Marist Catholic secured the 4A boys basketball state championship with a 57-55 victory over La Grande on March 14 at Forest Grove High School.
The win marks Marist Catholic’s sixth state title and its first since 2008. The Spartans overcame a 12-point deficit in the second quarter, rallying to take control in the final minutes of the game. Bodey Drennan played a key role, scoring nine of his 14 points in the fourth quarter.
“We had confidence in each other and we knew we’d get it done,” Gianni Lombardi said. “The keys were just staying strong, not putting our heads down when things didn’t go our way in the beginning, and then just coming back and just having faith.”
Coach Bart Pollard praised his team’s resilience: “We just kind of persevered. Obviously, it wasn’t quite the start that we’ve had the last couple of days, but this team has been pretty resilient. This is everybody’s dream. I’m just so proud of these guys. I’m so happy for them. We just improved so much through the year and this is exactly what you hope for the teams that you coach — that they get an opportunity to do this, because this is amazing.”
La Grande made a late push with Tyler Abbott hitting a three-pointer as time expired, but fell short by one possession. Coach Shawn Brooks said, “It’s a tough one to lose. We missed a lot of shots that we usually make around the rim, which was unfortunate, and we kind of got lost a couple of times on defense where Marist really punished us with 3s or went backdoor for easy buckets.”
Drennan reflected on overcoming adversity: “That was the most fun I’ve ever had. This is an unbelievable feeling. The adversity that this team has gone through this year with injuries and everything … I just can’t believe that we made it all the way here.”
In other tournament games, Madras defeated Estacada for third place behind Matthew Suppah-Scott’s 23 points while Scappoose claimed fourth place after beating Molalla.
Brooks looked ahead to next season: “We’ve got some juniors coming back and some sophomores that got this experience as well… So, yeah, the future is still bright for us and we’re going to get to work when we can this spring to get ready for next year.”
