‘Just like football!’ Tualatin knocks out rival West Linn in semifinal, earns spot in 6A boys basketball championship game

By René Ferrán | Photos by Dan Brood 

Noah Ogoli stepped to the line for his second free throw with 11.1 seconds remaining when the Tualatin student section finally felt free to cry out:

Just like football! 

CLAP-CLAP-CLAP-CLAP-CLAP

Just like football! 

Indeed, just like 4½ months ago when the Timberwolves advanced to the Class 6A state football final by beating Three Rivers League rival West Linn, they again beat the Lions on Friday afternoon with a spot in a championship game on the line.

This time, Tualatin reached the final of the OSAA 6A state boys basketball tournament with a 56-49 semifinal victory, clinching its second appearance in the final in program history. 

And as the chant from the University of Portland’s Chiles Center upper level rained down as Ogoli made the foul shot to provide the final margin, for the eight members of the Timberwolves boys basketball team who played on the football team in the fall, the chant was a sweet reminder of what they’d accomplished — and that the job was not yet done.

On Saturday, they’ll take on undefeated Summit (27-0), a 73-61 winner over Mountainside in the second semifinal, at 3:15 p.m. for the title. 

“We were waiting on that ‘just like football’ chant,” said senior guard Malik Ross, the 6A offensive player of the year in football. “We just had to go out and prove it, and I’m glad that we were the ones chanting at the end of the game, that we were able to get the job done.

“But we ain’t satisfied yet. I remember saying all year how that game (a 44-14 loss to Central Catholic in the football title game) just brought so much motivation to go chase a trophy in basketball. We play every game like it’s our last because we know when we played our last game in football, that’s not how we wanted it to end.” 

Junior Josiah Lake’s driving layup with 3:34 to play gave Tualatin the lead for good at 45-43. On the team's next possession, he hit a deep three-pointer from the top of the arc with 2:55 left to give the Timberwolves (25-2) a two-possession lead they nursed to the final buzzer.

“We just started playing as a team,” Lake said. “We know we can dig down and get a win. We just found our spots — not just me, but everybody. Coach (Todd Jukkala) put us in the right spots to score.”

Lake finished with a game-high 20 points, 10 coming in the final quarter, and pulled down eight rebounds.

“I mean, I’m not really surprised because I worked out with him a lot,” Ross said of his backcourt mate. “But for him to just come out and do it on this stage, I’m just so proud of him. It’s not easy to do, and I think he definitely woke up the whole state with that game.” 

Jukkala added, “Against Beaverton (in the quarterfinals), it was Malik who stepped out, and now tonight, it was Josiah. All these guys are capable of that. When you draw up a scouting plan for us, you’ve got to account for a lot of different people.”

The top-seeded Timberwolves vanquished West Linn for the third time this season to make their first final since their only other appearance in 2000, when they lost to an undefeated Jefferson team. 

“I mean, you play Lake Oswego four times to get into the tournament, and then West Linn three times to get this far, it’s a grind,” Jukkala said. “It’s tough, and it just speaks to our guys and how they just find a way. They compete, and they play hard, and that’s why we’re here.”

For the Lions (21-4), they’ll face Mountainside in the third-place game at 1:30 p.m., one win short of reaching the final for the first time since Payton Pritchard completed his four-peat in 2016. 

“Obviously, it hurts. I mean, it really hurts,” said junior point guard Jackson Shelstad, one of the West Coast’s top prospects who led the Lions with 19 points. “I’m super proud of my team and how far we’ve come since the beginning of the year. I still think — no, I know — that we’re the better team, but things went their way down the stretch and they hit a lot of big shots.” 

Just like the teams’ second meeting in late February, when the Timberwolves rallied from double digits down in the second half at West Linn to win in overtime, the Lions again built a first-half lead that stretched as much as eight, 23-15, on Shelstad’s NBA-range three-pointer with 3:25 left.

Tualatin closed the gap to 23-19 by halftime, then took its first lead since the opening minute on Ross’ layup with 5:05 left in the third quarter, 26-25.

From there, neither team led by more than one possession until Lake’s three-pointer. The final 13 minutes featured eight lead changes and four ties. 

“The whole game, I thought we were going to be able to pull it out,” said Shelstad, whose three-pointer with 4:23 remaining gave West Linn its final lead at 43-41. “We just kind of got a little funky at the end of the game. We weren’t getting any open looks, and they came down and hit some really big shots that just gave them momentum.” 

“Both games were super similar,” added Ross, who had nine points and four assists. “At halftime, we’re telling ourselves we haven’t played our best basketball yet, and we’re only down by single digits. So, if we flip on the switch, you know we’re going to come out with the win, and that’s what we did.”

Ross credited the Timberwolves’ schedule, which included reaching the final of the Les Schwab Invitational and running the Three Rivers gauntlet to their first league title in the past 13 years, with preparing them for Friday’s game.

“We know every night it’s going to be tough competition in the Three Rivers,” he said. “You know, like with Jackson Shelstad, it’s so tough to have to play him three times, and I honestly think that having to guard him improved my defense this year. Playing the competition we have builds us for moments like these. We know what’s at stake every night.”

What’ll be at stake Saturday is a chance to erase the disappointment of that chilly December afternoon at Hillsboro Stadium and bring home the school’s first championship. 

“We made it here in football and failed the last time,” said senior post Kellen Hale, an all-state linebacker who had six points and four rebounds Friday. “That’s our motivation. That’s been sitting with us for a long time. This is our redemption. We don’t want that to happen again.”