Summit’s Rowan Blossey (2) lays the ball up and in past South Albany’s Camren Thompson (23) during a 5A first-round playoff game on Saturday at Summit High School.

No. 3 Redmond suffered a heartbreaking home upset on March 8, falling to No. 14 Canby 82-58 in a first-round 5A playoff game at Redmond High School.

The Panthers’ season came to an end with a 19-7 record, while Canby will take on No. 6 Crescent Valley in the state quarterfinals at Linfield on Thursday.

It marks the first time in four years that Redmond has not advanced to the state tournament.

Summit, Crook County move on to boys basketball state tournaments

The defending state and current Intermountain Conference champions are headed back to the Class 5A state tournament.

With five players scoring in double figures, seventh-seeded Summit cruised past No. 10 South Albany 77-55 in the first round of the Class 5A boys basketball state playoffs Saturday afternoon at Summit High.

“We knew it was win or go home,” said senior Ryder Grieb, who finished with a team-high 19 points. “We were focused all week. We went in with confidence from the last couple of games and we were able to jump on them early.”

The Storm will play No. 2 Thurston in the 5A state quarterfinals Thursday at 8:15 p.m. at Linfield University in McMinnville. Thurston, the champions of the Midwestern League, survived a scare from No. 15 Centennial to win 50-48 on Saturday.

The plan to stop the RedHawks was simple in theory but not easy to execute. The Storm had to find a way to contain the Mid-Willamette Conference’s Player of the Year and 5A’s leading scorer, Colin Cordle.

Summit coach Joe Wells turned to senior Rowen Blossey to try to prevent the talented point guard from taking over the game. And Blossey rose to the challenge.

The final stats say that Cordle finished with a game-high 24 points, but 16 of Cordle’s points came in the second half, when the game was well out of reach for the RedHawks.

“I tried watching a lot of film to see what he does,” said Blossey, who also finished with 17 points. “They run a lot of plays for him. As a team, we did a great job of preparing for that. That really helped me know where the screens were coming from and what actions they were running. That really helped me guard him.”

The Storm could hone in on one RedHawk scorer, but the RedHawks could not do the same. Grieb, Blossey, senior Will Manfredi (13 points), junior Matthew Tompkins (11 points) and junior Foster Kettering (11 points) all scored in double-figures.

With just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter, the Storm trailed 11-9. Over the next 16 minutes, Summit all but buried South Albany, taking a 28-point lead into the fourth quarter.

The second quarter was especially impressive, as the Storm outscored the RedHawks 27-10. Manfredi knocked down three 3-pointers and just before the halftime buzzer Blossey hoisted up a deep three to give the Storm a 43-23 lead at halftime.

The RedHawks found no answer in the second half as the lead only continued to grow in the third quarter.

Through the first 12 games of the season, Summit won just six games. Over the next 14 games, the Storm have won 12, and are now making their fourth consecutive trip to the state tournament.

“All along we knew what we were capable of,” Grieb said. “Everyone knew we were a new team so going into the season it wasn’t going to start off perfectly. All season (Wells) was saying we want to be a team that peaks at the right time. We knew we dropped some games we shouldn’t have, but that was all part of the process to reach our ultimate goal.”

Crook County advances to 4A state tourney

Junior post Bryce Lowenbach had 27 points, 23 rebounds and five blocks to lead No. 4 Crook County over No. 13 Hidden Valley 52-40 in a Class 4A playoff game at Crook County High School.

The Cowboys will play Baker Thursday at 3:15 p.m. in the first round of the 4A state tournament at Forest Grove High School. The two teams have already played twice this year, splitting the pair of games.

“This (Hidden Valley) is the most physical team that we have played all year, they are extremely physical and fly around and Baker will be physical as well,” said Crook County coach Jason Mumm. “Baker will be faster and more athletic, so we need to be prepared.”

No. 6 Madras falls to No. 11 Scappoose

No. Madras lost to No. 11 Scappoose 76-49 in a 4A playoff game at Madras High School.

The White Buffaloes finished the season with a record of 19-7.