Photo courtesy of God’s Gifts Photography
Ryan Millsap doesn’t care for the narrative surrounding his team’s win Saturday.
Mazama’s third-year head coach guided the No. 14 seed Vikings (14-11) to a 77-67 win at No. 3 seed Marist Catholic (17-6) in the first round of the 4A playoffs, booking the program’s first state quarterfinal appearance since 2018. The result drew shocked reactions on social media, but even as Mazama’s own accounts were calling it “upset city,” Millsap was trying to instill the opposite mentality into his players.
“One of the big things we talked about in the locker room after the game is [that] this isn’t an upset,” Millsap said. “It’s not a Cinderella story. We belong here.”
The Vikings certainly looked like the better of the two teams, leading 14-10 after the first quarter, 39-27 at halftime and 58-41 after the third quarter. The Spartans rallied to cut Mazama’s lead to single digits in the fourth quarter, but Millsap was able to keep his team composed enough to close out the win.
“I kind of had to take a deep breath and recenter us,” Millsap said. “I took a couple timeouts during their run that I think kind of helped calm us down a little bit.”
Senior Kai Hunt led the Vikings with 30 points (including 5-of-8 threes), 9 assists and 7 rebounds; senior Gabe Nanni had 20 points (including 3-of-3 threes), 7 rebounds and 3 assists; senior Jordan Beals had 11 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists; junior Jagger Jackson had 8 points and 2 rebounds; senior Ryan Hayden had 6 points and 4 rebounds; and senior Dominic Melgoza had 2 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals.
Mazama shot 26-of-47 (55%) from the field, including 8-of-14 (57%) from 3-point range, and made 17-of-33 free throws (52%). The Vikings’ 77 points were the most Marist Catholic allowed this season; the Spartans hadn’t given up more than 68 points entering the game.
This is the second year in a row the No. 14 seed has advanced to the state tournament and the third since the 4A playoffs adopted the current seeding format leading into the 2013-14 season. No. 14 seed Crook County took home a sixth place trophy last year, while No. 14 seed Seaside went two-and-out in 2014.
The Vikings will face No. 11 seed Scappoose (16-9), which beat No. 6 seed Madras 76-49 Saturday, in the quarterfinals of the OSAA 4A State Championships at Forest Grove High School at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. The teams previously met in the consolation round of the Central Oregon Tip-Off Classic at Crook County High School Dec. 6. Scappoose won 60-57, part of a 1-6 start Mazama endured while Hunt was sidelined with an injury.
“We’ve come a long way since then,” Millsap said.
In keeping with his insistence that this Vikings team is no Cinderella, Millsap said he believed even during the rough start to the season that a deep playoff run was possible.
“I’ve known these guys, some of them for five-plus years, but I’ve known these guys and gotten to know them so well over the last couple years,” Millsap said.
“I’ve always known that these guys could do this, and as soon as we start clicking and trusting each other and doing the right things, it’s possible for us to do big things.”
