By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

STAYTON, Ore.–  This was the most physical and aggressive that the Blanchet Catholic Girls basketball team had played all season.  They pressed, went after the ball whenever they found an opportunity to attack and they played a brand of basketball that kind of caught Regis off-guard in the Tri-River Conference League Playoff opener Saturday afternoon.

Two minutes into the third quarter the Cavaliers were leading the Rams 24-21 and into the fourth quarter they were down 37-30 to the host Regis team with a chance to pull off all kind of crazy upset and March Madness like stuff in league with how they were playing in this particular game.

“There were so many emotions for it being our last game and it really pushed us to try our hardest and try our best with everything.  It gives me hope (for next year), we’re really said to see the three seniors leave, they’re a big part of our team.  But in the past years, they’ve helped really build up and helped us get ready.  So once they leave, we’ll have a strong foundation and I think we’re going to do great,” Grace Weber said.

Weber, along with Thalia Lazerus, were the epitome of what Blanchet wanted to do on Saturday.  The sophomore in Weber took a hard hit in the third quarter fighting for a loose ball and had to leave the game, only to return in the fourth quarter and score eight of her nine points in the frame.

But it seemed as if fatigue began to sink in for the Cavs in that final quarter, allowing the Rams who were already stepping up their game in adjusting to their opposition, to pull away for good.  Advancing to play Western Christian on Monday following their 55-37 victory.

Hadley Foster finished with 19 points for the Rams, Clara Persons had 12 points and Kenzie Schacher contributed another 14 in the relatively close game.

“It was hard, but as a team we worked together and created open shots.  We played really well in the second half,” Foster said of the win. “We just need to stay focused and think ahead to the future and we’ll be fine.  (Western Christian) is going to be a hard game, we’re going to have to play a full 32 minutes and not just a half of a game.”

Lazarus led Blanket with 11 points as the Cavaliers finished the year 5-16 and 3-9 in league play.

Photos By Jeremy McDonald