6A Girls basketball: Jesuit 46, Redmond 37 Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Redmond's Briaunna King tries to break past Meaghan White's full-court press in the second quarter of the Panthers' playoff game Tuesday at Jesuit. The Crusaders won 46-37 to advance to the second round of the playoffs. Friday, they will host Clackamas, who beat Grant in round one.

Jesuit notched a solid 46-37 win over the visiting Redmond Panthers last night in one of a dozen games played in the opening round of the 6A high school basketball playoffs.

Jesuit, who claimed home court advantage by winning the Metro League title, went in as the favorite. But the Panthers, who qualified fourth in the Central Valley league, played tough. They kept the score close for most of the game, even taking a three-point lead in the third quarter.

It was the end of the third quarter, though, that sunk the Panthers. After Jesuit scored a basket to go up by two with about a minute left, Redmond couldn't get the ball into play. Twice in a row, the Crusaders intercepted the inbounds pass and scored a quick layup. The period ended with Jesuit up 30-24, and Redmond never recovered.

Redmond Head Coach Mike Osborne watches his team's chances slipping away late in the fourth quarter of their playoff game at Jesuit Tuesday.

The city of Redmond, Ore., is about 20 miles (30 km) north of Bend. I had never photographed their team before, but when I saw them sitting on the bench in the first quarter, I knew I had a photo of their coach in my archives. Between halves, I asked him if he'd coached somewhere else last year.

It turns out that he was at Mountain View High School (Bend) last year, as was junior Briaunna King. I saw them play at Benson in the opening round of the playoffs last year. (They won that game before getting creamed by Central Catholic two days later.)

Mountain View and Redmond were both 4A schools last year. With this year's re-classification, Redmond became a 6A school while Mountain View is competing at the 5A level. Mountain View plays in the second round of their playoff bracket Saturday.