No. 2 THURSTON (22-3) vs No. 7 SUMMIT (18-8)
■ Tipping off: After a nailbiter against No. 15 Centennial, Thurston faces No. 7 Summit. The close finish might have been a wake-up call for the Colts, who had an undefeated run in the Midwestern League. They also were 13-for-21 (61.9%) on free throws against the Eagles, and 0-for-3 in the fourth quarter. The Storm, who also earned a league title this year in the Intermountain Conference, had a dominant showing against South Albany in its first playoff game. They won by 22 points against the Red Hawks, 77-55. A majority of their points came from a crushing second-half performance. Thurston is led by Midwestern League player of the year Lucas LaBounty, who hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 1:14 left against Centennial. Another offensive talent is consistent double-digit scorer Nate Stiffler. League defensive player of the year Noah Blair leads the Colts’ defense followed by Logan Piquette and Tyler Raven. They’ll need to contain Summit’s 6-foot-6 Ryder Grieb. In addition, Summit’s Rowan Blossey is an impenetrable defender who also recorded 17 points last game, along with Foster Kettering, Matthew Tompkins, and Will Manfredi – who all had double-digit performances and led the Storm in the first round.
No. 3 SOUTH ALBANY (22-4) vs No. 6 SPRINGFIELD (18-7)
■ Tipping off: The Millers earned their state playoff advancement to Linfield University after beating the No. 15 Crescent Vally Raiders at home last week. Darissa Romero-Ah Sam, who recently had a sciatic nerve pain flare-up, played for the majority of the Crescent Valley game. Coach Joe Williamson said he is confident that she will be able to recover fully for the state tournament, along with the rest of his injured and sick players. “We’ve already gone through the worst,” he said. “We’re on the other end of that. I think by next week, we should be good.” In addition, offensive standout Sailor Hall led the Millers with her relentless 3-pointers while improving multi-position standout Mylah Wilson is challenging defenses. With a healed-up team, Williamson said the Millers can make some noise against South Albany. The Redhawks enter the tournament on a recent streak – they won the Mid-Willamette Conference title, went 2-0 against No. 2 and defending state champion Silverton, and blew out their first playoff opponent by 42 points, 70-28.
