‘We made some history.’ 2022-23 season one for the ages for Gresham Gophers basketball

“We’ve changed the culture. Our seniors set the bar high for the young guys coming up, and there is no going backwards.”

Author:
Dave Ball
Publish date:
Mar 14, 2023 6:05 PM EDT

By Dave Ball | Photos by Naji Saker

When Esyah Pippa-White arrived on campus at Gresham High School in 2019, the goal for the Gophers was to reach the playoffs.

His team checked those boxes, but the seasons ended on a bittersweet note.

Freshman year saw a one-point loss to Sherwood.

Sophomore year was under COVID restrictions — no postseason.

Junior year ended in a first-round loss to Grant.

The Gophers were ready to step to that next level in Pippa-White’s senior year. The team finished 14-2 in the Mt. Hood Conference and earned the program’s first home playoff game in decades.

No way they were losing this time.

Gresham blew out Sprague by 25 points and then got past Benson in a last-second thriller in Round 2.

The Gophers continued their success at the Chiles Center, winning two of their three games, highlighted by a 42-39 comeback win over Beaverton in the fourth-place game.

Pippa-White finished with a game-high 18 points. He was sent to the line twice in the final seconds. All four shots swished through the net, providing Gresham with the winning points.

“Honestly, I can say when I hit that last free throw, I looked around and it hit me — ‘Wow, it’s really coming to an end,’” Pippa-White said.

The fourth-place trophy marked the program’s first since finishing as runner-up in 1992.

“Not many seniors get to finish with a win,” Pippa-White said. “It’s not the trophy we were aiming for when we came in, but we’ll still be putting a banner up — we made some history.”

Pippa-White earned a spot on the all-tournament second team.

Former coach Erik Lyslo, now at Portland Christian, helped lay the foundation, and this year’s postseason run came under the direction of first-year Gophers coach Corey Lockhart.

“We’ve changed the culture,” Lockhart said. “Our seniors set the bar high for the young guys coming up, and there is no going backwards.”

While the Gophers will graduate three starters, the team is set to return sharp-shooting forward RJ Alexander and 6-foot-7 center Nate Gilkey to provide leadership going forward.

“Now it’s up to us to step up and show that we can make it back to Chiles Center,” Alexander said.