By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
COOS BAY, Ore.– It wasn’t the ending they were hoping for, but they sure ended their trip to Coos Bay strongly.
The Blanchet Catholic Boys Basketball team entered the fourth quarter trailing Creswell 60-39 in the Consolation Semi-finals at Marshfield High School on Friday morning. They, the Cavaliers were facing their final eight minutes of the season when things began to click and they started playing their brand of basketball that helped them get to Coos Bay in the first place.
It was something that Head Coach Hans Rasmussen said in their team hude prior to the start of that final quarter that made them refocused and ready to go.
“I wanted them to walk away and look back in the future that they left everything on the floor and that’s the conversation that we had at halftime and they did that,” said Blanchet Head Coach Hans Rasmussen. “We couldn’t get the edge to get around that big number that had been put up in the first half. The early fouls killed is and we couldn’t seem to recover from that.
“A lot of great things this year and I’m excited for the future. “
Two minutes into the fourth, the deficit was now sown to 12. Momentum was slowly swinging into their favor down 60-48.
“He (Rasmussen) said give it everything we got and we’ll rest tonight, said James Barnett. “The fourth quarter, super special moment being my last quarter of basketball
“We’ve put in a lot of work, the whole program has turned around and we should be better next year. We’ll put in a lot of work this Summer,” adds Adam Barnett, a sophomore.
The Barnett brothers combined for 40 points in the game, Adam with 23 to go with nine rebounds to lead the team and James added another 17.
Creswell tried pushing their lead back towards 20, but the Cavaliers stayed consistent. They hung around, looking for that one run to push them towards the lead.
With 4:07 left, they were still hanging around down 12. The same with 2:37 left, trailing 67-55.
Blanchet struggled to look for that one more push, but here they were coming down the stretch.
Four years ago, the program won four games. Now, they had 21 and contending for a placement game. It speaks volumes to the program that Rasmussen has built over his three years as Head Coach.
And though the Bulldogs were able to close out what became a 72-56 victory to survive and advance, those returning for Blanchet next season will have just that much more experience.
It’s been eight years since they even made the playoffs, let lone Coos Bay, but now they know what it takes to get to the Oregon Bay Area for next season.
“There’s something about experience when we look at some of these other schools like Cascade Christian for example. Having been here before, they have a certain swagger and a certain confidence. And being the new kids on the block this year, it was good for our kids to experience that so they can comeback with that same confidence the next few years,” said Rasmussen.
Sam Mosar contributed another 11 points in the season-ending defeat.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
