New-look Roosevelt is back in a familiar place — atop the PIL

The Roughriders’ next goal is to return to the 6A state championship game: “It’s going to be tough, but I believe in us”

Members of the Roosevelt boys basketball team gather before the start of their Portland Interscholastic League showdown with Grant. / Dan Brood

PORTLAND — A year ago, the Roosevelt boys basketball team won the Portland Interscholastic League title, won its first- and second-round Class 6A state playoff games, triumphed in two Class 6A state tournament games to reach the championship contest, and then only a furious Central Catholic second-half rally kept Roosevelt from claiming the state crown.

The Roughriders have a different look this season, as they lost four starters, among eight seniors, from that title-game squad. To make matters seem even worse, the current Roosevelt team got off to a 2-6 start to the 2024-25 season.

It sure looked like the Roughriders’ chances of reaching last year’s heights seemed dim at best.

But somebody forgot to tell that to Roosevelt. And now, the rest of the PIL is finding out the hard way — the Roughriders are back, they’re looking strong, and they’re aiming for the very top.

“We want nothing less than to get back into that state championship,” Roosevelt head coach Jamarr Lawson said after the Roughriders’ impressive 73-53 win over Grant in a PIL showdown Saturday in front of a large crowd at Roosevelt High School. “That’s the goal, 100 percent, and to hopefully end up on the other side of things.”

So far, so good for Roosevelt.

With Saturday’s win, the 12th in a row for the Roughriders after enduring that 2-6 start, Roosevelt put itself firmly in the driver’s seat in the race for the PIL championship. The Roughriders improved to 11-0 in league play (14-6 overall), giving them a two-game lead over second-place Grant.

“I think that this really solidifies our spot at the top of the PIL — something we’ve really been trying to do,” said Roosevelt senior guard Owen Nathan, the only returning title-game starter from last season’s team. “We won last year, but back-to-back feels great, especially with the new team that we have this year.”

“This means a lot — being back-to-back champions, last year and this year, is everything to us,” said Roosevelt senior Syrius Owens, who had 14 second-half points in Saturday’s game, including four thunderous dunks after halftime.

Roosevelt junior Syrius Owens goes up for one of his four second-half dunks in the Roughriders’ 73-53 win over Grant. / Dan Brood

“It means a lot, I’m not going to lie,” said Roosevelt junior guard Fuzzy Montague, who played his first two years at Jefferson. “This game was personal for our team. People felt like this was the PIL championship game, and we felt like we were the better team all-around.”

According to Nathan, who had a triple-double in Saturday’s game with 28 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, getting in position to claim their second consecutive PIL title is just the start for the Roughriders.

“That’s huge for us,” Nathan said. “That’s one of the big things. Step 1: Win the PIL. Step 2: Make it to the state championship. Step 3: Win it all.”

Roosevelt senior Owen Nathan had a triple-double with 28 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for the Roughriders in their 73-53 win against Grant. / Dan Brood

Roosevelt’s effort Saturday to put itself in position to check Step 1 off the list was impressive. The Roughriders took a 19-15 lead after back-to-back layups by senior Omar Eno going to the final minute of the first quarter. Roosevelt didn’t trail the rest of the way.

“We had energy the whole day, starting from shoot-around,” Owens said. “We knew this was an important game — the most important game of the season — so we just came out firing.”

Grant, getting a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from senior Quincy Scott to end the second quarter, trailed just 32-26 at halftime. But Roosevelt was determined not to be denied.

With that in mind, the Roughriders turned to their defense in the second half.

Grant scored 10 points in the third quarter. Owens scored six points in the period, including two dunks, as Roosevelt pushed its lead to 48-36 going to the fourth quarter.

The Roughriders kept the pressure on in the final period. They opened their biggest lead of the game, 69-47, when senior Jasmere Davis Jr. scored on a short-range bank shot off an assist from Nathan with 2 minutes and 53 seconds left.

“I think it went really well,” Lawson said of the victory. “I’m just really proud of this team. Since the beginning of the season, they’ve done a lot of jelling, and putting in a lot of time and work to start coming together and playing together. I just think, defensively, we’re playing at a really high level.”

Roosevelt senior Jasmere Davis Jr. looks to drive to the basket behind a screen by senior Omar Eno, who had 12 points and 11 rebounds in the 73-53 victory against Grant. / Dan Brood

That certainly seemed to show, especially in the second half of Saturday’s game. In the final two quarters, Grant shot 9 for 24 from the field.

“Last year, we were so offensively oriented, but this year, I feel it’s defense,” Nathan said. “I feel that’s our strong suit.”

But according to the Roughriders, that’s not their only strength.

“Coach Law (Lawson) — he’s just building on top of what he had last year,” Montague said. “He’s the proof when it comes to everything.”

“We’ve kept going,” Lawson said. “What I like to tell people is that this team has bought into the things that impact the game. Offensively, anybody can struggle on any given day, so you have to do those other things that put you over the top — rebounding, getting loose balls, taking charges, things like that.”

“We all play together, and we trust each other,” Montague said.

There seems to be another factor to the Roughriders’ success — determination.

“What drives me personally is trying to get back to that game (the state championship),” the 6-foot-6 Owens said. “We lost a bunch of seniors from that team, but we can to it. One thing is our work ethic in practice. We come in every day, giving it our all.”

And they’re having fun — fun that comes with a 12-game win streak — while working hard.

“We love it,” Montague said. “We’re just riding on top of that winning streak. We’re getting it going and keep it going. Everyone is playing their role, and everyone is fitting in.”

“It’s been fun going on a winning streak. The start of the season, we came out slow. We lost some games in Vegas (in December), but we’ve got our record back to where it should be,” Owens said. “We want to finish the (regular) season, get ready for the playoffs, and get ready for the (University of Portland) Chiles Center (site of the Class 6A state tournament). That’s motivation.”

For Nathan, one of the senior veterans on the team, the motivation is the drive to take that one more step.

“Tasting what it’s like to get there is one thing,” he said. “We were so close last year, but (eight graduated seniors) left. We brought in a new batch of players. We’ve got Fuzzy over here — he’s amazing, and he’s brought a whole new dynamic to the team.”

Roosevelt junior Fuzzy Montague brings the ball up court against Grant senior Zhalei Van during Saturday’s game. / Dan Brood

The rest of the state field looks strong, with top-ranked Barlow, Tualatin and defending champion Central Catholic looming as just a few of the title contenders.

“It’s going to be tough, but I believe in us,” Nathan said. “I’ve got my money on us every game.”

In the win over Grant, the Roughriders, in addition to Nathan’s triple-double, got 18 points, seven rebounds, four assists and a block from Owens. Eno had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

“He’s ‘Mr. Double-Double,’” Montague said of Eno.

Roosevelt shot 31 for 54 from the field (57.4 percent).

“We’re just showing that we can continue to improve,” Nathan said. “That’s a big thing, because last time, we beat them by five (on Jan. 11), and it was a 20-point win this time at home. The crowd had the energy, and we just all played together. That shows what we can do as a team. We just wanted to win at all costs.”

For Grant, Scott had a team-high 14 points. Freshman Jacob Harper-Grant scored 11. Sophomore Varrryk Harges, sophomore Keone Gates and junior Keion James each scored seven.

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