Girls basketball: Barlow holds on to edge South Medford in 6A semifinals, will face top-seed Beaverton in title game

The Bruins converted essential free throws as time wound down to survive and progress to the condition championship video game.

No. 7 Barlow (24-3) defeated No. 3 South Medford 44-42 in the semifinals of the OSAA 6A Ladies Basketball State Championship match Friday night at the Chiles Heart at the College of Portland.

“We really labored tough for this one,” reported Barlow junior Annie Koenig. “We’ve been placing in so substantially time and so substantially hard work. It’s been wonderful.”

Barlow will deal with event major seed Beaverton (25-1) in the 6A championship game Saturday evening at the Chiles Center.

“I consider we’re going to get the job done as difficult as we can and engage in our game, participate in our basketball,” Koenig mentioned of the impending title activity. “We’re going to work as a workforce and see what transpires.”

Koenig led the crew with 20 points. Bruins junior Kennedie Shuler had 12 points.

“I’m just super energized for our team. They’ve been fighters all time extended,” explained Barlow coach Nick Hudson. “We talked about being resilient all period extended, and that’s what I reported to the group in that very last timeout. They (South Medford) tied it up and took absent all of our momentum in the fourth quarter, and just reminded our team to keep resilient and finish out the game, and we did it.”

Barlow started out quick out the gates and took a 17-level lead in the initially fifty percent.

South Medford (24-3), nevertheless, didn’t go away quietly. The Panthers would claw their way back and sooner or later tied the score in close proximity to the conclude of the fourth quarter.

Holding on its slimming direct, Barlow in the course of the fourth quarter took numerous minutes off the match clock on a single possession.

“All the credit to them and (South Medford coach Tom Cole). They’re a truly great staff,” Hudson mentioned. “We talked at halftime that if our direct shrinks, we were likely to have to swap our protection up. We did correct at the conclusion of the activity when they tied it up. It’s nerve-wracking. You’re seeing your direct dwindle down, but just experimented with to concentrate on retaining the women concentrated on obtaining 1 great possession and a person superior cease at a time.”

Afterwards on in the closing interval, just after South Medford tied the rating at 40-40, Koenig and senior Lindsay Barden converted totally free throws down the stretch for a 44-40 guide with seconds left.

Barden ended with 6 points for Barlow.

“It’s rough. You just got to genuinely dial in and target,” Koenig explained of stepping up to the free of charge toss line at that minute. “We put in a great deal of reps at the free throw line, and this was why.”

Soon after beating South Medford and defeating No. 2 seed Jesuit in the quarterfinals, Hudson stated his crew is better than what staying the No. 7 seed could recommend.

“We noticed our ranking fall at the end of the standard league period. We had been a little upset about it, but we applied it as enthusiasm,” he said. “Like, ‘Hey, if they are going to fall our seed, then let us go out there and demonstrate them that we ought to have to be a greater seed.’ And, it’s paying out off. I think the team is truly determined.”

The Panthers took advantage of turnovers to tie the score at 40-40 late in the fourth quarter when junior Donovyn Hunter manufactured two rapidly crack layups.

“I are living for these games—the hype, the nervousness, the energy, everything. Definitely, it did not finish in our favor,” Hunter claimed. “The workforce tends to appear out and make dumb choices. Anyone does, together with me. And then, we pick it up. I just want to give a shoutout to my staff. We ended up down 6-23, arrived back and lost by two. Certainly, it stings. But in these online games, you can only emphasis on what’s next, and we have a game tomorrow.”

Hunter added that getting on the major stage probably led to the team’s slow start out in the sport.

“The nerves, the atmosphere, the newness,” she reported. “Whether we played a activity final evening, it is also like, ‘This is our initially semifinal video game,’ for some of these individuals. So, I think not necessarily self-doubt, but the jitters take over, you get started to overthink, and you are not self-assured within your self. I imagine that is what took place.”

Hunter led the area with 24 details on Friday.

South Medford will engage in Clackamas (24-4) for 3rd place Saturday evening at the Chiles Heart. Clackamas shed to Beaverton in the semifinals 41-28 on Friday.

Hunter hopes to end the year with a gain for the team’s three seniors.

“I at the very least want to gain this last recreation for them,” she said. “I acquired a single more time. There’s no guarantees regardless of whether we make it again to the Chiles Center, but we hate shedding 2 times. We detest shedding in basic. So, we’re going to do regardless of what we can. We misplaced to Clackamas in additional time by one particular last time. So, it will be a superior game, but our drive will be for the seniors.”