Jackson Shelstad, Adrian Mosley help West Linn ‘shock the world’ by taking down Bronny James and mighty Sierra Canyon

“The atmosphere was unreal. The whole state of Oregon had our backs that game. ... The whole gym was shaking.”

Bob Lundeberg | Dec 30, 2022

By Bob Lundeberg | Photos by Taylor Balkom

HILLSBORO — The Les Schwab Invitational was long overdue for a monster upset.

Jackson Shelstad, Adrian Mosley and company were up to the task Thursday night.

In one of the biggest stunners in tournament history, West Linn leaned on its toughness and intelligence to take down mighty Sierra Canyon, 86-69, before an electric crowd at Liberty High School in Hillsboro, Oregon. The Lions trailed by one at the break and dazzled the home crowd in the second half to earn a spot in the final against national No. 1 Duncanville.

“We just tried not to pay attention to the names,” said Mosley, who put up 28 points and 11 rebounds on the Bronny James-led Trailblazers. “We just go out there and try to play as hard as we can. I feel comfortable being the underdog because I have been for a long time now. But as everyone knows, when me and Jackson step on the court together, I think anything is possible.”

Added Shelstad: “Me and Adrian have been playing against those caliber of players most of our lives. So, we just came into the game confident, knowing we can play with those guys. Even though they are a national team, we’ve been doing this since we were young. We came out hungry.”

West Linn Sierra Canyon Les Schwab Invitational Taylor Balkom 59

Shelstad, who netted a game-high 38 points, scored the final eight points of the first half as West Linn headed to the locker room down just 41-40. Head coach Robert Key said the Lions followed the defensive game plan to a T against Sierra Canyon, ranked 16th nationally in the SBLive/Sports Illustrated Power 25.

“Just making them shoot it over the top and not beat us in the paint too much,” Key said. Sierra Canyon started two 6-foot-8 players and brought 6-foot-9 Jimmy Oladokun off the bench; West Linn’s two tallest starters were Mark Hamper and Sam Leavitt, both 6-3.

“They made some shots early, and I told the kids, ‘If it’s a close game at halftime, we’re not going to make any adjustments.’ And it was a one-point game at halftime, so we stayed the course.”

Sierra Canyon started 4 of 4 from three-point range but finished 7 for 25. Shockingly, West Linn didn’t make a three in 12 attempts.

“That is crazy,” Shelstad said after learning the Lions went 0fer from deep. “We were getting to the rack, getting a lot of fouls. I don’t know how many free throws we shot, but we were just attacking because they were in foul trouble.”

West Linn went 26 of 34 (76 percent) from the line — Shelstad made 16 of 18 — while Sierra Canyon was 10 of 15. The undersized Lions also held their own on the boards, winning the rebounding battle 37-34.

Mosley credited the Lions’ two future college football players — Hamper (Idaho) and Leavitt (Michigan State) — for bringing much-needed toughness to the hardwood.

“Basketball is their second sport, but I feel like they do both sports just as well,” Mosley said. “Football lifting and basketball lifting are not comparable. They are big, strong guys and I feel like they can guard anybody.”

West Linn Sierra Canyon Les Schwab Invitational Taylor Balkom 44

Added Shelstad: “Just competing wise, I think our team is pretty special. … Being undersized doesn’t really matter just because we’re tough and we have high-IQ players to get it done.”

Key said the team spends extra time in practice working on boxing out and playing defense. Sierra Canyon’s bigs towered over the smaller Lions, but positioning and aggressiveness won the day.

“That’s one thing we drill in practice about: shot location afterwards,” Key said. “I have a big, strong group of kids that pay attention to detail on that every day in practice. Our practices are like games with boxing out, and that’s the No. 1 key. We play defense because I know we’re going to score. We’re going to score at all times.”

Mosley (10 points) and Shelstad (eight) scored all but two of West Linn’s first-quarter points as Sierra Canyon led 24-20 after eight action-packed minutes. Mosley closed the period with a coast-to-coast layup, getting free near the rim with a smooth spin move.

A three-pointer by James gave the Trailblazers their biggest lead of the night at 33-21, but terrific interior finishes from Mosley and Shelstad kept the Lions in it. Shelstad’s scoring flurry at the end of the half ignited the crowd and gave West Linn a shot in the arm.

“That was a big momentum boost and a confidence boost for me as well,” the Oregon signee said. “The atmosphere was unreal. The whole state of Oregon had our backs that game. You heard the defensive chants; the whole gym was shaking. That helped us big-time.”

West Linn Sierra Canyon Les Schwab Invitational Taylor Balkom 41

The crowd only got louder as West Linn proved the first half’s events weren’t a fluke. Three more Mosley jumpers put the Lions up by five, and Shelstad made it 58-51 by converting all three free throws after drawing a shooting foul with 1.5 seconds to go in the third.

With Mosley and Hamper in foul trouble, Sierra Canyon pulled within four early in the fourth. But the Lions quickly pushed the lead to 10 as Shelstad hit Mosely for a whirling finish that made it 67-57 with about four minutes to play. A Hamper and-one on the next possession sent the crowd into pandemonium.

“I just feed off the crowd,” Mosley said. “It’s amazing that we’re in our city and we got the crowd to be on our side like that. Tonight, I feel like the crowd involvement really helped us a lot.”

The final three-plus minutes were mostly a formality as Sierra Canyon continued to brick jumper after jumper. Isaiah Elohim had some strong interior finishes while scoring 17 points, but his teammates were content to settle for perimeter shots.

Mosley said West Linn’s zone defense was the perfect bait.

“We wanted them to shoot the three,” he said. “They’re bigger than us, so if they got deep into the paint, we probably wouldn’t have had a chance.”

James, who starred in Sierra Canyon’s first two LSI games, was held to 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

West Linn Sierra Canyon Les Schwab Invitational Taylor Balkom 20

Meanwhile, Shelstad and Mosley combined for 66 points on the biggest stage of their young careers.

“It was fun to watch,” Key said. “Fun to be a part of, fun to coach. Those kids are terrific players, and it’s all the way from the bottom to the top. All those kids were very engaged.”

After scoring one of the premier upsets in LSI history, West Linn will have an opportunity to pull off arguably the biggest at 8:45 p.m. Friday.

Duncanville, ranked No. 1 in the country with a 15-0 record, dispatched national No. 20 Bishop Gorman 83-72 in the semifinals. The Panthers are bigger and deeper than Sierra Canyon, but Mosley said West Linn will run with the same game plan.

“Just go in there with the same intensity and try to shock the world again,” Mosley said.

—