OT - team loses at home for first time since 1993!

[Mark Padgett]

The Oregon City girls varsity team lost at home last night for the first time since 1993. No, that's not a typo. This team is consistently ranked at or near the top nationally and also here in state. It's probably the best public HS girls program in the nation over the past 20 years. Here's the story from The Oregonian:


Clackamas 68, Oregon City 65: Cavaliers hand Pioneers first home loss since 1993

By Jerry Ulmer, The Oregonian, January 25, 2011 11:27 p.m.

OREGON CITY -- Since 1993, many girls basketball teams have walked into Oregon City's gym with high hopes of knocking off the powerhouse Pioneers. None did, and few came close. Tuesday night, that all changed.

No. 2 Clackamas (15-1, 7-0) built a 16-point lead in the third quarter and made 15 free throws in the fourth quarter to hold on for a 68-65 win over No. 4 Oregon City (12-3, 5-2) in a Three Rivers League game.

It marked the Pioneers' first loss on their home court since losing to Lake Oswego on Feb. 12, 1993, and it puts the Cavaliers in position to end Oregon City's streak of 17 consecutive league titles.

"This win for Clackamas High School is huge," Cavaliers coach Ken Trapp said. "It's also a great win for the 18 years of our kids that have had to come over here. So it was for all of them, and it was for all of the Three Rivers League. You're welcome."

Said senior point guard Natalie Myers: "It is special, yeah. But especially beating them two times in a row."

On Jan. 7, Clackamas ended Oregon City's 45-game league winning streak and a 22-game losing streak to the Pioneers with a 65-54 win. Now, with two wins over Oregon City, and one more game remaining between the teams -- Feb. 11 at Clackamas -- the Cavaliers have a commanding lead in first place.

"We talk about them all the time in practice," Clackamas senior post Jen Reese said of the Pioneers. "It's awesome. It's amazing. I don't even have words. We've worked so hard to get to this point, and it's just one step further."

For Oregon City, the rare home loss presents a challenge.

"What the Pioneers are really all about is being resilient," coach Kurt Guelsdorf said. "We've won state championships when we've finished second or third in our league. Our kids are going to be hurt tonight and down a little bit, but I have a really good confidence that they'll bounce back."

Clackamas took the lead for good late in the first quarter and began to pull away in the second quarter. Sophomore guard Deeshyra Thomas made a three-pointer and a layup to make it 26-17, junior post Natasha Rowland came off the bench for two baskets, and when Reese banked in a running 25-footer at the first-half buzzer, the Cavaliers led 38-25.

The Colorado-bound, 6-foot-2 Reese, who finished with 23 points, had six points early in the third quarter as the lead grew to 46-30.

But Oregon City battled back behind sophomore wing Jenae Paine, who scored 16 of her 19 points in the second half.

"It's Oregon City. They always have that," Reese said of the rally. "We felt like we had the game, and we just didn't keep playing to our full potential. I think that's why they came back."

The Cavaliers didn't wither, though. Each time Oregon City threatened, they responded by making free throws. They made 15 of 21 from the line in the fourth quarter.

Pioneers sophomore point guard Montana Walters banked in a three-pointer with three seconds left to make it 68-65, but the clock ran out on the comeback and Oregon City's home-court dominance.

"We got beat at the free-throw line," Guelsdorf said. "They were getting to the foul line and we weren't, and that's what champions do. Give them a lot of credit. It's a tough loss, but at the same time, it's not do-or-die for us. It's a learning experience."

Johanna Paine, a 6-foot sophomore post, led Oregon City with 21 points. Reese, who averages 19.5 points, led the Cavaliers, and Thomas and Elise Miller added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

"It's just great to be able to beat them anytime," Trapp said. "That's just a tough team to beat, that's all there is to it."

[bob jenkins]

I would have expected this from chseagle.