With the end of the Fall sports season and Friday night football at a close, a new set of sports began anew with Tigard Basketball at the forefront. The boys varsity team had the thrill of the game from the start.
Mirroring the football team, they took the first two games against Newberg and David Douglass going 81-57 and 74-48 respectively. Their game against West Salem on Dec. 10 in their home court was their most low scoring game when they finished 61-59 but they still advanced to a 3 – 0 record.
The game was as close as the score.
Tigard maintained no faults in the first quarter and kept control on the court. To start loud and proud, Steven Long (#3) rushed in close only to pass to Brett Moss (#4) on the outside for a 3. The student section had a fanfare with the only points of the game belonging to them and the team kept this ferocity throughout the rest of the quarter scoring 16 – 5.
However, towards the start of Q2, West Salem had much more contact with the ball, played far more aggressively and above all else, ceased Tigard from scoring any further.
“I thought the game was going to be a blowout based on that first quarter, I guess not,” spectator and West Salem teacher William Maher said.
In theme with the end of Q1, the West Salem team did a 180 almost as if the two teams had switched positions. WSHS upped their game while Tigard assumed quantity over quality with quick, unorganized moves.
Eight shots were attempted, eight shots were missed; the only points gained were from the four free throws. West Salem came from their 11-point deficit taking the lead at 20-23, but the game had been slow, nonetheless. No one would charge in, and everyone was playing it safe.
West Salem was riding their 19 consecutive points until one 2-pointer by Moss caused a slurry of boldness mixed with a bit of carelessness. Like arcade basketball shooting, both teams tried to score as much as possible as fast as possible. Left and right, the fans’ heads would follow the ball. Two 2-pointers by West Salem, a 3 by Kalim Brown (#11), another 2 by WSHS and yet another 3 by Drew Carter (#5) all within 26 seconds.
No one was holding back and Tigard wanted to regain the lead.
By the top of Q4, Edward Beglaryan (#20) took control with the aid of Carter to break a 39-39 tie. From inside, Carter passed to Beglaryan for a 3. In a mirror play, Carter stole the ball, once again passing to Beglaryan and again scored a three. Riding the hype Beglaryan ran to whoever would shoot next and stomped on an attempted 3-point from WSHS. The game was in their favor after being so far behind.
Twenty-two seconds remained. West Salem used personals to tie the game back up for a third time at 59-59, but with only 7.2 seconds left on the clock, from the line, Long brought the ball in close, up to the rim and tipped the ball in.
West Salem could still tie the game again in 7.2 seconds, right? Carter begged to differ. To stop any possible buzzer-beater, he stole a pass, ran and dunked the ball after the buzzer rang.
The crowd couldn’t handle the nerves. They yelled and shook the bleachers, only running onto the court once they finished their iconic cheer: “I believe that we have won!”
Within the remainder of December, the Tigers moved into the Capitol City Classic tournament where they lost their first game in round 2 against South Salem. However, in the game for fourth place against West Salem, Tigard’s guard (Carter) went toe to toe with WS’s guard (Justin Scoggin).
Scoggin scoring for 41 points for his team and Carter, impressively made 48 of Tigard’s 86 points. The game ended 86-80 with the Tigard boys advancing to a 6 – 1 record.
