Philomath High girls basketball coach Ben Silva had a straightforward takeaway from Tuesday night’s 59-53 loss to Cascade.

“They played better than us — plain and simple on both ends of the floor.”

In a game that will ultimately impact a three-team race for the Oregon West Conference title this season, the Cougars put in a consistent effort over four quarters and finished strong in the fourth to pull out the win on Philomath’s home floor. Cascade accomplished the feat with just six players seeing action.

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“We didn’t play very well defensively, they executed a lot better offensively,” Silva said. “We struggled to score at times and struggled to get stops when we needed them.”

Cascade (8-7 overall, 3-0 Oregon West) is setting itself up nicely for the stretch run by winning its first three league games on the road. Among the victims was a 41-35 victory on Jan. 20 over then-No. 1 Stayton.

Said Silva, “I knew Cascade was going to be tough — they’re senior heavy and play with a lot of confidence.”

Philomath senior Shaylee May tries to penetrate Cascade’s defense in the first half. (Photo by Andy Cripe/Philomath News)

The game saw several lead changes but remained close throughout. Neither team led by more than three points in the first half and the Cougars had a 26-25 advantage at the break. In the third, Cascade had five-point leads on a couple of occasions but the Warriors finished the quarter strong and tied the score, 39-39, with 3-pointers by sophomore Reagan Nuño and senior Isabelle Muir.

Philomath (9-8, 1-1) was heavily challenged inside with a reliance on the outside shot.

“They pack it into the key, that’s what teams are going to do against us,” Silva said. “But we hit the 3s that we needed to hit. When they started spreading back out because we were hitting 3s, we didn’t execute very well.”

Philomath’s lineup suffered a blow with 6:03 remaining in the third quarter when starting post Annaleise Brown, junior, left the game after rolling her ankle. The severity of the injury was not immediately known pending an X-ray.

Philomath opened the fourth quarter with senior Shaylee May completing a two-and-one for a 42-39 lead. The team was fired up after drawing an offensive foul at the 6:22 mark but the Cougars responded with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes.

Philomath junior Annaleise Brown gets through the Cougars defense for a layup attempt. (Photo by Andy Cripe/Philomath New

Cascade never trailed again although Philomath got to within two on three occasions. Junior Reagan Heiken sank free throws at 4:11 and 2:54 to cut the visitor’s lead to 46-44 and 48-46, respectively, and Hood hit a basket following a Cascade turnover at 1:27 to make it 50-48.

Cascade made four straight foul shots, however, and then put an exclamation point on the win with a midcourt steal and layup for an eight-point lead with 25 seconds left.

One of the factors in the outcome occurred at the free-throw line. Philomath had a rough start by making just 1 of 6 foul shots in the first quarter but followed with 15 of 18 the rest of the way to finish at 66.7% on 16 of 24. Cascade, meanwhile, was on the mark most of the evening by making 21 of 26, a success rate of 80.8%.

Heiken was limited to two field goals but reached the foul line 14 times and made 10 to end up with 14 points. Hood scored a dozen points and had 3-pointers in the first and third quarters. Muir also buried a couple of 3s as part of Philomath’s 7-4 advantage from long range.

Philomath sophomore Reagan Nuño tries to save the ball from going out of bounds. (Photo by Andy Cripe/Philomath News)

Cascade senior Olivia Bennett had a game-high 25 points, a performance that included three 3-pointers and 10 of 11 from the foul line. Senior Rozalyn Schmunk scored 11 and senior Cassidy Crabtree also finished with 11, despite sitting for periods of time with foul trouble.

Silva hopes the game’s outcome serves as a learning experience.

“I think we can compete with anybody and we were right there tonight,” he said. “But we made too many mistakes to be able to beat good teams.”

The challenging league circuit continues Friday with Philomath visiting Stayton at 7 p.m. Friday. The Eagles (12-3, 2-1) beat Newport on Tuesday night, 75-22.

Cascade 59, Philomath 53
Tuesday, Jan. 27, at Philomath HS

CASCADE (59)
Olivia Bennett 6 10-11 25, Rozalyn Schmunk 4 3-5 11, Lainey Klampe 0 4-4 4, Cassidy Crabtree 4 3-4 11, Pearl Pruett 3 0-0 7, Livia Free 0 1-2 1. Totals 17 21-26 59.
PHILOMATH (53)
Reagan Nuño 2 0-0 5, Annaleise Brown 2 0-0 5, Shaylee May 2 2-3 6, Jordyn Hood 4 2-2 12, Reagan Heiken 2 10-14 14, Libby Kramer 1 2-3 5, Isabelle Muir 2 0-2 6, Bethany Cannon 0 0-0 0, Khali Toombs 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 16-24 53.

Team1234FCascade (8-7, 3-0)1115132059Philomath (9-8, 1-1)1015141453

3-Point Goals—Cascade 4 (Bennett 3, Pruett), Philomath 7 (Hood 2, Muir 2, Brown, Kramer, Nuño). Fouled Out—Crabtree. Total Fouls—Cascade 18, Philomath 17. Technicals—None.