The old and the new came together to get the West Linn boys basketball team back to its familiar stomping grounds. Coach Eric Viuhkola, back from a three-year absence after leading the Lions to four consecutive Class 6A state championships, and freshman point guard Jackson Shelstad helped steer West Linn back to the state tournament for the first time since with a road win over Mountainside on Saturday night in Beaverton. Shelstad, who has received offers from several Big Sky schools, had 18 points, six steals, five assists and five rebounds, and senior Micah Garrett scored a game-high 20 points to lead the No. Viuhkola surprised some observers when he stepped down in the spring of after cutting the nets for a fourth consecutive season. He again surprised some when he decided to return last summer after his former assistant and successor, Tyler Toney, resigned following the playoffs , which saw the Lions fall in the second round to South Salem. The players learned right away that a new sheriff, same as the old one, was back in charge. He pushed us to our limits, and we appreciate that now.
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Solon, Independence, West Liberty, Union among teams with multiple finalists
After the final buzzer sounded, the No. When you win a Pac Championship at home, you have to celebrate. First, seniors Anthony Mathis and Shakur Juiston addressed the crowd. The graduate transfers both migrated west from the Mountain West to Eugene, Oregon ahead of the basketball season. It was extra special for Mathis, an Oregon native who played high school ball with Payton Pritchard at West Linn winning three state championships together. The soon-to-be Pac Player of the Year thanked the crowd for their support and the university for the "greatest experience" of his life. Later, the Pit Crew board gave the seniors T-shirts with written personalized messages from the students on them. This is awesome.
Whether the No. The Pac leader in scoring The West Linn native has scored plus against nine different Pac teams and taken over games down the stretch on numerous occasions, scoring in double figures in the last five minutes of regulation and overtime five times this season, all of them Oregon wins. Our guys really have a lot of faith in him. His competitiveness, his work ethic has really separated him. Pritchard clearly took the feedback he received while testing the NBA draft waters last year to heart and raised his level of play.
