Pritchard’s game winner downs Whitney Young

Payton Pritchard’s fall away leaner in from 15 feet went down with 1.8 seconds to play to power West Linn to a big win 68-67 over nationally ranked Whitney Young.

West Linn survived despite the nations top recruit, Duke bound Jahlil Okafor shooting 13-14 from the field in route to scroing 32 points to go along with 12 rebounds. Whitney Young out rebounded the Lions 31-19 and Whitney Young scored 46 points in the paint and made 19-24 free throws that accounted for all but two of their points on the night.

Anthony Mathis led four West Linn players in double figures scoring 15 points. Pritchard was huge again for the Lions with 13 points and 7 assists. West Linn’s supporting cast stepped up big as Ryan Shearmire had 14 points including three 3-pointers. Hayden Coppedge scored 11 points in 18 minutes of work.

This was a huge win not only for West Linn but for the state of Oregon. Whitney Young was a preseason top 10 team in the country. West Linn bounced back from a tough loss against Bishop Gorman in a game they should have won. They were up 29-14 at the half and let the game slip away late.

Okafor was unstoppable Monday night. Facing double and triple teams he had his way missing only one shot in the contest. Whitney Young was 0-10 from three and large in part to Miles Reynolds going 0-9 and shooting 6-22 from the field.

For the game West Linn shot 53.3% FG, 9-21 3pt (42.9%), and 11-12 FT (91.7%). They shared the ball extremely well and 17 of their 24 baskets were assisted and they only had 8 turnovers on the night.

West Linn finished the tournament in third place and Payton Pritchard was named to the all tournament team.