‘Cool, calm and collected.’ Tualatin shows championship mettle in keeping calm vs. Beaverton, books return trip to 6A boys semifinals

“You see that they don’t freak out at all. They’re not worried about the big stage. They seem to thrive in those situations, which is really nice.”

Author:
Alex Tam
Publish date:
Mar 10, 2023 1:44 AM EST

By Alex Tam | Photos by Taylor Balkom

PORTLAND — When it comes to high-pressure situations and big games on the line, Tualatin can be reassured of one thing.

Been there, done that.

No nerves, no worries and just no fear.

From seeing key role players be a part of the school’s football team that reached the state title game in 2021 to leaders Josiah Lake and Jaden Steppe helping the Timberwolves win the crown in basketball last season — they acknowledged they’ve seen it all.

Third-seeded Tualatin never panicked down the stretch to hold off No. 6 Beaverton, 63-54, on Thursday night in the OSAA Class 6A boys state quarterfinals at the Chiles Center at the University of Portland.

“We didn’t panic,” Lake said. “We could’ve been nervous, but I know we didn’t panic because we pulled through. We didn’t turn the ball over down the stretch. We knocked down our free throws. I don’t think we were nervous. We’ve been in those situations before.”

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Tualatin looked in control for most of the third quarter, building a 12-point lead at 39-27 at the 4:41 mark. Beaverton’s problems were then compounded after seeing senior leader Jalen Childs, a Metro all-league second-team selection, go to the bench with his fourth foul.

But a resilient Beaverton squad did not go away.

The Beavers ended the third quarter on a 10-2 run and entered the fourth having cut the Timberwolves’ lead to 45-40.

“The second half were role reversals,” Beaverton coach Andrew Vancil said. “They kind of slowed down with a lead and tried to take the air out of the ball a little bit. I thought it slowed their aggressiveness down. We made a few shots and were able to run, so it was a great third quarter.”

The Beavers’ run didn’t end there. Beaverton senior Brady Rice nailed two free throws with 2:22 left in the fourth, and suddenly Tualatin’s lead was just one at 53-52.

But relying on their experience in these situations dating back to last season — from a tough nonleague schedule to the gauntlet that is the Three Rivers League — Tualatin never relinquished the lead.

Tualatin 6-foot-8 junior Jaden Steppe, who struggled getting his offense going inside the paint through three quarters, came alive in the fourth.

Steppe, an all-Three Rivers first-team selection, scored eight of his 18 points in the final period, including a clutch jumper atop the key to give Tualatin a 55-52 lead with 1:14 left.

“That midrange bucket was a big bucket to put us up three,” Lake said. “We trust our guys. We trust Jaden. He’s a big piece to our team. He took that shot and if he misses, nobody cares. We tell him to keep shooting. We live for those shots. Those are shots he practices every day.”

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Steppe said he never got discouraged. Instead, his teammates kept telling him to keep shooting and looking for his shot.

“At the start, the shot wasn’t falling,” Steppe said. “The touch was a little off, so I tried to make up for it on defense and rebounding and going hard. I tried to do other things like pass, too. The shot wasn’t falling, but it’ll fall tomorrow (in the semifinals). That’s what I’m banking on.”

After Beaverton cut the deficit to one, Tualatin stayed composed and finished the game with the mentality of a defending state champion with an 8-2 run. All eight points came on free throws from Lake, senior Ryan Schleicher, senior Jack Wagner and junior AJ Noland.

“I told the guys before the game, I said we’ve been in every situation and be prepared to be successful for tonight,” Tualatin coach Bubba Lemon said. “We’ve just got to know what we’re going to do, and got to stay real poised. You see that they don’t freak out at all. They were cool, calm and collected.

“They’re not worried about the big stage. The football players we have, they’ve played in big games two years in a row. Guys like Ryan, AJ, Jaden and (Jayden) Fortier, all those guys have been in big situations and they do a good job. They seem to thrive in those situations, which is really nice.”

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The Timberwolves jumped out to a 33-23 lead at halftime behind an impressive array of shooting by Lake, who scored 20 of his game-high 28 points in the first half, including going 5 of 5 from the field with three 3-pointers, plus 7 of 8 at the free throw line.

“It not only built my confidence, but the whole team’s,” Lake said. “They were feeding me the ball. Bubba put me in places where I could knock down shots, so I think that was good. Everyone feeds off energy, like when we hit a big shot, then everyone starts to be there for each other. We have great team chemistry and we lift each other up. It helped us in the first half, for sure.”

Vancil acknowledged Lake is difficult to guard when he’s in the zone.

“He’s a great player,” Vancil said. “Shot the ball well, so sometimes you’ve got to tip your cap.”

The Timberwolves move to the semifinals Friday at 8:15 p.m., knowing that as the defending state champions, they have as big of a target on their backs as No. 1 West Linn.

“We just get every team’s best,” Lake said. “Like during the regular season, I know we get every team’s best effort. Beaverton was coming for us. We’d already beat them once and we sent them home last year, too, so I think just having the target on our backs, we learned to play through it the entire year, and that helps now.”