By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– The game lived up to the hype between two Top 10 2A teams in the classification Saturday night at The Barn at Western Christian School between the Pioneers and Trinity Lutheran.
For much of the game, neither team could sustain a lead of a wide spread without the other storming back. Each storm back increased the heat and intensity of the contest once again every time it had happened. Trinity’s biggest lead was six, when they jumped out to a 6-0 lead to start, and Western’s was ten, coming at the final buzzer in their 63-53 victory on Saturday.
Weird to think of that final result when the fourth quarter started, it was a one possession game once again with the Pioneers ahead of Trinity Lutheran 47-44.
Adversity kept calling, The Barn let their teams hear it when a good play happened and both teams just found ways to respond to it when they needed to the most. Each team, throughout the game, kept making those little difference plays like that extra pass, picking up each other as they battled through those tough times..
“I think we’re coming together in that way,” said Trinity Lutheran Head Coach Kyle Gilbert. “It was a great game. Awesome competition, back-and-forth. Western is a great team, well-coached. It was a fun game to be a part of and we’re blessed with the opportunity. We just got to make a few shots when it’s crucial. They made a few shots, we made a couple, they made a few more and they were able to push it ahead. I think once we can dial that in a little more, it’s going to be much better for us.”
The Barn was The Barn. Every play, good or bad, was deafening as the crowd sat on top of the game.
Western built a 51-46 lead two minutes into the final frame, the Saints cut it to two. Western pulled back ahead, 54-49, with 4:17 left in the game. Only to once again see Trinity Lutheran make a run.
54-53 Pioneers led with 3:43 left at this point. It wasn’t Chatsworth at the Capitol City Classic loud, but it did feel like Pendleton-loud.
“To us, this is like a playoff game. So we try to come out here with the same intensity as they did and match it,” said the Pioneers Gavin Hall. “This is huge, most likely we’ll see them there and see other teams of this caliber at Pendleton. So seeing a team of their caliber just adds so much to us and us just preparing for teams like this, it just gets us more ready for league games. When we’re in these situations, we know what to do and how to execute properly.”
Hall led Western Christian with 29 points, Andrew Imhoff led Trinity Lutheran with 31 points as the two anchored their squads in this game. But it was the Pioneers who would have one last run in them to pull away. A 9-0 run to be exact as Western Christian closed out a 63-53 victory for their fourth-straight victory. The Pioneers re-enter Tri-River Conference play Monday against Chemawa while the Saints open East Cascades Conference play at home against Oakridge.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
