By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
FOREST GROVE, Ore.– For the first time since 2008, the Stayton Girls Basketball team are State Semifinals-bound.
After a close first half that saw Stayton finish in a 9-3 run, a run that featured three three-pointers, they took a 32-26 lead into the halftime break.
And the three-ball continued to fall. Hitting three more in the third quarter behind more of a refreshed defense coming out of the halftime break, and that made the Stayton lead grow.
It was 46-30 Eagles after three quarters, and the Eagle stranglehold continued through the fourth quarter.
By games end, and it was crazy to think when looking at the final score, the once 23-all game with 3:13 left in the game become was a Stayton 68-32 victory for Stayton with 13 three-pointers. It was a matter of weathering the storm, lifting each other up, and pushing through that adversity that they were facing.
“We were talking before the game about it before the game about lifting each other up and be ready for situations like that. We have a lot of tough teams in our league, so we’re used to pushing through that competition, ” said Brecci Hampton. “(The second half) felt really good. We’ve been working hard at practice and working on taking those open shots, so I felt really good.”
Now, in uncharted territory in the Championship Semi’s instead of battling through the Consolation bracket in their recent trips, they’re hoping to cash in and reach the State Finals for the first time since 2007.
“It’s super exciting for us. It’s been a super long time, so having this opportunity is special for us. Especially since we’re having a good season , we’re keeping the momentum up, so it’s a really cool, special moment for us,” said Makenzie Schacher. “Just taking each play one at a time, focus in if we make mistakes and focus on the next play and focus on doing what we can for each other and not what we can do individually.”
Schacher and Hampton each hit four three-pointers. Schacher finished with 12 points, Hampton with 14, and Kathryn Samek led the Eagles with 17 points.
The Eagles play Baker at 3:15 pm on Friday.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
