Kaylor Buse Predicted West Linn’s State Title Win as a Freshman

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">With 'Unwavering Confidence' the Lions Proved Doubters Like Me Wrong</h2>   Under the bright lights of the Chiles Center, late on Saturday night, junior point guard [player_tooltip player_id='832080' first='Kaylor' last='Buse'] led the West Linn Lions to their first girls basketball state title in a 61-56 win over the South Medford Panthers.   Buse, a three-time All-League Defensive Player of the Year, scored a game-high 23 points with 3 blocks in the championship game. She finished the weekend in the top four in scoring and the top three in blocks, and was named to the All-Tournament First Team.   In September, ahead of the 2025-26 girls basketball season, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DOZS5QfEkVu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">I moved Buse to No. 1 in the class of 2027 </a>rankings at Prep Girls Hoops Oregon. After watching her play for [program_tooltip program_id='1035055' first='Northwest' last='Select'] in the Power 24 in the offseason and in a summer rewatch of the 2025 state tournament, I had seen enough. In January, Prep Girls Hoops ranked Buse in the <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/2027-girls-high-school-basketball-national-player-rankings/">Class of 2027 National Top 100</a>.   University of Oregon head coach Kelly Graves drove to the Chiles Center to see the rising national prospect play in the final after he streamed her semifinal performance on Friday. Buse scored 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting with 8 rebounds and 2 blocks in West Linn's decisive 55-44 victory over Benson Polytechnic.   The day before, she led the Lions with 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals in a dominant 56-36 quarterfinal win over Nelson.   Buse met Coach Graves for the first time as a freshman and remembers telling him, "I'm going to win a state championship my junior year." Two years later, she did exactly that.   “Obviously, it's a bold statement. I'm aware of it. I'm a big believer in manifestation, and whatever I say, I have full belief in,” said Buse to me on the phone the evening after she hoisted the blue trophy.   Buse walks the talk. She's in the gym year-round, sometimes multiple times a day, putting in repetitions on top of repetitions. At 5-foot-9 with an athletic and formidable frame, she exudes confidence and imposes her will on both ends of the court. The point guard is a composed playmaker who gets downhill, creates for others, and defends for 32 minutes.   Buse also remembers Coach Graves advising her not to be too confident. But her confidence has only grown since then.   “I think it's a testament to how much I believed in this team from the start and how much we believed in each other from the start. We knew we were capable.”   Senior teammate [player_tooltip player_id='1002464' first='Ayla' last='Arnold'] was also on the call. She added, “Whatever Kaylor speaks comes true, is what I've learned.”   It's the kind of insider intel that would have been helpful to know when I filled out my playoff bracket.   To make covering the 6A postseason more interesting and fun, I invited former Benson coach Eric Knox, Portland Preps reporter Austin White, and fellow Prep Girls Hoops scout Ryan Oppenheimer to join me on the <a href="https://nicoleprosenow.podbean.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Oregon GBX Pop-Up podcast</a> to discuss our state tournament picks ahead of the playoffs.   Although we all thought that the top four seeds — Tualatin, West Linn, Benson, and South Medford — were state title contenders, none of us picked the Lions to win. What's worse, ahead of the playoffs, none of us picked them to make it to the championship game.   In addition to two podcast episodes with our postseason takes, I posted <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DVcH2iRkoeH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">graphics of our championship picks on Instagram</a> ahead of the state tournament. Buse and Arnold took notice, and, like the true competitors they are, they were driven to prove doubters like us wrong.   <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/DVcH2iRkoeH/?img_index=1 </div></figure>   We gave the Lions what the late NBA megastar Kobe Bryant called “bulletin board material.” Bryant famously used any perceived criticism to fuel his relentless work ethic and "Mamba Mentality." [program_tooltip program_id='1035055' first='Northwest' last='Select'] head coach Angie Sun taught Buse the Bryant concept as a motivational tool.   Buse (and her family) took to it:   “I just have so much belief in what we are capable of as a team and what we can do. I think there are times when you think so highly of the place you're at. It's just like an unwavering confidence. Then your guys' stuff came out, and my mom was like, ‘That's it. That's so bulletin board material.' And then I go home, and there's a bulletin board on my bed with red pins.”   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2026/03/Kaylor-Bulletin-Board.png?w=819" alt="" class="wp-image-1809542" style="aspect-ratio:0.8005939123979213;width:488px;height:auto" /></figure>   Arnold listened to an episode of the podcast and reported back to her teammates:   “I just kept hearing it over and over. ‘Oh, I think Benson's going to get West Linn.' ‘I think Benson's going to get West Linn.' ‘I think even Nelson's a tough matchup for them.' And I came to the team and was like, ‘Did you guys hear what they said? We're not letting this happen!' Getting to the championship is the bare minimum for us. We all knew that.”   <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/DV5KtYZmXsx/ </div></figure>   The Lions stood on business at the OSAA state tournament, taking down Nelson, Benson, and South Medford in three consecutive days.   The Panthers led most of the final, but West Linn was always within reach. It was in the last three minutes of the fourth quarter when the Lions took over.   Senior Reese Jordan's clutch shooting sparked a 12-0 winning run that was capped by Buse with a stop-and-pop dagger inside, putting the Lions ahead by double digits with only 30 seconds remaining — too big a margin and not enough time for South Medford to respond <a href="https://x.com/PGHOregon/status/2032654254717153642?s=20">as they did against Tualatin the night before</a>.   “Losing wasn't an option for us,” said Buse. “Obviously, South Medford's a great team. We competed hard with them in the first three quarters. But I just had a feeling that we were going to do whatever it took to win. I think we are a very good fourth-quarter team.”   Jordan scored 17 points with 9 rebounds and 4 steals in the final game. The Washington State-bound senior earned an All-Tournament Second Team honor. She finished the weekend in the top six in scoring, in the top two in both defensive and offensive rebounds, and in the top five in overall efficiency.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2026/03/Reese-Jordan-Flowers.png?w=819" alt="" class="wp-image-1809544" style="aspect-ratio:0.8005939123979213;width:487px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Jackson Lee</figcaption></figure>   “Reese is the definition of greatness,” said Buse. “She comes in ready to play, she's detail-oriented, she keeps us accountable, she gets us in the right mindset. She's Wonder Woman.”   “She sets the tone for our team,” Arnold added about Jordan. “She is such a big leader. She brings the energy. She can bring tough buckets whenever we need them. She's one of the most clutch players I've ever met. She's been such a joy, and I'm so extremely grateful that I've been able to play next to her for four years.”   Arnold added 9 crucial points in the championship win. She finished the tournament in the top four in scoring efficiency. The senior, who is known for her grit, loyalty, and determination, is committed to the South Dakota School of Mines.    “We stuck together, and we wanted it bad,” said Arnold. “Winning the state championship as a senior, and it also being the first one in our school's history, I couldn't ask for a better end to my season.”   Arnold and Buse both said that the feeling of winning a state championship is hard to describe.   “You think about it, and you dream of moments like it, and when you get to it, it's just so much bigger than what you even thought of, which, how is that even possible?” wondered Buse out loud. “And I don't think it has fully set in yet, which is even crazier. I am a state champ. It's just so crazy and really just indescribable.”   When asked if West Linn would be back to the Chiles Center next year, Buse didn't hesitate to respond:   “Of course! My words right after in our locker room were, ‘Let's go get another one!' It's just our mindset. We love to win at West Linn.”   I talked to [player_tooltip player_id='832080' first='Kaylor' last='Buse'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1002464' first='Ayla' last='Arnold'] the evening after West Linn won the state championship. You can listen to the full recorded interview on <a href="https://nicoleprosenow.podbean.com/e/west-linn-wins-state-title-proves-us-wrong-w-eric-knox-austin-white/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Episode 3 of the Oregon GBX Pop-Up Podcast</a>.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2026/03/Kaylor-Ayla-Take-The-Mic.png?w=819" alt="" class="wp-image-1809545" style="aspect-ratio:0.8005939123979213;width:503px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Jackson Lee</figcaption></figure>