By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

SALEM, Ore.– At one point in the third quarter, Sprague boys found themselves down double-figures to Bend in Saturday’s nightcap at Sprague.

Slowly however, they began to chip away at the lead and eventually got the lead entering the fourth quarter following a pair of Mason Lomax free throws for the 46-44 lead entering the fourth.

The major difference between the first half and the second was their energy, and it showed as the Olympians and Lava Bears traded baskets after Lomax’s free throws.

“We played with a lot more energy in the second half, but we missed a lot of really easy shots in the first half that we normally make that in the second half that we made to be honest,” said Head Coach Jordan Graneto.  “We got more stops in the second half and us playing like we know we could play offensively in the second half helped.”

Call it the ‘Luck of the Graneto Glasses’ as since the Sprague Head coach started wearing them, they were three-for three entering Saturday’s game.

After a Hayden Cadwallwer trey, a strong defensive stand turned into another score for the Olys and another with Sprague’s lead up to 58-51 entering the latter half of the final quarter.  Bend got it to 61-55 with under two to play as free throws became clutch starting with Greyson Salinas’ pair that was followed by a pair from Lomax that all but iced the 71-60 win for Sprague’s fourth-straight win.

“It was really crucial, D stops really helped us out.  In the second half, we started to get a lot of stops,” said Greyson Salinas.  “Free throws were huge, we shot a lot better from the free throw line tonight and we need to keep getting better.”

The Olympians were 19-for-23 from the charity stripe against Bend Saturday evening with 12 three-pointers.

Camden McGath (14 points) and Ethan Flanigan (16 points total) each four of the 12 three-pointers while Salinas (nine points) added another two, Dallon Morgan and Seth Shortis each had three’s for Sprague.

Photos By Jeremy McDonald