3A Basketball: Tigers, Bulldogs end year with tournament victories

Yamhill Carlton Girls Basketball
Yamhill Carlton’s girls’ varsity team (8-2) split their first two games at the Valley Catholic Holiday Tournament in Beaverton. On Sunday, Dec. 28, the Tigers won by their slimmest margin victory of the season, toppling Jefferson (4-3, 2-0) 42-40.

YC trailed 30-18 at halftime. Offense was hard to come by, but 3-pointers kept the Tigers within hand.

A continental shift came in the second half and YC locked down Jefferson on the defensive end. Meanwhile, nine points from junior Lilah Stahl gave YC life as the Tigers outscored Jefferson 24-10 in the second half, securing their seventh victory of the season.

On Monday, the Tigers faced the No. 1 team in 2A, Regis (7-0, 1-0), for the second time this season. The result was similar to their first meeting, with the Tigers falling 66-33.

Seven different Tigers scored and junior Diesel Harper-Larson led with 11 points, but YC had no answers for Regis freshman guard Frankie Koehnkie, who scored 22 points and sat out of the fourth quarter.

YC concluded tournament play on Tuesday with a 50-41 win against Elmira (5-4). They begin the new year on Friday with a 7:30 p.m. tip off against 2A Santiam (3-6, 0-1) in the Tiger Dome.

Yamhill Carlton Boys Basketball
The Tiger boys (5-3) kept the holiday cheer alive on Monday, defeating 5A Springfield (1-5) 55-52 on the first day of the Stayton High School Holiday Tournament.

YC faced the hometown team, 4A Stayton (3-4), on Tuesday, falling 48-43 and took the court one more time on Wednesday in Stayton against 4A Baker.

The Tigers open 2026 on Friday at 6 p.m. with a home game versus 2A Santiam (2-8, 0-1).

Willamina Boys Basketball
The Bulldogs varsity boys (4-4) secured their first taste of a win streak on Monday.

On Friday, Dec. 19, Willamina defeated Rainier (1-7) 64-38. Leaving the holiday break, the Bulldogs’ good vibes permeated into a match against 2A Clatskanie (6-1) at the Scappoose Tournament, where Willamina gave their 2A opponent its first loss of the season.

Outscoring Clatskanie in every quarter except the fourth, where they went point-for-point at 11-11, the Bulldogs pulled away with a 60-41 victory.

Willamina returned to the West Valley with a home victory against 2A Columbia Christian, 58-42, and extending its win streak to three. The ‘Dogs return to PacWest league play on Monday, Jan. 5, beginning the new year at home versus Jefferson (0-7) at 7:30 p.m.