In what could only be described as a bizarre regular season, we now prepare for a unique playoff scenario. We’ve had games canceled. Lost home games, had to travel and had multiple games shuffle nights throughout any given week. Through it all, our kids have been incredibly resilient and just show up every day, ready to compete and improve.
After a tough league schedule that saw us drop two tough games to Sutherlin (the #2 ranked team in the state), we were fortunate enough to be awarded a home playoff game against a real talented team from Nyssa. With limited time to prep and scout, we’ve been spending the past couple of days focused more on ourselves and polishing our own rough edges.
Our girls are excited for the chance to make it to the Final 4 for the second year in a row and to Coos Bay for the 3rd year in a row. Having said that, nothing is a given this year. All eight teams selected for the tournament this year are talented and present unique challenges for us. Nyssa is no exception. They have good guard play and play tough man-to-man defense. But their centerpiece, 6’ 5” sophomore Gracie Johnson, is a player unlike any we have faced this year and presents a unique combination of length and skill that gives teams fits. Our challenge will be to slow her down while not allowing their other players to run free and knock down shots against us.
Eastern Oregon teams have a tendency to get overlooked by coaches on the western side of the state, but this Nyssa team is for real. They have beaten Burns, a perennial state tournament team, and Baker, a perennial 4A powerhouse program. We anticipate that our game against them will be a great matchup between two talented teams.
As our season draws to a close this week, we have some players who have received extra recognition by our league. Lexi Schofield and Sierra Fitzhugh were both selected to the First Team All-League team. Shelby Jirsa made the Second Team and Ashlyn Schofield was voted to the Honorable Mention team. Tilly Peters was selected for the league’s All-Defensive Team.