Wilsonville boys hold off La Salle Prep, maintain NWOC lead; Falcons girls hand Wildcats 1st league loss
By Dave Ball | Photos by Dave Ball
WILSONVILLE — The Wilsonville boys basketball team led start-to-finish Monday night for a 63-55 win over rival La Salle Prep to move one step closer to securing the Northwest Oregon Conference crown.
The Wildcats put all five starters in the scorebook less than five minutes into the game after point guard Maxim Wu sidestepped his defender and found teammate Enzo Chimienti cutting along the baseline for a layup and an early 9-2 lead.
Wilsonville expanded the lead to 26-12 in the second quarter with 6-foot-10 center Logan Thebiay converting a hook shot for a second-chance bucket, then sinking a jumper in the lane on the team’s next trip.
Thebiay and 6-foot-7 teammate Tristan Davis wreaked havoc on both ends of the court against an outsized Falcons squad. Thebiay led the Wildcats with 14 points, while Davis added 13.
“We got the ball inside, kept the ball high and went up strong,” Thebiay said. “We were either going to get fouled or we were going to finish.”
“Their two guys came out and controlled the paint, and they did what they had to do,” La Salle Prep coach Sean Kelly said. “We came out a little too intimidated. We weren’t ourselves.”
The Wildcats broke the game open with a 10-point run coming out of halftime, sparked by a three-point play from Wu. The Wilsonville student section, dressed in reds and pinks for Valentine’s Day, had plenty to cheer with their side doubling up the visitors 40-20.
Wu’s biggest contribution came on the defensive end, where he shadowed La Salle Prep sharp-shooter Nick Robertson to all corners of the court. The Falcons had multiple possessions in the first half where Robertson could not get his hands on the ball.
“Nick is a pretty good player, and my job was to limit his clean looks,” Wu said. “We didn’t want him raining in a bunch of shots.”
Robertson had two baskets heading to the fourth quarter.
That is when the game pivoted from a blowout to a battle.
Nick Miller knocked down a three-pointer from the left side, and Robertson put on a spin move in the lane for a three-point play.
The gap closed to 12 points.
Robertson crossed halfcourt on a fastbreak, pulled up at the arc, gave a pump fake and delivered a three-pointer. A Wilsonville turnover in the backcourt resulted in another Robertson three, this time from in front of the Falcons bench.
The gap closed to eight points.
“Cade Jensen gave us a defensive spark, a couple things went our way, and we got this burst of energy,” Robertson said.
He finished with a game-high 18 points — 14 of them in the fourth quarter.
The Falcons kept coming.
Carson Frick drove the lane, absorbed a bump and converted a three-point play. Finbar O’Brien received a kick-out pass beyond the arc and drilled the shot. Robertson ripped the ball out of a Wildcat’s hands and went the distance for a layup.
La Salle Prep was within three with 2:30 to play.
“We’re a team that lives by the three and layups,” Kelly said. “We were able to string some together and got the game going at our pace.”
A series of missed three-pointers ended the comeback, while Wilsonville shot lights-out from the free throw line to close out the victory. The Wildcats made 14 of 16 (87.5%) foul shots in the game’s final four minutes, with Davis hitting seven in a row.
“We respect them, but I wasn’t nervous,” Davis said. “They got us the first time, and we were not going to allow that to happen again.”
The win leaves Wilsonville (19-2) atop the NWOC standings — a game ahead of Scappoose, while La Salle Prep (11-7) drops to third place.
La Salle Prep 55, Wilsonville 39 (GIRLS)
The La Salle Prep girls team handed Wilsonville its first league loss, 55-39 on Monday night. Mia Skoro led the Falcons with 24 points, while Ella Wedin added 13.
“Our kids were locked in on the defensive end. We had a lot of different kids make hustle plays that really mattered in key moments,” La Salle Prep coach Kelli Wedin said. “We showed a lot of patience on the offensive end and got the shots that we wanted.”
The Falcons were up 24-22 at halftime before breaking the game open after the break.
“The key was our energy coming out of the half,” Wedin said. “We made a nice run and didn’t allow them to punch back.”
Wilsonville (15-6) remains atop the NWOC standings, with Putnam (14-5) and La Salle Prep (12-5) both within a game of the lead.
