Jaden Steppe, Tualatin eyeing Oregon high school basketball three-peat: 'I hope other teams are ready'
HILLSBORO, OREGON - Tualatin boys basketball might have fallen shy of tournament glory in two of Oregon's marquee winter high school basketball showcases, but the two-time defending OSAA 6A state champions find plenty to be encouraged about entering league play.
Down three starters, Tualatin dropped its first-round game to Beaverton, then rallied to finish 3-1 at the Les Schwab Invitational with notable wins over 3A power Cascade Christian and Jesuit in overtime.
But in the OSAA Class 6A state title race, Tualatin says the field is going to have to come take it.
"I hope other teams are ready," said Tualatin forward Jaden Steppe, who is committed to Colorado State. "I hope no one got ahead of themselves, because you know how we do it in March."
After losing in the LSI quarterfinals in 2022 to West Linn, the Timberwolves won 17 of their final 19 games and beat the Lions in the state final at the Chiles Center.
Tualatin (9-4) opened the 2023-24 season No. 1 in the preseason Class 6A coaches poll, buoyed by the fact that it returned three starters and didn't stretch the rotation much further than six players.
Two of them watched most of the LSI in street clothes recovering from injuries suffered during Tualatin's state football championship game loss to Central Catholic in late November.
"That's the way it rolls," head coach Bubba Lemon said. "The guys are learning to battle together."
Arizona State-committed tight end Jayden Fortier, the state's top football commit and an impactful 6-foot-5 forward on the hardwood, suffered a basketball season-ending anterior cruciate ligament tear and recently underwent a successful surgery to repair it.
Nolan Keeney, the team's quarterback, broke his collarbone in the late-November loss (some six weeks ago). The typical recovery for adults is 6 to 12 weeks, and the team hopes to see him return.
"We played with him in the summer, and it was so much fun to have him," Lemon said. "If we get him, that’s going to be a big blessing."
The team shut down AJ Noland, a Colorado State football commit, after its loss to Beaverton as he deals with flareups stemming from a knee surgery he underwent during the summer.
Tualatin forward Jaden Steppe cuts down the net after helping Tualatin win its second consecutive OSAA Class 6A state title in March 2023.
Photo by Naji Saker
Lemon described Noland as an experienced leader, a reliable scorer and a coach on the floor. Noland's return, however, will ultimately be between him and his doctors — with the end goal being preserving his college football scholarship.
He played his senior football season and transitioned to basketball without a meaningful break and cited overuse as a possible reason for the discomfort.
"The No. 1 goal for AJ is to be ready for college," Lemon said. "I don’t care about the season for him as much. If the doctors feel good about him coming back and we can limit him and he can still be ready to go to play college football, then we’re going to use every bit we can and make sure we keep good eyes on him."
Banged up? Sure. Encouraged? Absolutely.
The Timberwolves also left Liberty High School with a breakthrough game and strong overall showing from up-and-coming sophomore point guard Jemai Lake.
Lemon handed Lake, the younger brother of Tualatin 2023 all-state point guard Josiah Lake, the keys to the offense — a handoff Lemon said the elder Lake has helped nurture as a close companion of his younger brother.
Jemai knew he was going to have to grow up quickly taking over as the quarterback on the floor — especially since the position was run so well so recently by Josiah, who is playing more than 16 minutes per game as a freshman at Oregon State.
Jemai has leaned into the challenges that engulf any first-year point guard, though he's had more good days than bad.
Tualatin sophomore Jemai Lake surveys the floor during a first-round Les Schwab Invitational loss to Beaverton on Dec. 26 at Liberty High School.
Photo by Leon Neuschwander
After the team's overtime win over Jesuit at the LSI, he exhaled about the adjustment to incessant full-court pressure.
The day before, an 82-73 win over Class 3A power Cascade Christian, he had the hot hand, making five 3-pointers and going 12 for 12 from the line on his way to a career-high 41 points — a mark he'd hit before only in an AAU game.
He finished the first quarter with two points. Second quarter he had 16.
"I just kept shooting, kept being confident," soft-spoken Jemai said with a smile.
For all of Jemai's prospective successes this season, Lemon said, watch out for next season.
"We said, 'Hey, this is going to be a great year for you; you’re going to learn a lot, do a lot of good things and get a lot of experience where it’s going to be more dangerous the next two,'" Lemon said.
Steppe is perhaps the state's best player, and he's playing like it. The 6-foot-7 forward, who averaged 24.5 points per game at the LSI, feels like he could go for 40 on any given night.
The third-year starter steps up when called upon, but he knows trying to do that is not always what the team needs.
"I think we're honestly excelling for what we have right now," Steppe said. "We're just getting better and better. I know teams are going to write us off. We're OK with that."
-- Andy Buhler | andy@scorebooklive.com | @sbliveor
