Playing on his future home court and in front of his future coach, Wayne Tinkle, Wilsonville senior Zach Reichle scored a game-high 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting. He was an integral part of last year's title team, but with the current situation, he said this title meant that much more.
"I'm a lot more comfortable in here than I was last year," Reichle said. "It feels great to win the last game of my high school career here, and then I get to come back."
A pivotal play came at the 2:41 mark of the fourth quarter, and in true Wilsonville fashion, it was on the defensive end. Churchill made a charge at the Wildcats and cut their lead to 43-39, and the Lancers had momentum on their side.
Threatening to cut the lead to a basket, Churchill's Dana Morrell collected a loose ball and sent a floating jump shot toward the rim from the right side. It didn't make it very far.
Wilsonville's Harrison Steiger elevated, swung his right arm and rejected Morrell's attempt with his palm to send it to half court. Reichle picked it up and raced down the floor to convert the big block into a basket to lead 45-39 and erase the Lancers' headway.
"This game has a bunch of momentum swings," Steiger said. "I was trying to be aggressive but not foul because I had three, and it energized the crowd and the bench. Zach made a tough shot at the other end, and we got the momentum back."
Churchill played a great game, no doubt. Wilson had a couple of highlight-reel dunks in traffic during the second half, and while Hoffman and Cameron Hall hit shots to get the Lancers back within striking distance, Wilsonville always had an answer.
"We had a Plan B and a Plan C for both Hoffman and Wilson. They are just incredible players," Roche said of the two Churchill stars. "Lucas Wilson is amazing; I don't know if I've ever seen anybody as gifted as him. He's such a classy sportsman, too."
Wilson took flight from the left angle in the third period, soared through the air and shifted the ball to his right hand to throw down a dunk at the 2:16 mark to get Churchill within 32-29, but he saved the best for the fourth quarter.
Wilson's immense talent and athleticism were on full display with the game in the balance. He ignited the crowd with a one-handed jam after a Eurostep, where he took his first step to the side to avoid a defender and jumped off the wrong foot to sky toward the rim and jam it.
Wilsonville shot 48.6 percent from the field and Churchill shot 36.6 percent. The Lancers went almost six minutes without a basket between the first and second quarters, and neither team had a field goal for the final 3:02 of the first half.
Each team had four turnovers and four made three-point baskets.
For the Wildcats, Steiger and Woodworth each chipped in 10 points to go with Reichle's big night. Reichle also grabbed nine rebounds.
For Churchill, Wilson scored 15 points on 5-of-18 shooting, and Hoffman had 14 on 5-of-9 from the field. Cameron Hall hit three three-pointers on his way to 11 points but had to sit out most of the fourth quarter with foul trouble.
It was Wilsonville's fourth boys basketball state championship game and third state championship and the Wildcats' third title game appearance in the past three seasons.
