Silverton players, coaches and managers after finishing 2nd at the Class 5A state boys basketball tournament March 12 in Corvallis.
Hoops success
Both Silverton High basketball squads advanced to the state tournament in Corvallis after sparkling Mid-Willamette Conference championship seasons. The boys team advanced to the state title match against Wilsonville, falling 34-30 in a defense-oriented game in which Silverton led 11-6 at halftime after shutting out the Wildcats in the second period. The No. 4 Foxes opened with a thrilling 49-47 win against Mid-Willamette Conference foe Crescent Valley and followed that with a 50-36 semifinal take-down of top-ranked Redmond. “It was an incredible journey,” coach Jamie McCarty told Our Town. “The boys really peaked at the end of the year. They could not have played any harder at Gill. They left everything they had on the court, and that is all we asked. I
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JAMES DAY
Foxes take second in 5A boys tournament Foxes standouts Neil Efimov and Jordan McCarty were named first-team all-tournament, while Ryan RedmanBrown earned Foxes player of the game honors for the CV and Wilsonville games.
thought we prepared very well and were ready for each competition. “The defensive performance we had in the state championship against Wilsonville was the best defensive performance I have ever seen by a high school basketball team. Giving up 6 points in the first half and zero in the second quarter is one I will remember for the rest of my life. The boys will and effort were unmatched. We struggled on the offensive end and just didn’t get enough to go in to win it all.”
Silverton became the first school since the 5A class debuted in 2006 to win a football title in the fall and finish second in hoops in the same school year. The Foxes put together a similar achievement in 2014-15, finishing second in football in the fall and winning the hoops title in 2015. McCarty is 69-1 in MWC play in his five years. Year one the Foxes were 4th at state. Year two they were third, falling to Wilsonville in the semis. Year three they were in the semis when COVID
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ended the tournament. They were 14-1 last year, in year four, but no tournament was played. The Foxes’ girls program, under Tal Wold, has had similar state tournament success. Silverton won the 2016 title, finished second in 2017 and third in 2018. Like the boys squad, they were through to the semis in the COVID year, 2020. This year, however, the Foxes went 0-2 in the tournament, which had its best balanced field in the 7 years Wold has been taking teams to Gill. The No. 9 seed Crescent Valley won the title against Springfield, the 7th seed. No. 11 Putnam advanced to the semis with a win against No. 3 Crook County. “There was tremendous parity in 5A
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