Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

STAYTON, Ore.–  Over a slow progression, the Stayton Eagles Boys Basketball team find themselves just a play-in game away from making it to the 4A OSAA Playoff Bracket against a familiar foe at a familiar location.

The Astoria Fighting Fisherman at Astoria High School.

The last time these two teams met, on January 9, the Eagles held a two-point lead at halftime before the Fisherman came to life in the second half to take the game 57-39.

“They did to us what we want to do to teams,” described Head Coach Joe Kiser on the first game.  “They offensive rebound like crazy, they got some big’s that are good, athletic big guys.

“So if we keep them off the glass, we can maintain some transition defense, slow the ball down we’ll be ok.”

Though the game was two months ago, the team has improved on bridging the two halves together but need to work on having a purpose and working on discipline while out on the court Friday night.

“That was kind of our issue Tuesday Night,” said Kiser.  “We were playing really, really hard but with no purpose, no discipline and  that showed in the score so.  If we can maintain that effort and energy, but we be discipline we’re going to be great, we’re going to win.”

Kiser will turn to his six seniors to help motivate the troops versus Astoria.

For these group of seniors, these six seniors, they haven’t had a taste of the State Playoffs.

Kiser mentioned that the team has slowly progressed during their time at Stayton High School, but have never cracked the code to get to the field of 16 to compete for a State Title.

“Like I said, six seniors  and these guys never been to a state playoff,” said Kiser.  “They’ve been, as sophomores, they played a lot of Varsity basketball and football.  As juniors made steps that got them back to .500 in both sports and then, as seniors, they’re ready to make a push.”

For Charlie Weeks, one of those seniors, he knows this playoff-isc environment helps steps up their intensity.

“Everyone knows at this point, it’s ‘Win or Go Home’ so it definitely steps up our intensity and I think we’ll come out ready to go,” said Weeks.  “I don’t think any of us wants to be done playing yet.”

Having played the Fishermen once before, Weeks knows the importance of knowing thy enemy entering Friday’s showdown.

“It’s definitely important, it helps a lot,” said Weeks. “Playing them the first time we got a few adjustments heading into this game, I mean we really want to win to get to the Round of 16 and get to the State Tournament.”

A little about Astoria since their first match-up with the Eagles:

They finished second in a very tough Cowapa League that featured three teams in the Top 10 in the state:  Seaside (2), the Fishermen at nine and Scappoose at the eighth-spot in the State of Oregon.

Behind their experienced roster of Juniors and Seniors, Astoria average 54.7 points a game to permitting 46 a game.  Stayton needs to rely on their strict defense to slow down the Fighting Fishermen’s offense to help set-up their transition to their offense.

Tip-off is slated for 7pm at Astoria High School.

Jeremy McDonald is a professional sports journalist in the Salem/Portland area and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalist in Oregon with B.S. degrees from Southern Oregon University in Journalism (2011) and Health/PE (2013).  Got a story idea? Email him at jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com or on Twitter at @J_McDonald81