Wilsonville drops West Albany, 64-54, heads to OSAA 5A semifinals

By Miles Vance,

3 days ago

Nothing comes easy at state.

When the top eight Class 5A boys basketball teams get together, you know it's going to be a brawl and Wilsonville found that out first-hand in its state tournament opener at Linfield University on Thursday, March 13.

The Wildcats had to rally from a seven-point second-quarter deficit, then battled through a back-and-forth second half before finally pulling away from a tough West Albany team to win 64-54 in the Class 5A state quarterfinals.

"They're a great team and we just had to battle and battle and keep working at it, keep moving the ball until we found something good," said Wilsonville senior guard Cole Hammack, who finished with 16 points on 4 of 11 shooting from the field with one 3-

pointer and a 7 of 10 day at the free throw line, along with four rebounds, 10 assists and two steals.

"They're a great team. They've had a great season," said Wildcat junior Jett Bruce, who led his team with 19 points on 8 of 10 shooting from the field with three threes, along with three rebounds, one assist and one steal. "The key was just compete, compete, compete. I just felt like it was a complete team effort."

Sophomore wing Jett Bruce scored a career-high 19 points in the OSAA 5A state quarterfinals against West Albany, leading the Wildcats to a 64-54 win

"I think (the key) was just taking the great shots and moving the ball around," added Wilsonville senior post Emmitt Fee, who ended with nine points on 3 of 8 shooting from the floor and a 2 of 2 day at the foul line, along with 11 rebounds, four assists and one steal. "We practice situational basketball and practice helped us and prepared us and we got it done today."

With the win, the fourth-ranked Wildcats’ eighth straight , Wilsonville improved to 24-3 overall after winning the Northwest Oregon Conference.

Next up, the Wildcats will face Northwest Oregon Conference foe La Salle in the 5A state semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 14, at Linfield. The ninth-ranked Falcons earned their spot in the semis by beating top-ranked Caldera 53-31 in their Thursday

quarterfinal.

No. 5 West Albany, meanwhile, saw its three-game winning streak snapped and fell to 20-7 overall after finishing second in the Mid-Willamette Conference. Junior Jonah Lasselle and senior Owen Hopkins led the Bulldogs with 13 points each,

with Lasselle adding five rebounds, two assists and four steals, while Hopkins added five rebounds, one assist and one steal.

After a slow start dominated by defense on both ends of the court, the Bulldogs tried to put some early distance on the Wildcats, pushing ahead 17-11 at the end of the first quarter on a jump shot by senior Gavin Aguilar.

Then, West Albany extended its lead to 20-13 in the second quarter when Hopkins converted a three-point play with 5 minutes, 29 seconds remaining in the half.But the Wildcats closed the second period with a flourish, outscoring the Bulldogs 13-2 in the final 4:42 of the half and carrying a 26-22 lead into halftime thanks to a late Hammack jump shot in the key.

Neither team established control in the third quarter, with the period featuring six lead changes and two ties and ending with a 40-37 Wilsonville advantage when senior guard Jacob Boss buried a 3-pointer with 1:03 remaining in the period.

There was more back and forth at the start of the fourth, too, with Wilsonville pushing ahead by five points early and West Albany edging back into the lead at 45-44 when Tyson Walker scored in the key with 5 minutes left in the contest.

But Wilsonville re-took the lead at 47-45 on a Bruce three and outscored the Bulldogs 12-3 down the stretch, with senior Drake Devin hitting twice from short range, and Hammack adding a layup and two foul shots to seal the victory.

“One of the biggest things was on the defensive end,” Hammack said. “We got down seven in the second quarter, but we just stuck it in and we ended up going on a (13-2) run at the end of the half.”

“We found Jett a few times in the second quarter when we went on that big run,” Fee added. “That really helped us. We were all sharing the ball, finding each other and making plays.”