COOS BAY – There was one team at the OSAA Class 3A state basketball tournament that knew it could upset No. 1 seed Salem Academy.
After all, Blanchet was the only team that had done it this season.
No. 5 seed Blanchet used a combination of physical, aggressive man-to-man defense and impressive outside shooting to combat the Crusaders’ zone defense Friday to knock off PacWest Conference rival Salem Academy 51-39 in the state semifinals at Marshfield High School.
Friday’s game was the fourth time the teams had played this season with Blanchet winning the first time and Salem Academy winning the past two.
Blanchet’s Sophia Poole shoots a 3-pointer over the outstretched arm of Salem Academy’s Halle Baker.
“Obviously they showed up to play the other few times that we played them and obviously we didn’t,” Blanchet sophomore Ana Coronado said.
“But those are the games that we built up off of, and we prepare ourselves for games like this. Those games mattered coming into state, and with our record and all that stuff, but this game, I think, is a little more important.”
With the win, Blanchet (23-3) advances to Saturday’s 7 p.m. state championship game to play Dayton or Coquille.
It is the first time in school history that Blanchet will be in the state championship game.
“We’re making Blanchet history,” said sophomore Bailey Hittner, who scored 14 points. “This is the farthest any Blanchet team has gotten.
“We were crying as soon as the game was over, and coach said celebrate not, but we’re going to come back later and watch the Coquille and Dayton game and get dialed in. But right now we’re going to celebrate.”
The difference Friday was that while Salem Academy junior Sydney Brown was a force, scoring 23 points and grabbing nine rebounds, Salem Academy’s other star junior, Aimee Smith, was limited to two points.
That’s something few teams have been able to do against the Crusaders this season.
Salem Academy junior Sydney Brown comes down with a rebound in front of Blanchet’s Ana Coronado on Friday, March 3, 2017.
“Sydney and Aimee are going to get their points,” Blanchet coach Ron Hittner said. “You can’t shut them both down. You can really hold one and kind of contain everybody else.”
Blanchet was in the state tournament for the first time since 2012 and was in the state semifinals for the second time, the last coming in 2004.
“It means the world to me,” said senior Sophia Poole. “I know I’ve never been here before, this is my senior year. I know my teammates have fought for me to be here and I fought for them.”
Salem Academy’s Sydney Brown blocks the shot of Blanchet’s Sophia Poole on Friday, March 3, 2017.
Salem Academy’s Halle Baker tries to go up for a shot against Blanchet on Friday, March 3, 2017.