Playoff Roundup: Barlow, Gresham, Sandy in 6A basketball

Published 5:00 am Friday, March 7, 2025

Round one of Oregon high school “March Madness” is over, with four local 6A teams competing.

Here is how the Barlow boys and girls, Sandy boys, and Gresham boys did in round one of the 2024-25 OSAA 6A Basketball State Championships which were held Tuesday and Wednesday, March 4-5.

No. 1 Barlow boys 89, No. 32 Forest Grove 54

The lone local winners got it done Wednesday evening, March 5, with relative ease. The Bruins were powered by a trio of seniors: guard Jalen Atkins had 26 points and 5 assists; forward Brayden Barron had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds; and Mason Bierbrauer added 19 points and 6 assists. Next up is a Mt. Hood Conference clash with No. 17 Clackamas, who won its first-round game 81-61 over No. 16 McNary.

No. 10 Grants Pass 55, No. 23 Barlow girls 41

Déjà vu for the Bruins — for the second postseason in a row, the girls had to deal with a long commute to Grants Pass in the opening round. While the Bruins were able to keep things close in the first quarter, trailing 16-10, things slipped away in the second as they had trouble handling the Lady Cavers’ balanced attack. It was 32-12 at halftime (16-2 run) and 48-28 at the end of the third quarter. Bruins senior forward Rachel Jones had a team-high 18 points with 5 rebounds; senior wing Lizzy Weber had 6 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists; and senior post Addi Knight added 3 points and 8 rebounds.

No. 2 Tualatin 79, No. 31 Sandy 70

The Pioneers went down swinging in their postseason bout, nearly pulling off a stunner of an upset. The star was senior post Jacob Brown, who has been dealing with a nagging ankle injury throughout the second half of the season. The talented big man scored a game-high 35 points in his final game with Sandy. Leading the way for Tualatin was Jemai Lake’s 32 points (four 3-pointers).

No. 11 Jesuit 93, No. 22 Gresham 59

It took a lot for a young Gresham team to earn a spot in playoffs — they had to overcome safety concerns, a change in coach, and players out of position, and that was all before the first tip-off of the season. But they showed resilience, and a whole bunch of exciting promise. Senior Khaled Artharee (one of two on the roster) had a team-high 14 points; junior Jeremiah Pichon had 11 points; and freshman guard Ter’Rae Foster added 9 points. For the Crusaders, 13 makes from deep doomed the Gophers.