6A Tournament – Semifinals Top Performers

<p>The 6A State Tournament Semifinals saw two highly competitive games and when the dust settled, it was Tualatin defeating West Linn and Summit getting past Mountainside to qualify for the title game on Saturday. Here’s a look at the day’s top performers.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1256645" first="Josiah" last="Lake"] (2023 Tualatin)</strong></p> <p>For the second night in a row, Lake stepped up big with his play, not only making shots and grabbing boards, but also doing a great job defensively. He switched off often to guard [player_tooltip player_id="861091" first="Jackson" last="Shelstad"] and used his quickness and athleticism to make the star guard work hard for his shots. He finished the night on 20 points on 7-for-12 shooting and 8 rebounds.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="857353" first="Malik" last="Ross"] (2022 Tualatin)</strong></p> <p>Ross started off slowly against West Linn, but really made a statement early on in the second half. For four straight possessions for the Timberwolves, the senior guard went into attack mode and it resulted in him scoring seven straight points to give Tualatin their first leads of the game since the opening bucket. He took good care of the basketball and finished with 4 assists against only one turnover.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="861098" first="Mark" last="Hamper"] (2023 West Linn)</strong></p> <p>Other than a few unfortunate misses near the hoop at the end, Hamper had it going offensively for the Lions. He was sharp knocking down open threes and also using his body to create and finish around the hoop. The 6-foot-3 swingman showed good toughness on the board and did a good job of taking care of the basketball.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1228279" first="Caden" last="Harris"] (2022 Summit)</strong></p> <p>Hard-nosed performance by Harris who was a tough matchup for Mountainside with his combination of size and strength. He got his shots from all over the court from right near the hoop to out past the three-point line, and shot 5-for-11 overall, 3-for-6 from three for 14 points. He also grabbed 7 boards and dished out 6 assists.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1079540" first="Carson" last="Cox"] (2022 Summit)</strong></p> <p>Cox did exactly what he did on day one - simply find ways to get open, take advantage of whatever the defense offered, and knock down shots. At the end of the day this resulted in three made threes, 5-for-7 shooting overall, and a team-high 15 points. Cox also took good care of the basketball and through two games, he has zero turnovers.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1110580" first="Pearson" last="Carmichael"] (2024 Summit)</strong></p> <p>Big game for Carmichael coming off of the bench. Blessed with a 6-foot-6 lanky frame, he showed his ability to face the basket and shoot by hitting two key threes, but also his length and athleticism with a dunk as well. His combination of size, skills, and potential certainly impressed University of Portland head coach Shantay Legans, who offered Carmichael a scholarship after the game.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="857352" first="Dezman" last="Baker"] (2022 Mountainside)</strong></p> <p>Tough effort from Baker, who missed much of the first quarter due to a bloody nose. The senior swingman played through it and had some creative drives to the hoop that resulted in points as Mountainside tried to cut into Summit’s lead. Baker rebounded and defended the ball well as he usually does as well. He finished with 16 points and 5 rebounds.</p>