Westside Christian Eagles believe this is their year at 3A boys basketball state tournament

After coming up just short each of the past three seasons, the ‘sum-of-the-parts’ Eagles head to Coos Bay with perhaps their most well-rounded squad in recent history

The Westside Christian team gets together after its 67-36 win over Douglas in a Class 3A state playoff game Saturday. / Dan Brood

TIGARD — The Westside Christian boys basketball team knows all about the Class 3A state tournament.

The Eagles know all about the town of Coos Bay. They’re very familiar with Marshfield High School.

Thanks to a very impressive performance, they now get to go back to the tournament — and they’re pretty happy about it.

“It means a lot,” said Westside Christian senior guard Jona Lee. “A lot of us have been to Coos Bay already, and we’re super excited to go back there.”

The Eagles earned their fourth consecutive Class 3A state tournament berth by running to a 67-36 win over Douglas in a Class 3A second-round state playoff contest Saturday at Westside Christian High School.

“It means a lot to us, and it means a lot to our fans,” said Westside Christian senior Roahn Reid, who had 13 points. “I’m glad we could put on a performance like this. We’re really excited to continue playing.”

Westside Christian senior Roahn Reid looks to go up to the basket in Saturday’s playoff game. Reid had 13 points in the 67-36 victory against Douglas. / Dan Brood

“It means a lot, but it’s expected, coming from this program,” Eagles senior Jack Leland said.

It’s hard to argue that. After all, not only is this Westside Christian’s fourth straight trip to the tournament, but the Eagles have had plenty of success the past three years.

They finished third at the 2022 tournament. They reached the state championship game each of the past two years, losing to Cascade Christian both times.

It’s not hard to guess what Westside Christian is looking to accomplish this year.

“The goal is to win it all,” Eagles coach David Henry said. “We’ve been awful close the past couple years, so we’re going to try to finish it out the right way.”

The Eagles players agree.

“Obviously, we want to win the state title,” Lee said. “That’s basically our goal; we don’t have any other goals.”

“That is the goal,” Reid said. “We’re pretty excited. We haven’t won one yet, but we’ve come close. This year, we feel like this is the best chance we’ve had.”

“The goal stays the same. We expect to win this year,” Leland said. “We think we’re more special this year than other years. We don’t fear anyone. We think it will be a good outcome.”

Westside Christian will go to the state tournament with a record of 21-3. The Eagles hold the No. 1 seed. They also were the top seed the past couple of years, but that might be where the similarities end.

The past two seasons, the Westside Christian squad featured some standout players, including Jonah Jones two years ago and Dax Hanzlik last season.

The Eagles say this team is built differently.

“We’ve been the No. 1 seed a few years in a row. This year’s a little different because it’s like we’re the sum of the parts,” Leland said. “We don’t have a star like we’re used to having, but I think that’s a blessing in disguise. The chemistry is off the charts with this team. We’re obviously excited to see where we go.”

“They share the ball very well. I’ve always said this is a sum-of-the-parts group,” Henry said. “We don’t have the high-fliers or anything like that, but together, they do it very well. They’re a good team in sense of a unit, and I’m proud of that.”

Westside Christian senior Jona Lee lets the ball fly for one of his three first-quarter 3-pointers in the Eagles’ 67-36 state playoff win over Douglas. / Dan Brood

“We lost a lot of good guys from last year, but we’ve got a real good squad this year,” Lee said. “Our chemistry is really good. We’ve played with each other a long time — I think all four years now, so that has really helped with our chemistry.”

The Eagles will open state tournament play Thursday when they face Banks (20-5), the No. 8 seed, in a quarterfinal at 1:30 p.m. at Marshfield High School. If Westside Christian wins that game, it will take on a Lewis & Clark League foe — De La Salle North Catholic or Oregon Episcopal School — in a semifinal Friday.

No matter who they face at the tournament, the Eagles know what they’re going to have to do.

“It’s going to take effort, rebounding, hustle,” Reid said. “I don’t think we’re going to have to worry about offense. But defense and rebounding is what we’re really going to have to focus on.”

“It’s going to take rebounding. Coach says it every practice. Every 30 minutes, it seems like we have drills about rebounding, and we’re thinking about rebounding,” Leland said. “It was a rough start to the year with rebounding, but the coaches yelled at us, and thank goodness for that. We picked it up.”

“Obviously, there are really good teams that are going to be down then, but if these guys play the way they’re capable of, I think the sky’s the limit,” Henry said. “We’re going to need to keep playing the way we play — Westside basketball.”

Westside basketball definitely got the job done in Saturday’s playoff game.

The Eagles started with a 3-pointer by senior Kyler Crites, back-to-back 3-pointers from Lee and a steal and layup by Crites, giving the home team an 11-0 lead after 2 minutes and 9 seconds.

Westside Christian wasn’t threatened the rest of the way.

Westside Christian senior Kyler Crites heads to the basket after coming up with a first-quarter steal in the Eagles’ 67-36 state playoff win over Douglas. / Dan Brood

“We came out excited,” Reid said. “We can’t be flat. That’s what it takes to win in the playoffs.”

Lee connected on three 3-pointers in the opening period, which ended with Westside Christian holding a 21-9 lead.

“We were going against the zone; I get a lot of threes against the zone, so that was helpful,” Lee said.

Reid scored seven points in the second quarter, and freshman Emmett Lee sank two 3-pointers in the period. The Eagles led 42-15 at halftime.

Crites, Lee and junior Cole Chiong each had a 3-pointer in the third quarter. No Eagles starter played a minute in the fourth quarter, but sophomore Quinten Jaimet sank two more 3-pointers for Westside Christian, which closed out the 67-36 victory.

“We’ve got a lot of good shooters and a lot of guys who can make plays,” Reid said. “I think all five guys on the court have the ability to score.”

Lee sank four 3-pointers on his way to scoring a game-high 17 points. Reid had five rebounds to go with his 13 points. Crites added 11 points, and Jaimet had eight.

Leland, a top scorer all season for the Eagles, had just five points going up against a Douglas defense that collapsed on him every time he had the ball, but he still had five rebounds, four assists and a steal.

Westside Christian senior Jack Leland tries to get past Douglas’ Levi Dahlenburg (30) and Leyton Hoyle in Saturday’s state playoff game. / Dan Brood

“I knew some of our guys were going to cook. They were shooting like crazy,” Leland said. “I knew they were going to feast this game, so I didn’t mind passing it.”

Westside Christian made 20 of 45 shots from the field, with 12 3-pointers, and 15 of 18 free throw attempts. The statistic that probably brings the biggest smiles to the Eagles’ faces is they outrebounded the Trojans 30-11.

Now, the Eagles are looking to enjoy the final week of their season — and finish it the best way possible.

“This season has been a blast,” Lee said. “The guys are really getting along, and we’re having a fun time.”

“This year has been pretty fun, but we really want to finish it up with a championship,” Reid said.

Download the SBLive App

To get live updates on your phone — as well as follow your favorite teams and top games — you can download the SBLive Sports app: Download iPhone App | Download Android App