It’s hard to win one state title, much less two. And it becomes even harder to go back-to-back when you lose one of your best players to a summer knee injury, the program also is working under a new coach and you have to beat a league rival for the third time to take the top trophy.
The Cascade High boys basketball team took on all the challenges and challengers and rode them out of town. The Cougars went undefeated in the Oregon West Conference and won their four playoff games by an average of 25 points. The closest an opponent came in the postseason was 9 points in Cascade’s 61-52 March 11 title game victory vs. Philomath at Forest Grove High.
Who would have expected this after the loss of four key players from the 2022 championship squad, 6-11 big man Dom Ball, versatile wing Kellen Sande, valuable backup Isaac Schnepp and 6-7 junior Ty Best, who injured his knee and missed his entire senior season.
“I knew at the end of summer league we had a talented team,” first-year coach Justin Amaya told Our Town. Amaya coached the Amity boys to three state tournament appearances before spending the past four years assisting Mark Stevens with the Cascade girls.
“However, all the coaching polls and media sites had Philomath/Stayton ahead of us in pre-season polls. Our lack of size was questioned, lack of rebounding… we used everything as motivation. Going into league I was unsure how we stacked up with our rival Stayton and Philomath. We continued to focus on our strengths. Speed and defense.”
Ah, Stayton and Philomath. That’s almost always the situation in the Oregon West. Last season Cascade and Philomath tied for the league title at 11-1, while 8-4 Stayton clawed its way to a quarterfinal berth opposite the Cougars. Cascade won the third match with the Eagles on the way to the title.
This season the Cougars went 10-0 in league, beating Stayton and Philomath twice, but somehow the OSAA computers spit out the Warriors as the top seed and placed Cascade as the No. 3. Stayton was ninth and fell at Crook County in the round of 16.
Cascade beat Philomath by 1 and 3 points during the league season and the championship game also was a tight one.
“In the championship I called a timeout early third quarter and I told our boys that our defense wasn’t good enough to win a championship…They responded with a 9-0 run and we never trailed after.”
Cascade trailed 25-23 when Amaya called that timeout 49 seconds into the period. A steal by Rogue Newton led to two free throws by the senior guard. Spencer Horne then made a steal that led to a Landon Knox jumper. Spencer Horne fed twin brother Samuel for a layup, Knox snagged a defensive rebound that led to his 3-pointer at the other end and Cascade led 32-25 at the 4:58 mark. The Cougs never surrendered the lead, with the winners leading by double digits for much of the final period.
Both Hornes were named second-team all-tournament, as was Anthony Best, Ty’s younger brother (16 for 25 from the floor and 39 points during the tournament). The Hornes went one-two in the tournament in steals with 12 for Samuel (and 11.3 points per game) and 9 for Spencer (and 15.0 points per game). The two 6-2 seniors combined for 13 3-pointers, with Spencer leading the tournament with 60% marksmanship from long range (6 for 10).
“I have never coached one let alone two players like the Horne brothers,” Amaya said. “The defense and intensity they play with is unmatched in my coaching career… I feel lucky to have had this opportunity to coach them.”
Knox and Spencer Horne were named to the first team all-Oregon West Conference squad. Samuel Horne made the second team and Newton, Anthony Best and Kaiden Ford received honorable mention. Amaya shared coach of the year honors with Blake Ecker of Philomath and Tully Wagner of North Marion.
