Tualatin girls basketball: ‘We want to be No. 1’

Timberwolves put themselves in position to claim TRL title with win over West Linn, but they're chasing something much bigger

The Tualatin girls basketball team is all smiles after its 55-30 win over West Linn in Tuesday’s Three Rivers League showdown at Tualatin High School. / Dan Brood

The Tualatin girls basketball team is all about challenges.

Well, the Timberwolves also are all about defense, and selflessness, and hard work — and winning.

On Tuesday, Tualatin took on a big challenge head on — and came away with an impressive victory.

With Three Rivers League supremacy at stake, the Timberwolves ran to a 55-30 win over West Linn in a league showdown played in front of a large, loud crowd at Tualatin High School.

“It went very well. We beat West Linn by a good amount, and they’re a good team,” said Tualatin junior guard Ries Miadich, who had 13 points. “It was a big game. They’ve always been our rival in league. They’re our best competition.”

Tualatin junior Ries Miadich is congratulated by her teammates during the Timberwolves’ 55-30 victory against West Linn. / Dan Brood

“Coming into this game, we knew it was the biggest game for us in league,” said Tualatin freshman point guard Love Lei Best, who had a game-high 18 points. “We were just really fired up, and I thought we played great defense. It went really well.”

With the win, the Timberwolves, who are ranked No. 2 in the latest Class 6A coaches poll, improved to 6-0 in TRL play (16-1 overall) and are now in control in the race for the league title. Eighth-ranked West Linn fell to 5-1 in league games and to 12-7 overall.

“This really means a lot to us. It helps us secure the league title,” said Tualatin senior post Jordyn Smith, who pulled down 13 rebounds. “We’ve won it two years in the past, so we’re trying to get our junior class to go 3 for 3, get it three years in a row — hopefully four.”

The Three Rivers League title might be a big thing for the Tualatin team, but the Timberwolves are looking for something even bigger, and they’re not shy when it comes to talking about it.

“Right now, we’re trying to secure the league title. We want it all for ourselves. After that, it’s the playoffs — (University of Portland) Chiles (Center) all the way,” Smith said. “We want to be state champs.”

“We want to win state,” Best said. “We want to be No. 1.”

Tualatin freshman point guard Love Lei Best brings the ball up court against West Linn sophomore Kaylor Buse. / Dan Brood

“We want to go all the way. We want to get first in the state, and I think we have the potential to do it,” Miadich said. “It’s going to take a lot of fight, but I think we all want it a lot. I think we want it more than anyone.”

Even Tualatin head coach Wes Pappas doesn’t hesitate when talking about the team’s ultimate goal this season.

“We want that state championship — there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “That’s our goal.”

Tualatin, with its fast start to the season, has certainly put itself in the state title conversation, and the Timberwolves have done it with a somewhat interesting mix of players.

Smith is the only senior on the court for Tualatin (the other senior on the roster is team manager Trinity Scott). Miadich, junior Maaya Lucas and junior Alex Padilla are key returnees from last season’s squad that went 20-5 and reached the second round of the Class 6A playoffs. And then there’s the team’s talented group of freshmen: Best, Kendall Dawkins and Bella Amens.

That mixture, which includes other returnees and newcomers to the varsity roster, has been working as a cohesive, unselfish unit for Tualatin.

“It’s exciting because we have so many new pieces for our team,” Miadich said. “But we all get along really well, and it’s so much fun playing with everyone.”

“I just feel like we all have just come together,” Best said. “We play for each other. I think we have a really good bond off the court. We just all want to win. We all have the same goal, and we come to practice every day with that goal in mind.”

Tualatin freshman Kendall Dawkins powers her way to the basket against West Linn sophomore Kaylor Buse. / Dan Brood

“I think this team is one of the most mature teams I’ve been on. Our freshmen are stepping up and playing like you don’t even know they’re freshmen,” Smith said. “We’ve got our sophomores and our juniors who collaborate so well. You look at us and you know we’re a team. Everyone gets along so well. Everyone is super close.”

Of course, when you talk about Tualatin girls basketball, you have to talk about defense.

The Timberwolves are allowing opponents to score an average of 28.4 points per game. Only two teams, No. 3-ranked Jefferson and top-ranked Clackamas, have scored more than 40 points against them.

West Linn entered Tuesday’s game averaging 61.7 points per game. Tualatin limited the Lions to a season-low 30 points on a 12-for-40 shooting night from the field.

“It always starts with defense for us,” Pappas said. “I thought we did some great things on offense tonight, but for us, defense has to be the rock. We defended well, and that team can put up a lot of points.”

“I think we rely on our defense a lot, and our coach does a really good job getting everyone in the right position,” Miadich said. “If we’re ever in trouble, we know we can fall back on our defense.”

Tualatin senior Jordyn Smith (left) and junior Maaya Lucas put pressure on West Linn’s Kaylor Buse. / Dan Brood

That’s been the case for Tualatin all season, and, the Timberwolves hope, it will be key for future success.

“This team absolutely embraces defense,” Pappas said. “That’s always been our thing, but we also have some talented offensive kids. But they really embrace the defense. We’ve had great shooting nights, we’ve had horrible shooting nights, but the thing that shows up for us every single night is the defense.”

While defense has been a constant for Tualatin teams, this season’s squad has another strength.

“The other element for us this year has just been our ability to rebound,” Pappas said. “Jordyn is all over the boards. Maaya and Kendall are just absolute beasts on the boards. Love will go get them, and Ries is improving with that a lot.”

Tualatin has faced some of the state’s top teams, getting a 49-37 win over Willamette and a 55-48 victory against Jefferson. Tualatin’s only loss was a 55-53 setback against Clackamas — a team that features USC-bound Jazzy Davidson (28 points and eight rebounds against Tualatin), who has been selected to play in the McDonald’s All-American game, and University of Oregon commit Sara Barhoum, among other talented players.

“I think that Clackamas game was the best thing for us. Clackamas is the bar. Jefferson is fantastic, Willamette is fantastic. (South) Medford is great. It’s a tough year,” Pappas said. “Clackamas has set a high bar. They’re ranked No. 8 in the nation. We lost to them by two, but we found out a lot in that game. Ever since then, we’ve just been working hard to try to get there.”

Hard work — that’s another constant asset for the Timberwolves.

“Everyone is working hard,” Smith said. “Everyone wants to win, and everyone wants to put in that work. In practice, everyone is working hard and everyone is competing. We’re here to get better, and that’s what we want to keep doing.”

Tualatin coach Wes Pappas calls out instructions in the second half of the Timberwolves’ 55-30 win over West Linn. / Dan Brood

And Tualatin knows it can’t let up, not with this season’s group of talented Class 6A teams.

“It’s going to be really tough,” Miadich said. “This year, all of these top teams have a lot of seniors, and they want it just as much as we do. We’re pretty young, but we all want to go all the way.”

“We’re putting in a lot of hard work right now,” Smith said. “We need to keep that going, maybe bump it up a little bit. We need to keep getting stronger, keep healthy and keep our bond strong. I think we’re ready.”

The Timberwolves were ready in the TRL showdown with West Linn, jumping out to a 9-0 lead after 3 minutes and 40 seconds and never looking back.

“We were prepping all week for this one,” Miadich said. “We wanted to come out with so much energy. We just wanted to beat them.”

“We came out with a lot of energy,” Pappas said. “This team comes out pumped up and ready to go. We just smack people immediately.”

Best had five rebounds, three steals and two assists to go with her game-high 18 points. Smith had eight points and three blocks to go with her 13 rebounds. Dawkins had 10 points and three rebounds. Miadich added 13 points, sinking two 3-pointers.

“Our shooting is finally going well,” she said. “I think we’re all a lot more confident with our shot.”

Tualatin was 21 for 47 from the field and made 10 of 13 free throw attempts. The Timberwolves outrebounded West Linn 30-21.

Junior Reese Jordan topped the Lions with 11 points, and sophomore Kaylor Buse added 10.

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