Philomath Prevails Against West Albany 51-45

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>4A No. 3 Philomath defeated 5A No. 5 West Albany 51-45 in an early-season nonleague home game on Thursday night. It was a tight match with multiple lead changes, but the Warriors prevailed with a balanced and strong defensive performance inside and out.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sophomores [player_tooltip player_id='1165076' first='Reagan' last='Nuno'] and Bethany Cannon contained the perimeter, and juniors [player_tooltip player_id='839070' first='Reagan' last='Heiken'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1179227' first='Annaliese' last='Brown'] protected the paint for Philomath.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/DSLog56EmJt/","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"instagram","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.instagram.com/p/DSLog56EmJt/ </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>West Albany's top scorer [player_tooltip player_id='832050' first='Payton' last='Starwalt'] was heavily face-guarded, but managed to lead all scorers with 18 points, including 11-of-12 from the free-throw line. Sophomore power forward [player_tooltip player_id='1179226' first='Lily' last='Hamblin'] added 8 points and 8 rebounds.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Forward/guard Heiken led Philomath with 15 points and 4 assists. Junior Jordyn Hood and Senior [player_tooltip player_id='1179236' first='Shaylee' last='May'] added 13 and 10 points, respectively.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Philomath struck first and maintained a narrow lead in the first quarter, finishing the frame 9-8. Five-foot-10 Heiken led the way early for the Warriors with athletic takes to the rim. Six-foot-3 power forward Hamblin battled inside to keep the Bulldogs within reach.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>West Albany came back to win the second quarter. Starwalt, who wasn't given space on the perimeter, was able to beat her defender to dish or draw fouls — she went 6-of-6 from the line, her only points in the first half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1263197' first='Payton' last='Warner'] gave the Bulldogs 5 points off the bench. Juniors [player_tooltip player_id='1179245' first='Cate' last='Kurth'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1179231' first='Natalie' last='Tidwell'] stepped up to knock down a three-pointer each. Tidwell hit a deep one at the halftime buzzer to reestablish the Bulldogs' biggest lead of the first two frames.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>West Albany led 27-20 at halftime.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Philomath struck first in the second half and managed a 3-point lead by the end of the third quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Starwalt hit her first field goal and only three-pointer in the third frame. Hamblin sat out several minutes, but came back in to score a strong bucket inside, which accounted for her last points of the game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Five-foot-9 guard Hood hit a pull-up three and finished an athletic transition layup to regain the lead for the Warriors. Heiken continued to score on the post-up and the drive. She finished a strong take from the halfcourt to the rim through traffic to close out the third quarter 40-37 and give the Warriors momentum going into the fourth.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Philomath amassed its biggest lead of the game, 48-41, with about a minute left in the final frame. Hood finished at the rim on a couple of nice backdoor cuts, Nuno cleanly blocked a Starwalt attempt from behind the arc, and senior Isabelle Muir knocked down important bonus free throws to seal the deal.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Next up for Philomath (2-0) is 5A No. 1 South Albany at home on Tuesday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>West Albany (3-2) will play 6A No. 4 South Medford in the first round of the Capitol City Classic in Salem on Dec. 20.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>The 6A and 5A rankings are from PGH Oregon. The 4A, 3A, 2A, and 1A rankings are from the OSAA Coaches Polls.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->