‘Gratitude.’ Les Schwab Invitational tournament field sees plenty of late changes, but those involved just grateful for opportunity to take the court
By Dan Brood | Photos by Leon Neuschwander
Sure, there were challenges — big challenges.
Two high-profile out-of-state teams withdrew from the tournament.
Two in-state powers also withdrew, due to COVID-19 outbreaks.
Heck, even a snowstorm that hit the area overnight was thrown into the mix.
But despite all of those challenges, Day 1 of the Les Schwab Invitational boys basketball tournament went on as planned — and everyone was pretty darn happy about it.
“We were a little bit worried with the teams dropping out. And we were also concerned about the snow this morning,” Tualatin senior Kellen Hale said following the Timberwolves’ 78-49 win over Churchill in a first-round tournament game Sunday at Liberty High School in Hillsboro. “But we’re just happy that we get to come out here and compete. This will definitely be a good experience. We get to play some of the best teams in the state, and one of the best in the country. We’re looking forward to competing with them and seeing where we’re at as a team.”
“It means a lot, that they get a chance to do this. I have a team of 14 players this week, and none of them have played in this event before. There are 11 seniors who haven’t got a chance to suit up here,” Lake Oswego coach Marshall Cho said after the Lakers’ 78-37 win over Evergreen, Wash., in a first-round game Sunday. “I think the biggest thing we’ve been focusing on is the word ‘gratitude.’ These guys get a chance to be in a platform like this, and not take it for granted, and understand that they’re not only representing the Lake Oswego community, but the entire state.”
Two out-of-state schools, Gonzaga College High School of Washington, D.C., and Isidore Newman, La., withdrew from the Les Schwab Invitational. Grant and West Linn also withdrew because of their COVID-19 outbreaks.
Scrambling to fill the 16-team field, Canby, Churchill, Sherwood and Evergreen of Vancouver were added to the event. Evergreen was definitely a last-minute substitute.
“We found out last night,” Evergreen senior guard Juelz Mendoza said. “Yeah, we were happy about it.”
“My kids woke me up at 4 a.m., for Santa Claus, and then, at 11:40 a.m., I got a call from the Canby coach, letting us know that they just got invited to the LSI,” Evergreen coach Brett Henry said. “We were supposed to be in the Canby tournament. I told (Canby coach Craig Evans) that I supported him in that, and that you can’t turn that down, but, ‘Do you know if they have any more openings?’ We were going to lose games. He let them know that we were interested, and I reached out to Nick Robertson as well, and, I guess, by 2-something (p.m.), I got an invite.”
And it was an invitation that Evergreen wasn’t about to turn down.
“We jumped at it, for sure,” Henry said. “I regretted it, when it was 10-0, but, obviously, we weren’t going to turn this down. It was a great opportunity.”
It’s an opportunity the Plainsmen want to take advantage of.
“We want to get experience at a higher level,” Mendoza said. “And we want to compete in front of a different audience and get a feeling on how different teams move on offense and defense.”
Meanwhile, Lake Oswego, which originally was slated to face Gonzaga College in the first round of the tournament, was also happy to have the opportunity to play.
“I think we definitely worried, hearing that teams were dropping out,” Lake Oswego senior captain Luke Brauner said. “But our biggest thing right now is not taking things for granted. Evergreen came in, so we’re thankful for the experience. This tournament is huge. We had (Lake Oswego alumnus) Kevin Love come through. They won the tournament. So, just historically, being Lake Oswego, we wanted to prove ourselves.”
The Lakers wasted little time in showing just how motivated they were in their tournament opener.
Getting three-point baskets from Brauner and freshman Winters Grady, a basket on a baseline drive by Grady, a two-handed dunk by senior Christian Rowell off a pass from Brauner, another basket by Rowell, and two free throws by Brauner, Lake Oswego sprinted to a 14-0 lead with 3 minutes and 8 seconds left in the first quarter.
Evergreen senior Adrian Williams sank a three-pointer to end Lake Oswego’s game-opening scoring spree, but the Lakers, with Grady scoring seven points in the period, took an 18-3 lead to the second quarter.
“We just go out and play basketball. It doesn’t matter the opponent,” Brauner said of Lake Oswego’s fast start. “We have a great coaching staff, and we shifted our game plan in the last second. So, we came in prepared.”
Lake Oswego kept rolling early in the second quarter. The Lakers, getting a short-range jumper by Grady, a follow-up basket by senior Sorena Torabi, a three-pointer by senior Carson Reno and a steal and layup by Grady, opened the period with a 9-0 run, upping the lead to 27-3 with 5:53 left in the first half.
The Lakers, with Rowell and Reno each connecting on a couple of three-pointers in the quarter, claimed a 46-14 halftime lead.
Evergreen tried to battle back in the third quarter. Mendoza made a 7-foot jumper and he sank a three-pointer from the top of the circle, making the score 55-21 with 2:25 left in the period.
Mendoza scored seven points in the quarter, and senior Robert Lawrence added three for the Plainsmen, who trailed 65-28 going to the fourth quarter.
Evergreen got three-point baskets from senior Charles Dayton, sophomore Landon Rayner and senior Oleh Hryhorev in the final stanza. But Lake Oswego, with senior Caden Saefke making a three-pointer while scoring seven points in the quarter, was able to close out a 78-37 victory.
“It went pretty well. We started it off in practice this week, working on our defense and rotation, and that showed tonight. We had dudes taking charges and getting steals,” Brauner said. “This was huge. I loved playing in front of the big crowd. I loved the competitiveness that you have in this tournament, and I think all of our guys showed out today.”
“We didn’t adjust much, to be honest,” Cho said. “We did our prep work on Gonzaga. Coach (Stephen) Turner is a friend of mine, through USA Basketball, and he does a great job. So, we lament the opportunity to measure ourselves against one of the best teams in the country. But at the same time, getting to see an Evergreen team that didn’t get the chance to play on a stage like this before made me happy for them, and I’m just grateful that we got a win.”
Grady led a balanced Lake Oswego scoring attack with 16 points. He also had five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Rowell had 13 points and four rebounds. Brauner had a strong overall game with 12 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Reno had 11 points and six rebounds. Torabi had seven points and he tied Brauner for game-high honors with nine rebounds. Saefke added nine points for the Lakers.
Lake Oswego (2-5) made 31 of 59 shots from the field, with eight three-pointers, and 8 of 14 free throw attempts. The Lakers outrebounded Evergreen 48-24.
“I’m still a stickler for the details, but as a coach, I have to understand that this is the first time on a stage like this for a lot of them,” Cho said. “They got over their nerves and excitement and settled in.”
Mendoza led Evergreen with nine points, seven coming in the second half. He had four rebounds and two blocked shots.
“Usually, we start slow, and pick it up at the end. But in this case, it was too late. We just need to move the ball more and trust each other,” Mendoza said. “I always try to be aggressive. I kind of took it on myself to maybe score more and be more aggressive. Me being more aggressive can help create shots for the other players.”
Senior Delo Doutrive added six points for the Plainsmen. Williams scored five points. Sophomore Arthur Ban had three rebounds and three steals.
Evergreen (3-3) will be back in action Tuesday, when it faces Churchill in a consolation bracket game starting at noon.
“We’re really glad we’re practicing tomorrow, because we need to clean up a lot,” Henry said. “But this gives us an opportunity to play against some really good teams and see where it takes us.”
“This is going to be a great experience,” Mendoza said.
Lake Oswego will return to tournament play Tuesday, when it faces Three Rivers League rival Tualatin in a quarterfinal contest starting at 5:30 p.m.
“I’m glad that we did a good job tonight. Now we’ve got a great challenge in Tualatin, a league opponent, coming up,” Cho said. “That should be a fun night for the fans.”
“We have to keep playing our brand of basketball, keep playing defense,” Brauner said. “That’s kind of what we live by at Lake Oswego, playing good defense.”
Tualatin, holding the top spot in the latest Class 6A coaches poll, moved to 7-0 with the tournament-opening win over Churchill.
“This is the first time that Tualatin has been in the tournament. We’ve been pushing to be in it for a while. So, we want to make some noise, and let everyone know who we are,” said Hale, who had seven points and seven rebounds in the victory. “We prepared the whole week to play Grant, and then, in the last second, we switched to Churchill. We just learned the basics of that team, and just play our game. We just ran it a lot, got out on transition, and played good defense.”
Senior Malik Ross led the Timberwolves with 19 points and three assists. Senior Noah Ogoli added 17 points and four assists. Peter Burke and Jaden Steppe each had nine rebounds.
In other tournament first-round games Sunday, Jesuit topped Canby 68-52, and Roosevelt edged Gresham 70-68.
In tournament first-round games set for Monday, Central Catholic faces Beaverton at 3 p.m., David Douglas plays Cleveland at 4:30 p.m., Tigard plays Link Academy, from Branson, Mo., at 6 p.m., and Sherwood faces Barlow at 7:30 p.m.
