COOS BAY – As the No. 4 seed, Pleasant Hill went to Coos Bay with high hopes, expecting to make some noise in the 3A Boys State Basketball Tournament.
In the end, the Billies finished in sixth place, one of the most disappointing results in this year’s field.
It wasn’t all bad for the Billies – they went 1-2 with an impressive 74-53 win over St. Mary’s, Medford, on Friday behind Landen Melvin’s 37 points and 10 rebounds. Melvin scored his points on 15-of-19 shooting. Jacob Neely added 14 points, knocking down 4-of-6 3-pointers.
Defense played a key role, as St. Mary’s shot 26% in the second half, blowing a 35-32 halftime lead.
“I’ve done this three times now. This is my favorite part of the year every year,” said Melvin, who averaged 25.3 points per game in his three weekend games. “I love coming here with my brothers and my buddies. Battling against the eight best teams in the state. It’s just so much fun being here.
“We wanted to come out and set the tone there in the third quarter and I think we accomplished that.”
Against St. Mary’s, Pleasant Hill took control of the boards, winning the rebounding battle 35-24.
“When we shoot the ball well and we trust each other, we’re pretty good, but when we play one-on-one and try to do it ourselves, we’re not nearly as good,” Billies coach Luke Jackson said. “It took us a game-and-a-half for us to figure that out. I was really proud of the way we defended when the game got close. I thought we had the opportunity to do that against Riverside (a 61-57 loss on Thursday), but I couldn’t get the guys to settle down. We just got too anxious.
“When we went on a run, it took all of our energy. Landen ended up with 37 today. This is a hard game to play when you get your heart broken because you have to bounce back and play in the ‘Breakfast Club’ at 9 a.m.”
Pleasant Hill tipped off at 9 a.m. on both Friday and Saturday.
The 3A boys bracket didn’t play out according to form, as No. 3 Valley Catholic thumped Riverside 77-61 in the championship game.
If Pleasant Hill would have defeated Riverside in the quarterfinals, it would have faced No. 17 Banks – which upset top-seeded Westside Christian in Round 2 – in the semifinals.
“There could have been a path there with Westside getting bounced by No. 17, but I’m still super proud of the kids,” Jackson said.
Melvin was a unanimous selection to the All-Tournament Team while Creswell’s Ace Arnold was named to the 2nd Team.
Creswell won the fourth-place game against Pleasant Hill, pulling away in the second half for a 62-42 triumph behind Luke Bailey’s 19 points.
So the Bulldogs get the last laugh this season in their rivalry with the Billies, who lose Melvin and Neely, but get most of their roster back and have a model feeder program.
Stay tuned.
