Summit boys, Mtn. View girls among five Bend high school teams set to tip off in OSAA 6A state basketball playoffs
(Update: Adding video, comment from players, coaches)
Storm boys bring perfect record into the postseason
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- As the calendar turns to March, Bend high school basketball teams are gearing up for playoff runs.
Five teams -- the Summit, Mountain View and Bend High School boys and Bend and Mountain View's girls -- made the postseason in 6A.
Mountain View sophomore forward Avery Andrews told NewsChannel 21 on Tuesday, “I was excited, because I didn’t know the girls basketball team hadn’t made it in 11 years.”
Her teammate and fellow sophomore, Kasey Booster, actually had a sister on the last Cougar team to make the postseason in 2011.
“A little shocked, because I didn’t expect a such a young team to show like we did,” The guard said.
Young is nearly an understatement. The Cougars have just two seniors, but the leaders are the two sophomores, Booster and Andrews.
“We only have two juniors and two seniors, I knew I was going to have to step up a little more,” Booster said.
And leading this young squad? A new head coach this season, in Jon Corbett. Corbett was actually an assistant on the 2011 team before he coached the Redmond boys team.
"It was really a lot of building for the future," Corbett said. "Looking towards tomorrow, and then with the early success, the expectations kind of changed.”
On the boys side, the clear favorite from Bend are the undefeated but No. 2-seeded Summit Storm.
Summit senior guard Julian Mora said, “I think we try not to worry about that best we can. I think we know what we can do.”
Fellow senior Truman Teuber added, "No one is going to remember that (we are the second seed), as long as we win a state championship.”
The Storm are 51-10 over the past three years, and the assistant coach, Joe Wells, gives all the credit to the players.
“They put in the work," he said. "They’re here, grinding, before, after practice."
And even after an undefeated regular season, the playoffs are another notch up.
Summit senior Caden Harris said, "It's a little more pressure, but I feel like we all like the pressure."
The No. 2 Storm host No. 31 Liberty Tuesday night in the opening round of the postseason at 6 p.m. The 25th-seed Lava Bears visit Beaverton at 6 p.m., while the No. 17 seed Cougars travel to Lake Oswego, with tip-off set for 6:30 p.m..
Girls action tips off Wednesday, with the No. 22 Lava Bears visiting No. 11-seed Jefferson at 6 p.m.. and at 6:30 p.m., the 20th-seed Cougars are also hitting the road to face No. 13-seed Oregon City.
