Our second mybasin.com Game of the Week this week featured another historic rivalry with Klamath Union hosting a doubleheader against Mazama. Here’s how both matchups unfolded Thursday.
Girls: Klamath Union 73, Mazama 26
Klamath Union (11-1, 2-0 Skyline Conference) got off to a surprisingly slow start against a Mazama (1-15, 0-3) team that went down 15-0 early in their last outing at Henley Jan. 18; the Pelicans led 8-5 with 4:30 remaining in the first quarter.
However, Klamath Union flipped a switch shortly after, going on a 21-2 run to end the period up 29-7. The Pelicans never looked back from there, taking a 46-13 lead into halftime and a 62-21 lead into the fourth quarter. The game moved to a running clock (except on free throws) late in the third, but the Pelicans were still able to record their highest scoring output of the season (their previous high was set in a 71-9 win over 3A St. Mary’s Medford at the Cascade Christian Christmas Classic Dec. 23.)
Kshalee Thomas led Klamath Union with 21 points (on seven threes), and Dianara Peña had 17 points (including three triples) and 5 steals. Keely Hall was the only other Pelican in double figures, finishing with 13 points and 2 rebounds. Other contributors for Klamath Union were Andi Harmon with 6 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals; Erin Garcia with 5 points and 3 steals; Anyssa Jimenez with 5 points; Dakota Neese with 2 points and 2 steals; and Bella Armijo and Jazzi Wilson with 2 points each. The Pelicans shot 13-of-22 from 3-point range.
For Mazama, Addie Byington had 9 points, Armeda Kirkpatrick had 7, Leah Hernandez had 4, Caelyn Davis had 3, Shakyla Jackson had 2 and Isabella Pena had 1.
Both teams’ next games are at 6 p.m. Tuesday; Klamath Union travels to Henley while Mazama hosts Hidden Valley.
Boys: Mazama 59, Klamath Union 57 (OT)
Klamath Union (6-9, 1-1 Skyline Conference) had two chances to hit a go-ahead three inside the final 10 seconds of overtime but came up empty, giving Mazama (3-13, 1-2) their first win at Pel Court since 2018.
The first half played out in eerily similar fashion to the Vikings’ game at Henley Jan. 18, especially the second quarter. In that game, Mazama went down 11-10 in the first minute of the second and later fell behind 26-15 but closed the half on a 9-2 run to draw within 28-24 at the break. In Thursday’s game, Mazama entered the second quarter trailing 11-10 and later fell behind 27-15 but closed the half on a 9-1 run to draw within 28-24 at the break.
The third quarter was where this game’s path began to diverge from the Jan. 18 game. Instead of coming out cold and going back down double digits, the Vikings maintained their footing, never allowing the Pelicans to take more than a six-point lead and tying the game twice. Trailing 40-35 with two minutes left in the period, Mazama scored the last four points to cut it to 40-39 entering the fourth quarter.
Klamath Union led–never by more than four points–until Oregon Tech baseball signee Marcos Ulloa-Ford hit a midrange jumper to tie the game at 50 with 1:41 left in regulation. The Vikings forced a shot clock violation on the Pelicans’ ensuing possession and took a 51-50 lead on a Gabe Nanni free throw with 34 seconds remaining. They grabbed the rebound after he missed the second shot but turned it over following a timeout, allowing Klamath Union to tie the game on a Tony Matheny free throw with 18 seconds to go. Mazama couldn’t get a good look at a game-winner on the last possession of regulation as the Pelicans clamped down on defense.
The Vikings had the upper hand in overtime until a defensive miscue gave Dashel Geraud plenty of room for a go-ahead three with 2:30 remaining. Trailing 56-54, Nanni hit two more free throws to tie the game at 56 with 2:07 to go. The teams traded empty possessions until Jordan Beals sank a jumper from the right block with a hand in his face to put Mazama back on top with 47 seconds left. The teams swapped empty possessions once more before Kai Hunt hit a free throw to extend the Vikings’ lead to 59-56 with 26.9 seconds left.
With 13.8 seconds remaining, Kalvin Hayes made a free throw to bring Klamath Union within two points. Almost immediately after the ensuing inbound, Malcolm Lassett-Hankins intercepted a pass in the backcourt and threw it to an open Geraud on the perimeter. His 3-point attempt fell short, but the Pelicans got one last opportunity after rebounding a missed free throw with 3.4 seconds on the clock. The ball was tipped to Matheney, who threw up a shot from half-court that barely missed the rim.
This was the 101st boys basketball game between Klamath Union and Mazama and the 10th to go to overtime. The Pelicans still lead the all-time series 58-43.
Nanni led Mazama with 18 points, followed by Hunt with 10, Ulloa-Ford with 9, Ryan Hayden with 6, Dominic Melgoza with 5, and Jordan Beals and Drake Peters with 2 each.
Matheney led Klamath Union with 17 points, followed by DayQuan McKay with 9, Dashel Geraud and Grafton Watah with 7 each, Lassett-Hankins with 5, Jeff Spooner with 3 and Hayes with 2.
Both teams’ next games are at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday; Klamath Union travels to Henley while Mazama hosts Hidden Valley.
