The Cascade High boys and girls basketball teams completed perfect Oregon West Conference seasons under new coaches and will take high rankings into the playoffs.
The Cougars’ boys squad, the defending Class 4A state champions, will take a 20-3 record and the No. 3 seed into a home playoff game Saturday, March 4, against an opponent to be determined. The Cougars, under first-year coach Justin Amaya, completed a 10-0 run through the Oregon West with a 64-61 win at Philomath on Feb. 20. Despite losing twice to Cascade, the OSAA computers spit out Philomath as the No. 1 seed in the boys bracket. In fairness, both games with Cascade were nail-biters, with the Warriors falling 50-49 to the Cougars on Feb. 2.
The Cougars are led by the twin dynamos of Spencer and Samuel Horne and fellow sharp-shooter Landon Knox. They have lost only to a California school and defending 5A champion Wilsonville in the Capitol City Classic in Salem as well as a road loss at Baker, No. 4 in Class 4A. The trip to Baker City required a seven-hour bus ride.
Stayton, which finished the regular season 16-7 and ranked 9th in Class 4A, played at Klamath Union after the Our Town press deadline for a slot in the final 16. The Eagles advanced to the quarterfinals a year ago before falling to Cascade.
Cascade’s girls, playing in their first year under former Mark Stevens assistant Nick Randall, also finished 10-0 in the Oregon West, closing the regular season with a 58-33 win at Philomath. The Cougars, 14-6 overall, are seeded No. 8 and will host an opponent to be determined on Friday, March 3. Cascade is led by talented junior playmaker Maddie Dustin and senior stalwart Meah Carley.
Stayton, 15-10, which finished third in the Oregon West, hosted Klamath Union in a play-in game that took place after the Our Town deadline.
Winners of the boys and girls round of 16 games move on to the 4A state tournament in Forest Grove on March 9-11.
The Regis boys (19-9 overall and seeded 11th) and girls (18-9, also 11th), meanwhile, played round of 16 games in the 2A bracket after Our Town presstime, bidding for slots in the 2A tournament in Pendleton. The Rams’ boys squad landed 4 slots on the all-Tri-River Conference team, which was announced after the Feb. 18 championship game in Mill City. Diego Aguilar was named to the first team, Isaiah Koehnke to the second and Josh Blish and Noah Koenig received honorable mention.
State Swimming: Stayton’s 400 free relay team of Bethany Wagar, Ashley Rea, Liberty Wiseman and Avery Mannix swam 4:05.37 to finish 6th in the final at the Class 4A championships in Beaverton.
The same four swimmers participated in the 200 medley relay and swam 2:06.39 in the preliminaries but did not qualify for the final.
Cascade’s 200 medley relay team of Jacob Gehley, Arlen Kuenzi, Gabriel Carroll and Tyler Bitikofer swam 1:53.76 to finish sixth in the preliminaries, but the foursome was disqualified during the finals.
Football: Longtime Oregon coach Shane Hedrick has been hired by Cascade High. Hedrick has won 164 games at Central, Willamina and Oregon City while also serving as an assistant one year at Western Oregon University. Hedrick replaces Tyler Turner, who was 4-6 in his lone year with the Cougars, including a 48-12 loss to La Grande in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.
Spring: Practice for the spring sports of baseball, softball, tennis, golf and track and field got underway Monday, Feb. 27, with the first OSAA-sanctioned contests set for March 13. I’m expecting it to snow both days.
