Tualatin hammers Tigard, clinches Three Rivers League girls basketball championship

Tualatin has won 10 consecutive games over district rival Tigard

One of the most storied rivalries in Oregon high school girls basketball continues to be one-sided.

The Tualatin girls basketball team hammered district rival Tigard 62-26 on Friday night to sweep the season series and clinch their second consecutive Three Rivers League championship. Junior post Jordyn Smith led Tualatin with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 4 steals. Sophomore Maaya Lucas had 12 points and 6 steals, sophomore Kylie Weaver scored 12 points and sophomore Alex Padilla had 6 points and 9 assists.

Since Wes Pappas took over as the head coach at Tualatin in 2019, the Timberwolves are 10-0 against Tigard. 

• OREGON GIRLS BASKETBALL SCORES

The Timberwolves (19-4, 11-1) entered the night one game ahead of West Linn and Oregon City in the TRL standings. The Lions (17-7, 10-2) beat Oregon City 56-42 earlier Friday to finish in second place.

The Timberwolves finished the season ranked No. 7 in the state in the OSAA Class 6A rankings, and will play No. 26 Grant in the first round of the playoffs on Wednesday. Tigard finished ranked No. 29, and will play No. 4 Jefferson in the first round.

Tualatin's second straight league championship came in the face of extraordinary adversity. The Timberwolves lost two of their best players - senior Jaylyn Arosemena and sophomore Ries Miadich - to season-ending injuries in late December and early January. And they came into the 2023-24 season with a very inexperienced team after losing six seniors to graduation.

Pappas has had to go deep into his bench and junior varsity squad to keep the Timberwolves rolling - and they haven't missed a beat. They finished second in Class 6A in scoring defense, allowing just 32.5 points per game in Pappas' stifling 2-3 and 1-3-1 defenses. That feat is even more remarkable considering this was the first season of the shot clock era in Oregon and teams could no longer stall against Tualatin's defense - like Barlow did in the 6A state quarterfinals last season.

With the win over Tigard, the Timberwolves have now rattled off nine consecutive victories. Smith, senior guard Makayla Simonelic, sophomore guard Lucas, sophomore forward Padilla and sophomore forward Weaver have been huge contributors.

Tualatin girls basketball coach Wes Pappas.

Photo by Leon Neuschwander