EUGENE – The parking lots around the Morse Center – a 2,100-seat all-purpose arena on the Bushnell University campus, were packed Saturday for the Mountain Valley Conference Championship boys basketball game between Creswell and Pleasant Hill.
Inside the gym, the atmosphere crackled with tension as the rivals met for the third time this season. Besides the conference title, the stakes included an automatic playoff berth, first-round bye, and second-round home game.
The Bulldogs haven’t beaten the Billies in their past seven matchups. The Billies haven’t lost a conference game in two years.
Two plays in the third quarter made it clear Saturday would be different.
Late in the third quarter, the Billies’ Jacob Neely stole the ball and threw a long pass to Luke Melvin for what should have been an easy layup. Bulldogs junior Mason Schartz never gave up on the play, and came flying in to block the ball off the backboard. Schartz’s teammates swarmed him in celebration, before quickly getting back to their assignments.
Two possessions later, the Bulldogs had less than 10 seconds left in the quarter to make something happen. Schartz sprinted up the court with the ball and drew two Billies defenders. He passed the ball to Landon Vaughn in the corner, who pump-faked one defender, and drove to the basket. He took two dribbles, then threw a floater high into the air to get it over the outstretched fingers of a Billies defender. When it finally came down, it hit nothing but net as the clock expired. The Creswell bench, supporters, and coaches exploded out of their seats as they could smell victory over their rivals for the first time in years. Eight minutes of play later, the Bulldogs were victorious, 48-35 and conference champs.
“I don’t think I’ve ever beat P-Hill in anything before, so that was insane and it’s a very good feeling to finally get it done,” said senior Luke Bailey, who led the Bulldogs with 18 points.
Defense was the key for the Bulldogs. They held the Billies under 40 for the first time in their two years under Luke Jackson. The secret formula? High intensity, and bringing things back to basic defensive principles.
Bulldogs coach Jesse Thomas explained: “The second game, our thought process was like, ‘Okay, we’re going to see if we can make them beat us off the dribble,’ and they did, for the most part. So going into tonight, it was like, ‘Okay, don’t overcomplicate it. Get back to some basics.’ If we make them shoot over the top of us all night and not get by us as much, we can live with the result of that.”
Limiting the Billies’ main option was key as well. Landen Melvin was the only Billie to have success in the first half, scoring nine of his team’s 15 points.
“I told them at halftime … ‘Look, Landen is a great player. He is going to make some tough shots. He is. Just keep making him take tough shots,’” Thomas said.
The gameplan, and outstanding defense from Schartz, worked in the second half. Melvin scored only three points.
Communication was key
Thomas said the level of focus and discipline that the Bulldogs showed was the best it’s been all season. They were always on the same page on defense, communicating constantly.
“One of the things that we’ve struggled with a lot, especially against (Pleasant Hill), is being able to communicate through ball screens and not get lost and give up open threes,” Thomas said. “We gave up a few tonight, but it was so much better than it’s been. Yesterday at practice was the real turning point defensively where they were really, really talking.”
Another element to disciplined defense is rebounding. In previous games this season the Bulldogs hadn’t been able to dominate on the boards and inside the paint, despite having a significant size advantage over the Billies. On Saturday, the Bulldogs led the rebounding battle 37-21.
Talking on the court is vital, but the Bulldogs’ off-court discussions might also have played an important role in the win. According to Thomas, his players held multiple players-only meetings in the lead-up to Saturday’s game.
“They said the things that needed to be said to each other and they kind of made an agreement,” Thomas said. “Every good team, but especially a good high school team, has a major advantage if you have player leaders and it’s not just coming from the coach.”
“My message was ‘I’m tired of losing to P-Hill and let’s go get this done,’” Bailey said.
It was a week of revenge driven by defense for the Bulldogs. After losing to Elmira and then Pleasant Hill the week before, the Bulldogs defeated both in league playoff matchups. A similar script to that of Saturday’s game was the key to the 55-45 victory over the Falcons. The Bulldogs played intense, disciplined defense and outscored their opponents in all four quarters.
Winning each quarter
Composure and consistency were key to the Bulldogs league-clinching victory over the Billies. Thomas, Bailey and Schartz all emphasized how important it was to win all four quarters in Saturday’s game. Prior to last week, Thomas’ team had achieved that in only six other games this year, and they were all 20+ point victories. Accomplishing the feat in two much-closer games speaks to their consistency, which Thomas has been trying hard to instill all season. In their past three matchups with the Billies, the Bulldogs had lost at least one quarter by eight or more points. In their nine other quarters in those games, the Bulldogs had actually outscored the Billies, but were 0-3 because of three bad quarters. The history against this opponent and in this season in general were both against the Bulldogs reaching the level of consistency they achieved. Nobody told them that, and the result was a wire-to-wire victory.
“It’s a good rivalry. They won the last seven, but that one’s all that mattered this year,” Schartz said.
The result allowed both teams to get into the top eight seeds of the state playoff tournament. After a first-round bye, each will host a home game. For #7 seed Creswell, Salem Academy visits Saturday. For #5 seed Pleasant Hill, it’s Neah-Kah-Nie who comes to town Friday.
