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12/27 - 9:00 AM Boys Basketball Final Reynolds 51 Jesuit 52
HILLSBORO – Coming off two losses in a row, the formerly No. 1 Jesuit Crusaders turned in one of their strongest halves of the season to tip off their Les Schwab Invitational against Reynolds.
But after Oregon State commit Drew Eubanks was unshackled in the fourth quarter, Jesuit's once double digit lead shrunk to one point as Reynolds took possession for the game's last shot.
However, that shot never came.
With less than 10 seconds to play, Jesuit senior Collin Landry deflected a pass by Reynolds senior guard Cody Starr near half court. Jesuit junior Malcolm Porter lept to corral the ball near the sideline and flung it to sophomore guard Cameron Parker, who dribbled out the clock for the 52-51 win.
“Our team just doesn’t want to lose,” Porter said. “We tried to trap and (allow) nothing easy.”
Jesuit (4-2) has now won its first-round game in the invitational each of the past seven years and will play Wheeler (Ga.) in the quarterfinals tonight at 8:30 p.m.
After leading by as many as 17 points in the first half, the Crusaders’ offense went stagnant in the third quarter.
Senior Reid Bucy had 18 first-half points and Malcolm Porter added 10 to pace Jesuit early, but the Crusaders scored only seven in the third quarter. Cody Starr battled back to put Reynolds back in the game, using his smooth jump shot to add 10 points in the quarter.
Starr finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, six assists and seven turnovers.
“He’s a great leader,” said Eubanks, who finished with 21 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. “We didn’t want to depend on him, but he really came out and shot well.”
Jesuit went scoreless for nearly eight minutes in the second half before a Collin Landry three-pointer from the right corner extended the team’s lead to 44-38 with 5:00 remaining.
The Crusaders led by nine points with 1:26 left before a string of turnovers prevented them from securing the win. Jesuit gave up the ball in the backcourt on three consecutive possessions while Reynolds went on an 8-0 run, led by six points from Eubanks.
“We were causing the turnovers,” Bucy said. “They weren’t doing anything we hadn’t seen before.”
But before the ball could get back into the Oregon State commit’s hands, Landry and Porter forced the game’s most important turnover and preserved the victory.
Reynolds (4-2) will play Liberty in the consolation bracket Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
-- Danny Moran | @DannyJMoran