Lady Bobcats heading to Pendleton

The Nestucca High School girls’ basketball team won their first-round matchup in the OSAA 2A state tournament, outlasting the Colton Vikings to advance with a suspenseful 34-33 win.

The game was back and forth throughout, with Taylor Knight leading the scoring for the Bobcats with 14 points and sister Taylor chipping in eight, and after four scoreless minutes in the final quarter, a Hailee Knight layup lifted Nestucca to victory.

Both teams got off to a slow start and with four minutes gone the Bobcats held a narrow 4-2 advantage as neither team could establish an offensive rhythm. Nestucca was pressing as they looked to penetrate against the Vikings and Colton was off the mark on repeated corner three attempts.

With the score still the same, Nestucca Head Coach Tevin Gianella called a timeout with just under three minutes to go in the quarter. After the pause, both teams continued to struggle, with Colton taking its first lead at 8-7 after a foul call on a last second three led to two made free throws.

Colton’s lead grew with a three pointer on the first possession of the second quarter and both teams went cold after that for several minutes. The Bobcats offense came back to life with two Hurliman layups with around four minutes left to play in the half cut the deficit to 13-11.

Hailee Knight followed up shortly later with two inside baskets of her own to tie the game at 15, before a third gave Nestucca a 17-15 lead. A layup from Makayla Webber and three from Chloe Love in the last minute and a half pushed the lead to seven, but a buzzer beating Viking layup made the score 22-17 at the break.

Colton reeled off four quick points to start the second half and cut the lead to one, before a Taylor Knight three stemmed the run and a free throw pushed the lead back to five midway through the third quarter. The Vikings cut the lead back to two with a three pointer before Taylor Knight hit another three, followed shortly after by a three from Rylee Armstrong to put the Bobcats ahead 31-24 with a minute left in the quarter.

With Colton in the bonus, two late foul calls against the Bobcats allowed the Vikings to narrow the lead to 31-28 entering the fourth.

The Vikings drew the score level at 32 shortly into the fourth, triggering another timeout from Gianella. Turnovers hampered the Bobcats offense, allowing the Vikings to take a one-point lead on a free throw with five minutes to play.

Neither team scored for the next four minutes sending the game into the final minute with Colton up 33-32. A Viking travel with 25 seconds remaining gave Nestucca possession and Hailee Knight drove to the lane and converted on a layup with 5 seconds left to give the Bobcats a one-point lead. The Vikings final attempt on a drive from behind the backboard missed everything and Nestucca won 34-33.

Nestucca’s 18th straight win set up a quarterfinal showdown on February 29 at 3:15 p.m. at the Pendleton Convention Center against their Northwest League rival Knappa Loggers. It will be the fourth time the teams have squared off this season, with the Bobcats winning each of the previous matchups by single digits.