Central Valley Conference basketball up in the air
CVC boys, girls have several contenders for the 2024 title
The boys and girls standings for the Central Valley Conference basketball races tightened after games on Tuesday night. Here are the scores from the evening.
GIRLS RESULTS
McNary 53, Sprague 43
The Celts remained atop the Central Valley girls standings after a ten point victory Tuesday over Sprague—their fifth win in six straight games.
A poor shooting second quarter put Sprague down 26-13 at the half.
Sprague made things interesting after the Celtics extended their lead to a 34-15 lead early in the third quarter. The Olys made an offensive run to pull within four at 38-34, but could get no closer.
McNary’s Avery Buss topped all scorers with 15 points. Sprague’s Nora Tejerson and Reese Beyrouty both had ten points for the Olympians.
Sprague head coach Kevan Hanson was philosophical about his team’s loss.
“My girls fought hard and didn’t give up, but give credit to McNary for being tough defensively.”
“They got the stops and the buckets when they needed to.”
McNary (4-1 in CVC play) is tied with West Salem in the conference standings after beating the Titans last week.
The Olympians play at North Salem on Friday, while McNary has a CVC bye.
West Salem 75, North Salem 11
Four Titans scored in double digits to run past the Vikings (0-5) in Central Valley Conference girls action on Tuesday. Karlee Martirano led West (4-1) with 18 points.
North Salem hosts Sprague (1-4) on Friday night, while West Salem hosts South Salem (3-1).
BOYS RESULTS
West Salem 82, North Salem 42
The scrappy Vikings (0-4) played unbeaten West Salem to a stalemate in the first quarter, with a 14-14 tie. But the Titans (5-0) finally gained control with a 9-0 run to end the first half for a 36-24 advantage at intermission.
West Salem wore down the smaller North Salem squad with superior size to record a 40 point victory. Demari Hall and Jackson Leach had 17 points each for West—and were among four players in double digits for the Titans.
Maverick Huynh led North with 15 points.
North (0-5) travels to Sprague on Friday, while West Salem (5-0) plays at South Salem.
Sprague 59, McNary 58 (OT)
Sprague forged the narrow home overtime victory over McNary Tuesday, but it was far from easy. The Celts looked poised to even things up with the Olympians after losing to them earlier this month. The two teams met on January fifth, with Sprague earning a ten-point victory.
McNary had a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter, but Sprague slowly chipped away at the advantage.
With thirty seconds remaining, Sprague was down four points. Oly guard Greg Comer found Avery Lohrman for an open three-pointer to cut the lead to just one. After a Sprague timeout, the Olympians employed a press and Comer came up with a steal and a pass to Jarod Stanley who dunked to give Sprague a 53-52 lead with 15 seconds remaining.
On the ensuing inbound play, the Olympians fouled to put McNary on the line. The Celts made one of two free throws, and the game went to overtime after Sprague missed a layup as time expired.
In overtime, Sprague built a four-point lead and maintained it for most of the four minute extra-period, but McNary cut the Oly advantage to just one after a corner three by Ethan Wollangk with forty seconds remaining.
After Sprague missed a three pointer, McNary called a timeout to set up a final play. Celtic guard Anthony Fuentes missed two three-point attempts as time expired to give Sprague the big CVC boys victory.
Sprague head coach Jordan Graneto said his team was fortunate to win the contest.
“(McNary) Coach (Ryan) Kirch had a great game plan. We were lucky to pull out a victory coming from behind.”
Graneto had kudos for his team in coming back from a deficit of as many as nine points in the third quarter. He cited a long list of players, including Grayson and Braxton Long, Tyler Bucheit, Cameron Ayres, and Avery Lohrman.
“With the league being this tight, anyone can beat anyone,” said Graneto
“I anticipate there will be a lot more tight games like this the rest of the way.”
McNary coach Kirch can attest to Graneto’s prediction. His Celtics have now lost three straight in games decided in the closing seconds.
Sprague guard Braxton Long topped all Olympian scorers with 14 points, followed by Jarod Stanley and Greg Comer with 13, and Avery Lohrman with 10.
Fuentes tallied 13 to top McNary scoring. Steven Adams (11 points) and Ethan Wollgangk (10) were also in double-digits.
With the victory, Sprague (4-1) remains one game behind first place West Salem (4-0). McNary falls to 1-4 in conference play.
Sprague hosts North Salem Friday night. McNary has the Friday night bye in the CVC.
CVC NOTE: Congratulations are in order for South Salem girls basketball coach Adrian Lewis. The Saxon basketball program has announced that Lewis reached the 100 career win plateau with his latest victory this week.
Members of the Lady Saxons basketball program honored him on-line following the Monday win over McNary. South had a scheduled conference bye on Tuesday.