CRESWELL – For Pleasant Hill, it was the culmination of a perfect regular season in the Mountain Valley Conference.
For Creswell, it was the perfect chance to knock off its crosstown rival, which is ranked No. 2 in the state.
The Bulldogs played well enough to win, but couldn’t close the deal, falling 51-47 in overtime last Friday.
“We got all the looks we wanted offensively,” Creswell coach Jesse Thomas said. “We got other guys involved to help Tyler (Whitson) out from a scoring standpoint, but the free throws really killed us.”
Creswell was 8-of-18 from the foul line, missing several key free throws down the stretch.
“We defended well, we rebounded well. … They wanted it, and they played well enough for the most part to get it done,” Thomas said.
Creswell led 36-30 after three quarters, but P-Hill opened the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run as Jacob Neely hit a 3, Gavin Inglish scored, and Landen Melvin scored twice.
But two baskets by Whitson, who scored a game-high 21 points, gave Creswell a 42-41 cushion with 2:10 remaining. Inglish made it 43-42, scoring at the 1:20 mark.
Whitson then got fouled with five seconds to play. He missed the first free throw, but made the second, forcing overtime.
After Mason Schartz started the extra period with a basket and a block for Creswell, Neely answered with five quick points for P-Hill, and sophomore Noah Johnson hit two free throws with seven seconds left to clinch the victory as the Billies improved to 22-3.
Melvin led Pleasant Hill with 19 points and Inglish added 14. Neely scored 11. For Creswell, Darien Dewey had 11 points.
Creswell plays at Sisters on Thursday, with the winner advancing to face Pleasant Hill on Saturday in the MVC playoffs.
“Hopefully we’ll take care of business and we’ll get another shot at them,” Thomas said.
