| Class 5A boys final: Jefferson 57, Mountain View 48 |
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2010 OSAA 5A Boys Basketball State Championship - Round 5 - Game 1 - Boys Basketball
5A boys: Terrence Jones, Jefferson get past Mountain View for third title in a row
By Doug Binder, special to The Oregonian, March 14, 2010 3:52 p.m.
EUGENE -- Whatever argument Terrence Jones might want to put forth about why he deserves to be mentioned among the great basketball players out of Oregon, it should always begin with this: Three in a row, baby.
Jones talked from the beginning of the season about trying to make history and leading his team to a three-peat. And although Mountain View did not let the coronation come easy Saturday in the OSAA Class 5A boys basketball final at McArthur Court, the Democrats won 57-48.
"We made (winning three championships) our goal freshman year," Jones said. "We worked hard since then. This is the best way to end it, to leave this way, especially with my brothers that I came in with."
Jones and his teammates bounced in unison, three fingers aloft, and chanted "Three-peat! Three-peat!"
Jefferson (26-2) became the first school to win three in a row among those schools now in Class 5A or 6A. Central (1988-90) and Regis (2003-05), at smaller classifications, have matched the feat. The championship is Jefferson's sixth overall.
The evening was a double-coronation for Jefferson, which won the girls championship at the beginning of the tournament's final session.
The top-ranked Democrats missed 11 of their first 12 shots from the field and trailed 6-4 at the end of the first quarter. At halftime, they were down 23-22.
"They caught us on a bad outside-shooting night and a bad defensive night," Jefferson coach Pat Strickland said. "They were penetrating by us. We weren't hitting shots. At halftime we made a few adjustments."
One of those adjustments was to take Stephen Madison, struggling from the outside, and make him the focal point of the offense against the Cougars' 2-3 zone.
No. 3 Mountain View (26-2) of Bend took a 30-23 lead, its biggest of the game, with 4:39 left in the third quarter when Ryan Fisher tipped in a teammate's miss.
But Antoine Hosley hit a couple of big three-pointers from the corner to help Jefferson catch up and pull into the lead. He made one to cut the Cougars' lead to 33-32, and then made one to start the fourth quarter that put the Democrats of North Portland in front 39-38.
Madison, an offseason transfer from Prairie High School in Battle Ground, Wash., scored on a three-point play and then made a layup inside to help the Democrats build a cushion.
Jefferson even went into a stall, with a 46-43 lead, for about two minutes in the fourth quarter just to drain the clock.
But it was Jones, the McDonald's All-American, who stepped up to close the deal late. He made a three-point play to put Jefferson up 50-43 with 2:26 left. He had a steal and a blocked shot and made two more free throws after that as the Democrats counted down to title No. 3 in a row.
"Terrence was Terrence," Strickland said. "He takes over at opportunistic times and takes a lot of attention, so that frees up the guys a whole lot."
Jones, who had three first-half dunks, finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and four steals.
He became the sixth player in state history to score 800 points in a season, finishing with 810. He finished his career with 1,793 points.
Jones, who has carried the weight of recruiting speculation all season, has indicated he will choose among five finalists (Oklahoma, Kentucky, UCLA, Washington and Oregon) after the season. UCLA coach Ben Howland was in attendance Saturday.
Mountain View, in the final for the first time, refused to back down. James Reid scored 11 points and Mark Claar and Fisher added 10 apiece for the Cougars.
Mountain View's lone loss of the season before the final was a one-point loss to The Dalles-Wahtonka.
Jefferson coach Pat Strickland won his second title as a head coach. He also played in two state finals (1988 and 1989 at Wilson) and was an assistant coach on two Jefferson title teams (2000 and 2008).
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