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CHRISTMAS CLASSIC: St. Mary’s can’t cage Eagles By Kris Henry Updated: Dec 22, 2022 09:07 PM A A 4 View all photos No. 2 Westside Christian pulls away in second half to deny upset bid by Crusaders Coming off one top-10 upset, the St. Mary’s boys basketball was looking to double their pleasure at the expense of second-ranked Westside Christian during Thursday’s marquee matchup in the Cascade Christian Christmas Classic. The Eagles, however, had other plans. St. Mary’s did well to hang with Westside Christian for the better part of three quarters but the Eagles ultimately proved to be too much to handle as the Crusaders came up short, 62-42. “I thought we played pretty well for three quarters,” said St. Mary’s head coach Kyle Walker. “We were a little undisciplined in the fourth and got out of our offense a little bit. I don’t think the final score was really indicative of how close it was there for a while.” In fact, Westside Christian (8-0) used a basket in the final 20 seconds to build a 28-21 lead at halftime. It was a nine-point game late in the third quarter after Noah Friesen drilled a 3-pointer but — as was the case all night — the Eagles had an immediate answer to the charging Crusaders (1-6) with consecutive 3-pointers by Colby Ackerman. “We could just never get over that hump,” said Walker, “but that’s what good teams are supposed to do, they’re supposed to stop you. They hit the shots when they needed to and we couldn’t make enough runs. I don’t know how many (Ackerman) had but he answered the bell a few times for them.” Ackerman finished with 17 points and Jonah Jones had 15 for the Eagles. Ackerman’s third and fourth 3-pointers of the game were followed by a steal and layup by Carson Snodgrass to suddenly put Westside Christian up 46-30. Kayden Walker tacked on a basket at the end of the third quarter, but after that the Eagles clamped down and did not give St. Mary’s much room for a comeback. Friesen finished with 15 points and Walker had 10 for the Crusaders, who were coming off a 58-44 win over No. 8 Santiam Christian for their first win of the season. “That’s a good Westside Christian team,” said coach Walker. “To be within 10 in the third quarter, I thought we did a good job and all in all I was proud of the kids. It got kind of out of hand at the end but these kids will compete all the time, it doesn’t matter what the situation is. That’s one of the things I pride them on is they will fight to the end and they have big hearts.” Westside Christian was in danger of breaking the game open in the first quarter after dunks by Jonah Jones and Dax Hanzlik made it 17-5, but Tyson Delplanche converted a runner at the end of the quarter for his seventh point of the frame and then Kent David hit a shot from beyond the arc to open the second quarter and make it 17-12. Another 3-pointer by Walker cut the Eagles’ lead to 24-21 but Westside Christian was able to get baskets in the final minute by Ethan Chiong and Will Ficker to close the half. “We really tried to kind of shorten the game a little bit by spreading it out and trying to be more possession-oriented and trying to keep them from running a little bit and pushing the tempo,” said coach Walker, who also credited posts Jaden Foster and Heemir Patel for battling well in the paint. Westside Christian will next take on top-ranked Cascade Christian at 6 p.m. Friday. The Challengers had Thursday off after falling to third-ranked Dayton in Wednesday’s opener, 57-50. St. Mary’s wraps up the tournament against Dayton at 3 p.m. Friday. WESTSIDE CHRISTIAN (62): Snodgrass 8, Chiong 8, Hodge 2, Ficker 2, Hanzlik 8, Chandler 0, Ackerman 17, Jones 15, Everhart 2. Totals: 26 4-5 62. ST. MARY’S (42): David 3, Friesen 15, Flowers 0, Kranenburg 0, Foster 5, Walker 10, Delplanche 7, Patel 2. Totals: 17 3-6 42. Westside Christian17111816— 62 St. Mary’s9121110— 42 3-point goals — Westside Christian 6 (Snodgrass 2, Ackerman 4), St. Mary’s 5 (David 1, Friesen 1, Walker 2, Delplanche 1). DAYTON 53, EAGLE POINT 33: Eagle Point sophomore Easton Raber provided a bright spot on defense with two steals and a handful of other key efforts to go with nine points but the Eagles struggled to find the range offensively against Class 3A Dayton. Peyton Pierce scored 10 points and Bryton Livingston pulled in seven rebounds for Eagle Point (2-8), which fell behind 20-6 after one quarter of play. Lane Garrison led Dayton with 15 points and Trae Wall had 11. EAGLE POINT (33): Pierce 10, Weaver 4, Perezchica 0, Livingston 2, Jackson 2, Raber 9, Brionnes 2, Moreno 0, Smith 2, Neyt 2. Totals: 11-32 5-9 33. DAYTON (53): Hodges 9, Shepherd 0, Gentry 0, Primbs 3, Draper 0, Wall 11, Smith 0, Garrison 15, Freeborn 7, Cross 0, Gallagher 4, Ashley 0, Miller 4. Totals: 14-29 1-4 53. Eagle Point612411— 33 Dayton2010149— 53 3-point goals — Eagle Point 2-12 (Pierce 2), Dayton 8-16 (Hodges 1, Primbs 1, Wall 3, Garrison 2, Freeborn 1). SANTIAM CHRISTIAN 57, PHOENIX 56: Dylan Harper scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter as Phoenix tried to rally but fell short against No. 8-ranked Santiam Christian. Julius Bolstad added 14 points for the Pirates (6-4), who fell behind 16-9 after one period but rallied within three points at halftime and trailed 47-39 entering the final frame. Benjamin Bourne tallied 24 points and Jacob Yenchik knocked down five of his team’s nine three pointers to lead Santiam Christian (5-4). PHOENIX (56): Trenbeath 3, Je. Selden 4, Mooring 7, Ja. Selden 0, Ponce 0, Hernandez 0, Harper 20, Ayala-Talbott 2, Decker 6, Bolstad 14. Totals: 24 2-8 56. SANTIAM CHRISTIAN (57): Carley 2, Boshart 3, Trimmer 8, Yenchik 17, Fosdick 3, Smith 0, Bourne 24. Totals: 22 4-13 57. Phoenix9201017— 56 Santiam Christian16161510— 57 3-point goals — Phoenix 6 (Trenbeath 1, Mooring 1, Harper 2, Decker 1, Bolstad 1), Santiam Christian 9 (Boshart 1, Trimmer 2, Yenchik 5, Fosdick 1). Girls EAGLE POINT 58, ST. MARY’S 10: Eagle Point sophomore Kady Lindstrom and freshman Kady Ledbetter each scored 16 points to lead Eagle Point to a runaway win over Class 3A St. Mary’s. The Eagles (7-1), who have won six straight, led 28-7 at the half after shutting out the Crusaders in the second quarter. Morgan Dole chipped in with five steals and six assists and Thianna Deng-Gomez pulled in seven rebounds for EP. Saniyah Ayala led St. Mary’s (0-4) with five points. ST. MARY’S (10): Ward 3, Ayala 5, Mejia 2, Medley 0, Bowdoin 0, Jensen 0, Magda 0. Totals: 4 1-4 10. EAGLE POINT (58): Dole 2, R. Baldwin 8, A. Baldwin 2, Garlitz 8, Lindstrom 16, Ledbetter 16, Deng-Gomez 6, Daw 0, Cabrera 0, Schauffler 0. Totals: 25 3-5 58. St. Mary’s7030— 10 Eagle Point1711219— 58 3-point goals — St. Mary’s 1 (Ayala 1), Eagle Point 5 (R. Baldwin 2, Garlitz 1, Lindstrom 2). PHOENIX 48, NORTH VALLEY 33: Phoenix guard Anabell Delgado hit four third-quarter 3-pointers on her way to scoring a career-high 28 points to lead the Pirates past Class 3A North Valley. Delgado scored 14 points in the third quarter alone, finishing with six of Phoenix’s eight 3-pointers in the game. She also had four steals. Morgan James contributed five points, nine rebounds, two steals and two blocks for Phoenix (6-4) before suffering an ankle injury in the third quarter. Ashlyn Godfrey scored 10 points to lead North Valley (2-6). NORTH VALLEY (38): Wheeler 0, Kilborn 1, A. Godfrey 10, Aros 8, S. Godfrey 8, Grito 6, Smith 0. Totals: 13 3-11 33. PHOENIX (48): James 5, Nolan 6, Woodward 2, Mohamud 0, Delgado 28, Rector 3, McConnell 4. Totals: 14 12-16 48. North Valley56139— 33 Phoenix1171812— 48 3-point goals — North Valley 4 (A. Godfrey 2, Aros 2), Phoenix 8 (James 1, Rector 1, Delgado 6). Fouled out — S. Godfrey. KLAMATH UNION 53, CASCADE CHRISTIAN 29: Cascade Christian was unable to make it two straight wins over Skyline Conference opposition in as many days, falling behind 20-5 early in a loss to Klamath Union. Timnah Roberson scored eight points and had three steals to lead the Challengers (3-2), who saw their three-game winning streak snapped. Emma Coats had eight points and four rebounds and Jordynn Jones had seven points and five boards for Cascade. Dianara Pena-Hutchinson paced Klamath Union (3-2) with 17 points and hit three of the Pelicans’ five 3-pointers. KLAMATH UNION (53): Zumwalt 2, Langley 8, Hall 11, Garcia 4, Serato 0, Pena-Hutchinson 17, Harmon 0, Slaven 7, Derry 0, Neese 4. Totals: 23 2-6 53. CASCADE CHRISTIAN (29): Akins 0, Lane 0, Vanlandingham 2, Ferreira 0, Coats 8, Jones 7, Law 0, Roberson 8, McCauley 2, Haley 2. Totals: 11 6-10 29. Klamath Union20101211— 53 Cascade Christian5699— 29 3-point goals — Klamath Union 5 (Langley 2, Pena-Hutchinson 3), Cascade Christian 1 (Roberson 1). St. Mary's senior Kayden Walker drives to the basket for two points against Westside Christian at Cascade Christian High School in Medford Thursday. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] S.t Mary's senior Tyson Delplanche shoots for three points during the 1st quarter against Westside Christian at Cascade Christian High School in Medford Thursday. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] St. Mary's senior Jaden Foster shoots for two points against Westside Christian at Cascade Christian High School in Medford Thursday. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] St. Mary's junior Chris Kranenburg attempts to save the ball during the second quarter against Westside Christian at Cascade Christian High School in Medford Thursday. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune]