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The INDEPENDENT, March 7, 2012
VHS boys basketball brings home fourth place trophy from state
The Vernonia High School Loggers boys basketball team, ppictured after winning the
OSAA/U.S. Bank/Les Schwab Tires trophy for fourth plac with a 46-37 win over the Weston
McEwen TigerScots on March 3 in Pendleton. Photo by Mike Weber.
From page 1
second, both squads scored 13
points apiece, with the Loggers
up 25-22 at halftime. Vernon-
ia’s starting five of seniors
Pavel Jiranek, Byron Weller,
Craig Weller, Austin Edgar and
junior Austin Cutright all scored
in the first half.
Leading 33-30 after three,
Vernonia took control of the
game in the fourth with an 11-5
run, capped by Craig Weller’s
two free throws, for a 44-35 ad-
vantage with 1:29 remaining in
the game. Edgar (9 points, 12
rebounds) a 6-foot-6 center
and Cutright (14 pts., 15 rebs.)
were
Vernonia’s
leading
scores.
In Vernonia’s Thursday Mar.
1 opening round quarterfinal
contest, the Regis Rams (26-4)
came from behind to get a 38-
36 win over the Loggers.
The Loggers got off to a
great start in building a 21-15
halftime advantage. Vernonia
increased the lead to double
digits as Cutright sank two
jump shots and Byron Weller
scored to make it 29-19 mid-
way through the third quarter.
The Rams responded with a 5-
0 run, trimming the margin to
29-24. Jiranek sank a 17-foot
pull-up buzzer-beating jumper
at the end of the third for a 31-
24 Logger lead.
The hard fought battle con-
tinued in the fourth and Vernon-
ia junior Jesse Edgar sank a
jumper from the corner for a
35-27 edge. A momentum
changing 11-1 Regis rally lifted
the Rams in front as the Logger
shots failed to drop at the end.
“We really felt like we
should've won against Regis
and we had our chances, but it
was a tough, heartbreaking
loss,” said Austin Edgar. “We
relaxed a little bit after getting a
lead and then they made a
comeback to get the win.”
In their second game Friday
in the consolation bracket, Ver-
nonia recorded an impressive
34-32 come-from-behind win
over the Central Linn (CL) Co-
bras (16-13) in an elimination
game. Vernonia struggled early
and fell behind 15-10 at the half
while scoring just one point in
the second quarter. The Log-
gers offensive woes continued
in the third when CL extended
its lead to 26-17.
“We should’ve won against
Regis, because we were the
better team,” said David Weller.
On February 25, the Loggers beat Pilot Rock 85-55 and went
on to take fourth place at state. Photo by Gary Kinney.
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“We missed lots of shots, we let
an eight-point lead slip away
and scored just five points in
the fourth quarter, which isn’t
enough. The guys were pretty
upset about the loss. I was
worried about how well they
would respond. The challenge
was there for them of either
playing their last game or mov-
ing on in the tournament and
playing again Saturday.”
Byron Weller (7 pts., 4 as-
sists) ignited a 9-0 Logger rally
overlapping the third and fourth
quarters as he scored seven
straight Logger points. Weller
made a layup, was fouled and
converted a three-point play.
His outside jumper trimmed the
deficit to 26-22 after three and
he sank an 8-foot jumper in the
lane early in the fourth, making
it 26-24. Byron’s twin brother
Craig fired in a jumper from the
free throw line, knotting the
score at 26 with 6:51 left in the
game.
The seesaw battle, which in-
cluded six ties and seven lead
changes, continued for the re-
mainder of the contest. Three
more tied scores followed, with
the last one at 32-32. With time
winding down on the score-
board clock, Austin Edgar
pumped in a game-winning
jumper from the free throw line
with 58 seconds left, giving
Vernonia a 34-32 advantage.
“I honestly didn’t know that it
would be the game-winning
shot,” said Austin Edgar. “I
wasn’t even aware of how
much time was left until after
making the shot. It was the
same type of shot that I always
take. I was glad that I made it
and I definitely knew that
maybe it would be the winning
basket.”
CL had a chance to tie with
two possessions in the game’s
final moments but the Loggers
stepped up defensively to
make big plays at the end to
get the big win. Central Linn of
Halsey, was eliminated from
the tournament after back-to-
back losses. The Loggers ad-
vanced to play in Saturday’s
fourth place trophy contest.
Vernonia qualified for the
state tournament following an
85-55 first round playoff home
win over the Pilot Rock Rock-
ets February 25. It marked the
second year in row the Loggers
qualified for the playoffs. Ver-
nonia lost in a first round con-
test last year to the Western
Mennonite Pioneers.