Clackamas Rolls to Holiday Classic Pearl Championship

<!-- wp:acf/box-score {"name":"acf/box-score","data":{"game":["1595468"],"_game":"field_6a1b2c3d4e5f7"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-695614c20db46"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another successful POA Holiday Classic is in the books. 64 talented teams from Oregon, Washington, California, Florida and Texas gathered in Portland from Saturday to Tuesday for eight brackets. The Pearl Bracket, held at Lincoln High School, showcased some of the more underrated and under-appreciated teams in Oregon. The Clackamas Cavaliers are among them, and they defeated the Auburn Riverside Ravens of Seattle 58-42 for the Pearl Championship Tuesday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Clackamas came out of the gates somewhat slowly. Outside of [player_tooltip player_id='837904' first='Tatum' last='Landolt']'s single first-quarter three-pointer, the long ball wasn't falling — especially for [player_tooltip player_id='832060' first='Savannah' last='Dahl'], who missed five in the quarter. [player_tooltip player_id='1312930' first='Lily' last='Oien']'s seven points, three rebounds and two steals kept them within striking distance, but the Cavaliers' defense was too foul-prone for their own good. The Ravens took advantage by knocking down eight free throws, three of which came from CK Kandola. She and Cora Lowe each provided six points, which propelled Auburn Riverside to a 16-14 lead at the end of one.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Despite the early success, the Ravens took a major blow in the form of a knee injury to starting forward [player_tooltip player_id='1344693' first='Chloe' last='Miller'] that would knock her out of the rest of the game. After her teammate fell and rolled up on her lower leg, Miller was down on the floor for several minutes before being helped off.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As soon as the second quarter began, the Cavs' trademark long-range prowess came alive. Oien found Landolt in the right corner for her second and third threes, and Landolt would later assist on an Oien three in the same spot. By halftime, Clackamas was on top 27-25. Oien would finish the half with a team-high 12 points, and Landolt was close behind with nine. Kandola maintained her scoring pace, hitting two threes of her own for six of the Ravens' nine second-quarter points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kandola continued to do the heavy lifting for her team in the third, but the Ravens struggled to find any secondary source of offense. Meanwhile, Clackamas was moving the ball, crashing the glass en route to a 40-31 lead after three quarters. The highlight of the quarter was a beautiful cross-court outlet pass from Landolt to Dahl for a transition layup.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The fourth quarter was more of the same, with the Cavs pulling away for the victory. The game was won on the glass. By the final buzzer, they had racked up nearly as many offensive rebounds (24) as the Ravens had total rebounds (26). Dahl pulled down a team-high 13 boards, eight of them offensive. That was her way of contributing despite struggling from the field and scoring an unusually low nine points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The most outstanding player of the championship game was undoubtedly Oien, who was consistent in all four quarters and poured in 21 points and two threes. She added nine boards, three assists and four steals. Still, the all-tournament team nods went to her deserving teammates, Landolt and [player_tooltip player_id='1583037' first='Skyler' last='Le']. Landolt made four of her team's seven three-pointers in this game and finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block. Le added eight points, nine rebounds and four assists, and was a steady presence at the point guard position all tournament long.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Despite the loss, Auburn Riverside made a strong impression as a tough and physical team with a dynamite scoring guard in Kandola. She went out fighting with a 21-point, three-triple, four-steal performance in the championship loss. She also made the all-tournament team alongside her teammate Lowe, who chipped in three assists but did not score after her six-point first quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Clackamas made a major statement by getting an out-of-state win and going undefeated at the Holiday Classic. There were plenty of questions about what the Cavs would look like after graduating one of the most talented senior classes Oregon has ever seen. But their performance over the last three games showed that Korey Landolt's team is not going anywhere.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->