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Dayton cruises past St. Mary's A 20-point outburst by the Pirates in the final period help them overtake the Crusaders in the semifinals of the Class 2A tournament By MORGAN RYAN PENDLETON - Defending state champion Dayton could not harness St. Mary's Michael Fiddler in the OSAA/U.S. Bank Class 2A boys basketball semifinals Friday. But the Pirates pretty much stopped the rest of the Crusaders attack en route to a 53-30 victory in front of packed crowd at the Pendleton Convention Center. Fiddler tallied a game-high 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. The 6-foot-7 junior post was 7-of-9 from the field and blocked three shots in playing the entire game. The remainder of the team was just 3-of-21 from the field. "I think without question he (Fiddler) was the best player on the floor," St. Mary's coach Tim Pflug said. "He had a heck of a game, he just couldn't do it all. They basically said 'let the rest of the team beat us.' " In advancing to the semifinals, the St. Mary's boys made great strides for the Southern Cascade League. "I think we're sometimes overlooked in the lower part of the state," Pflug said. "Our league was well-represented in this tournament taking third and eighth." St. Mary's beat second-ranked Gold Beach in the quarterfinals to earn the game against Dayton. The No. 7 Crusaders (21-7) are scheduled to play Portland Adventist for third place at 3 p.m. today, but the Cougars will likely forfeit the game to observe the Saturday Sabbath, which lasts until sundown. All St. Mary's has to do is show up for the game today and they'll be handed third place. Cascade Christian, the second-place team from the SCL, took eighth in the tournament after dropping a 49-39 decision against Warrenton. St. Mary's was able to stay within striking distance of the top-ranked Pirates (28-1) through the first three quarters. But Dayton's depth proved to be too much for the Crusaders, outscoring St. Mary's 20-6 in the final period. "I think we played well, just not well enough to win," Pflug said. "We don't have the luxury of a deep bench. (Dayton's) has a lot of guys they can bring in and with their experience they won it." Jon Hildebrandt, a first-team all-tournament selection last year, and Marcos Vigil scored 12 points apiece for the Pirates. "That's the quietest locker room I've seen after a semifinal game," Dayton coach Doug Miles said. "We didn't have a lot of energy tonight. It seemed like we were just going through the motions out there. "In the second half we finally had some kids hit some shots and that helped us pull away." St. Mary's never led in the game, but stayed within 24-17 at halftime with the help of Fiddler and Jared Sharp in the paint. Fiddler scored all six of the Crusaders points in the first quarter as his team trailed 10-6 after one. Sharp ended with five points and seven rebounds. Hildebrandt's 12 point-performance was far below his season average of 21 points, but the senior was just happy to be playing for another state title. "It was ugly," said Hildebrandt, who shot 3 of 12 from the field. "But a win's a win and that's all you can ask for at this tournament." Dayton will play Regis in tonight's final for the second year in a row. The Pirates won the title last year with a 71-66 victory. St. Mary's won its last state title in 1993. The Crusaders were eighth at last year's tournament. DAYTON (53) - Eckroth 0-2 2-4 2, Hildebrandt, 3-2 4-4 13, Cruickshank 3-4 0-0 6, Coleman 0-0 0-0 0, Vigil 4-14 2-2 12, J. Hansen 3-3 0-0 6, Lavelle 1-1 0-0 3, Kearns 0-4 1-2 1, Pendergraft 0-0 0-0 0, Rosario 4-8 0-0 8, L. Hansen 1-5 1-2 3. Totals: 19-54 10-14 53 ST. MARY'S (30) - Staver 0-1 0-0 0, Bladek 1-1 0-0 2, Jones 0-11 2-2 2, Matsumoto 0-0 0-0 0, Burt 0-2 0-0 0, Gradwell 0-1 0-0 0, Grant 0-0 0-0 0, Fiddler 7-9 6-9 20, Cooper 0-0 1-2 1, Sharp 2-5 1-4 5. Totals: 10-30 10-17 30. Dayton.....................................................10 14 9 20 - 53 St. Mary's..................................................6 11 7 6 - 30 3-point goals-Dayton 5-20 (Hildebrandt 2-8, Vigil 2-8, Lavelle 1-1, Kearns 0-3), St. Mary's 0-7 (Staver 0-1, Jones 0-3, Burt 0-1, Gradwell 0-1, Fiddler 0-1). Fouled out-Staver. Rebounds-Dayton 36 (Eckroth 8), St. Mary's 26 (Fiddler 13). Assists-Dayton 14 (Hildebrandt 5), St. Mary's 8 (Jones 4). Total fouls-Dayton 15, St. Mary's 14. |
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