “They have a new coach this year and he was here (Monday night), so we’ll throw some different stuff at them then we did tonight.”
Phoenix 35, Philomath 24
PHOENIX 9 8 5 13 — 35
PHILOMATH 6 4 8 6 — 24
Phoenix: Skyler Reagan 12, Sauceda 11, Ralls 4, Bohn 2, Campoy 2, Treadway 2, Crichton 2
Philomath: Luke Whiteman 8, Dan Haynes 8, Knudson 5, Thomas 3, Motter, Murphree, Straub, Hanten
Philomath 54, Marist 62
Gazette-Times (12-15-08)
EUGENE — A sluggish second quarter created a deficit too great for Philomath to overcome in a loss to Marist in the Spartans’ tournament.
Dan Haynes led the Warriors (2-3) with 23 points. They came within five in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t close the gap.
Philomath plays at 12:30 p.m. today against Astoria at Marist.
PHILOMATH 21 4 14 15 — 54
MARIST 18 16 14 14 — 62
Philomath: Dan Haynes 23, Whiteman 8, Motter 8, Thomas 7, Knundson 6, Hanten 2 , Murphy.
Marist: Busteren 14, Carter 14, Bedboy 12,Wilson 12, Engelman 6, Daniel 4, Showpot, Swindling.
Philomath 38, Astoria 37
Gazette-Times (12-14-08)
EUGENE — Philomath High rallied from a 22-12 halftime deficit to defeat Astoria 38-37 on Saturday at the Marist Tournament.
Cody Thomas had 13 points for the Warriors (3-3), who outscored Astoria 16-8 in the fourth quarter and 26-15 in the second half.
“Cody Thomas hit a big three, got a steal and assisted to Dan Haynes for a 3-point play that put us ahead for the first time,” PHS coach Blake Ecker said.
“We had pretty good intensity in the second half, and much better rebounding.”
The Warriors play at Cottage Grove on Tuesday.
Philomath 38, Astoria 37
ASTORIA 11 11 7 8 — 37
PHILOMATH 7 5 10 16 — 38
Astoria: Van Gundy 4, Ericlson 2, Eterno 7, Lund 4, Graham 4, Johnson 7, Hatcher 9.
Philomath: Cody Thomas 13, Haynes 8, Whiteman 7, Hansen 4, Knudson 3, Motter 3, Staub, Murphree, Crowell.
JV: Astoria won, score not available.
Philomath 34, Taft 46
Gazette-Times (1-7-09)
PHILOMATH — A number of missed shots and lackadaisacal defense proved costly for the Warriors in the Val-Co League opener.
Dan Haynes led PHS (6-5, 0-1) with 12 points, two assists and two steals. The Warriors committed 13 turnovers while Taft had 12.
“It wasn’t a real good game,” PHS coach Blake Ecker said. “Our guys didn’t really seem to show up for the game.”
Philomath will play at Sweet Home on Friday.
TAFT 17 7 10 11 — 46
PHILOMATH 17 3 11 3 — 34
Taft: Hathway 16, McNelly 12, Sawyer 2, Hindman 2, Lee, Buring 5, Buring, Willoughby 7, Liddell 2, Wilkinson, Fhrenfelt
Philomath: Dan Haynes 12, Thomas 3, Straub 6, Motter 4, Hanten 2, Knudson 5, Barnhart, Crowell, Whiteman 2, Miro, Ross
JV: Philomath 56, Taft 48
Frosh: Taft 33, Philomath 21
Philomath 57, Sweet Home 52
Philomath withstands charge
Gazette-Times (1-10-09)
SWEET HOME — The Philomath High boys basketball team started fast and held off a strong charge by Sweet Home to win a Val-Co League game on the road 57-52 on Friday night.
Dan Haynes led the Warriors (7-5, 1-1) with 16 points and seven rebounds. Trevor Motter scored 12 points and had four assists.
“We played a really good first half, being up 17 at one point,” Philomath coach Blake Ecker said. “We let them slip back in there. But it was a really good team effort and they really played well.”
Sweet Home cut the deficit to four points in the fourth quarter, but Dustin Straub hit four free-throws in the final minute so the Warriors could keep control.
PHILOMATH 13 18 17 9 — 57
SWEET HOME 12 7 16 17 — 52
Philomath: Haynes 16, Motter 12, Whiteman 9, Straub 8, Kundson 6, Thomas 4, Hampton 2, Carwell.
Sweet Home: Graville 16, Marchbanks 9, Kauffman 9, Emmert 8, Coleman 6, Riggs 4, Moyer, Coda.
JV: Philomath 54, Sweet Home 38
Philomath 68, Newport 55
Gazette-Times (1-16-09)
PHILOMATH — Luke Whiteman scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds to help the Philomath High boys basketball team to a 68-55 Val-Co League win over Newport on Friday night.
The Warriors (8-5, 2-1) trailed 16-15 after the first quarter but turned up the intensity in the middle two quarters to build a 44-31 lead heading into the fourth.
Philomath is at Central on Tuesday.
NEWPORT 16 8 7 24 — 55
PHILOMATH 15 15 14 24 — 68
Newport: Moore 20, Metcalf 10, Adamson 9, Palmer 7, Bremner 4, Layton 3, Morrow 2, P. Gonzalez, Hoeft, Staggs
Philomath: Luke Whiteman 24, Haynes 15, Thomas 9, Motter 6, Knudson 5, Hanten 4, Straub 4, Harman 2, NA 1, Barnhart, Crowell, Frankzerda
JV: Philomath 60, Newport 52, Freshman: Newport 60, Philomath 32
Philomath 70, Central 78
Central stops Warriors in OT
Gazette-Times (1-21-09)
INDEPENDENCE — Trevor Motter hit a 3-pointer for Philomath High at the end of regulation, but the Warriors couldn’t finish off the comeback against Central and absorbed a 78-70 overtime loss on Tuesday in a Val-Co League boys basketball road game.
Luke Whiteman led the scoring for Philomath (8-6, 2-2) with 23 points. Dan Haynes scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Motter had 16 points and 10 assists.
Philomath had a bad second quarter, which led to a 37-28 halftime deficit.
The Warriors came back in the second half, but free-throw shooting made the difference. The Panthers were 22-for-27 from the line, while PHS went 15-for-23.
The Warriors host Taft on Friday.
PHILOMATH 15 13 22 14 6 — 70
CENTRAL 15 22 14 13 14 — 78
Philomath: Luke Whiteman 23, Motter 16, Haynes 15, Straub 8, Thomas 6, Haten 2, Knudson.
Central: Hamilton 25, Phillips 17, Hendricks 15, Omild 11, Whiteman 6, Peter 2, Robinson 2, Deardor, Pratt,
JV score: Philomath 37, Central 34
Philomath 50, Taft 52
Gazette-Times (1-24-09)
PHILOMATH — The Warriors made up most of a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter but couldn’t quite catch Taft in the Val-Co League loss.
Philomath (8-7, 2-3) shot just three free throws in the game, with two of those coming with 2.4 seconds left and a chance to tie the game. The first missed and the Warriors deliberately missed the second in an attempt to get the rebound and tie the score, but the ball did not make contact with the rim, giving the board to the Tigers.
Trevor Motter led PHS with 17 points and four assists, while posts Dan Haynes and Luke Whiteman combined for 14 points and 20 rebounds.
“You can’t win many games giving up 13 offensive rebounds,” PHS coach Blake Ecker said. “We were a little lethargic in the second and third quarters.”
Philomath will host Sweet Home on Monday.
TAFT 14 13 14 11 — 52
PHILOMATH 14 8 10 18 — 50
Taft: Sawyer 18, Hindman 3, Lee 4, Hathaway 13, Baring 1, McNelly 7, Boring 2, Willoughby 4, Liddell
Philomath: Trevor Motter 17, Thomas 8, Straub, Hanten 6, Knudson 5, Haynes 8, Whiteman 6
JV: Taft 46, Philomath 41
JV II: Philomath 37, Taft 35
Philomath 50, Sweet Home 42
Philomath knocks off Sweet Home
Gazette-Times (1-27-09)
PHILOMATH — Philomath High boys basketball coach Blake Ecker challenged his team to do a better job of rebounding this week.
Seems that his players got the message.
Dan Haynes pulled down 20 boards and Dustin Straub added 10 as the Warriors collected 53 as a team in a 50-42 Val-Co League win over Sweet Home on Monday.
“We had been struggling with (rebounding),” Ecker said. “Hopefully we will keep executing on the boards.”
Haynes also led the Warriors with 15 points, while Straub and Trevor Motter had 10 each and Cody Thomas nine.
The Warriors started slow, scoring four points in the first quarter and trailed 20-19 at the half.
They took the lead after the third with a 13-7 advantage in the quarter.
Philomath (9-7, 3-3) is home against Central on Friday. The Warriors lost in overtime at Central earlier this season in a game where they gave up 14 offensive rebounds.
SWEET HOME 7 13 7 15 — 42
PHILOMATH 4 15 13 18 — 50
Sweet Home: Graville 11, Emmert 9, Kauffman 9, Moyer 6, Marchbanks 4, Coleman 2, Riggs 1, Cota
Philomath: Dan Haynes 15, Straub 10, Motter 10, Thomas 9, Hanten 2, Knudson 2, Whiteman 2
JV: Philomath 64, Sweet Home 35; Frosh: Sweet Home 42, Philomath 30
Philomath 46, Central 55
Gazette-Times (1-30-09)
PHILOMATH — After a strong first half, Philomath struggled to find the basket in second half and fell to Val-Co League-leading Central.
PHS (9-8, 3-4) was held to 12 points in the second half, including five in the final quarter.
“We started off real strong,” Warriors coach Blake Ecker said. “Our posts did a great job. But we couldn’t hit the outside shot, so they started packing it in on our guys.”
Luke Whiteman led PHS with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Dan Haynes added 12 and 16, respectively. Dustin Straub grabbed 11 rebounds for the Warriors.
“We had our chance to knock them off,” Ecker said. “They only scored one basket in the fourth quarter, but they did a good job making their free throws, while we missed some key ones.”
Philomath is at Newport on Tuesday.
CENTRAL 11 21 13 10 — 55
PHILOMATH 18 16 7 5 — 46
Central: Omird 12, Hendrick 9, Whiteman 9, Pratt 8, E. Philips 6, Girard 6, Hamilton 3, T. Philips 2, Robinson, Peters
Philomath: Luke Whiteman 22, Haynes 12, Straub 4, Motter 3, Thomas 3, Hanten 1, Knudson 1
JV: Philomath 48, Central 45
JV2: Philomath 61, Central 28
Philomath 67, Newport 51
Gazette-Times (2-4-09)
NEWPORT — Luke Whiteman had 25 points and 16 rebounds to lead four players in double figures for the Warriors in the Val-Co League victory.
Dan Haynes added 12 points and 14 rebounds, Cody Thomas had 13 points and Trevor Motter 11 points for Philomath, which led 34-20 at halftime and kept the Cubs at bay the rest of the way.
Philomath (10-8, 4-4) plays at Taft on Friday in another league game.
PHILOMATH 18 16 11 22 — 67
NEWPORT 8 12 11 20 — 51
Philomath: Luke Whiteman 25, Thomas 13, Motter 11, Hanten 2, Haynes 12, Frankzerda 2, McMakin, Harman, Barnhart, Straub, Bartlow, Crowell 2
Newport: Moore 18, Hoeft 5, Metcalf 7, Layton 5, Palmer 4, Brenner 4, Adamson 4, Morrow 4
JV: Philomath 49, Newport 42
Frosh: Newport 54, Philomath 27
Philomath 46, Taft 45
Gazette-Times (2-7-09)
LINCOLN CITY — Cody Thomas scored 22 points, hitting six 3-pointers, to lead Philomath to a Val-Co League road victory over Taft.
Dan Haynes scored 10 points and had 12 rebounds.
The Warriors (11-8, 5-4) played well in the first and third quarters, but let Taft come back due to turnovers.
Luke Whiteman scored the game-winner off an assist from Trevor Motter with 12 seconds left. Then Philomath played defense to seal the game.
PHILOMATH 17 10 13 6 — 46
TAFT 10 19 3 13 — 45
Philomath: Cody Thomas 22, Whiteman 10, Haynes 10, Straub 2, Motter 2, Hanten
Taft: Willowby 12, D. Burring 7, Laddel 6, Sawyer 6, Hathoway 5, Lee 3, McNelly 2, C. Burring 2, Hinesman 2
JV: Philomath 66, Taft 53
Philomath 44, Sweet Home 61
Warriors falter at Sweet Home
Gazette-Times (2-11-09)
SWEET HOME — A lackadaisacal effort by Philomath High and a spirited performance from Sweet Home on Tuesday resulted in a 61-44 loss for the Warriors in the Val-Co League boys basketball game.
Philomath (11-9, 5-5) trailed by 10 after one quarter and was outscored in every period.
“We just didn’t come ready to play,” PHS coach Blake Ecker said. “Sweet Home took it too us right away. We didn’t come out and compete at all.”
“It was just a poor showing by us. We didn’t compete.”
Ecker said Philomath will likely need to win its remaining two games to finish second in the Val-Co League.
The Warriors have a week to fix their motivational issues. They host Newport on Feb. 17.
PHILOMATH 10 9 10 15 — 44
SWEET HOME 20 12 13 16 — 61
Philomath: Dan Haynes 13, Thomas 9, Bartlow, Straub 4, Motter 6, Hanten 2, Alvarado 2, Crowell, Harman, Whiteman 8, Frankzerda
Sweet Home: Ryan Graville 20, Kaufman 19, Moyer 4, Emmert 4, Marchbanks 4, Cota 2, Coleman 6, Riggs 2, Webb, Mauch, Miller
JV: Philomath 56, Sweet Home 40
JV II: Sweet Home 66, Philomath 44
Philomath 59, Newport 56
Motter’s trey lifts Warriors
Gazette-Times (2-18-09)
PHILOMATH — Trevor Motter hit a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left and the Philomath High boys basketball team pulled out a 59-56 Val-Co League win over Newport on Tuesday night.
The Warriors were down 56-55 when they called timeout and set up a play for Motter, which he hit to put Philomath up 58-56.
Newport then missed a shot and Philomath hit a free throw with one second left.
PHS coach Blake Ecker said the Warriors struggled stopping the Cubs from making layins all game long.
“They did a good job attacking the basket and we let them,” he said.
PHS (12-9, 6-5) trailed in the fourth, but three-point plays by Luke Whiteman and Dan Haynes were key, Ecker said.
The Warriors close out the regular season at Central on Friday night, then will play next week in the league playoffs for seeding to the 4A state tournament.
NEWPORT 13 13 17 13 — 56
PHILOMATH 12 19 8 20 — 59
Newport: Metcalf 15, Palmer 15, Adamson 10, Hoeft 6, Moore 4, Bremner 4, Layton 2
Philomath: Luke Whiteman 19, Thomas 11, Haynes 9, Knudson 7, Motter 6, Straub 5, Crowell 2, Hanten
JV: Philomath 69, Newport 44
Frosh: Newport 58, Philomath 46
Philomath 43, Sweet Home 58
Gazette-Times (2-26-09)
PHILOMATH — The Philomath High boys struggled on defense in a 58-43 Val-Co League playoff game.
The Warriors (12-11) are the third seed out of the league and will play either Marist or Sisters in the first round of the state 4A playoffs on Tuesday.
PHS coach Blake Ecker said the Warriors came out flat and never got going.
“Sweet Home did a good job but we just let them do whatever they wanted to do,” Ecker said. “You can’t win many ballgames when the intensity level is not there.”
SWEET HOME 17 10 10 21 — 58
PHILOMATH 13 9 10 11 — 43
Sweet Home: Kauffman 19, Mayer 6, Emmert 9, Marchbanks 4, Garville 8, Cota 2, Coleman 8, Biggs 2, J. Webb.
Philomath: Dan Haynes 11, Thomas 2, Straub 10, Motter 5, Hanten 3, Knudson 8, Whiteman 4, Alvarado, Crowell
Philomath 42, Marist 65 (Playoffs)
Philomath boys eliminated from playoffs
Gazette-Times (3-4-09)
EUGENE A tough third quarter for the Philomath High boys basketball team resulted in a 65-42 loss to Marist in the first round of the state 4A playoffs.
The Warriors trailed 32-25 at the half and were playing solid basketball, but did not stay focused on defense in the third and were outscored 21-7.
“We went in to halftime with a little bit of a deficit and we felt we were in the ballgame,” PHS coach Blake Ecker said. “However, in the third we just didn’t come out. We gave up some easy shots to start the (period).”
PHS finished the season at 12-12.
“It was an up-and-down season throughout,” Ecker said.
PHILOMATH 15 10 7 10 42
MARIST 19 13 21 12 65
Philomath: Dustin Straub 11, Motter 8, Crowell 8, Knudson 5, Haynes 6, Whiteman 2, Frankzerda 2, McMakin, Harman, Barnhart, Hanten, Thomas
Marist: Gianni Carter 20, Bedberry 18, Engleman 9, Philpott 8, Wilson 5, Daniel 2, Owen 2, Swindling 1, Malos, Silver
Val-Co all-stars
Dan Haynes was the only Philomath High player selected as a Val-Co League boys basketball first-team all-star.
Teammates Trevor Motter and Luke Whiteman were second-team choices.
Philomath’s Cody Thomas earned honorable mention.
Michael Hamilton of Central was the Player of the Year.
Bob McBeth of Central was Coach of the Year.
The team:
Val-Co League all-stars
FIRST TEAM: Michael Hamilton, Central; Dan Haynes, Philomath; Gavin Kaufman, Sweet Home; Grant Hedrick, Central; Ryan Graville, Sweet Home; Aaron Adamson, Newport.
SECOND TEAM: Ian Hathaway, Taft; Eric Phillips, Central; Ryan Willoughby, Taft; Trevor Motter, Philomath; Luke Whiteman, Philomath; Tristan Metcalf, Newport.
HONORABLE MENTION: Levi Marchbanks, Sweet Home; Jordon McNelly, Taft; Eric Omlid, Central; Cody Thomas, Philomath; Ty Phillips, Central; Drew Emmert, Sweet Home.
