Redmond boys fall in quarterfinals to defending state champs

Published 9:45 am Thursday, March 7, 2024

MCMINNVILLE — Having already pulled off one miracle in the playoffs, the Redmond High boys basketball team nearly found a second one in the Class 5A quarterfinals.

The seventh-seeded Panthers gave No. 2 Wilsonville — the two time defending state champs — all they could handle and then some, but came up just short of the upset, falling 56-51 Wednesday night at Linfield University.

“That’s basketball,” said Redmond junior Jack Snyder, who was named Redmond’s Player of the Game after finishing with 14 points, eight rebounds and four steals. “You go out there and give it your best and there are a couple little things that went their way and didn’t go ours. We played as a team, we left it all out there and I’m proud of our guys.”

Despite being the underdogs, Redmond showed no fear from the opening jump against the defending champs.

“We were ready to go,” said Redmond coach Reagan Gilbertson. “We expected to win this game. I know a lot of people didn’t expect us to win, but we did.”

Even though Wilsonville had opened the season with a 62-37 win over Redmond in the first week of December, the Wildcats were taking the Panthers lightly. The Panthers had advanced to the semifinal round the previous two seasons.

“We tried to talk about the respect we had for them before the game because they’ve been in this quarterfinal gamethe last two years and won both times,” said Wilsonville coach Chris Roche. “So even though they lost some to graduation, these kids have been here, they’re tough, they’re very well-coached and we definitely had all we could handle today.”

The Panthers survived a fast start from the Wildcats, who built a lead as large as 13 points midway through the second quarter. But then the Panthers began chipping away to make it a 30-29 game at halftime.

“They just battled,” Gilbertson said. “They are just full of fight and heart. Our goal is to win a state championship. We can’t do that now, but we can go 1-0 tomorrow and end on a win. Not many playoff teams get to end on a win. They take it hard because they are so competitive. You’ve seen us all year, they fight to the end. And we just didn’t come out on top tonight.”

Sophomore Wyatt Horner was the high scorer for the Panthers, finishing with 19 points. Junior Ian Pearson pitched in eight points while dishing out seven assists.

Redmond was the first team in seven playoff games to score more than 41 points against Wilsonville. The Panthers broke that streak in the third quarter. The game went into the final quarter tied at 43.

Wyatt Horner’s 3 pointer with 3:18 in the fourth left gave the Panthers a 51-50 lead. It was, unfortunately for Redmond, its last bucket of the game.

Wilsonville’s Kallen Gutridge closed out the game with four points and an assist in the final couple of minutes to help the Wildcats pull away. The Oregon State football signee scored a game-high 27 points with 19 of them coming in the second half on 10 of 13 shots.

Redmond will take on No 3 North Eugene in the consolation round Thursday at 10:30 a.m.