Estacada boys basketball battle with Aussies during world exhibition

Published 10:15 pm Saturday, December 16, 2023

There is nothing better than reveling in a shared passion for basketball with friends from across the globe.

Saturday evening, Dec. 16, Estacada boys and girls basketball hosted Modbury High School, from Australia, during its 2023 U.S. Tour. The pair of exhibition games didn’t count toward the final standings.

The Aussies have spent the last two weeks traveling the region during what is their summer break. In addition to the Rangers, they played Corbett, have spent some time battling Washington high schools out of Centralia, and played Molalla and Norht Marion, among others. But it is a connection with Estacada that makes the long trip possible in the first place.

Modbury boys Coach Ashley Trueman came to Estacada High during a teacher exchange in 2002. Those connections led to a visit every two years or so, only shuttered during the pandemic. Now with things safely back open, the tradition continues.

While in Estacada, 15 host families put up the Modbury athletes. The Rangers gifted the visitors with swag bags pregame, and had a meal for them at the school between games.

“Someday we would love to go visit them in Australia,” said Estacada Athletic Director Andy Mott. “We are glad to have these games back and host Modbury.”

On the court the Rangers boys battled hard. After a slow start, that saw the visitors balloon a hefty lead, Estacada surged late. The scoring duo of sophomore Gavin Gates and junior Spencer Vittitoe was electric in the fourth quarter, trading big buckets. That duo netted 35 points in the second half, and some timely threes, courtesy sophomore Connor Crawford, had the Rangers faithful thinking a comeback win. They just ran out of time.

“We have had a lot of games this week, lot of adversity, so I am happy how we looked against that group of high-level athletes,” Vittitoe said. “This is a new, fresh team, and we are going to compete every night.”

Modbury beat Estacada 80-74 Saturday, Dec. 16, in that exhibition contest.

“Tonight everybody was looser,” Vittitoe said. “We filled into our roles and played fluid.”

For Estacada, Gates had a game-high 25 points; Vittitoe added 19 points with 4 three-pointers; Crawford scored 13 points with 3 three-pointers; sophomore Paul Ables had 8 points; and senior Gradi Konde netted 7 points while taking on the task of playing center against the taller Modbury squad.

For Modbury, junior Carlos Toro had a team-high 20 points; senior Daniel Wood scored 18 points (all of which came from beyond the arc); 6-foot-5 sophomore Bryce Sanders had 18 points; and 6-foot-5 junior Josh Taylor added 8 points.

In the fourth quarter Estacada went on a 13-0 run, powered by Vittitoe and Crawford. That is the kind of mettle they will need coming out of Christmas break and diving into Tri-Valley Conference play. The goal for this young squad is to finish in the top-three and earn a berth in playoffs for the second-straight season.

“I’ve known these guys nearly my whole life, we just click on the court,” Vittitoe said. “We are ready to show what we can do.”