There were 2.9 seconds left in the OSAA 2A boys basketball state quarterfinals matchup between No. 2 Regis and No. 7 Mannahouse Academy, on Thursday, Feb. 29, at Pendleton High School. The score was tied 45-45 and the Lions' senior captain Jadon Bjornsgard was at the free throw line.
Mannahouse Academy had just achieved its biggest defensive stop of the night before Bjornsgard drew a non-shooting foul against Regis' Isaiah Koehnke. With the Lions in the bonus, Bjornsgard stepped up to the charity stripe for his first free throws of the night.
He missed the first.
This prompted a timeout from Lions' head coach, and Jadon's dad, Ryan Bjornsgard. Out of the break, Jadon stepped back to the line, seemingly unfazed from his miss moments before. With the opportunity to face conference foe Portland Christian in the semifinals on the line, Jadon sunk his second attempt, while his bench and the Lions' fans in attendance erupted.
They intelligently fouled the Rams on their ensuing possession; still clear of the bonus, Mannahouse Academy were able to shed over a second off the clock. Inbounding near mid-court with 1.2 seconds left, Regis overthrew a lob that landed right into 6-foot-9 junior Joshua Louka's fingertips, as the Lions held on for the 46-45 upset victory.
“For sure (was feeling) nerves (with the) packed crowd,” Jadon said. “Just locked in. I remembered I wanted this game too, because beating Regis last year, (it was) for fourth place so it didn’t feel right. But this year, brought the willpower.”
“It’s amazing with him,” Ryan Bjornsgard said. “He was born with severe clubfeet, so he’s not even supposed to be playing. I was proud. I didn’t say much to him after the first shot and I told the guys he’s going to make this one.”
Jadon finished with seven points, five rebounds and three assists, while junior Nolan Schweiss led Mannahouse Academy with 16 points and eight rebounds. Austin Snyder went 3-for-8 from 3-point range to finish with 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals, with Louka and Caleb Dickinson combining for 10 points and 20 rebounds.
Roman Gould led Regis with a team-high 11 points in just 19 minutes. The Rams, who led the classification in total points scored this season, shot just 30.6% from the field and an egregious 15.2% from the 3-point line, with the sharpshooting brother tandem of Isaiah and Lucas Koehnke combing for 4-for-31 from deep. The Lions' defense paved the way, holding Regis to its second-worst scoring output of the season.
“We’ve been talking about it all week,” Ryan Bjornsgard said. “(Regis’ Isaiah Koehnke) can shoot from anywhere and that's something that we tried to emphasize — to put pressure on them."
“One thing we talked about (is that) they're so good and they're going to go on big runs," Ryan Bjornsgard continued. "I think you really got to limit those runs because they are so good. But we really responded to adversity throughout that game and fortunate to pull it off.”
Mannahouse Academy led by as many as 11 points despite the tight finish and absolutely obliterated the Rams on the glass, holding a 52-30 advantage, 20 of which came offensively. Besides securing a spot in the semifinals, the win served as retribution for the program after they were upset as the top-seed against Heppner in the quarterfinals last year.
“We knew (we were going to) upset them,” Jadon said. “Last year man, that hurt us. That really pained us but in the offseason we got ready for this game — we knew we were coming back here. Regis, they’re a good team, too, obviously, credit to them. But we pounded them to be honest.”
“We've had a lot of challenges this year,” Schweiss added. “I've been thinking about this game since literally last year because I've known these boys since third grade and I had to watch them play last year. Now I get to play with them again and have fun, compete and play the game. I love these boys so much, man.”
Mannahouse Academy's fourth battle against Portland Christian this season will be on Friday, March 1, at 3:15 p.m. at the Pendleton Convention Center. The Lions lost both regular season matchups before losing in the league championship 45-44.
“I just told these guys we're going to enjoy this for an hour and then we're going to try to figure (Portland Christian) out. They're kind of a nightmare,” Ryan Bjornsgard said. “I hope we compete and I know we're going to leave it all on the floor and we'll see what happens.”
“We need to keep rebounding. I think last time we played them we came out really hard and executed extremely well," Schweiss added. "And then in the second half, we just kind of let off the gas but we just need to keep pressing on the gas and I think we'll be good.”
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