MCMINNVILLE, Ore. — Silverton rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat Crater 61-60 in overtime on Saturday in the 5A girls basketball state championship game at Linfield University in McMinnville, winning its first title since 2016.
Senior Kyleigh Brown, a Portland State commit, led Silverton (24-4) with 22 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Junior Grace Hayashida added 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists and senior Justina Semerikov had 13 points and seven rebounds. Senior Olivia Boyd scored five points for Silverton, including the game-winning free throw.
BOX SCORE: Silverton 61, Crater 60, OT
Crater led by 17 twice in the second half, the latest with 4:20 left in the third quarter, but Silverton used a 18-3 run to cut the lead to two going into the fourth quarter. Crater pushed its lead to six with five minutes left in the fourth quarter but Brown hit two free throws with five seconds left to tie the game at 56 and send it to overtime.
"It was very intense. The entire time we were all on the bench holding each other's hands and just praying for every free throw, every point, every second, then it all happened again when we went to overtime," said senior Melia Horner.
In overtime, Silverton took a four-point lead off a couple free throws from Brown and Hayashida, but Crater scored the next four to tie the game at 60 with 1:16 left.
With 16 seconds left, Crater turned the ball over on an offensive foul and Silverton called a timeout. Out of the timeout, Brown missed a jumper, Hayashida got the offensive rebound and missed at the rim and then Boyd got the offensive rebound and was fouled with one second left.
Boyd missed the first free throw but then hit the game winner on the second attempt.
"Being able to stick together down 17 points, being able to lean on each other, that shows how close all of us are and just how much we love each other," Brown said.
Crater (26-2) was led by Sage Winslow, who scored 22 points. Abigail Winslow added 11 points and Lydia Traore scored 10.
"Crater's great, they're an unbelievable team, but our kids they just keep going. I'm so stinkin' proud of them," said second-year head coach Alyssa Ogle.
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