Five Basin teams competed at the Mountain Valley League tournament at Henley Saturday–the final day before the 1A playoff bracket was set. Here’s a full recap of each game with a look at each team’s path to the state tournament.
The all-Mountain Valley League teams were announced after the boys third place game Saturday and can be found at the bottom of the page.
Girls third place game: Bonanza 45, Trinity Lutheran 41
Bonanza (16-7) didn’t score until more than halfway through the first quarter, but once they did, the floodgates opened.
With Trinity Lutheran (12-13) leading 3-0, Ellie Huffman buried a long two at the 3:46 mark. The Antlers made eight of their next 10 shots, including four 3-pointers, to take a 15-7 lead after the opening period that swelled to 24-10 with 4:30 left in the second quarter. Things cooled off a bit after that, and Bonanza went into halftime up 26-15.
The Saints made as many field goals in the third quarter as they did in the entire first half (five) while the Antlers struggled, hitting just three shots. By the end of the third quarter, Bonanza’s lead had been cut to 32-25.
The Antlers went back up double digits after Grace Kness hit a three with 4:46 remaining to make it 40-29. Neither team scored again until the 2:14 mark, when Ava Garus banked in a shot from just inside the arc that kicked off a 10-3 run for Trinity Lutheran. Ella Prelog buried a triple with 32 seconds to go to get the Saints within 43-39, but Huffman sank two free throws with 16.6 seconds on the clock after a timeout. Bonanza forced two missed shots on Trinity Lutheran’s final possession before the Saints got a putback at the buzzer.
Julie Hess led Bonanza with 15 points (all in the first half), followed by Ellie Huffman with 13, Vashti Arata and Mary Schooler with 7 each, and Grace Kness with 3. The Antlers made six 3-pointers, half of which came from Hess.
For Trinity Lutheran, Ava Garus had 15 points, Ella Prelog had 12, Ava Elliott had 8, Aubree Weisner had 4, and Kiya Young had 2.
Bonanza received the No. 23 seed in the 1A playoffs and will travel to No. 10 seed Umpqua Valley Christian (21-5) at 5 p.m. Wednesday. The Monarchs lost the Skyline League championship game to North Douglas (who got the No. 2 seed) and are 3-3 in their last six games. If the Antlers win, they’ll likely travel to No. 7 seed North Clackamas Christian (20-4) in the second round. The Saints won the Valley 10 League championship over Southwest Christian (who got the No. 21 seed) and are allowing 25.5 points per game.
Trinity Lutheran was the first team left out of this year’s playoffs, finishing at No. 29 in the OSAA computer rankings. The last of the eight at-large bids (given to the highest ranked teams that weren’t among the top three in their league) went to 28th-ranked Camas Valley.
Boys third place game: Crosspoint Christian 56, Bonanza 46
Crosspoint Christian (18-8) used a strong defensive effort to avenge a pair of regular season losses to Bonanza (16-9) and get their second-ever win over the Antlers.
A back-and-forth first quarter featured two ties and four lead changes and ended with the Warriors up 11-10. The second quarter saw three ties and two lead changes before Bonanza outscored Crosspoint Christian 7-2 over the last 1:34 of the half–including a reverse layup through two defenders by Andrew Rojas with five seconds left–to take a 27-26 lead at the break.
The Warriors scored the first points of the second half on a coast-to-coast layup by Chase Bacus 25 seconds in. They would never trail again; the Antlers tied the game at 32-32 with 4:07 to go in the third quarter, but the Warriors went on a 9-0 run over the next 2:17 to open up a 41-32 lead. Bonanza countered with six straight points from Rojas to cut it to 41-38 with 46 seconds left and ended the period trailing 44-40.
Crosspoint Christian clamped down defensively in the fourth quarter–allowing six points–but didn’t really separate themselves until the final two minutes. First, Keaton Murphy drove in from the left corner for a contested layup to put the Warriors up 51-46 with 1:43 remaining. About 11 seconds later, Chase Bacus picked up a mishandled ball at the top of the key and raced down the court for a layup to make it 53-46. Bonanza missed five shots in the last 1:23 (not including a half-court heave at the buzzer).
Bacus led Crosspoint Christian with 16 points (including 14 in the second half) on 6-of-11 shooting with 8 rebounds and 2 steals. Keaton Murphy had 10 points (including 9 in the second half), 5 rebounds and 2 assists, and Davis Hartwell made 3-of-7 threes to finish with 9 points. Other contributors for the Warriors were Kody Sparks with 7 points (all in the first half), 4 rebounds and 2 assists; Garret Little with 6 points (all in the first half) and 2 rebounds; Drew Ryckewaert with 4 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks; and Brock Throne with 4 points, 3 rebounds and 2 blocks.
For Bonanza, Andrew Rojas had 17 points (including 11 in the third quarter), Victor Gonzalez had 15 (including 8 in the first quarter), Alex Renzetti had 5 (all in the second quarter), Garrett Gallagher had 4, Tobias Thomas and Fystin Qualls each had 2, and Isaac Noble had 1.
Crosspoint Christian received the No. 14 seed in the 1A playoffs and will host No. 19 seed Elkton (17-6) at 7 p.m. Tuesday. It will be the first home playoff game in program history. The Elks lost the Skyline League championship game to North Douglas (who got the No. 11 seed), which snapped a 14-game winning streak. If the Warriors win, they’ll likely travel to No. 3 seed Open Door Christian Academy (16-4) in the second round. The Huskies won the Valley 10 League championship game over Valor Christian (who got the No. 15 seed), avenging their only loss to a 1A opponent this season.
Bonanza received the No. 17 seed and will travel to No. 16 seed Mapleton (23-2) at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Sailors won the Mountain West League championship game over Triangle Lake (who got the No. 28 seed), are allowing 32.7 points per game, and are on an 18-game winning streak. If the Antlers win, they’ll likely travel to No. 1 seed Crane (24-1) in the second round. The Mustangs won the High Desert League championship game over Adrian (who got the No. 23 seed), are favored to win their third straight 1A championship, are scoring 73.1 points per game, and haven’t lost since their third game of the season.
Girls championship: North Lake/Paisley Charter 42, Chiloquin 40
Chiloquin (17-3) had two chances to tie or take the lead in the final 40 seconds but came up empty, missing out on what would have been their first Mountain Valley League title since 2015.
North Lake/Paisley Charter (17-2) scored the first points 1:31 into the game. The Queens answered 12 seconds later with a Laila Weiser three, and the Cowgirls didn’t lead again until Emily Murphy made two free throws with 44.8 seconds left in the first quarter to put them up 11-10 heading into the second.
Chiloquin went scoreless for the first 4:10 of the second quarter as North Lake/Paisley Charter built a 17-10 lead. Laila Weiser ended the drought with another triple, and the Queens got back within one point at 18-17 after Makayla Jayne made a pair of free throws with 2:10 left in the half, but the Cowgirls responded with a 7-0 run to go into halftime up 25-19.
North Lake/Paisley Charter scored the first five points of the second half to push the lead to 30-19 with 6:46 to go in the third quarter. After that, Chiloquin flipped a switch, outscoring the Cowgirls 15-2 over the next 5:35 with Laila Weiser draining another big three to give her team a 34-32 lead that held until the end of the period.
The lead changed hands three times in the first 1:42 of the fourth quarter. North Lake/Paisley Charter scored on back-to-back possessions to take a 40-37 lead with 5:33 remaining in the game. Nobody scored again until Jayne hit a free throw with 2:25 on the clock to make it 40-38. Then, with 58 seconds left, Naima Head banked in a hook shot to tie the game at 40-40. On the ensuing Cowgirls possession, freshman Acacia Roth found herself wide open in the right corner. Instead of taking a three, she threw to fellow freshman Dillynn Puckett on the block for what turned out to be the game-winning bucket with 41 seconds to go.
The win gave North Lake/Paisley Charter their first official Mountain Valley League championship since the co-op began in the summer 2021 season (they finished with the most wins in league play that season, but teams ended up playing varying numbers of league games and no official tournament was held). The Cowgirls also avenged a 49-33 loss to Chiloquin Jan. 20.
Laila Weiser finished with 16 points (including four triples) to lead the Queens, followed by Naima Head with 10, CeCe Weiser with 5, Elaine Gilcrist with 4, Makayla Jayne with 3, and Toleus Ochoa with 2.
For North Lake/Paisley Charter, Hannah Roth had 14 points, Emily Murphy had 12 (including 7 in the first quarter), Dillynn Puckett had 6 (all in the fourth quarter), Grace Brummer had 5, Lindsay McAulay had 4 and Acacia Roth had 1.
Chiloquin received the No. 11 seed in the 1A playoffs and will host No. 22 seed Joseph (13-13) Wednesday at a time TBD. It will be their first home playoff game since 2015. The Eagles beat Nixyaawii (who was the second team left out of the playoffs) in the Old Oregon League third place game and are scoring 37.9 points per game. If the Queens win, they’ll likely travel to No. 6 seed Powder Valley (19-6) in the second round. The Badgers won the Old Oregon League championship game over Echo (who got the No. 14 seed), are allowing 32 points per game, and are on an 11-game winning streak.
North Lake/Paisley Charter received the No. 8 seed in the playoffs and will host No. 25 seed Prairie City/Burnt River (13-12) at 5 p.m. Wednesday. North Lake last hosted a playoff game in 2017 (Paisley Charter hosted one in 2020, the year before the co-op was formed). The Panthers beat Adrian (who got the No. 19 seed) in the High Desert League third place game and are scoring 35 points per game. If the Cowgirls win, they’ll likely host No. 9 seed Imbler (18-7) in the second round. The Imbler Panthers were upset by Nixyaawii in the preliminary round of the Old Oregon League tournament and are allowing 33.8 points per game.
Boys championship: Trinity Lutheran 69, Lost River 56
Lost River (21-4) only trailed by three at halftime but ultimately couldn’t keep up with one of 1A’s top teams in Trinity Lutheran (21-4).
The first quarter featured two ties and six lead changes, the last of which came when Connor Dunlea banked in a deep three at the buzzer to give the Raiders a 14-13 lead heading into the second.
Chimi Gilbert hit a three 19 seconds into the second quarter to put the Saints back on top, and they remained in the driver’s seat the rest of the way. Trinity Lutheran began to push the lead out to two possessions in the latter half of the period, but Lost River battled back. Dunlea intercepted a pass at the top of the key and ran the other way for a layup with 38 seconds left that cut it to 33-30 at halftime.
The Saints went on a 7-0 run over the first 2:22 of the third quarter to take a 40-30 lead. After the Raiders got consecutive buckets from Dunlea to pull back within six points, Trinity Lutheran went on another 7-0 run to go up 47-34 with 3:13 left in the period. The Saints led 54-42 at the start of the fourth quarter and kept on rolling, building a 69-48 lead with 2:09 remaining before Lost River went on a late run to close the game.
Both teams were playing for their first league championship since 2020, when Lost River won the 2A Southern Cascade League and Trinity Lutheran won the Mountain Valley League. The Saints had previously beaten the Raiders 66-44 Jan. 25, and their 69 points Saturday was the second most Lost River has allowed this season.
Connor Dunlea (a Montana Western football signee) led Lost River with 26 points, followed by Chase McAuliffe with 21 (including 10 in the fourth quarter), Kayden Hartman with 5 (all in the second quarter) and Tate Freeman with 4 (all in the first quarter).
Mountain Valley League Player of the Year Andrew Imhoff scored 32 points for Trinity Lutheran, including 19 in the second half; Jack Foley, who owns a football offer from Washington State, had 16 (including a pair of emphatic dunks); Chimi Gilbert and Chace Nichols each had 9, with Nichols making three triples; Jackson Carroll had 2, and Cooper Garus had 1.
Lost River received the No. 7 seed in the 1A playoffs (their highest since the 2020 2A playoffs, when they were also the No. 7 seed) and will host No. 26 seed Echo (15-11) Tuesday at a time TBD. The Cougars lost to Cove (who got the No. 18 seed) in the preliminary round of the Old Oregon League tournament and are 3-3 in their last six games. If the Raiders win, they’ll likely host No. 10 seed Perrydale (19-6) in the second round. The Pirates won the Casco League championship game over Crosshill Christian (who got the No. 12 seed) and have won 11 of their last 12 games.
Trinity Lutheran received the No. 4 seed in the playoffs (their highest since 2020, when they were also the No. 4 seed) and will host No. 29 seed Horizon Christian Hood River (10-12) at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Hawks lost to Spray/Mitchell/Wheeler (who got the No. 20 seed) in the preliminary round of the Big Sky League tournament and are on a four-game losing streak. If the Saints win, they’ll likely host No. 13 seed Country Christian (18-8) in the second round. The Cougars beat North Clackamas Christian (who got the No. 21 seed) in the Valley 10 League third place game and have won eight of their last nine games.
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MVL All-League Girls
Player of the Year
Emily Murphy, North Lake/Paisley Charter (Sr.)
Coach of the Year
Ray Struve, Bonanza
First Team
Emily Murphy, North Lake/Paisley Charter (Sr.)
CeCe Weiser, Chiloquin (Sr.)
Julie Hess, Bonanza (Sr.)
Laila Weiser, Chiloquin (Jr.)
Ellie Huffman, Bonanza (Sr.)
Hannah Roth, North Lake/Paisley Charter (Jr.)
Ella Prelog, Trinity Lutheran (So.)
Second Team
Ava Garus, Trinity Lutheran (Sr.)
Fernanda Esparza, Rogue Valley Adventist Academy (So.)
Tabitha Terry, Central Christian (So.)
Taylor Sundet, Crosspoint Christian (Sr.)
Aubree Weisner, Trinity Lutheran (Jr.)
Elaine Gilcrist, Chiloquin (Jr.)
Grace Kness, Bonanza (Jr.)
Honorable Mention
Hannah Langford, Crosspoint Christian (So.)
Macey Thompson, Lost River (So.)
Naima Head, Chiloquin (Sr.)
Acacia Roth, North Lake/Paisley Charter (Fr.)
Kintyre McNaught, Rogue Valley Adventist Academy (So.)
Morgan Herring, Lost River (Sr.)
MVL All-League Boys
Player of the Year
Andrew Imhoff, Trinity Lutheran (Jr.)
Coach of the Year
Brad Johnson, Lost River
First Team
Andrew Imhoff, Trinity Lutheran (Jr.)
Jack Foley, Trinity Lutheran (Jr.)
Connor Dunlea, Lost River (Sr.)
Chase McAuliffe, Lost River (Sr.)
Victor Gonzalez, Bonanza (Jr.)
Chase Bacus, Crosspoint Christian (Sr.)
Second Team
Chimi Gilbert, Trinity Lutheran (Fr.)
Tate Freeman, Lost River (Jr.)
Alex Renzetti, Bonanza (Jr.)
Carter Golson, North Lake/Paisley Charter (Jr.)
Luke Cox, Prospect Charter (So.)
Micah Hescock, Chiloquin (Sr.)
Honorable Mention
Chace Nichols, Trinity Lutheran (So.)
Kayden Hartman, Lost River (Jr.)
Horseman Weiser, Chiloquin (Sr.)
Andrew Rojas, Bonanza (Sr.)
Kody Sparks, Crosspoint Christian (Jr.)
Caleb Scheidler, Central Christian (So.)
Rowan Vandenbos, Central Christian (So.)
Jackson Harty, Gilchrist (Sr.)
Braiden Perry, Rogue Valley Adventist Academy (Jr.)
Keaton Murphy, Crosspoint Christian (Sr.)
