‘Biggest rivalry in Oregon?’ It’s always a battle when Tigard, Tualatin meet on the basketball court; Timberwolves earn sweep in latest showdown

By Dan Brood | Photos by Dan Brood

Rivalry.

High school basketball rivalry, to be more specific.

There are some great high school basketball rivalries to be found around the state. In the Three Rivers League, there’s one rivalry that seems to be pretty special — and pretty crazy.

When neighboring school-district rivals Tigard and Tualatin get together on the basketball court, you can count on things being crazy — and competitive, and spirited, and downright loud.

There was a double dose of the rivalry Tuesday as the Tigers and Timberwolves met in a Three Rivers League doubleheader, played in front of a raucous crowd at Tigard High School.

Tualatin came away with a sweep in the doubleheader. The Timberwolves boys downed Tigard 70-64 in an up-tempo, up-and-down, back-and-forth contest. The Tualatin girls notched a 28-22 win over the Tigers in a defense-dominated slugfest.

Despite the different styles of play in the games, one thing was the same — the boisterous rivalry.

“It’s really just like a matchup of friends, honestly,” said Tualatin junior guard Josiah Lake, who scored a team-high 19 points to help the Timberwolves boys get their win. “A lot of us grew up together. So, you really want to beat each other and be the winner of the rivalry. And the fans are crazy. It’s just like a really crazy game.”

“It’s always a battle, no matter what team’s ranked where. None of that matters when this game comes around. The crowd is going to be crazy, the atmosphere is crazy. We all know each other. We’re all friends off the court, so we’re all talking. It’s just a crazy game. It’s always fun,” said Tualatin senior post Peter Burke, who was showing the battle scars of the rivalry, with his left brow taped up and a deep scrape on his neck. “It’s a tough, physical game. I caught some elbows, caught some fingernails. I caught an elbow to the left eye, got busted open a little bit, but in this game, you tape it up and get back in there.”

“It’s a good rivalry. The fans are always crazy,” said Tigard junior guard Kalim Brown, who led all scorers on the night with 22 points. “You just have to block that out. It’s always a really good battle.”

The rivalry carried on just as strong in the girls game.

“This whole Tigard-Tualatin rivalry is huge, and it’s cool to be out there, actually be on the floor this year, and get to compete,” said Tualatin junior guard Anna Sherman, who led the Timberwolves with eight points. “It’s fun.”

Tualatin junior guard Tabi Searle might have summed things up perfectly.

“I think it’s the biggest rivalry in Oregon,” she said with a smile. “It’s always a big confrontation, no matter how good or how bad each team is. It’s always good competition. It’s big.”

The boys game at Tigard certainly was big — no, it was absolutely huge.

The Timberwolves entered the contest ranked No. 1 in the latest Class 6A coaches poll, in addition to holding the top spot in the OSAA power rankings. And, of course, no team wanted to knock Tualatin off its lofty perch more than the talented Tigers.

“We look at this like a playoff game,” Burke said. “It was a playoff atmosphere, for sure. The crowd was crazy, and it came right down to the wire.”

Yes, it did. But it sure didn’t look like it was going to head that direction at the start.

Tualatin, getting 3-point baskets from Lake, senior Noah Ogoli and sophomore Jaden Steppe, sprinted to a 12-0 lead with 4 minutes and 22 seconds left in the first quarter.

Tigard junior guard Malik Brown ended the Timberwolves’ opening scoring spree with a 3-pointer from the left corner. Brown added two more baskets in the period, helping the Tigers trim the deficit to 21-14 going to the second quarter.

Tigard kept battling back. Tigers junior Douglas Bailey sank back-to-back 3-pointers, both coming off assists from Malik Brown, to tie the score at 23-23 with 5:41 left in the first half. Tigard took its first lead, 25-23, when Kalim Brown sank a 17-foot jumper with 4:47 remaining in the period.

Tualatin answered. Burke had two free throws and a 3-pointer, and Steppe had a thunderous one-handed dunk, coming off an offensive rebound, helping the Timberwolves claim a 34-31 halftime lead.

The Tigers came back strong after the break. Kalim Brown scored nine points and pulled down three rebounds in the third quarter. Tigard junior Sawyer Wolf added a 3-pointer and another basket in the period, helping the Tigers take a 49-48 advantage to the fourth quarter.

That’s where things really got interesting.

Tigard kept control early in the final stanza. The Tigers took their biggest lead of the game, 55-50, when Bailey drilled a 3-pointer from the left corner, off an assist from Malik Brown, coming with 6:27 remaining.

Now, it was Tualatin’s turn to rally. The Timberwolves, getting back-to-back baskets from Steppe, reclaimed the lead, 56-55, with 4:09 to play.

Tigard, with Kalim Brown scoring six points in 31 seconds, rallied to lead 61-58 with 3:20 remaining. But the back-and-forth fourth quarter saw Tualatin get a follow-up basket by Lake and a go-ahead 3-pointer by Burke, giving the Timberwolves a 63-61 lead with 2:13 to go — and they’d keep the lead the rest of the way.

Lake went 7 for 8 from the free throw line in the final 49.1 seconds, helping the Timberwolves wrap up the 70-64 victory.

“We dug in and did what we needed to do. We played super hard in the fourth quarter,” Lake said. “This is always a tough battle. It was a big game, for sure, especially playing on the road. It was really good to get this one.”

“It’s a big win. It’s always big to win a Tigard-Tualatin game. It’s always a game you want to win, a game you look forward to all year, so it’s a big game, for sure,” Burke said. “We talked after that third quarter and said, ‘We’ve got to pick it up right here, this is our time.’ So, we all came together and just clicked as one. We picked it up on defense, took our time on offense, got some good looks and were able to pull it out.”

Lake scored 10 of his team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter.

“I just found the ball in the right spots and got to the free throw line a lot. That really helped me get some points on the board,” he said. “It has to be one of the most fun games of the season, for sure.”

Ogoli added 15 points for the Timberwolves, and Steppe scored 13. Burke had six rebounds to go with nine points. Senior Malik Ross had eight points and two steals. Senior Kellen Hale scored four points, and junior Jack Wagner had two.

Tualatin made 24 of 46 shots from the field, with six 3-pointers, and 16 of 23 free throw attempts.

“We never gave up,” Burke said. “We went on some runs, got the lead. We fell back a little bit, and they went on a run. But we stayed level and kept our composure, kept fighting. We stayed together and pulled it out.”

Kalim Brown had five rebounds, three assists and three steals to go with his game-high 22 points.

“This game was amazing,” he said. “I’ve got friends in Tualatin, and it was a great battle. It was a really great battle.”

Malik Brown scored 21 points while also having seven rebounds and two steals before leaving the game with an apparent left ankle injury with 6:13 left. He wasn’t able to return to the contest.

“It took a lot out of us,” Kalim Brown said of his brother’s injury. “He’s a great defensive player, and he can get to the basket off the dribble. That hurt us a lot.”

Bailey added 12 points for the Tigers, coming on four 3-pointers. Wolf had seven points and six rebounds. Senior Karson Boschma and junior Brady Jordan added one point apiece.

Tigard made 22 of 52 shots from the field, with six 3-pointers, and 14 of 20 free throw attempts.

Tualatin improved to 8-1 in Three Rivers League play and 18-2 overall. Tigard moved to 4-4 in Three Rivers League games and 12-7 overall.

Tualatin 28, Tigard 22 (GIRLS)

Tualatin led the entire way, but wrapping up the win against the persistent Tigers was anything but easy.

“It was very physical,” Sherman said. “It’s super competitive. They want it as bad as we do. We all get into it, but you could see, especially toward the end, it was physical, and we really wanted it badly.”

“Tonight, they came out strong, but we came out stronger,” Searle said. “It’s really big. Before I was here, we hadn’t won at Tigard in a really long time. But since Coach (Wes) Pappas has been here, we’re 6-0 with them.”

Searle, the only returning starter from last year’s Timberwolves squad, had two baskets in the first quarter, and junior Olivia Silliman added three points, helping Tualatin claim an 11-4 lead at the end of the opening period.

Both defenses took charge in the second quarter. Tualatin scored three points in the period, coming on a 3-pointer by freshman Macy Marg. Tigard, getting a basket on a short-range bank shot by 6-foot-4 senior post Sarah Lamet and a free throw by freshman Jordyn Smith, also scored just three points in the quarter, leaving the Timberwolves with a 14-7 halftime lead.

Tualatin, with Sherman scoring back-to-back baskets, coming off assists from Searle and junior Quinn McMillen, opened its biggest lead of the game, at 18-9, with 3:42 remaining in the third quarter.

“I was trying to do what I could,” Sherman said. “I got some good passes, and sometimes you need to step up in games like this.”

Tigard, getting back-to-back baskets from junior guard Hailey Shimojima and a buzzer-beating hoop by Lamet, trimmed the lead to 21-15 going to the fourth quarter.

The Tigers got even closer in the final period. Lamet scored consecutive baskets to open the quarter, and senior guard Kaylin Kisor sank a 3-pointer, trimming the Tualatin lead to 23-22 with 3:08 to play.

But the Timberwolves defense wouldn’t allow the Tigers to score again. Tualatin, getting baskets from Sherman and sophomore Jaylyn Arosemena and a free throw by McMillen, was able to pull away in the final 2:08 to get the 28-22 victory.

“This was so fun. Rivalry games are the best games,” Sherman said. “We locked down on defense. We wanted to limit Sarah, and with Tab, Jaylyn and Quinn down low, I think we really did that.”

“It was big. This will help us with the rankings,” Searle said. “They have the height advantage, with Sarah. She’s 6-4, so tonight, our defense revolved around her. We played really good defense against her. And we also forced a lot of turnovers.”

Sherman had five rebounds and two steals to go with her team-high eight points. Searle had a strong all-around game, with seven points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Arosemena had six points, four rebounds and two steals. Silliman and Marg each added eight points for the Timberwolves. McMillen scored one.

Tualatin made 11 of 36 shots from the field, with one 3-pointer, and 5 of 8 free throw attempts.

Lamet led all scorers with 10 points, including eight in the second half. She also had five rebounds and three blocked shots. Shimojima had six points and two assists. Kisor added three points for the Tigers. Senior Alyssa Moore had two, and Smith scored one.

Tigard made 9 of 38 shots from the field, with one 3-pointer, and 3 of 4 free throw attempts.

Tualatin improved to 6-4 in Three Rivers League play and 11-9 overall. Tigard moved to 3-7 in league games and 9-11 overall.