By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

DAYTON, Ore.–  Santiam Christian had themselves one of those start that even had Dayton going ‘that’s good’.  Everything was falling as they led the Pirates 25-17 in the second quarter Saturday night. and it looked like Dayton’s might’ve finally met its match since that Westside Christian defeat the second game of the year on December 8.

But then, that infamous figurative switch clicked and allowed Dayton to find a groove going into halftime.  Turning that eight-point deficit into a 33-33 halftime lead following a 16-8 advantage that the Pirates had.

Staying with it too, Dayton took the lead in the third quarter and continued to do Pirate things in the game.  Holding onto a 50-45 lead going to the fourth and led by as much as 59-51 with 2:57 left in the game.

Two minutes later though, Santiam Christian did have the rumblings of a comeback being down six with 50 seconds left in regulation, Dayton would ice the win however at the line to preserve their undefeated PacWest Conference record while spoiling the Eagles.  Handing the Adair Village-based team their first league loss of the year going into the second half of league play this next week.

“We knew that they were shooting well, so we had to lock down on those three’s and (Benjamin Bourne) was really killing us, we knew we had to guard that and I think our defensive effort was better there in the second half,” Caleb Primbs said.  “They were undefeated in our league and so are we, we want the league title, so we knew we had to come out, do our hardest and play our best.  That’s what we did.”

Bourne scored ten points in the first and nine in the second half for his 19 points in the contest.  Despite the senior getting baskets Dayton cooled off Camden Carley, who had all ten of his points in the first half, and kept Caden Trimmer in check with 11 points to give the Pirates an opportunity to stay on track in league.  Trae Wall points towards experience in these situations helped them in locking up their 16th-straight win and 17th overall.  It was just a matter of their mindset and keep on pushing.

“The fact that everyone kept their head up and we kept pushing.  The second we got that lead, we kept it to them the rest of the game.  It helped that we hit free throws towards the end and it allowed us to play freely, attack the hoop and know when they fouled us we’re going to put them in,” Wall said.  

Wall finished with 14 points, Primbs scored a game-high 22 points in the 65-57 victory Saturday.  Dayton host Taft on Tuesday while SC heads to play Sheridan on Tuesday.

Photos By Jeremy McDonald