The final eight teams are set and they are heading to Coos Bay! Cascade Christian, Creswell, Westside Christian, Oes, De La Salle, Banks, Dayton and Pleasant Hill have all earned their spot in the tournament.
Below are a few headlines to look for at the Elite 8:
Lewis & Clark League Are Sending Three Legitimate State Title Contenders..
De La Salle, Oes and Westside Chrisitan are battle tested and ready to make a run for the title. Head Coaches Dave Henry, Ed Kirk and James Broadous II are no strangers to Coos Bay as they all made it last year. Westside made it to the Final Four, De La Salle finished Runner Up (DLS might as well own real estate in Coos Bay or North Bend) while OES won the State Title three years ago. LCL POY Jonah Jones (WC), Jaylen Hil (DLS), Levi Elderman and Cyrus Forney (OES) are players to watch.
Cascade Christian Is Back To Defend Their Title
Reigning State POY Austin Maurer returns and Cascade Christian looks like overall favorite to win the 2023 State Title. CC played in the last three state championship games and they only won it once. Three years ago, they loss to OES and two years ago they lost to Yamhill Carlton that featured Seely- Roberts twins. Maurer was hurt as a freshman and didn’t play against YC but last season he played and made sure his team brought home the title. This year, CC is hungry and is laser focused on bringing home another state title. Far West League Player of The Year Sophomore Drew Hall is a player to watch! Legendary Head Coach Brian Morse and staff will be more then ready to go!
ELITE 8 GAME OF THE NIGHT DAYTON VS CC @6:30pm at Marshfield HS - 3/2/23
Don’t get me wrong, all 8 games will be great and has some upset potentials but this game is the GAME TO WATCH!! Dayton defeated Cascade Christian (with Maurer playing )early on in the season 57-50 at CC. Dayton is riding a 23 game winning streak with wins over DLS, CC, OES and Creswell. As for Cascade Christian, they have impressive wins over Summit (5A #1 Seed), Westside Christian, 6A Forest Grove and Crook County. Dayton will be lead by PacWest POY senior Boston Hodges.
OES vs Banks at 3:15 Marshfield HS is the runner up Game of the Day.
Prediction and Final Thoughts..
I slowly step away from making “predictions” because we are blessed to have companies like Oregon 3A Predict and Mid Major Media to do it for us but I will make two predictions and they are as followed:
The state championship will go to a team from the bottom side of the bracket. For Dayton, Cascade Christian and De La Salle to be in the same bracket is kind of disappointing in my opinion. De La Salle can not overlook a solid Creswell squad! I understand it’s all base off the computer analytics but it would have been nice if one them was in the top bracket with Westside Christian.
My second and final prediction is 3 out of the Final Four teams will come out of the Lewis and Clark League. It will not be easy for them (especially OES) but I believe those three teams will win and advance to the final four. Dayton vs Cascade is too close for me to call, so I will leave that prediction to Oregon Predict and Mid Major Media.
Good luck to all teams! I will not be in attendance but will be following on NFHS, communicating with media, coaches and players through out the tournament.