Girls basketball championships Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Ariel Reynolds leads a stream of Jefferson players and fans onto the court after the Democrats clinched their first state basketball championship Mar. 8 with a 67-58 win over Hermiston.

OK, these are a little after-the-fact but as they say, better late than never. The girls' 5A and 6A state championship games were played back-to-back on Mar. 8 at the Chiles Center. In the opening match, Jefferson came back from a 12-point halftime deficit to win 67-58 over Hermiston in the 5A class. The win capped an amazing 27-0 season for the Lady Demos. (Sidenote: Jefferson also won the boys 5A title this year, the first time one school has won both the boys and girls since Stayton won both 3A titles in 1995.)

[left] Jefferson's Denaya Brazzle had a big night off the bench. The sophomore scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Demos in the 5A state championship game. [below] Jefferson fans mob the team after the Lady Demos won their first state basketball championship.














Melair Holterhoff of Oregon City draws a foul as she tries to split the defense of Allie Brock and Michelle Jenkins Mar. 8 in the third quarter of the 6A state championship game. Though the Pioneers kept the game close, Southridge led start-to-finish en route to a 49-43 win. [below] Michelle Jenkins (left) and Alex Earl celebrate their fourth state basketball championship Mar. 8 at the Chiles Center in Portland.

The nightcap was a rematch of the 2006 big-school final. Between them, Southridge and Oregon City have won 14 of the last 17 state titles—the first 10 of those for Oregon City and, after this year, four consecutive for Southridge. Alex Earl and Michelle Jenkins have been a part of all four of those teams.

[left] Senior Kiara Tate scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Southridge in the 6A championship match. (Michelle Jenkins led the Skyhawks with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists.)