East Linn Christian’s boys finished sixth in the 2A state championships in Pendleton last weekend in Pendleton, falling to eventual champion Trinity Lutheran 74-31 Thursday, March 5, then rebounding to beat Stanfield 65-56 on Friday before falling to Western Christian 62-54 Saturday morning.
“I’m very proud of these guys,” Head Coach Jonathan Whitehead said upon returning from the tournament. “We got together and laid out most of our goals for the season and we hit most of them. We wanted to get to Pendleton, we wanted to play on Saturday and we wanted to win on Saturday. We came up a little short, but sixth place is awesome.”
The top “four or five teams” in 2A this year are “very good,” he added.
“To be able to get a trophy is awesome for these guys.”
Western Christian 62, ELCA 54
Neither team started fast, Whitehead said of the fourth-sixth-place game.
Although Western Christian led most of the game, it was back-and-forth in the first half against the Pioneers as East Linn trailed 14-10 at the first-quarter break, but took a 24-23 halftime lead.
“We had a really good second quarter, defensively,” Whitehead said.
But that did not last, as Western Christian put together a series of back-breaking plays in which they Pioneers worked the shot clock down to the final seconds on successive possessions, then buried the ball – one for a three-pointer as time expired.
“They hit really good shots,” Whitehead said. “You play defense good for 33 seconds, then they score like that.”
Western outscored the eighth-seeded Eagles 20-11 in the third quarter, and East Linn couldn’t close the gap in a 19-19 final period. East Linn finished sixth.
“We scored enough points to get back into the game, but it wasn’t enough,” Whitehead said. “I was really proud of the boys. Playing a third game in three days is always tough, and they got a trophy out of it.”
Senior Brison Edwards was the only Eagle in double figures in the game, but he came through big, hitting 11 of 15 shots, including one of two three-pointers, to lead the team with 23 points – nearly half their total.
ELCA 65, Stanfield 56
The Eagles roared back after a crushing loss the day before to Trinity Lutheran, roaring out to an 17-8 lead over Stanfield, which had beaten them 72-52 in early January.
Not this time. East Linn’s Grady Knurowski seemingly couldn’t miss, pacing the team as they built an 18-8 lead in the first quarter, then held that for a 30-19 advantage at the half.
“He got off to a really hot start,” Whitehead of the sophomore. “That ended up being the difference in the game. If we didn’t show up, that would have been the game.”
The Eagles kept the pressure on in the third, building their advantage to 50-43 at the third-quarter buzzer.
But then Stanfield, which, Whitehead noted, is known for making runs, pulled off its most productive scoring streak in the final period, closing the gap to “five or six” before East Linn finished things off for the win, helped by “some pretty awesome rebounding down the stretch,” the coach said.
It was a rough game, as both Edwards and Gavin Christenson were whistled for technicals, and the Eagles finished with 22 fouls, though nobody fouled out.
game. He was five of six from three-point land in the Eagles’ win over Stanfield. – File photos
“Poor Demetrius (Wilke) was on the floor for only a few seconds and they were whistling him,” Whitehead said, adding that the Eagles were playing aggressively and when Stanfield couldn’t hit outside shots, the Tigers started taking it inside, drawing fouls as East Linn tried to defend the basket.
“The refs were calling it tight and that didn’t favor us on defense,” he said.
Knurowski finished with a team-high 23 points, hitting eight of 12 shots from the field, including five of six trey attempts, and adding seven rebounds. Wilke and Gavin Wilson, who also scored 13 points, also grabbed seven boards each.
Edwards added 15 points and sophomore post Ryder Howard finished with four blocks and nine rebounds.
The Eagles, for whom, the coach said, free-throw shooting has been an “achilles heel,” finished the game 13 for 18 at the stripe.
Trinity Lutheran 74, ELCA 31
The Saints came into Thursday’s game with one loss on the season, that one early in December to Westside Christian, which came into the 3A playoffs as the No. 1 seed (before being upset by Banks), and Trinity delivered as predicted.
East Linn trailed 24-9 after the first period and things didn’t get better after that, as Trinity had a 43-19 lead at the half and was on top 65-22 at the third-quarter buzzer. Both teams scored nine points in the final period.
“That one was brutal,” Whitehead said. “We turned the ball over way too much in the first quarter. We were taking difficult shots, trying to get it back, instead of grinding it out.”
Four Saints finished in double figures, including 18 from junior guard Chimi Gilbert, 16 from fellow backcourt junior Romney Quentin and 13 from senior guard Chace Nichols.
Austin Imhoff, Trinity’s 6-7 forward – whose grandfather Darrall Imhoff was an Olympic gold medalist and NBA All-Star who spent 12 years in the pros – added 14.
It points spread wasn’t just due to the Saints’ team quality, Whitehead said.
“Well over half their points were off our mistakes or us not getting back,” he said. “Their whole lineup is pretty solid – Chimi, Austin and Chase. They did really well at speeding us up.”
The Eagles finished 21-9 overall, 10-0 in the Valley Coast Conference.
Bend-based Trinity Lutheran will have a more local presence next year as it moves into the 3A Mountain Valley Conference next fall, along with Sweet Home, which is moving down from 4A, to join Sisters, La Pine,Creswell, Pleasant Hill and Harrisburg.
Whitehead said he was proud of how his seniors were unselfish in leading the Eagles.
“Each senior played specific roles for the team. They put aside the individual stuff for the team. Our sophomore and juniors did a really good job, setting themselves up for success next year if they keep working during the off-season.”