Vettrus Powers Cougars Past Eagles

Turner – Cascade's Paul Vettrus, left, poured in a game high 20 points, and the Cougars staved off a Stayton rally to claim a 41-34 win in the season's first "Shaff Road Showdown".

The Cougars dug a deep hole, and when Orion Wright threw down a dunk off a lob pass 3 and a half minutes into the game to give Cascade a 9-0 lead, he also threw the Eagles into that hole. One that was too deep for Stayton to ever quite climb out of.

Cascade took a 12-7 lead into the second quarter, and extended their advantage to 27-15 by halftime. Stayton only cut the deficit to 8 points heading into the final period, still trailing 33-25 in the deliberate battle.

But the Eagles opened the fourth quarter with an 8-2 run, pulling within 35-33 with 5:44 to go. Reece Hack missed both free throws that would have tied the game, and Josh Kraupa couldn't convert a steal into a game tieing basket either.

Austin Foster made only the second of a pair of free throws to make it a 1 point game, but Stayton got no closer, and didn't score from the field over that final 5:44 of the game.

Jared Everetts answered with a driving layin for Cascade, and the Cougars went to a 4 corner offense with 2 minutes left. Stayton had been too efficient at not fouling, and the Eagles had to take 4 fouls to finally force the Cougars to the free throw line.

Vettrus' driving basket with 30 seconds left and a pair of free throws by Tyler Towrey capped a 6-1 run, and gave Cascade the win.

Wright posted a double double, with 16 points, and 11 rebounds for Cascade. Hack, below, had 7 points to co-lead the Eagles, with Foster, who came off the Stayton bench for 7 points.

Cascade (8-8, 1-1) evened both their overall and Oregon West League records, and moved to third place in the OWL. Stayton (6-10, 1-2) slipped into a tie with Philomath for fourth in the OWL.

Cascade also announced they will introduce new head football coach Steve Turner to the community at 7PM Wednesday, February 8th, in the school auditorium.

Stayton        7 8 10 9 - 34

Cascade   12 15 6 8 - 41

Stayton – Reece Hack 7, Austin Foster 7, Christian Smith 6, TT Johnson 5, Andrew Reardon 4, Blake Hendricks 3, Greg Scott 2.

Cascade – Paul Vettrus 20, Orion Wright 16, Tyler Towrey 3, Jared Everetts 2, Justin Kruse, Kyle Delamarter, Truman Clark, Josh Delamarter, Brady Carroll, Bryson Goettsch.

(Photos by Andy Wooldridge)

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