Cai Dougher came through over and over for the Spruce Mountain boys basketball team. And when the Phoenix needed it most, he delivered again.
Dougher scored 32 points, including a go-ahead putback with one minute to go, and No. 3 Spruce Mountain took down No. 6 Oceanside, 60-56, in a Class B South quarterfinal Friday afternoon at the Portland Expo.
Jace Bessey added 12 points for the Phoenix (15-4), who overcame a five-point deficit with under three minutes to go. Owen Kelvey finished with 11.
“(It was) confidence and courage. We prepared really hard for this,” said Dougher. “We’re hyped. We’ve got good mojo going on right now.”
Connor Kingsbury tossed in 22 points for Oceanside (9-10), while Jackson Kay added 18.
Key moment
• Oceanside broke a 45-45 tie early in the fourth quarter and extended its lead to 53-48 on a Jackson Kay floater with 2:55 to play.
That’s when the Phoenix started their rally. Dougher hit a pair of free throws, Austin Armandi had a layup, and Kelvey went to the free-throw line with a chance to put Spruce Mountain ahead. He made the first but missed the second, but Dougher grabbed the rebound and quickly put it in for a 55-53 lead.
“I knew they were both leaning forward more, I took a jab step in, and they both went,” Dougher said. “I just read the ball, got up and did what I can. It gave us a lot of momentum and got us hyped.”
• The Mariners had a chance to answer on the next possession, but Armandi stole the ball as Oceanside tried a cross-court pass. Dougher hit a pair of free throws on the next possession to put the game in the Phoenix’s control.
Defensive adjustment
• With Oceanside burning the Phoenix from beyond the arc — the Mariners hit 10 3-pointers over the first three quarters, with five coming from Kingsbury — Spruce Mountain switched up its defense, going from a matchup zone to man-to-man defense. The Phoenix made the change midway through the fourth and allowed five points the rest of the way.
• “Those kickout corner 3s were killing us all night,” Spruce Mountain coach Scott Bessey said. “It was like, do we go down with our matchup zone? Or do we switch it up? We switched it up and went straight-up man-to-man, and I think that was more effective. It eliminated corner 3s and it bought us some time to make a comeback.”
Bringing chaos
• Spruce Mountain forced 20 Oceanside turnovers, including four over the final three minutes.
They said it
• “We needed this one. All of us really wanted that win at the end, because I’ve come down here four years and lost heartbreaking losses each year in the first round. This year, I told them, let’s get this. This is the year.” — Jace Bessey
• “They are relentless in their full-court and their half-court trap. They’re really good at it, they’re quick, they work their butts off at it the entire game. … We were doing great up until two and a half, three minutes left, and we had a couple of costly errors.” — Oceanside coach Larry Reed
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