‘I stumbled onto a gold mine.’ Upstart Putnam making first-year coach look good as Kingsmen stun No. 3 Crook County at 5A girls basketball tournament; Springfield takes down No. 2 Silverton on day of upsets

By Bob Lundeberg | Photos by Leon Neuschwander

Red-hot Putnam showed no signs of cooling down in its 5A state tournament opener.

Fresh off a state round-of-16 victory at Crater, the Kingsmen arrived at Gill Coliseum with a confidence level far surpassing their No. 11 seed. Putnam played like the superior team from the opening tip Thursday evening, running third-seeded Crook County off the floor in a 74-42 trouncing.

The Kingsmen (20-6), who haven’t lost to a team other than Wilsonville in 2022, will play No. 7 Springfield at 8:15 p.m. Friday for a spot in Saturday’s final. Putnam has never made it beyond the semifinals. 

“I’m the oldest person on our team and nobody on our team has been to Gill at all, so we were very excited and a little nervous at first,” said senior point guard Maddie Olma, Putnam’s only senior. “But once we got out and got going, it really picked up.”

The Northwest Oregon Conference runners-up jumped out to a quick 11-point advantage and led wire-to-wire for the program’s first state tournament victory since 1981.

“We’re excited to be one of the first Putnam teams to get a win in the early rounds,” said first-year head coach Max d’Auvergne, a Kingsmen graduate who was an assistant last season. “I feel like I stumbled onto a gold mine. These girls, they just go hard and they’re awesome. All I have to do is give them a little bit of structure, and they’re ready.” 

Putnam came out of the gates on fire, landing punch after punch to stagger Crook County (21-4). Consecutive layups by Riley Greenleaf put the Kingsmen up 14-3 barely three minutes into the game.

The Cowgirls settled down following their bumpy start, but Putnam netted the quarter’s final five points for a 24-15 advantage after one. By halftime, the lead had swelled to 40-21.

The second half was more of the same for a team playing with supreme conviction.

“It was awesome,” d’Auvergne said of the blistering start. “For us, I think momentum is huge. Once that momentum snowball starts going, it can really affect us in a hugely positive or hugely negative way. Luckily, some of our shots were dropping tonight.”

Added Olma: “We were trying to push the pace as much as possible and press them. … We didn’t want to let them get the ball in the post because they have some good post players.” 

Putnam’s biggest weakness is interior size, but it was able to survive inside against first-team all-Intermountain Conference post Emma Bales and company. Speeding up the pace on both ends of the court proved to be a winning strategy.

“We’ve been in a few of these games now where we know that’s going to be our Achilles’ heel, that inside game,” d’Auvergne said. “The girls are doing really well with that.”

Olma led the way with 18 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals. Emma McDonald also had 18 points and added four rebounds. Rylee Lemen (15 points) and Greenleaf (13) were also productive; fifth starter Kayla Kasubuchi had eight points, six assists and four steals.

Josie Kasberger netted 13 points to lead the Cowgirls, who are making their first state tournament appearance since 1996. Bales finished with 10 points and 11 boards.

Despite playing at a borderline frantic pace, the Kingsmen had only three turnovers through the first three-plus quarters. 

“We need to carry that on to these next games,” Olma said.

Putnam’s rise didn’t come without warning signs. During the spring season, the Kingsmen put together a 9-1 record with Olma as the lone upperclassman.

D’Auvergne said previous head coach Amanda Wiedeman helped him prepare to take over the program.

“I got to know all these girls during the shortened season and started implementing some of the stuff I wanted to do,” d’Auvergne said. “So, it was an easy transition for me.”

The Kingsmen have played their best basketball down the stretch and are hungry to build upon the school’s second semifinal appearance. Putnam will likely remain the underdog for the rest of the 5A state tournament, and Olma wouldn’t have it any other way.

“We play better as the underdogs,” Olma said. “We’re the 11 seed, so in any game, we’re going to be the underdogs. And we like that. I think we’d rather play like that.” 

In the last quarterfinal, No. 7 Springfield won a defensive tussle against No. 2 Silverton, 29-20, to cap a day of upsets. 

Thursday marked the first time since 5A went to its current seeding format that the top three seeds all lost in the quarterfinals. Ninth-seeded Crescent Valley began the tournament by stunning No. 1 Willamette, 48-45. 

Springfield (20-7) sophomore Danaeja Romero Ah Sam led all players with 14 points and added four rebounds and five assists. Silverton (21-5) sophomore Kyleigh Brown had 10 points and eight rebounds.