SALEM – Valley Catholic broke open a 26-26 halftime score to pull away from Portland Christian, 55-41 in the championship game of the 8th Annual Crusader Christmas Invitational Tournament hosted by Salem Academy Christian. After falling to host SAC, 91-63, in the championship game last year, the Valiants finally broke through to the title behind a relentless defense that forced more Royal turnovers than points in the third period.

Host Salem Academy easily handled Horizon Christian, 61-23, in the 3rd place game. The Crusaders placed four players in double figures in the rout of the Hawks, making their first appearance in the premier small school holiday tournament. Cascade Christian thumped Western Mennonite, 49-28, to take home the Consolation title for the third time in four years. In the early morning game, Sheridan defeated Taft for 7th place.

Championship: Valley Catholic 55 – Portland Christian 41

The Valiants and Royals have been mainstays of this tournament since its inception, with each using the SAC tourney to launch many deep OSAA playoff runs. During the Tom West years, PC won this tournament three times, including a 40-27 win over VC in 2007. Later that season, the Royals won the OSAA 2A title, while the Valiants took 3rd in the OSAA 3A tournament after finishing 2nd the year before. Last year, both teams missed their respective OSAA playoff final sites, with Valley Catholic failing to reach Coos Bay and the Royals missing Pendleton after West took 12 consecutive teams to Eastern Oregon. If the SAC tournament lives up to its pedigree, both teams should reach those goals.

Valley Catholic, ranked #2 in the latest 3A coaches poll and #1 in the early OSAA RPI, faced a Portland Christian team it had already defeated, 40-32, on the Valiants’ home court three weeks ago. That loss was the only blemish on the record for the Royals, ranked #3 in the latest 2A coaches poll and #5 in the RPI. And for at least a half on Friday, the two teams appeared evenly matched, as they battled to a frenetic 26-26 tie at intermission.

But in the third period, VC coach John Innes and his staff turned up the defensive pressure on the Royals, who in one stretch failed to get the ball past midcourt on three consecutive possessions. The Valiants’ unrelenting pressure on the Royal ball handlers forced continual turnovers and completely disrupted the PC offense, resulting in a 13-6 period that gave VC a lead it would not relinquish. It was also clear that Innes’ defensive strategy was to shut down PC’s two senior guards, Marisa Beliel and Anna Schroeder, forcing some other Royal to step up and beat the Valiants. That strategy worked, as Beliel was held to seven points and Schroeder to just five. Meanwhile, junior wing Katie White did her part by leading PC scoring with 12 points, but was the only Royal to reach double figures.

Valley Catholic benefitted from a balanced scoring attack with three players in double figures, led by sophomore Lindsie LaBonte (14), and seniors Rebecca Baglai and Jasmine Bush with 10 points apiece. Junior point guard Chelsea Alsdorf scored 8 points, but also ran the Valiant offense well and harassed PC ball handlers all over the court. Freshman post Bailey McDevitt came off the bench to score seven points, while gaining invaluable experience as Innes’ team looks to make another deep run in the 3A playoffs in March.

With the win, Valley Catholic improves to 10-1 on the season, with the Valiants’ only loss coming to 2A defending champ Regis, 49-28. Next Thursday, Valley Catholic hosts Portland Adventist Academy, with both teams 2-0 in LCL play. The Cougars are 8-2 overall with losses to Regis (44-25) and Portland Christian (51-47). The Royals (9-2, 2-0) resume NWL play next week with three consecutive road games.

(L) Sophomore Lindsie LaBonte led Valley Catholic with 14 points; (R) PC's Katie White led Royals with 12 points in loss

Photos by Bruce McCain

Additional game photos at 2011 SAC VC vs PC 123011 

3rd Place: Salem Academy 61 – Horizon Christian 23

Last March, Salem Academy completed one of its best-ever seasons, finishing 26-4 and reaching the OSAA 3A title game in Coos Bay before falling to Vale, 49-36. This season, first-year coach Lisa Serafin replaced Rene Houle’, who is now coaching at 4A LaPine. Serafin inherits a young Crusader roster, with four freshmen and only two seniors. But those two veterans, Rachael Peters and Ellie Gould, have been starters on SAC’s playoff teams at 2A Pendleton in 2010 and 3A Coos Bay last year, giving the young Crusader roster two solid anchors around which to build another playoff contender. So far in 2011-12, so good.

Horizon Christian from the 3A West Valley League, replaced Santiam Christian of the Pac West in the SAC tournament this year. The Hawks entered the tournament having lost its first five games of the season and an overall 2-5 record. Horizon Christian ended up in the winner’s bracket due to a forfeit victory over Taft, a last-minute tournament entry that did not have enough available games for the entire tournament and had to skip the opener. After dropping a 49-29 loss to Portland Christian, the Hawks were pretty much dominated by Salem Academy, which placed four players in double figures, with one more scoring nine.

Peters and Gould scored 11 points apiece for SAC, with juniors Meadow McAlliser and 6’1” post Rachael Parker adding 10 points apiece. Sophomore Beth Filipinko scored nine points off the bench, just missing giving SAC five players in double figures. Parker looked like the Crusader post of the future, having spent last year as basically an understudy to four-year starting post Danielle Vander Stoel. With the win, Salem Academy improved to 7-2 on the season. Like Portland Christian, SAC’s two losses came against 3A Valley Catholic, 70-46 to open the season, and 42-31 in Thursday’s tournament semifinal.

Horizon Christian (2-7) got solid efforts from seniors Jessica Thoens (12 points) and Maddie Clark (6 points). But the fact is, the Hawks’ presence on the right side of the tournament bracket was due solely to the fact their first-round opponent literally failed to appear.

(L) SAC's junior post Rachael Parker goes left for two points; (R) Hawks' Jessica Thoens had solid game with 12 points.

Photos by Bruce McCain

Additional game photos at 2011 SAC vs Horizon Chr 123011 

Consolation: Cascade Christian 49 – Western Mennonite 28

If any team has been the victim of unfortunate bracket seeding, it’s been the Challengers from Southern Oregon. Since making their first tournament appearance in 2007, Cascade Christian has never won a first round game, falling to Creswell, 50-23 (2007), Umatilla, 50-46 (2008), Santiam Christian, 69-63 (2009) and Umatilla, 60-49 (2010). This year, the Challengers drew eventual champ Valley Catholic on Wednesday and fell to the Valiants, 48-35. But Cascade Christian has always responded well to its first-round woes, winning the consolation title three times the past four years.

After thumping Sheridan, 65-25 on Thursday, the Challengers controlled the 2A Pioneers from start to finish in Friday’s noon game. Coach Melvin Denman has a senior-laden roster, with eight seniors, two juniors and a sophomore. Sydney Hunt (18 points) and Kelsey Cochran (15 points) combined to outscore Western Mennonite, which got a big game from Kelli Christenson (16 poins).

Cascade Christian evens its overall record at 7-7. But those seven losses are deceiving, with two coming against 4A Mazama, 5A Ashland, 4A North Valley, 4A Brookings-Harbor and 3A powers Coquille and Valley Catholic. It’s not a stretch to say Cascade Christian is the best 7-7 3A team in the state right now. Western Mennonite falls to 4-6 overall before beginning play in the Tri-River Conference, the undisputed toughest 2A girls conference in 2011-12 with #1 Regis (9-1), #2 Scio (10-1), Santiam (10-0) and three other teams with winning records.

(L) Cascade Christian's Sydney Hunt drives for two of her 18 points; (R) Kelli Christenson led Pioneers with 16 points.

Photos by Bruce McCain

Additional game photos at 2011 SAC CC vs WM 123011