By Jeremy Mcdonald

Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

SILVERTON, Ore.– The last few minutes of the Silverton-Crescent Valley game was just nothing short of heart and determination to finish the game strong.

The Raiders entered the game ranked first in 5A and just took a 46-45 lead midway through the final eight minutes of the Foxes 58-52 win Monday night thanks to a Jake Leibelt lay-in.  It capped a rally that CV were on coming back from a 27-20 halftime deficit to challenge Silverton in coming to get this win.

Shots weren’t falling during this stretch, this game actually outside of a spurt at the end of the first half and the one that was about to happen.  A spurt that pushed the Foxes ahead 52-46 with 2:23 left following a Jordan McCarty three-pointer that capped a 7-0 streak that Silverton found themselves on.

“Our thing, we come out in the third (quarter), we always dominate the third.  but something went wrong, it fell apart, we weren’t picking up our man,” Silverton’s Ryan Redman-Brown said. “And then the subs came in, we clicked again and it was crazy.  This is going to carry us forward.  Our offense can get better, our defense is helping us carry the game through.  The offense will come as our defense will get better.”

The Raiders responded, pulling back to within one 90 seconds left in the game with an Adam Temesgen three.  Crescent Valley made it known that they weren’t fading away without a fight despite the defensive fight that their opposition was throwing their way.

But it was free throws that helped aid the Foxes to victory down the stretch.  Silverton went 4-for-7 in the fourth quarter as they found a way to get out of the jam with their 11th win of the year, hand CV their first Mid-Willamette Conference loss and to remain perfect at 7-0 themselves coming down the stretch of the regular season. 

The six-point victory has been the closest margin of victory for the Foxes boys in league play that started three weeks ago with this game serving as a good eye opener as they wrap up the first loop through league Thursday in Lebanon.

“It’ll help us a lot with playing a great team like CV.  It makes us step up to the test and I think our guys were ready for it.  They just pushed us to be better and that’s what it’s about every game,” the Foxes Jordan McCarty said.  “Trusting in our teammates and trusting in our ability in our defense and hardwork in practice.  When they make runs like that, putting an end to it I think helps a lot.”

McCarty finished with a team-high 19 points for Silverton, Redman-Brown contributed another 15 while Neil Efimov added 14 in the win.  Temesgen led the Raiders with 14 points, Leibet and Cooper Wakefield each had eight in the defeat.

Photos By Jeremy McDonald