EUGENE – The Creswell boys had a successful showing in last weekend’s Battle of I-5 Holiday Basketball Tournament behind Tyler Whitson’s hot hand before losing for the first time this season in the title game to host Marist Catholic, 52-41.
Pleasant Hill, meanwhile, used its bench to rally from a 13-point deficit after three quarters to pull off a 55-47 victory over Stayton. Local teams Creswell, Pleasant Hill and Cottage Grove all finished with 2-1 records in the boys tournament.
In the girls tournament, which was played simultaneously, Stayton dominated, winning the final game 54-23 against Marist. Pleasant Hill and Cottage Grove went 2-1 while Creswell was 1-2. On Saturday, P-Hill outlasted Creswell 45-38.
The tournament started Thursday with Whitson going for 26 points and 11 rebounds in a 62-51 win over Douglas. Luke Bailey also had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds while Mason Schartz added 10 points and 8 rebounds.
The Bulldogs improved to 7-0 on Friday, edging past Stayton, 57-54. Whitson had 25 points and 9 rebounds while Bailey added 15 points and Schartz had 11.
But Creswell seemingly hit a wall in Saturday’s finale. After trailing 26-24 at halftime, the Bulldogs went cold in the third quarter and fell behind 44-33 after three quarters.
“(Their defense) tightened up in the second half,” Creswell coach Jesse Thomas said. “We took some bad shots, and every time we were off, they made us pay for it. We started to panic a little bit and had some untimely turnovers and we have to learn from it.
“It came down to stops. We’d go stop for stop, they had two 3’s and a layup in about a four-possession stretch and it went from a four-point game to a 10-11-point game real fast.”
Whitson, who had 19 points and 12 rebounds against Marist, is the only Creswell player who played significant minutes last season, so Thomas is more than satisfied with his team’s 7-1 start.
BOB WILLIAMS / THE CHRONICLE PHOTO
“I told them in the locker room if anybody asked me if I thought we’d be here I’d say no,” Thomas said. “I’d say there’s a better chance that we’d be closer to .500, with three losses or maybe four – so I’m certainly happy with where we’re at, and they should be too.”
Sometimes, losses during the preseason can even be a good learning experience, the coach said.
“It’s not the end of the world, it’s a reminder of the things we need to do better,” Thomas said.
Pleasant Hill coach Luke Jackson knew he had to shake things up after his team fell down 13 points Saturday against Stayton. So he yanked out all five starters.
“It’s hard to play three games in a row, and the starters were tired. Give a lot of credit to the bench guys for giving us a big lift,” Jackson said. “Isaiah Wilson, Noah Johnson, Logan Melvin, Chase Vargas and Jamon Heacock – those five guys came in and started diving on the floor and going crazy and just willed us to win the rest of the way. The bench guys showed the starters how hard you have to play to win.”
The night before, the Billies (8-2) – after building an impressive early resume with their tough schedule – had lost 51-46 to Marist.
“We didn’t play with energy against Marist,” Jackson said. “We had a guy who was sick, but with the schedule we’ve played, if you’d have told me we would have been 8-2 at this point, I would have been happy with that.
“You kind of find out who you are throughout the season. The season isn’t an instant meal, it’s more like a crockpot slow-cooking every day, and you hope it’s getting better every day.”
BATTLE OF I-5 HOLIDAY
BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Boys
Thursday’s scores
Creswell 62, Douglas 51
Pleasant Hill 73, Brookings-Harbor 25
Marist Catholic 58, Hidden Valley 55
Stayton 63, Cottage Grove 48
Friday’s scores
Creswell 57, Stayton 54
Cottage Grove 65, Douglas 37
Marist Catholic 51, Pleasant Hill 46
Hidden Valley 59, Brookings-Harbor 32
Saturday’s scores
Marist Catholic 52, Creswell 41
Pleasant Hill 55, Stayton 47
Cottage Grove 71, Hidden Valley 64
Douglas 39, Brookings-Harbor 28
Girls
Thursday’s scores
Pleasant Hill 50, Brookings-Harbor 36
Creswell 49, Douglas 18
Marist Catholic 62, Hidden Valley 24
Stayton 55, Cottage Grove 11
Friday’s scores
Marist Catholic 47, Pleasant Hill 38
Cottage Grove 60, Douglas 21
Stayton 45, Creswell 31
Brookings-Harbor 43, Hidden Valley 21
Saturday’s scores
Stayton 54, Marist Catholic 23
Pleasant Hill 45, Creswell 38
Cottage Grove 52, Brookings-Harbor 37
Hidden Valley37, Douglas 16
