LC State men roll to win on senior night

When Lewis-Clark State needed it most, true freshman Dylan Skaife delivered.

The guard from Ferris High School in Spokane set a career-high when he sent a 3-point shot billowing through the nylon to give the Warrior men’s basketball team a late one-point lead over Southern Oregon.

The Warriors held on to that advantage for the remaining 5 minutes and 35 seconds to win on senior day. Alton Hamilton’s 22-point, 12-rebound double-double, Colfax alum John Lustig’s 20 points and Skaife’s career-best 18 points helped the Lewis-Clark State Warriors win the crucial 84-79 Cascade Conference bout versus Southern Oregon on Saturday at the P1FCU Activity Center in Lewiston.

“My shot felt good today, but honestly, it’s everyone on our team,” Skaife said. “John (Lustig), Alton (Hamilton), Mac (MaCarhy Morris), Taden (King) — they all created so much for me. They draw so much attention. Kind of makes it easy when I get wide-open shots.”

The Warrior women lost to the NAIA’s No. 3 team, Southern Oregon, 61-52 in the first game of the doubleheader.

Both programs recognized senior day with five Warriors getting their flowers, including 1,000-point scorer Ellie Sander of the women’s team.

Warriors’ winning formula

With about 10 seconds left in the men’s game and the Warriors (20-6, 15-5) clinging to a four-point lead, King broke up a Southern Oregon pass.

LC State gained possession and the Warriors successfully ran out the clock to buzz in the victory.

Seconds after the winning Warriors shook hands with the visiting Raiders (17-8, 12-7), LC State men’s coach Austin Johnson gathered his team at midcourt and raised one of his young children into the air three times in celebration with his team cheering each time.

The Warriors, who lost to Southern Oregon 73-69 on Jan. 17, avenged that loss with a dedicated defensive showcase and a trio of high scorers.

After King sank a trey to put LC State up by seven early in the game, the Warriors watched their lead evaporate.

Skaife sank back-to-back 3s midway through the first half and sidestepped a defender to nail a jumper and beat the halftime buzzer. The freshman had 10 of his career-high 18 points in the first half.

A resurgent Southern Oregon appeared incapable of missing out of the halftime break and quickly forged an 11-point lead by the 13:40 mark.

Johnson said he told his team to finish shots at the rim and lock down defensively, especially when top scorers Hamilton and Lustig saw some layups roll off the rim.

“They stuck with it,” Johnson said. “And those shots fell the last, you know, eight minutes of the game.”

Hamilton and Lustig clutched up in particular, dropping 10 points apiece in the final 16 minutes as they parted the Raiders’ sea in the post to either slip a pass into the perfect place or rise up to the rim themselves.

“He’s got phenomenal skill, phenomenal feet, great touch,” Johnson said of Hamilton. “It’s what’s in between the ears with him, and his ability just to stay poised in every circumstance.

“I think he’s a player of the year in our league.”

Skaife’s career day

Johnson said that Skaife started the year on the bench, had several poor shooting performances and was not a featured part of the rotation early on.

However, after Grayson Hunt suffered a season-ending injury, Skaife began to play more. On Saturday, he was a starter.

“Dylan (Skaife) gives you the threat of making a shot, and now he’s come a long ways defensively,” Johnson said. “Even though he’s small (at 6-foot-3), he is still fairly versatile. So the last couple games, we’ve had him guard the other team’s bigs.”

Skaife sank four 3-pointers on his way to his career-high point total on a 7-of-9 clip. He also grabbed two steals.

“I just kind of pride myself in doing whatever my team needs,” Skaife said. “I’d say this is kind of a building block for the rest of this season.”

LC State women hang with No. 3 team

The Warriors (21-5, 15-5) met the undefeated Raiders (25-0, 19-0) blow-for-blow in the first quarter, totaling four steals, two of which were from point guard Payton Hymas.

However, Southern Oregon led at each quarter break, first 16-15, then 32-22 at the half and by 11 after the third quarter.

The Warriors hung around thanks to senior Mataya Green’s paint points, Hymas’ 3-point shooting and an increasingly dominant defensive effort.

In the fourth quarter, the Warriors held Southern Oregon to eight points on 18% shooting from the floor.

“We just battled the No. 3 team in the nation extremely well. They’re No. 3 for a reason. They’re an excellent team. They got excellent players, but truly, our defense was good enough tonight,” LC State women’s coach Caelyn Orlandi said. “Our offense just wasn’t good enough tonight.”

Hymas led LC State with 15 points and nine assists. Sitara Byrd added 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Warriors celebrate seniors

The Warrior women recognized Sander, Green and Tessa Karlberg while the Warrior men celebrated King and Gorden Boykins.

Johnson praised King for being as coachable as anyone he’s had in the program and Boykins for being “the ultimate glue guy” with a share of tangible and intangible things that help LC State win.

“Hopefully I get to coach them for a few more weeks,” he said.

Orlandi praised each senior for their impact on the program: Karlberg for joining the team this year, Green for her tremendous defense and Sander for being “an everything player.”

“We always talk about leaving places better than you found them and those three definitely have left Warrior basketball better than when they got here,” Orlandi said.

Up next

With the win, the Warrior men clinched a home quarterfinal game in the Cascade Conference tournament that will be played on Feb. 25.

The Warrior women could host a conference tournament game, but that remains to be determined based on the standings.

King said that the Warriors entered the year as a young team that lacked chemistry but have gotten better over the course of the season.

“We’ve really started to click,” King said. “More of like knowing where we’re going to be on offense, talking more to each other on defense. And I mean, that’s showing this weekend with two wins.”

LC State has won six of its last seven games.

King said the Warriors have gotten better as the year has gone on because that’s the approach that Johnson and his staff bring.

“A lot of teams emphasize getting better in like the first month, and they stop,” King said. “We just try to emphasize getting better in every practice.”

Johnson said he wants his team to play its best basketball in February and March.

The Warrior women and men have two regular-season games left before the Cascade Conference Tournament and still plenty to be decided in the standings.

“We’re just gonna keep things rolling,” Orlandi said. “Learn from this game, but we still have two regular season conference games next week to take care of.”

The Warrior men are in third place, a half-game back from Oregon Tech, a team they beat on Friday, while the Warrior women are in third place and within striking distance of Oregon Tech, a team they also beat on Friday.

“You’re never truly evaluated until the final buzzer sounds,” Johnson said. “And for us, we hope that final buzzer is in deep March.”

MEN’S GAME

SOUTHERN OREGON (17-8, 12-7)

Reichle 3-8 0-0 6, Jackson 9-17 0-0 20, Whittaker 3-7 0-0 8, Juhala 3-6 0-0 8, Dyer 9-14 1-2 21, Chatman 3-7 1-2 7, Clark 0-1 0-0 0, Chulmak 2-5 0-0 6, Fenz 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 33-66 2-4 79.

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (20-6, 15-5)

Hamilton 10-18 2-4 22, Lustig 8-14 4-4 20, King 3-7 0-0 8, Morris 2-4 1-2 5, Skaife 7-9 0-0 18, Carpenter 1-2 0-0 3, Boykins 3-4 2-2 8, Salguero 0-0 0-0 0, Nordland 0-1 0-0 0, Smith 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 34-62 9-12 84.

Halftime — Tied 38-38. 3-point goals — SOU 11-28 (Jackson 2-7, Whittaker 2-4, Juhala 2-4, Dyer 2-6, Chatman 0-2, Clark 0-1, Chlumak 2-3, Fenz 1-1), LCSC 7-16 (Hamilton 0-1, King 2-5, Skaife 4-6, Carpenter 1-2, Smith 0-2). Assists — SOU 11 (Whittaker 3), LCSC 16 (Lustig 4, Morris 4). Rebounds — SOU 34 (Dyer 12) LCSC 30 (Hamilton 11). Total fouls — SOU 12, LCSC 6. Fouled out — None. A — 883.

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WOMEN’S GAME

SOUTHERN OREGON (25-0, 19-0)

M. McIntyre 9-12 1-1 21, B. McIntyre 1-6 2-2 5, Schmerbach 7-12 2-3 17, Baird 2-8 1-2 5, Robbins 0-4 1-4 1, Scurlock 2-3 0-0 4, Wright 0-1 0-0 0, Scheppele 0-1 0-0 0, DiGiulio 3-8 0-0 6. Totals 25-56 6-11 61.

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (21-5, 15-5)

Byrd 5-13 1-1 12, Sander 2-8 0-0 4, Hymas 5-10 2-3 15, Green 2-7 2-2 6, Herring 3-4 1-5 7, WilsIntyre 2-3, B. McIntyre 1-6, Schmerbach 2-2, Scurlcok 0-1, Scheppele 0-1), LCSC 4-19 (Sander 0-2, Byrd 1-7, Hymas 3-6, Brager 0-3, Beardin 0-1). Assists — SOU 13 (M. McIntyre 4), LCSC 14 (Hymas 9). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — SOU 37 (Scurlock 6), LCSC 34 (Byrd 7) Total fouls — SOU 18, LCSC 14. Technical fouls — None. A — 858.

Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2268, staylor@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @Sam_C_Taylor.