The Mountain View Cougars kept their season alive with a 49-39 victory over the Wilsonville Wildcasts in the OSAA basketball playoffs at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene on Wednesday.
After loosing in the first round of the playoffs last year to Milwaukie, the Cougars are made good on their goal to get the first round win. They can now relax in Eugene until Friday.
 “Its much more enjoyable to get the opener and know we are off till Friday.”- Head Coach Craig Reid
A sloppy start Wednesday afternoon made the first round playoff matchup a game either team could take home.
Mt. View shot themselves in the foot early however, 5 first quarter fouls and turnovers left the Cougars looking at a meager 6 points after the opening quarter.
The Cougars have experienced slow first half play all season so nothing early on was too much of a concern for coach Craig Reid’s squad.
 “I went in at halftime and said this has been the norm so lets just step up and play.”- Head Coach Craig Reid
The 2nd quarter was controlled entirely by Wildcats as they hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back 3 pointers at one point, destroying the Cougars 2-3 zone and sending them on scoring drought that lasted over 5 minutes. Wilsonville grew their lead to 9 points at halftime.
Senior Mitch Modin did not help the Cougars case early on as he picked up 2 early fouls that forced him to sit on the bench for 6-minutes and only contributing 2 points in the opening half.
Modin saw his chance in the 2nd half however, and took full advantage of it ending the night with 10 points and was a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line, which helped Mt. View hold on and clinch the victory.
The biggest story of the afternoon however, Grant Lannin, A junior wing who did not see much playing time last season.
The junior kept the Cougars alive in the first half as he went 4-6 from the field, which was Mt. View’s only field goals in the opening half.
Lannin ended the night with 14 points and 11 rebounds to rack up a double-double.
On a night where the Cougars 3 point shooting was seasonally low, Lannin was just sticking with his game plan.
 “Every game my game plan is crash the offensive boards because that’s how I get over half my points.” – Junior Grant Lannin
The Cougars will advance to the semifinal round on Friday where they will take on the Churchill Lancers at 3:15, again at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene.
AJ Untermeyer Reports From Matthew Knight Arena.
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