Capitol City Classic Day 1: Top Performers

The 2018 Capitol City Classic kicked off on Tuesday, with four games played at Cone Field house on the campus of Willamette University. All four contests featured Oregon teams from the 5A and 6A levels and it was a good start to the five day event. "Tomorrow is the fun day as it will be all of the out-of-state teams," said tournament director Chris Roche. "Today it was about getting in and getting it going - but it was good and this is a fun tournament." Lincoln 61, North Salem 54 Behind tough defense and some solid outside shooting, Lincoln stayed in front of North Salem all game long to get the win. Four different players hit at least one shot beyond three-point range - senior Ben Jeffers personally hit six - and the Cardinals dominated the backboards while holding the Vikings to a rough shooting night. Tigard 58, Cleveland 54 It wasn't pretty, but Tigard did just enough to hold off a very tough Cleveland team in the second game of the night. Stevie Schlabach (21 points) and Drew Carter (18 points) provided most of the offense but it took some tough defensive stops at the end of the game to stave off a Warriors team that just wouldn't go away. Roosevelt 64, Corvallis 62 Roosevelt built an early lead behind, using their quickness on defense to generate turnover and transition baskets. But as the game progressed, Corvallis started to dominate the smaller Roughriders down low and made a furious comeback. Roosevelt got some key stops in the final minute and held on for the win. Wilsonville 81, Crook County 45 Wilsonville ran off to an early lead and never looked back in a blowout win of the Cowboys. Standout forward Dakota Reber was out due to illness, but that didn't seem to matter as veteran guards Jack Roche and Gabe Reichle picked up the slack with 21 and 20 points a piece. The Wildcats were able to empty their bench and give their younger players some experience in the fourth quarter. Here are the top performers on the night: Zach Reichle (2020 Wilsonville) - The 6-foot-2 junior didn't get a ton of court time due to foul trouble but when he was on the floor he was extremely effective. Reichle racked up 20 points on 7-for-8 shooting, including a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range. His perimeter shooting was sharp and he got out in transition and threw down a couple of dunks. He managed to tally five rebounds, three assists, and three steals as well. Jack Roche (2019 Wilsonville) - Now a three-year starter, the 6-foot junior ran the Wildcat offense while doing a bit of his own scoring with a team-high 21 points. Roche hit the three, drove to the basket, and also showed off some of the slick passing that we've come to expect to see out of him by dishing out eight assists. Jasper Reinalda (2020 Corvallis) - At 7-foot-2, the junior immediately attracts attention due to his sheer size. But the big man has some skill to his game as well. Reinalda ran the floor well and in the second half against Roosevelt, posted up strong, kept the ball up when he got the entry pass, and simply turned around and showed off a soft touch. Big men take time to develop but Reinalda seems to be growing by leaps and bounds each time he gets on the basketball floor. We caught up with Reinalda and will have an update posted soon. Cole Tindall (2020 Roosevelt) - Tindall is a bit tentative at times but the 6-foot-3 junior has a solid body and a sweet shooting touch from the outside, especially from the side. He knocked down a couple of key threes in the second half for Roosevelt to help them stave off a late Corvallis run. As one of the bigger players on the Roughriders he also helped out on the boards. Stevie Schlabach (2019 Tigard) - It was almost the usual day at the office for Schlabach but his shooting touch did seem to be a bit off (7-for-18 from the field, 1-for-3 from three). But the 6-foot-4 senior did score at all three levels and contributed with his rebounding (a team-high 12 boards) and interior defense (two blocked shots). Drew Carter (2021 Tigard) - One thing you notice about Carter right away is his natural athleticism. The 6-foot-1 sophomore also has a great touch from outside as he not only knocked down some catch-and-shoot threes but also drained some nice looking pull-up jumpers on the baseline. The starting QB on the football team could exercise a little bit of shot selection at times but overall he was solid in scoring his 18 points on the night. Joey Rodrick (2019 Cleveland) - Rodrick has been battling illness the last few games and didn't get the start against Tigard. But when he got into the game, he certainly made an impact with his scoring (16 points) and rebounding (nine boards). Rodrick played aggressively on offense, creating his own shot off the dribble, absorbing contact, and finishing at the basket. Daniel Kovalev (2019 Lincoln) - Kovalev had two distinct separate halves of play in the game against North Salem. In the first half, the 6-foot point guard focused on his own offense, taking it strong to the hole to score. In the second half, Kovalev drove but kicked it out to open shooters for open threes. He ended up with a balanced statline of 16 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Ben Jeffers (2019 Lincoln) - The 6-foot-1 senior put in the long distance shooting performance of the night, knocking down 6-for-8 from long range. Basically if Jeffers was open and got a clean look, the ball was going through the net. Jeffers particularly seemed to work well in tandem with Kovalev, who often found him wide open for shots, so while he didn't really create anything off the dribble, he really didn't need to. Tameron Hampton (2019 North Salem) - The Vikings stayed relatively close with Lincoln all game long and Hampton had a lot to do with that. The 6-foot-5 is built and moves in a bit of an unorthodox manner, but he was very active on both ends, racking up numbers all over the stat sheet. When it was all said and done, Hampton ended up with 12 points, ten rebounds, and five assists.