The Mountainside varsity boys basketball team got the state’s attention after their season opener, proving to be too much for 2-time defending state champion Tualatin. The Mavs used a big 3rd quarter and lights-out 3-point shooting to cruise to a 64-46 victory over the short-handed Timberwolves.
It was a packed house at the Stables for this highly anticipated matchup of two top 10 teams. The Mavericks were ranked #7 in the initial 6A coaches poll while the Timberwolves were ranked #1, coming off of back-to-back state championships, upsetting nationally-ranked West Linn in last year’s championship game.
Tualatin had 3 key absences in this game: Nolan Keeny and Jayden Fortier suffered significant injuries in Tualatin’s state championship football game against Central Catholic and are both expected to miss a significant portion of the season. Jaden Steppe, one of the state’s best players, also missed the game after being suspended for picking up 2 technical fouls in a jamboree the day before. Without these players, Tualatin struggled to compete with Mountainside.
Mavericks head coach Dustin Hewitt admits that the game would likely have been more competitive if Tualatin was at full strength, but is ultimately only focused on what his team can control. “Would they have been more competitive with [their missing players]? I’m assuming so, but you never know and we can only play the players that are out there against us, so we just worry about what we can control and we can’t control those injuries.” He also added, “If we’re playing our best and we’re playing good team basketball, there’s no one we’re necessarily scared of.”
Eli Vizconde led the way for the Mavs with 18 points, including 5 of Mountainside’s 10 3-pointers. “We have a lot of confidence in him,” Hewitt said after the game. “He’s one of the best shooters in the state and he proved it last year and every kid on the team knows when he’s open that we want to get him the ball and we trust him to shoot the ball with a high percentage.” Reigning Metro League player of the year Brayden Boe had a solid game, finishing with 12 points while Peyton Reyes also had a very impressive 3-point shooting night, scoring 9 points.
Despite the final score, it was Tualatin that got off to a hot start in this game; Zach Zuckerman got an and-1 just a few seconds into the game to put the Wolves up 3-0. Mountainside responded with a 10-0 run to take a 10-3 lead and then Tualatin went on a 10-0 run of their own to end the 1st quarter, jumping ahead with AJ Noland’s 3-pointer with a minute left in the period. The Timberwolves finished the 1st quarter with a narrow 13-10 advantage.
Mountainside was able to take a 16-13 lead early in the 2nd on a 3-point play by Taj Smith, but Tualatin’s CJ Goodwin responded with a 3-pointer, tying it at 16. The teams would continue to go back and forth in the 2nd quarter with the Mavs going into the break up 25-23.
The 3rd quarter was where the Mavs, and Eli Vizconde in particular, started cooking. Vizconde scored 10 points in the 3rd quarter alone, highlighted by a 4-point play. The entire Mountainside team was locked in while Tualatin went ice cold, allowing the Mavericks to outscore the Timberwolves by a whopping 23-4 margin in the 3rd quarter to take a 48-27 lead into the final period. The game would finish with the Mavs on top by a score of 64-46. “I thought that in the second half we were very composed, played good team basketball, and shared the ball, and we took good shots,” Hewitt said.
The Mavericks hope to see this momentum continue throughout the season as they have some tough games on the schedule. They will play a few more non-league games before playing in the Les Schwab Invitational, a tournament that includes the best high school basketball teams in Oregon as well as several national powerhouses. Then they will face a daunting Metro League schedule that includes #5 Southridge, #6 Beaverton, and #9 Jesuit as the Mavs attempt to make their 3rd straight appearance in the state tournament.
