Updated 3/11/2023 4:10 AM

There is something special about the state 6A boys high school basketball tournament. Always has been.

Once upon a time, there was only one tournament for all high school teams. Few are alive who remember Bellfountain, enrollment 75 and with eight players, reigning as state champion in 1937. My father, John, was an all-state selection in helping Pendleton serve as the state runner-up in 1940.

For a long time, there were three classifications. And then, in someone’s infinite wisdom, there were six — about two too many.

But here we are, at Chiles Center on Thursday, for the state quarterfinals. I think it’s going to be a great day of basketball.

Eight good teams going at it for the big prize — a state title.

GAME 1, 1:30 p.m.

No. 8 CENTRAL CATHOLIC (15-11, 9-5 Mt. Hood) vs. No. 1 WEST LINN (26-1, 10-0 Three Rivers)

The Lions are not just the No. 1-ranked team in Oregon. They are ranked 12th nationally by MaxPreps, opening some eyes in December with victories over Sierra Canyon in Chatsworth, Calif. and No. 1-ranked Duncanville, Texas.

West Linn’s feature player is 5-11 senior point guard Jackson Shelstad, who is headed for Oregon next season and comes in with a 28.7-point scoring average.

Shelstad, Oregon’s Gatorade Player of the Year as a junior, has a certain cool to him. Before the game, he saunters over to one of the referees.

“Can we use this ball for the game?” he asks politely, presumably after finding a spheroid to his liking.

“We already have a game ball,” the official told him, “but you can feel it and bounce it before the game starts.”

There is a great turnout in both student sections. It’s noisy.

Central Catholic has a plan to disrupt Shelstad. Senior point guard Tony Angelo — listed at 5-11, and he may be with his floppy coif — is assigned to the Lions’ floor leader. Stick with him everywhere on the court, coach David Blue has instructed. Be his shadow for 32 minutes. And don’t give Shelstad — who was 8 for 9 from 3-point range in a playoff victory over Jesuit — any open looks from beyond the arc.

West Linn is decidedly short, with no starter taller than 6-3. And the Lions are to get outrebounded 29-22 by the somewhat bigger Rams. But they make up for it with hustle and physical play — especially forward Sam Leavitt, the football quarterback, who has four blocked shots.

Angelo is effective against the June bug-quick Shelstad, keeping his body in front and preventing an easy drive to the basket. When Shelstad does get by, there is usually help.

West Linn’s Robin to Shelstad’s Batman — 6-2 senior Adrian Mosley — is off to a slow start, missing his first five shots from the field. Meanwhile, Central Catholic’s Isaac Carr, a 6-3 sophomore, is oven hot, sinking four straight 3s as the Rams take a 23-21 lead into intermission.

In the third quarter, Shelstad flashes across the middle for a pretty reverse layup, but freshman guard Zamir Paschel — remember that name — answers with a nice drive and layup to put the Rams ahead 29-26.

And suddenly, Mosley has found some magic. After starting 1 for 7 from the field, he finishes 6 for 7, mostly in the paint.

“Early, I couldn’t get it going,” says Mosley, who finishes with a game-high 21 points. “I needed to come at a different angle and get closer to the hoop.”

Central Catholic never goes away but can never get over the hump. The Rams have two bad turnovers down the stretch — once they can’t get the ball in-bounds, and on another possession they throw it away. West Linn gets help from the officials, who miss an over-and-back on Shelstad and a travel on Mosley.

Paschel’s pinball jumper goes down, drawing the Rams to within 45-43 with a minute left.

Shelstad drives and sets up Mosley, who is fouled and hits two free throws to make it 47-43 with 34 seconds left. Paschel throws up an airball from 3-point range with 23 seconds left — hey he’s a freshman — and Shelstad twice splits a pair of free throws to wrap things up in a 49-45 victory.

“(The Rams) were really well-prepared for us,” says Shelstad, who finishes with 17 points, five rebounds, two assists and three turnovers. “Defensively, they gave us a different look. They had some good athletes and were physical, and they were hitting some tough shots. We came out really flat. We can’t come out like that at the state tournament. But we got the win, and that’s what matters.”

Angelo did his part to keep Shelstad under wraps.

“I did my best to take the ball out of his hands,” Angelo says. “The whole objective defensively was to not let him hit 3’s. My job was to have active hands, make sure my hands were up, make sure he wasn’t going to shoot over me. We wanted him to be a driver, because we had help in the paint. We wanted him to pass it out and make his teammates make plays.

“I thought I did a decent job doing that. He didn’t have the ball in his hands a ton. I wasn’t trying to make steals or turn him over. He’s too good a player for that. He’s really quick, for sure the quickest guard I’ve faced. He blew by me a few times. He’s an outstanding player. I wanted to limit his shot attempts. Him shooting less shots was the best defense we could have.”

“Most teams zone us for the most part,” Shelstad says. “(Angelo) was face-guarding me a lot, so it was a little bit different of a look than we’ve been used to.”

“Tony busted his tail,” Blue says. “I couldn’t be more proud of him and the entire team. They gave themselves a chance to win the game. I thought we were just as good as (the Lions) were. It’s unfortunate about a couple of calls I’m disappointed in, but they made the plays to win the game.”

Carr had 12 points in the first half but managed only four more the rest of the way, with Shelstad taking the defensive responsibility.

Says West Linn coach Robert Key: “In the locker room at halftime Jackson said, ‘I’ll take him. I’m going to be determined to make sure I get through screens. I don’t want to switch. I want to stay with him all through the second half.’ That was all Jackson. He is a high-caliber player with a high basketball IQ. He wanted that challenge. Our team fed off that.”

GAME 2, 3:15 p.m.

No. 5 GRESHAM (22-4 overall, 12-2 Mt. Hood) vs. No. 4 LINCOLN (23-4 overall, 15-1 PIL)

Not many teams can contend with Lincoln’s height. The Cardinals start 6-10 Graham Elkenberry and brothers Malachi Seely-Roberts (6-8) and Moroni Seely-Roberts (6-6) on the front line. A key reserve is 6-10 junior Evan Heisler.

Gresham counters with 6-7 junior Nate Gilkey, who has three blocks and six rebounds but plays only 21 minutes. Mostly, the Gophers use grit and the hot hand of southpaw RJ Alexander to stay in this one.

The brothers’ mother, Heather Seely-Roberts, is the first woman to coach high school boys basketball in nearly a century. Does she feel the players outside her family have any problems with having a female head coach?

“I don’t think so,” she says. “They haven’t said anything. I yell at them probably as much as any coach, but I also ‘Mom’ them up. We do stuff on having good manners and being polite. But I’m also on them pretty hard.”

It doesn’t hurt to have the team leaders as family members. The Seely-Roberts played under their mother for two seasons in Yamhill-Carlton and one in Utah before playing their senior year at Lincoln.

“When we came in here, they already knew our standards,” their mother says. “Your two best players are already buying into working hard and doing what they need to do. They know our offense and defense, and they handle a lot of the negativity stuff.”

Lincoln’s large student contingent, decked in white, is loud and proud. A smaller student crowd reps Gresham. The Cardinals win my award for best band — there were many good ones. Any band that includes some BJ Thomas among their list of oldies is OK in my book.

At the other end, we are treated to rolls by two student band members — one with very bright red hair and a Covid mask — on drums with flashing lights. Impressive.

Even with the big lineup, Lincoln starts the game pressing full court. Gresham starts the game 3 for 12 from the field but still trails only 14-8. The Gophers’ best player, 6-2 guard Esyah Pippa-White never really gets going, missing drives and layups.

Moroni, meanwhile, is on fire, ending the first half with 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting to go with seven boards. Gresham shoots .314 from the field but is behind only 33-30 at halftime, thanks to getting off 36 field-goal attempts to 22 for Lincoln.

One of Lincoln’s starting guards, Blake Johnson, wears one white sock and one black sock. Maybe that’s why he plays only 13 minutes.

The Cardinals lead 46-36 when Alexander, a 6-foot junior, buries a 3 to cut the margin to 46-39. It is 48-41 going into the fourth quarter and 57-45 on a tip-in by Malachi midway through the fourth quarter. But the Gophers are coming.

Alexander’s corner 3 draws Gresham to within 58-52 with 1:30 left. Less than a minute later, he hits another 3 — he is to make 5 of 10 in all — and the Gophers have closed to 58-56.

Malachi answers with a pair of free throws with 23 seconds remaining to push the lead to 60-56, but Gresham’s Scotty Riddle bombs in another 3, and it’s 60-59 with 10 seconds left.

Moroni gets fouled with 3.5 seconds to go, but misses the front end of a one-and-one. Gresham rebounds and calls timeout with 2.4 ticks left.

The Gophers execute coach Corey Lockhart’s plan to a T. The in-bound pass hits Pippa-White just outside the midcourt line. He takes two or three dribbles and launches from somewhere around 35 feet. The ball is on target but just a tad long, bouncing off the backboard, hitting the front rim and bounding away as time expires.

“That was very scary,” a relieved Seely-Roberts says afterward. “They missed it, thank goodness.”

Lincoln wins despite attempting 19 fewer shots than Gresham — 62-43 — and committing 17 turnovers.

“Part of it was my fault,” she says. “I said (down the stretch), ‘Let’s take good shots.’ Somehow the kids interpreted that as, ‘Let’s take no shots.’ We went away from what we were doing well. We just froze up, and (the Gophers) did a nice job and made some big 3’s.”

The Seely-Roberts brothers combine for 42 points. Moroni has eight turnovers but still puts together a monster game with 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting to go with 13 rebounds.

“He has always been a physical player,” his mother says. “He lives for games like this. He’s not afraid to go at it. He really delivered.”

She has coached her boys for three years. When the season is over, that will end. They will go on a two-year church mission and then head to college. Did she think about that?

“Not so much this game, but before Saturday’s playoff game (against Cleveland), I couldn’t eat or sleep for 24 hours,” Seely-Roberts says. “I couldn’t let my mind go to think about what would happen if we lost and that would be my last game with my boys.”

Lincoln played a testing non-conference schedule that included games with Mountainside, Beaverton, Jesuit, Bishop Gorman (of Las Vegas), Central Catholic, Tualatin and Barlow. The Cardinals’ opponent in Friday night’s semifinals will be West Linn.

“I purposely scheduled us to play every good team in the state except West Linn,” Seely-Roberts says. “Now West Linn has come up. We’re excited about the opportunity.”

GAME 3 6:30 p.m.

No. 6 BEAVERTON (20-7 overall, 9-3 Metro) vs. No. 3 TUALATIN (21-5 overall, 8-2 Three Rivers)

Tualatin is the defending state champion. The Timberwolves’ losses this season have all been against state tournament teams — three times to West Linn and once each to Barlow and Mountainside.

Tualatin coach Bubba Lemon’s grandfather is Meadowlark Lemon. If you don’t know who that is, Google, “Meadowlark Lemon, Harlem Globetrotters.”

It’s clear immediately that Beaverton head coach Andrew Vancil and assistant Josh Unruh employ the same barber.

Beaverton’s student section is sparce, but the defending state champions have maybe two dozen students in their section. Did the Tualatin rooter bus have a flat? Was there a Blazer5 Gaming festival to watch on campus?

Senior guard Josiah Lake is the only returning starter from last year’s title team. Lake — son of the former Oregon State guard with the same name — busts out like a gang of thieves, tallying 11 points in the first three minutes as Tualatin jumps ahead 13-7. Beaverton uses Aidan Rice to defend him in its man-to-man, though it goes to a box-and-one on a couple of second-quarter possessions. Lake finishes with 20 first-half points, making 5 of 5 from the field, 3 of 3 from 3-point range and 7 of 8 from the foul line. The Timberwolves go into intermission ahead 33-23.

Like the other games, though, this one would not be easy for the victors.

The difference is 39-27 early the third quarter, but the Beavers begin to reel in the Timberwolves. Aiden hits a 3 as time expires in the third quarter to draw Beaverton to within 45-40.

When Aiden knocks down a runner, the Beavers trail only 51-50 with 2:50 to go. Tualatin leads 53-52 when 6-8 junior Jaden Steppe connects on a jumper to make it 55-52 with 1:15 to play.

After a fruitless possession, the Beavers make the mistake of fouling Lake, who sinks two at the line to make it 57-52 with 48 seconds remaining. Tualatin salts the game away by making 10 straight gift shots in a 63-54 triumph.

Lake finishes with 28 points, making 7 of 11 shots from the field, 3 of 6 from beyond the arc and 11 of 12 at the line. One wonders why Steppe — who needs 24 field-goal attempts to score his 18 points — shoots more than twice as many times as Lake. Of course, Lake isn’t concerned about that. He is asked about his first-half explosion.

“It not only built my confidence, but the whole team’s,” he says. “They were feeding me the ball in places where I can knock down shots. We feed off energy. We have good team chemistry. We lift each other up.”

“We played a good team game, and Josiah is a phenomenal player,” Lemon says. “We played solid defense and got things done down the stretch. We have a lot of athletes who have played in championship type games in football and basketball. They seem to thrive in big situations, which is really nice.”

When I ask about the lousy student turnout to watch the defending state champions, Lake admits to being “a little bummed” about it, “especially after seeing the Lincoln-Gresham game. They both brought a lot of students. But I know (Tualatin students) support us, that’s all right. I know they’ll be here next game.”

Lake isn’t sure where he’ll play college ball next season, but he knows what his father — a reserve guard for Eddie Payne at Oregon State from 1998-2000 — has in mind.

“He wants me to go to Oregon State,” Lake says. “That’s his home school. He loves that team. He grew up during his time there. That’s a goal of mine. My dream school is to go to Oregon State. I’ve heard a lot of good things about it from my Dad.”

GAME 4

8:15 p.m., No. 7 MOUNTAINSIDE (19-7 overall, 9-3 Metro) vs. No. 2 BARLOW (24-3 overall, 14-0 Mt. Hood)

The nightcap features a pair of the Portland area’s premier prep guards, both sophomores — Barlow’s 6-3 Jalen Atkins and Mountainside’s 6-4 Brayden Boe. Each was honored as his respective conference’s player of the year. Nice student crowds from both schools are on hand to see which team comes out on top.

The Bruins are on a 14-game win streak, having gone through the Mt. Hood schedule unscathed.

Barlow coach Tom Johnson uses senior Jahvari Martino — the co-defensive player of the year in the conference — on Boe, fearing foul trouble should Atkins get the assignment. Boe goes for 17 points in the first half but Barlow takes a 31-28 lead into intermission.

Atkins’ shooting touch is missing — at one point early in the third quarter, he is 4 for 13 from the field — but he defends Boe in the second half. He is unable to slow his adversary down.

Boe is either scoring or feeding 6-5 senior Jaylin Ormond for a layup, and after a Pistol Pete no-look pass to Ormond for a bucket, Mountainside is ahead 48-41. Atkins finally hits a 3, and suddenly he has his touch back. He knocks down a jumper, then gets it to teammate Nate Forrar for a layup and a 52-50 lead. Boe misses on a drive and Martino makes a pair of free throws to complete a 10-0 run and give the Bruins a 54-50 advantage with 1:20 to play. They are ahead 56-52 after a pair of Atkins gifts with 35 seconds left, but can’t hold it. Boe scores an uncontested layup with 25 seconds to go. Atkins splits a pair at the line to make it 57-54. Ormond is fouled. He makes the first free throw and misses the second, but a jump ball is called on the rebound — Mavericks possession. Boe sets up Ormond for a layup to tie it at 57-57 with 15 seconds left. The Bruins turn it over, Boe’s hurried shot from the foul line misses at the buzzer, and it’s on to overtime — the first one, that is.

After Cole Patrick sinks a pair at the line, Barlow leads 64-61 with 19 seconds left. Should the Bruins foul intentionally? They don’t, and when Mountainside’s Blake Thune swishes a 3 with five seconds left, a second extra session is on.

The teams go back and forth with baskets until Ryan Bierbrauer’s layup pushes Barlow ahead 72-69 with 42 seconds remaining. Boe splits a pair at the line with 21 seconds to play. Bierbrauer is fouled and follows suit, and Barlow leads 73-70 with 18 seconds on the clock. Johnson chooses again not to foul, and this time it works out. The Mavericks miss a pair of 3-point tries, Ormond scores off a rebound with .4 of a second left, and the Bruins escape with a 73-72 win.

Boe puts on a show with 35 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Thanks to some help defense and hounding by Atkins, he also has eight turnovers.

“We haven’t seen a player like Boe all year,” Johnson says afterward. “We had such a hard time containing him. Tried four people on him. A couple of times, we did a pretty good job of chasing him with another guy and caused turnovers, but he’s tough. His size and his craftiness — he is good. We were fortunate to win.”

Atkins scores 24 of his points after halftime, finishing with 31 points, four rebounds and three assists. He also has seven steals.

“Jalen did what he has done all year for us down the stretch,” Johnson says. “He is one of the most clutch players I have ever coached. He has hit four game-winning shots this year. He carried us down the stretch offensively.”

Atkins is one of the reasons why the Bruins are 5-0 in overtime games this season.

“Good players make big plays at the end of close games,” Johnson says. “We’ve had some kids make some big plays.”

For awhile Thursday night, Atkins couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with his shot.

“That didn’t deter him,” Johnson says, “which says a lot about his mental toughness.”

Johnson is fifth on the all-time Oregon high school boys basketball coaching list with more than 600 victories in his 39-year career as a head coach, 36 of them at Barlow. He has never coached a state championship team, however. Now he is in Friday’s semifinals against Tualatin, a team the Bruins beat 86-85 in December.

And maybe he will have a change of heart in one of his coaching philosophies.

In double overtime victories over Clackamas and Mountainside over the past 2 1/2 weeks, Barlow has taken a three-point lead into the closing seconds of the first overtime. Johnson has chosen not to intentionally foul for profit. Each time, the opponent has hit a 3-pointer to force a second extra session.

“That’s been something we have discussed over and over as a group (of coaches),” he says. “I’m old-school, but I was kicking myself on that. That’s happened twice. The thing that concerned me, we gave up three offensive rebounds off of missed free throws. But we’ll practice it tomorrow.”

Four games that all go down to the closing seconds. That doesn’t often happen on quarterfinal Thursday.

It turns out to be 8 1/2 hours of bedlam. Now I’m ready for bed.

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