Future Oregon State teammates help star-studded Oregon roster beat Washington at girls basketball all-star game

“I’m just excited that I was able to play with these girls.”

By René Ferrán | Photo by Ken Waz  

The Oregon girls had lost the previous five games in the WAVOR The Game all-star basketball series against their Washington compatriots. 

But the Oregon girls hadn’t had a collection of talent to rival this year’s senior class in several years. 

Nine Division I signees took part in Sunday’s game at Liberty High School in Hillsboro on Sunday, and a couple of future Oregon State teammates helped Oregon end its slide with a 93-80 victory.

WATCH: Game highlights

South Medford’s Donovyn Hunter was named player of the game after recording a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Barlow’s Kennedie Shuler added 16 points and eight rebounds. 

“I’m just excited that I was able to play with these girls,” Hunter said. “We’ve either played each other in our AAU seasons or our high school seasons, so to be able to actually come together and play together, and me and Kennedie are going to Oregon State, so to get a glimpse of what that’s going to look like is always a cool opportunity.”

Shuler was well aware that Washington had dominated the series of late, winning 11 of the previous 13 meetings. She said “that kind of gave us a little chip on our shoulder. But at the end of the day, we just went out and played our game.”

While the team got together for practices only a few days ago, there was plenty of familiarity among the 10 players. Beaverton had three players — Madison Naro, Zoe Borter and 2021-22 Class 6A player of the year Lainey Spear — on the roster, while Jesuit had McDonald’s All-American Sofia Bell and Emma Sixta.

In addition, the team boasted club teammates from the Northwest Select and Cal Stars programs who had familiarity with one another.

“I could have felt like an outsider,” said Hunter, who was the only player from outside the Portland area. “But Ella (Wedin) and Sofia, I played with them for my Cal Stars team the past couple of years, and then I spent a lot of time with Kennedie, so I didn’t really feel like an outcast. Everyone made sure that everyone felt included.”

Oregon coach Larry Benson took advantage of the cohesion these teammates had when creating his rotations for Sunday’s game.

“Most of these kids played on either one club team or another, and they’ve known each other, and they like each other. To me, it’s a huge deal,” Benson said. “We’d go to games to watch Olivia (Poulivaati) at Tualatin, and we look up in the stands, and there’s Kennedie and Rhyan (Mogel) watching her because they play on the same club team.”

Benson put together an all-Beavers starting lineup — the Beaverton trio and future OSU teammates Shuler and Hunter — because “in the first half, we wanted the Beaverton girls to play one last time together, and we wanted the two Jesuit girls to play together one last time.

“Then, at halftime, we switched the groups to who they played with on their club teams. We told them from Day 1, we want you to have fun. We want you to be happy. So, hopefully, they had fun, they’re happy, because for Coach (Bob) Wismer and I, it was fun for us.”

Oregon never trailed in Sunday’s game, with Spear scoring all eight of her points in the first three minutes to propel the team to a 15-7 lead.

Washington closed the gap to 15-14 on a three-pointer by Annalee Coronado of Othello, but a 10-0 run capped by a Hunter three-pointer pushed the lead to 25-14.

Shuler’s three-pointer right before the halftime buzzer kicked off a 9-0 run that gave Oregon a 54-36 lead two minutes into the second half. The margin never fell below double digits again, with Oregon’s biggest lead coming with 7:58 left, 76-52 after two free throws by Mogel.

“One of our rules today was, don’t pass up a good shot,” said Naro, who had 12 points and five assists. “Just move the ball around, and whoever gets the best shot, take it. But it’s a hard shot selection. It’s almost like, ‘Oh, do I shoot this when I have Sofia Bell in the corner or Kennedie in the other corner?’ I mean, it’s just a lot of talent around you.”

Washington leads the series 17-10, but with the upcoming classes in Oregon, that margin could close in the next couple of years. 

“We’re a super fantastic class of 2023, and there’s even more talent coming,” Shuler said. “So, we’re just kind of laying out the groundwork for the rest of the years.”

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Oregon 93, Washington 80

       Washington — Hope Hassmann (Tahoma) 5-11 0-0 12, Imbie Jones (Garfield) 2-7 0-0 4, Jenna Villa (Arlington) 6-16 7-7 23, Ava Schmidt (Eastlake) 2-8 0-2 4, Claire O’Connor (Lakeside) 2-12 0-0 5, Annalee Coronado (Othello) 1-4 0-0 3, Lucy Lynn (Gonzaga Prep) 2-3 2-2 7, Isabel Sullivan (Eastside Catholic) 2-6 2-2 8, Adria Lincoln (Monroe) 4-7 0-2 8, Vivienne Lee Berrett (Stanwood) 3-5 0-1 6. Totals 29-79 11-16 80.

       Oregon — Kennedie Shuler (Barlow) 6-13 1-2 16, Donovyn Hunter (South Medford) 9-17 2-2 21, Zoe Borter (Beaverton) 2-9 0-0 5, Lainey Spear (Beaverton) 3-9 0-0 8, Madison Naro (Beaverton) 3-6 5-6 12, Olivia Poulivaati (Tualatin) 2-6 1-2 6, Ella Anne Wedin (La Salle Prep) 1-7 0-0 3, Rhyan Mogel (Clackamas) 2-7 4-4 8, Sofia Bell (Jesuit) 5-12 2-2 12, Emma Sixta (Jesuit) 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 34-88 15-18 93.

       Halftime—Oregon 48, Washington 36. Three-point goals—Washington 11-34 (Hassmann 2, Villa 4, O’Connor, Coronado, Lynn, Sullivan 2), Oregon 10-38 (Shuler 3, Spear 2, Hunter, Borter, Naro, Poulivaati, Wedin). Rebounds—Washington 50 (Hassmann, Jones, O’Connor, Lincoln 6), Oregon 57 (Hunter 10; Shuler, Poulivaati 8). Assists—Washington 17 (O’Connor 5), Oregon 23 (Hunter, Naro 5). Turnovers—Washington 21, Oregon 15. Fouls—Washington 14, Oregon 16.