‘It’s all love with these guys.’ Tualatin led by 3 impressive guards — impressively talented, impressively versatile, impressively unselfish

By Dan Brood | Photos by Dan Brood 

Three is the charm. 

It certainly seems to be for the Tualatin boys basketball team. That’s not just because the Timberwolves topped West Linn for the third straight time this season to earn a spot in the Class 6A state tournament championship game.

There’s another reason three is the charm for Tualatin – it’s because the Timberwolves boast not one, not two, but three standout, game-changing guards. 

Seniors Noah Ogoli and Malik Ross and junior Josiah Lake have shined all season for Tualatin in the backcourt, all three stepping up at one time or another, helping lead the Timberwolves to their first state title game appearance since 2000. 

And the terrific trio is having fun working together and thriving in the Timberwolves’ backcourt. 

“It’s super fun to play with them,” the 6-foot-1 Ogoli said following Tualatin’s 56-49 win over West Linn in a state tournament semifinal game Friday at the University of Portland’s Chiles Center. “If one of us is off, the others always carry him. It’s always nice to have some help, especially now, going deep into the playoffs. I think it’s hard for other teams to game-plan for all of us – that’s probably why we’re this far.” 

“It’s really special,” said the 6-1 Lake, who scored a game-high 20 points in the semifinal victory over the Lions. “We all trust each other and we get the work done, on the offensive and defensive end. We just lock in and trust each other.”

“It’s real fun, I can watch both of them go off one night, and then the next night, it’s me,” the 6-0 Ross said. “I think the best part about it is that teams don’t know how to game-plan against it. It’s not that easy. They have to worry about three different guys. It’s a blessing to be playing with these guys, and I’m soaking up every moment of it.” 

Ogoli, like Ross, was part of the Tualatin football team that reached the Class 6A state championship game in the fall. He finished the regular season leading the Timberwolves basketball squad in scoring, with an average of 16.3 points per game, while also having 2.8 assists per contest. Ross averaged 13 points and 2.5 assists per game in regular-season play. They both were first-team all-Three Rivers League selections. 

Lake was a second-team all-TRL pick.

Together, the speedy trio helps provide the fuel for Tualatin’s up-tempo attack. And maybe no one appreciates what they do more than Tualatin head coach Todd Jukkala.

“It’s great to have that kind of weapon,” Jukkala said. “We’ve been blessed with really good guard play. They just have a nice synergy between them. It’s been fun to watch it develop throughout the season, because I think it’s gotten stronger and stronger as the season’s gone on. They’re versatile offensively, and they’re versatile defensively.” 

Versatile, and hard to stop – at least stopping all three of them, that is.

“Every game could be different. It could be me, it could be Malik, it could be Noah, you just never know,” Lake said with a smile.

Lake definitely appears to be correct.

Tualatin, which improved to 25-2 with the semifinal victory, opened the Class 6A state tournament with a 54-43 win over Beaverton on Wednesday. Ross led all scorers in that contest with 22 points. He made 6 of 10 shots from the field and shot at an 8-for-9 clip from the free throw line. He had four rebounds and two steals. 

Lake, in that game, scored 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting. He pulled down nine rebounds, while having three assists and two steals. Ogoli had four points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals.

In the semifinal win over West Linn, their third victory over the talented Lions this season, the Timberwolves found themselves down 23-19 at halftime. That’s when Ross got going. After being held scoreless in the first half, Ross scored nine points in a span of 2 minutes and 17 seconds, giving the Timberwolves a 32-31 lead with 2:57 left in the quarter. 

West Linn came back to take a 37-34 lead to the fourth quarter, but that’s when Lake got going – in high gear. His basket on a drive to the hoop tied the score at 39-39 with 6:50 to play.

He then dished the ball off on a baseline drive to senior Kellen Hale, who threw down a thunderous two-handed dunk off the assist. Lake then scored seven consecutive points, giving Tualatin a 48-43 lead with 2:52 remaining. Lake ended up scoring 10 points in the final period. 

“I just found my spots. I stayed locked it,” Lake said of his fourth-quarter performance. “It was a back-and-forth game, so we had to keep our composure.” 

Lake, who made 7 of 12 shots from the field, also had eight rebounds and an assist. Ross scored nine points, all coming in the third quarter, while also having four assists, two rebounds and two steals. Ogoli, who scored on a key drive down the lane with 1:44 left, also scored nine points, while having three rebounds and an assist. 

On the other end of the court, Lake, Ross and Ogoli took turns guarding West Linn standout guard Jackson Shelstad, helping force him into a 7-for-21 shooting night from the field.

“It’s different guys different nights, and these guys have bought into that,” Jukkala said. “They’re not a selfish group; they literally will tell me, during games, ‘So and so has really got it going, so let’s get him the ball.’ That’s the way they are. They’re a very intuitive group, they’re a very smart group, and they pick up on where we can take advantage of some things.”

All of this didn’t happen overnight, and it’s not all about basketball.

“We’ve been playing together for a while now, since we were younger,” Ogoli said. “So, it’s really fun to make this run together. At practice, we mess around with each other at times. It helps on the court; it keeps you close. We just keep it going. It’s fun to space the floor out and share the ball with each other. Our chemistry together is really good on the court and off the court. As long as we get the ‘dub,’ we’re all happy.” 

“A lot of it comes off the court. Me, Noah and Jo Jo, we’ve got a great bond off the court, and that allows our chemistry on the court to be like it is,” Ross said. “There’s no jealousy or anything like that. It’s all love with these guys. We want to see each other do well. As long as we get the win, that’s all that matters. It’s very fun. They’re like blood brothers. When you’re down, they pick you back up. And when you’re doing good, they tell you to stay with it. It’s obviously good, because it gets us wins.” 

Now, there’s one more win the Timberwolves need and want – and they hope to get it when they face Summit in the Class 6A state championship game at 3:15 p.m. Saturday at the Chiles Center. 

“This was super fun. We’re all just super excited to be here, and we’re ready for tomorrow,” Ogoli said.

“This is our last shot, so we’re going to take it,” Ross said.

“We just all believe in each other,” Lake said. “We believe we can all make big shots. And trust is just a big part of our success.”