After a couple of weeks of struggling to put all the pieces together, the Roseburg High School boys basketball team was firing on all-cylinders in a 79-63 win over Sheldon on senior night Friday at Robertson Memorial Gymnasium.
The Indians bolted out of the gate for a quick 9-0 lead in the Southwest Conference finale and never trailed in the contest.
“That hot start definitely just gave us confidence,” Roseburg coach Jordan Humphreys said. “A lot of times when we get that lead, we get complacent and they think ‘oh, this is going to be easy and we’re going to roll,’ but they stayed locked in even after we got that lead and continued to play hard.”
Roseburg (14-10, 6-6 SWC) secured an at-large berth in the Class 6A state playoffs as the fourth place team in the Southwest Conference. This will be the third consecutive season in the playoffs for Humphreys and the team.
The Indians are scheduled to play on the road against the Grant Generals, the second place team from Portland Interscholastic League, in the first round on Tuesday.
Senior Asher Vredenburg said the win is a big boost for the Indians, “especially with how we were able to play defense and rebounding.”
“That’s something we’ve been working on, but haven’t been able to execute. But going into the playoffs and having that behind us is definitely going to help,” Vredenburg said.
Mykah Mendoza started things quickly for Roseburg with a 3-point field goal in the opening 30 seconds. The basket moved the senior into second place on the all-time scoring list at RHS, passing Joe Newton.
Mendoza finished with a game-high 25 points, including a pair of electrifying dunks that sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Vredenburg and Jullian Lopez followed Mendoza’s triple with their own to give the Tribe the early nine-point advantage.
Sheldon (11-13, 4-8) rallied to close the gap, but a 12-point first quarter flurry by Mendoza helped the Indians build a 23-11 lead after the first eight minutes.
From there it was a series of runs for both sides, but every time the Irish would make a push, the Indians would come up with an answer.
“It goes back to playing the way we’re capable of. We know we’ve been able to do that all of the time, we just haven’t done it for a whole game,” Humphreys said.
Multiple players stepped up throughout the game to keep the Indians in front.
Lopez spurred Roseburg to a 40-33 lead at halftime with nine of his 16 points in the second quarter.
Owen Bentea came up clutch with 10 of his 22 points in the third period to push Roseburg’s lead back to 12 points.
The victory ended a three-game losing streak for Roseburg.
Sheldon, which finished the regular season with four consecutive losses, ended the season one spot out of the 32-team playoff field.
Sophomore post Ty Read led the Irish with 17 points. Owen Cramer and Gabe Alvarado both added 14 points for Sheldon.
SHELDON (63) — Ty Read 17, Parosa 2, Jacobson, Graziano 13, Sheley 3, Cramer 14, Alvarado 14, Sperry, Templeman. Totals 24 6-6 63.
ROSEBURG (79) — Mykah Mendoza 25, Fanugao, Lopez 16, Vredenburg 10, Ash 2, Bentea 22, McCurdy, Bosley 2, Luther 2, MacLean. Totals 27 12-15 79.
Sheldon 11 22 15 15 — 63
Roseburg 23 17 20 19 — 79
3-Point Goals — Shel. 9 (Alvarado 4, Graziano 3, Sheley 1, Read 1), Rose. 13 (Lopez 5, Bentea 4, Mendoza 3, Vredenburg 1).
JV Score — Sheldon 47, Roseburg 31.
