Wilsonville Wildcats

‘Whatever it takes to win.’ Wilsonville does a lot of that, clinching 7th consecutive championship game appearance; Wildcats will face No. 1 Summit for 5A boys title

“You have to embrace the moment, embrace the challenge, or you’re not going to end up on top.”

By Bob Lundeberg 3-10-23 | Photo by Leon Neuschwander 

CORVALLIS — Few things are more reliable at the OSAA Class 5A state tournament than Wilsonville’s defense.

The third-seeded Wildcats, who entered Thursday’s semifinal with No. 15 Crescent Valley surrendering a 5A-low 41.6 points per game, take pride in their defensive prowess. The results speak for themselves. 

After holding Woodburn to 26 points in the quarterfinals, Wilsonville was even stingier against the Raiders, riding its disciplined man-to-man defense to a 34-24 victory at Gill Coliseum. The Wildcats, who are making a 5A-record seventh consecutive championship game appearance, will defend their title against No. 1 Summit at 8:30 p.m. Friday.

“I’m ecstatic,” said coach Chris Roche, a five-time state champion at Wilsonville: 2005, 2016-17, 2019 and 2022. “This team has struggled a little bit with immaturity and competitive consistency. We’ve had some lows this year, and they’ve hung in there and they’ve gotten better.

“When you’re at a program like ours, you don’t get the same grace to stumble. Everybody makes a big deal out of all that, so (the players) have to deal with that. But they handled it and kept competing, and here we are. I’m super proud of them.”

The Wildcats (23-5) had 11 steals and limited Crescent Valley (16-12) to 11 made field goals on 36 attempts (30.6 percent). The Raiders missed on all six of their 3-pointers and took just four free throws, making half.

Senior guard Adam Temesgen found some space in the paint en route to a team-high 15 points. The rest of the Raiders combined for nine points. 

“Those guys have got length, they’re physical, they’re big-bodied guys,” Crescent Valley coach Adam Hastings said. “We hadn’t gone against a team that had that much size really all season long. They forced us into a lot of tough shots. They did a good job of staying vertical and we just couldn’t make enough tonight.”

Both teams played sticky half-court defense during a brisk opening quarter that ended in an 8-8 tie. Defense remained the theme in the second as the Wildcats led 14-12 at the break. 

“I thought today we would have to play great defense,” Roche said. “They are really good on defense. They are athletic and quick. They’re not real big, but they’re strong and they defend very well.”

Four points apiece from Kyle Counts and Kallen Gutridge helped Wilsonville take a 22-15 lead midway through the third. Temesgen answered with seven in a row to tie it, but Maxim Wu rattled in a straight-on jumper that put the Wildcats up 24-22 early in the fourth. 

After another Temesgen basket, Wilsonville regained the lead for good on a smooth Gutrdige elbow jumper with 3:07 to play. The junior then hit two free throws to make it 28-24 with 86 seconds left.

The Wildcats went 8 for 8 at the line in the final quarter to salt it away.

Wu said Wilsonville is comfortable playing high-stakes, low-scoring games. In last year’s state championship game against Silverton, the Wildcats trailed 11-6 at halftime before coming back for a 34-30 victory. 

“Whatever it takes to win, whether it be a defensive game or an up-and-down game,” Wu said. “Our identity is defense. I take pride in that, personally.” 

Added Roche: “We’ve played in those a lot. You have to embrace the moment, embrace the challenge, or you’re not going to end up on top. And I thought our kids did a good job of finishing this game strong.”

Gutridge paced Wilsonville with 16 points, six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and four steals. Wu added seven points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Until the final seconds of the game, the Wildcats used only their starting five of Nick Colyer, Emmitt Fee, Counts, Gutridge and Wu.

“We run a lot in practice for that and we’re mentally prepared for that,” Wu said. “I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.”

Roche said that even though the rotation has tightened in the postseason, multiple bench players are capable of providing important minutes in the final.

“Our first unit is so good defensively together that we’re not going to sub for no reason,” he said. “We love all our guys, but these are the guys that have earned it, so they’re playing. But tomorrow, you never know how that story is going to unfold. We could have two or three guys play a big role off the bench. We’ve had that a lot this year. Not in the tournament yet, but it’s possible.”

With four state titles since 2016, Wilsonville will be an atypical underdog in Friday’s final.

Summit, the Class 6A runner-up last season, has more size and athleticism than the Wildcats. But the Storm have never won a state title, and Wilsonville is closing in on a half-dozen.

“I think we’ve got to come out and let it rip, and see what happens,” Roche said. “They’re playing five guys, too, last time I checked, so we’ll see. I know they’re talented and big and great and everybody picked them to win it. And everybody might be right, but we’ll find out tomorrow.” 

Added Wu: “If we stick to our core philosophies of defense, I think we’ll have a shot.”