Central Catholic loses in nail-biter, but wins big for the reputation of Oregon high school basketball: 2014 Les Schwab Invitational

  • 12/29 - 9:00 PM Boys BasketballFinal
    Central Catholic 57
    Montverde Academy 58
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HILLSBORO – Sometimes David just runs out of stones.

In the first Les Schwab Invitational semifinal game Monday, West Linn stunned nationally ranked Wheeler 70-62 at Liberty High School.

It was a jaw-dropping victory that nearly became an appetizer for an even bigger shocker.

In the second semifinal, Central Catholic led the nation’s No. 1 team, Montverde Academy, by one with 27 seconds left before the country’s top prospect, Ben Simmons, buried a free throw to tie it up.

It wasn't until Marquez Letcher-Ellis, who won the slam dunk competition earlier in the day, stepped to the free throw line and sank a game-winner with 0.9 seconds left that the Rams were closed out, 58-57.

The one-point defeat was heart-breaking for Central Catholic, but it was part of a day that became a huge victory for Oregon high school basketball.

In a tournament that often sees Oregon teams served up as fodder for the top programs in the country, West Linn and Central Catholic bucked the trend and left two of the country’s best shaking their heads.

After the game, senior Deante Strickland and junior LaMar Winston, who combined for 22 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in the loss, were the last to enter the locker room, clearly dejected by the heart-breaking finish.

However, it didn’t take long for both players to emerge with an entirely different outlook.

“It was definitely a statement,” Strickland said. “With West Linn beating Wheeler and us coming out and competing against Montverde Academy, we made a statement that Oregon is no one to sleep on.”

Early in the contest, it was the Rams who appeared to be sleepwalking through the semifinals, as Montverde Academy built an 18-5, highlighted by a Simmons alley-oop dunk in which he threw a pass to himself off the backboard.

But the Rams recovered, cutting the deficit to single digits in the second quarter and establishing themselves as a team that could hang with the nation’s best.

“There were a couple of points where we got a couple of fouls and we matched their physicality. We started to run our motion and got a couple of longer possessions,” Central Catholic coach Dan Munson said. “Toward the end of the first quarter and start of the second when we started to figure out how to play against that length and athleticism. Then we hit a couple of shots in the third quarter and just got rolling.”

The Rams took the lead in the fourth quarter on a three-pointer by junior Ben College, who finished with 17 points, with just under two minutes to play, but it wasn’t enough.

Simmons, who had 20 points and eight rebounds, hit three free throws in the game’s final minute to tie it, setting up Letcher-Ellis’ game-winner with less than a second to play.

Oregon high school basketball went 1-1 in the 2014 edition of the Les Schwab Invitational semifinals Monday. That's how it will go down in the record books. But for years, Oregon high school basketball fans who were in the stands at Liberty High School will say, “I was there.”

Then they’ll tell the story – something the wins and losses record, for once, can’t capture.

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