Just 51 seconds after the ball was tipped Tuesday night, Lakeridge coach Fred Gold was shouting for a timeout as his Pacers faced a nearly immediate eight-point deficit to West Linn.
The Lions would never trail and cruised to a 92-74 home victory on Senior Night in a game that marked head coach Tyler Toney’s return to the bench after suffering a stroke two weeks ago.
“It was good to be back in competition,” Toney said. “My plan was to sit down most of the game and that went out the door about 10 seconds into the game.”
By that point, West Linn already led 3-0. Four seconds into the contest, senior Nolan Bertain knocked down an open three on a pass from senior point guard Braden Olsen.
Senior Khalid Thomas blocked Lakeridge’s Nate Ninteman on the following possession, and Olsen found senior Rodney Hounshell for an open three. Olsen then stole the ball and scored an easy layup and Gold was forced to take a timeout, quickly trailing 8-0.
“I thought they had the ‘We’re playing West Linn’ in their head,” Gold said of the Pacers’ initial mindset.
The Lions stretched the score to 30-11 with a minute remaining in the first quarter, and their lead would hover around 20 points for the remainder of the contest.
Thomas led the way for West Linn with 27 points, including four dunks. Olsen kept his stat line symmetrical with 11 points and 11 assists, and junior post Keishon Dawkins played large in the paint on his way to 13 points.
Lakeridge senior Aundree Polk made 10 free throws and eight field goals on his way to a game-high 28 points.
Toney had not been on the sideline for West Linn’s previous four games — all wins. He returned Tuesday after receiving the OK from his doctor and a begrudging one from his wife.
“She worries about me,” Toney said. “But she gave me the green light — or maybe the yellow light — but I was good to go.”
Toney coached quite the performance from his team, especially the seniors who shone brightly on the night they were honored.
Despite suffering a bloody nose that required two cotton balls in each nostril, Olsen controlled the offense for the Lions and had plenty of weapons from which to choose.
“They’re so long and athletic. It’s great playing with them,” Olsen said of his teammates.
He assisted Bertain on three first-half threes, including a banked-in trey to give West Linn a 35-14 lead, and he assisted the rangy 6-foot-9 Thomas on some of his highlight-reel plays.
Thomas made a reverse alley-oop layup from Olsen look easy. Next, he threw down a couple of dunks that seemed incomplete without a SportsCenter jingle attached to them.
“My eyes get real big,” Thomas said. “As soon as I know Braden’s about to pass it to me, my feet are already ready to go and I get it and I’m gonna go up, no matter what, to dunk it.”
Toney was pleased with the Lions’ teamwork and speed of play.
“We jumped out on them right away,” Toney said. “And we played at a tempo that we want to play at. We want to get up and down and we want to play in the 80s and 90s.”
Lakeridge fell to 14-6 overall and 7-5 in the Three Rivers League, while West Linn improved to 17-4 and 12-0. Having already clinched a league title, the question for the Lions has become a much bigger one.
The four-time defending state champions are an elite squad and showcase brilliance at times, but they are widely considered to be the second-best team in the state.
“I like our chances against anyone, but Jefferson’s got to be the best team in state,” Toney said. “They haven’t lost to an Oregon team. They have probably the best player in the state of Oregon and they have two or three Pac-12 players.”
Jefferson, which beat Franklin 110-61 on Tuesday, is viewed as the favorite to win the Class 6A championship, which is unique considering West Linn has been the state’s premier team for the past several seasons.
“It’s kind of nice that we’re doing the chasing, instead of everyone trying to chase us,” Toney said.
He noted the advantages of being a part of the pack — including Clackamas and Grant, among others — that is chasing down a No. 1 team. To chase is to stay competitive, and Toney believes his team can grow from the process.
“A lion doesn’t roar after its kill,” he said. “It roars during its chase. The chase is where you become a team and find a lot of good things about each other.”
Thomas and Olsen said the Lions need to focus on getting in better shape, crucial for teams that like to run, while Toney offered that they need to continue to abstain from hero-ball and one-on-one play.
Jefferson defeated West Linn 90-77 on Jan. 16, but there certainly will be plenty of intrigue if the two teams meet up again next month at the Chiles Center.
“Jeff is right now, head and shoulders, the best team in state,” Toney said. “But we still got a few weeks left.”
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