Wilsonville Spokesman Online

Wilsonville 73, St. Helens 45: No. 2 Wildcats keep pace, stay in first place

Wilsonville leads by as many as 37 points in win over visiting St. Helens

• By: Alex Tam  
• Published: 2/10/2010 3:15:07 PM

Photo By: Alex TamBoys basketball: Wilsonville 73, St. Helens 45
Wilsonville High School junior Jalen James elevates for a jump shot past St. Helens High School senior Ryan Gainer during the Wildcats’ 73-45 victory on Friday night at Wilsonville High School. The No. 3 Wildcats improved to 18-2 overall and 8-1 in Northwest Oregon Conference play.

For three quarters, No. 2 Wilsonville looked every bit as dominant as its ranking on Friday.

And when junior Jalen James nailed a three-pointer from just in front of his bench to the third-quarter buzzer, everything was right as the Wildcats led by 37 points.

Wilsonville cruised to a 73-45 victory over St. Helens at home, marking their third straight win, and 11th over their past 12.

“I was really happy with the way we came out,” senior Michael MacKelvie said. “Playing over there has always been real tough, they’ve got athletes and they’re a pretty good team but I was just impressed with the way we came out the first three quarters.”

The Wildcats led by 37 points on four separate occasions in the second half, and saw their bench play much of the fourth quarter.

It was another dissection by Wilsonville with its precision offense and suffocating defense. The Wildcats shot an efficient 53.1 percent from the field (26 of 49), while holding St. Helens to just 38.5 percent (15 of 39).

“I thought we were really focused and played good defense,” coach Chris Roche said. “We definitely shared the ball and we were really competing, which is good to see.”

Junior Seth Gearhart led 10 scorers for the Wildcats with a game-high 17 points, and MacKelvie added 14. Sophomore Grant McNiel had 10 points and James had nine.

Wilsonville has prided itself on its depth and versatility this season. With the team’s main cogs in MacKelvie, Gearhart and sophomore point guard Kevin Marshall, the team has had the ability to plug in any two players in the rotation and not miss a beat.

Those other contributors include McNiel, James, senior Aaron Koford, senior Jared Conroy, junior Michael Etzel and junior Ryan Schwarzer

“We’re at least nine deep and I don’t know how many years we’ve been able to say that,” Roche said. “It’s good to see.”

Wilsonville (18-2 overall, 8-1 NWOC) remains one game ahead of Sherwood (12-5, 7-2) and Hillsboro (10-10, 7-2) for first place in the conference.

The Wildcats will finish the regular season with five big games, including at Century on Tuesday and at Liberty on Friday. Wilsonville has never won at Century High School in school history.

“We know it’s going to be tough regardless of how good they’ve done in the past or this year,” MacKelvie said. “We’re just looking to that game right now. We’re in a tough stretch as far as the final good games go to finish it out.”

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
St. Helens Lions	6	4	11	24	45
Wilsonville Wildcats	14	21	23	15	73

ST. HELENS — Zach Sweeney 15, Jones 11, Gordon 9, Paulson 6, Gainer 2, Smelling 2, Sumison, Ray, Mood, Carlson
WILSONVILLE — Seth Gearhart 17, Michael MacKelvie 14, Grant McNiel 10, James 9, Marshall 6, Conroy 6, Etzel 4, Livesay 3, Koford 2, Schwarzer 2, Haqq, Munson, Shelton

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
Wilsonville Wildcats	13	12	7	22	54
Glencoe Crimson Tide	11	12	15	12	50

WILSONVILLE — Michael MacKelvie 24, Kevin Marshall 14, Seth Gearhart 10, James 6, McNiel, Koford, Conroy, Schwarzer, Etzel
GLENCOE — Kory Kirwan 15, Van Loo 13, Apeland 12, Bingen 6, Campbell 2, Plinke 2, Collier, Duvall, Gutierrez

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