‘Let’s get it this time.’ After coming up just short in football, Tualatin eyes 6A boys basketball crown; top-seeded Timberwolves take care of Beaverton in tournament opener

“We have a physical aspect, and that definitely came from football. That’s an advantage for us over a lot of teams.”

By Dan Brood | Photos by Taylor Balkom 

Playoff pressure.

Postseason success.

Players on the Tualatin boys basketball team know all about those things. And the Timberwolves rode that experience to an impressive Class 6A state tournament-opening victory.

The Timberwolves, whose roster includes eight players who played for the Tualatin football squad that reached the Class 6A state championship game, opened the tournament by rolling to a 54-43 win over Beaverton in a quarterfinal contest Wednesday at the University of Portland’s Chiles Center. 

“Man, it’s big. This is the first step, the first part of the goal,” Tualatin senior post Peter Burke said. “So, this was a big game. It was exciting. It’s fun to play in this arena. It was a good win.” 

“It feels good to know that we’re part of the final four,” Tualatin senior post Kellen Hale said. “We’ve been working for that all year. We’ve got to take it step-by-step, game-by-game.”

Burke and Hale were star players for the Tualatin football team that lost to Central Catholic in the Class 6A state title game this past fall. They’re looking, along with their Timberwolves teammates, to hoist the state championship trophy at the end of the basketball tournament – and their football experience could play a big part in that. 

“We’ve been through the pressure side of things,” Burke said. “It’s obviously a lot different, but it’s like, ‘OK, we’re doing it again, let’s get it this time.’” 

“It’s kind of cool to get to the final four twice,” Hale said. “Obviously, we came up short in football, so we don’t want to do that again. That’s motivation.”

With the win, its 14th in a row, top-seeded Tualatin, the Three Rivers League champion, improved to 24-2. The Timberwolves advance to the semifinal round of the state tournament, where they’ll face TRL rival West Linn at 1:30 p.m. Friday at the Chiles Center. 

“This was real fun,” Burke said. “This is where we want to be, and the games we want to be winning.”

Beaverton, the No. 2 team out of the Metro League, moved to 19-7. The Beavers will play South Medford in a tournament consolation semifinal game at 9 a.m. Thursday at the Chiles Center. 

“From the start, this has been the goal,” Beaverton sophomore guard Max Elmgren said of getting to the state tournament. “Obviously, this isn’t the way we wanted it to go. But we deserve to be here, as much as anyone else.”

Tualatin – maybe behind its football mentality – got off to a flying start to the contest.

With its swarming defense forcing turnovers and creating transition opportunities, and with senior Malik Ross, junior Josiah Lake and junior Ryan Schleicher sinking 3-pointers, the Timberwolves sprinted to a 21-7 lead with 22 seconds left in the first quarter. Elmgren, with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the corner, trimmed the deficit to 21-10 at the end of the opening period.

Beaverton senior Christian Gonzalez scored on a drive to the hoop to open the second quarter. But the Tualatin defense wouldn’t allow the Beavers to score again over the next 5:16. 

Ross tallied nine points in the period for Tualatin, helping the Timberwolves claim a 32-16 halftime lead. 

“We were patient with the ball. We worked together,” Hale said. “We were talking and playing together on both offense and defense.”

Tualatin struggled some on offense in the third quarter, scoring just seven points in the period. Beaverton, with sophomore Aidan Rice sinking a 3-pointer and scoring five points, trimmed the Tualatin lead to 39-25 going to the fourth quarter.

The Timberwolves led 48-34 after Ross converted a 3-point play with 2:31 left in the game.

Beaverton, still fighting, got two 3-point baskets by Rice to make it 52-43 with 42 seconds remaining.

“Coming out of a timeout, we knew we needed to hit some shots,” Elmgren said. “Coach (Andrew Vancil) told us any three was in our range, and we needed to take those to get back into it. We had some big stops. That helped out as well.”

But Tualatin, with Ross sinking two free throws with 12.3 seconds to play, was able to close out the 54-43 victory.

“They sit in that zone, so we had to figure out how to attack that zone,” Burke said. “We got good looks, got open shots. We played well in transition. That’s what we like to do. And we just flew around on defense, causing turnovers.”

“We have a physical aspect, and that definitely came from football,” Hale said. “That’s an advantage for us over a lot of teams. We’re all super tight. We’ve been playing together for a long time.” 

Ross, a star running back/defensive back during football season, led all scorers with 22 points, going 8 for 9 from the free throw line in the process. Lake had 13 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals. Hale added eight points and four rebounds.

Burke, a standout receiver during football season, in addition to having four assists, pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds – snaring many of those the same way he would going up to grab a fade pass in the end zone. 

“It transitions from football — it’s all similar,” Burke said with a smile. “Football helps with the physical side of the game, and a lot of us, we’ve been playing together for a long, long time.”

Rice led Beaverton with 13 points, sinking three 3-pointers and scoring 11 of his points in the second half. He had a team-high five rebounds. Senior guard Trevon Hamilton added 11 points, two assists and three steals. Elmgren had eight points and two assists. 

“This was great,” Elmgren said of the experience. “This has been a goal of mine, to play in the state tournament, since I started watching basketball. I can’t wait to do it again, and it’s not over.”

Gonzalez added six points for the Beavers.

Beaverton is now looking to come back strong for its game Thursday.

“Either team we play tomorrow should be a battle,” Elmgren said. “We’re shooting for the consolation title now. We want to get that. So, we have to come back tomorrow and bounce back.”