EUGENE — Crater capped quite a week of road trips to Eugene on Friday, with the Comets stunning Marist for a 66-40 victory to take another pivotal step in the chase for Midwestern League boys basketball supremacy.
Crater opened the week with an 81-66 win at Churchill, and Friday’s win pushed the Comets to 14-1 overall and 4-1 in MWL play. Crater outscored Marist 37-21 in the first half to set the tone for Friday’s win.
“Defensively we were probably the best we’ve been all year in the first half,” said Crater head coach Chris Schmerbach. “We were just really active and in the right spots.”
Crater senior Kiefer Edwards had 20 points, 15 rebounds and three steals to lead the charge, while freshman Nathan Bittle was a force with 12 blocked shots and 13 points. Mason Vranes added 10 points and Jayden Vranes had 10 assists, eight points and three steals.
Mitchell Hopkins led Marist (8-7, 2-3) with nine points.
CRATER (66): J. Vranes 8, Horton 5, M. Vranes 10, Archer 0, Hollingsworth 0, Ki. Edwards 20, Kr. Edwards 0, Johnson 0, Weaver 2, Stollings 8, Bittle 13. Totals: 25 16-20 66.
MARIST (40): Cutsforth 5, Franssen 8, Collins 2, Coleman 0, Weilbrenner 0, Hopkins 9, Zachem 0, Anderson 2, Hart 6, Courtemanche 3, Whittaker 1, Krier 4. Totals: 13 15-21 40.
Crater;17;20;9;20;—;66
Marist;13;8;8;11;—;40
3-point goals — Crater 9 (Horton 1, M. Vranes 2, Ki. Edwards 1, Stollings 3, Bittle 2), Marist 1 (Krier 1).
ASHLAND 57, NORTH EUGENE 53: At Ashland, KJ Pippa scored 15 of his game-high 26 points in the first half to help Ashland take a 33-24 lead into the break, and the Grizzlies held on to snap a seven-game losing streak at Mountain Avenue Gym.
Pippa, a junior guard, hit three 3-pointers in the second quarter. Anthony Swanson added 14 points for the Grizzlies (5-9, 1-3 MWL), who picked up their first victory since Dec. 21.
North Eugene (3-12, 1-4) got 21 points apiece from Cameron Parks and Ivan Enciso, with Enciso scoring 17 in the second half.
NORTH EUGENE (53): Enciso 21, Duke 3, Parks 21, Foytek 3, Reiman 5, Pratt 0, DeGarmo 0, Richardson 0. Totals: 20 11-14 53.
ASHLAND (57): Pippa 26, Swanson 14, Wallner-Sentle 6, Ekwall 4, A. Jones 3, Saulsbury 4, Desmond 0, C. Jones 0. Totals: 20 13-20 57.
North Eugene;11;13;17;12;—;53
Ashland;20;13;14;10;—;57
3-point goals — North Eugene 2 (Enciso 1, Duke 1), Ashland 4 (Pippa 3, A. Jones 1). Fouled out — DeGarmo.
JV result — North Eugene 42, Ashland 39.
THURSTON 65, EAGLE POINT 53: At Eagle Point, Isaac Lange scored 18 points and Jesse Connor 16 as top-ranked Thurston earned its fourth win in a row at Eagle Point High School.
Zakk Scott had 20 points and eight rebounds and Hayden Neyt eight points and six boards for the Eagles (2-12, 1-3). Levi Scott added 10 points.
Thurston improved to 12-2 overall, 4-1 in the MWL.
THURSTON (65): Casley 0, Harrison 2, Minor 15, Powell 4, Kommer 0, Connor 16, Edmison 0, Lange 18, Miller 6, Starck 2, Haas 2. Totals: 26 7-10 65.
EAGLE POINT (53): Adams 8, Z. Scott 20, Judd 0, L. Scott 10, Neyt 8, Graham 0, Hoppes 3, Chaparro 0, Vance 4, Gelbrich 0, Gorman 0. Totals: 19 11-17 53.
Thurston;18;15;12;20;—;65
Eagle Point;7;11;7;28;—;53
3-point goals — Thurston 2 (Connor 2), Eagle Point 4 (Z. Scott 3, L. Scott 1). Technical foul — Z. Scott.
JV result — Thurston 53, Eagle Point 44.
MAZAMA 63, PHOENIX 36: At Klamath Falls, Andrew Reynolds scored 24 points and Mazama pulled away with a 25-5 edge in the fourth quarter of the Skyline Conference game.
The Vikings improved to 11-5 overall and 4-0 in league.
Phoenix, which played Mazama even through the middle two quarters, got 11 points from Javan Gail in dropping to 4-13 and 1-3.
PHOENIX (36): Martin 3, Bre. Watts 2, Hutsell 7, Goff 0, Lozano Reyes 0, Lopez 0, Stella 2, Bra. Watts 5, Peterson 2, Gail 11, Botermans 4. Totals: 14 6-10 36.
MAZAMA (63): Schram 0, Lopez 17, Reynolds 24, Hall 3, Kasper 3, Segura 13, Lee 3. Totals: 21 13-18 63.
Phoenix;5;10;16;5;—;36
Mazama;12;9;17;25;—;63
3-point goals — Phoenix 2 (Hutsell 1, Bra. Watts), Mazama 8 (Lopez 2, Reynolds 4, Hall 1, Lee 1).
CASCADE CHRISTIAN 77, LAKEVIEW 48: Joel McLemore scored 20 of his career-high 26 points in the second half as Cascade Christian remained unscathed in the Southern Cascade League.
McLemore drained six of his career-high seven 3-pointers in the third quarter while the Challengers (11-5, 4-0 SCL) used all 18 of Tyler Cochran’s points to grab a 38-25 halftime lead.
Cascade Christian’s Riley Dexter added 12 points and Ben Dunn collected six points and seven rebounds.
Jalen Lampman led the Honkers (6-15, 1-3 SCL) with 21 points.
LAKEVIEW (48): Hernandez 0, Maita 8, Brazeal 6, Petersen 7, Lampman 21, Greenfield 2, Steward 2, Decker 2, Smith 0, Gustaveson 0. Totals: 17 10-17 48.
CASCADE CHRISTIAN (77): Crowl 3, Dunn 6, K. Schaan 0, Cochran 18, West 5, McLemore 26, Dexter 12, Flores-Alatorre 4, Lewis 2, Collom 1. Totals: 27 12-20 77.
Lakeview;16;9;4;19;—;48
Cascade Christian;18;20;25;14;—;77
3-point goals — Lakeview 4 (Lampman 4), Cascade Christian 11 (Cochran 3, West 1, McLemore 7).
JV result — Cascade Christian won.
NORTH LAKE 54, PROSPECT 23: At Prospect, North Lake used an aggressive press defense to blanket Prospect and pick up a Mountain Valley League victory.
Brendan Raines had 11 points and Jordan Royce scored nine for the Cougars (1-12, 0-6 MVL), who dropped their eighth straight game.
Silas Roth finished with a game-high 22 points for the Cowboys (10-6, 3-3), who led 33-11 at halftime.