In a true Cinderella story, the No. 9 ranked La Salle varsity boys basketball team took down four higher ranked teams en route to their first state championship win in nearly 40 years on Saturday, March 15.

The Falcons championship game versus Summit High School went down to the wire, with the score tied at 56-56 with three seconds left in the fourth quarter. Senior and point guard Paul Skoro drew a shooting foul beyond halfcourt from Summit forward Ryder Grieb, who was attempting to foul on the floor.

“I knew it was tied, so it took a little bit of pressure off of making a shot,” Skoro said.

Skoro added that he was more focused on drawing the foul than making a shot as it was a tie game, but he wasn’t originally planning on shooting from so far away. 

He made the split-second decision to shoot from afar once he saw how aggressively Grieb was charging towards him.

“I tried to lean into him [while] shooting to try to get a foul, rather than actually making a shot,” Skoro said.

“Paul is a smart guy,” sophomore and guard Riggy Khyungra said. “I knew he was going to draw [the shooting foul].”

Skoro went to the line and knocked down his second free throw, giving La Salle a one point lead. He intentionally missed his third, letting the clock expire and securing La Salle’s first boys basketball championship in nearly 40 years.

The Falcons had to overcome plenty of obstacles along the way, having a squad of just eight non-swing varsity players.

Though the low numbers had its drawbacks, it helped the team build tight-knit chemistry, which many of the players felt was the key to winning the championship.

Although the Falcons were ranked ninth heading into the tournament, they didn’t feel that it was a fair reflection of where they personally believed they stood.

“It gave us extra motivation to play harder, because we felt a little bit disrespected,” senior and guard Vance Sheffield said.

Their first tournament game was away against No. 8 ranked Woodburn High School.

La Salle was down by five points at halftime, but were able to find an extra gear in the second half, and ended up winning by 15 points.

“Something kicked in,” Khyungra said.

The game finished with a 63-48 win for the Falcons, and they were feeling confident going into their game against No. 1 ranked Caldera High School.

“I wasn’t super confident [going into] that game, because they’re still the one seed,” Khyungra said. “I felt like with how we played against Woodburn, we could definitely stand a chance.”

In the practices before the game, head coach Sean Kelly had the starters work on defending the post, as they knew that this was the primary focus of Caldera’s game. 

The team’s tough post defense proved to be key, as they held Caldera to just 31 points, coming up with 17 steals and forcing them into 26 turnovers.

Despite scoring 53 points, the Falcons made just three of their 24 attempted threes in the game, one of them being a full court heave at the end of the first half from Sheffield.

“I thought it was AI generated,” senior and team manager Shane Ball said. “It was crazy.”

 “Right when I left my hand, I knew it was going in,” Sheffield said. “It felt so good.”

Although the win was great, the team knew that shooting 12.5 percent from three wasn’t going to cut it in their semifinal game against No. 4 ranked Wilsonville High School.

Wilsonville had been the Achilles heel for La Salle for the last two seasons. Prior to the semi-final meeting, the Falcons had succumbed to defeat in their last four meetings versus the Wildcats.

“[Coach Kelly] said to us, ‘Wilsonville isn’t going to beat us three times. I’m confident in you guys.’ His confidence in us propelled us forward,” Sheffield said

“Coach Kelly had the best coaching season,” Sheffield added. “All that credit goes to him. He got us so prepared.”

In both defeats against Wilsonville this season, the Falcons were leading at the half, only to lose in the end. They found themselves in the same situation in the semifinal, leading 26-21 going into the break.

“We knew that they [had] the ability to come back and take control of the game,” Khyungra said. “This time, we knew it had to be different.”

The Falcons fell behind in the fourth quarter, but thanks to one clutch three from Sheffield and two from senior and center Aidan Kelly, they won with a final score of 55-46.

Despite being excited about pulling out a big win, the team had a glaring issue in the semifinal.

La Salle shot just six for 20 from the line, nearly costing them the game. 

“That game was way closer than it should’ve been,” Khyungra said. “If we made a few more free throws, it would easily have been a double digit [win]”

The team knew that they had to convert their free throws in order to win the final. 

In the final, La Salle faced No. 7 ranked Summit High School, who they had already defeated 62-51 at the beginning of the season.    

The Falcons came out hot in the first quarter, connecting on five of their seven attempts from beyond the arc.

They entered the half leading by 11, with a score of 38-27. Sheffield was the leading scorer of the half with 15 points, finishing with a team-high of 20 on the game.

Khyungra was aware that Summit’s game plan was to keep the ball out of his hands, so someone else needed to rise to the occasion.

“We needed [Sheffield] to step up, and that’s what he did,” Khyungra said.

Looking back on the season, Sheffield reflects on his close bond with his teammates as the most important factor to their success.

“All of us are like brothers,” Sheffield said. “This is the closest team I’ve ever been a part of … I love this team. I’m definitely gonna miss it.”