Gazette-Times

The high school basketball playoffs are in full force this week as the 5A girls and the 3A boys and girls state tournaments take place.

In addition, the 4A boys and girls and the 5A boys playoffs get underway.

In 5A, the Corvallis girls will head to University of Portland's Chiles Center in search of a state title.

The Spartans (21-3) face North Eugene (17-7) in the first quarterfinal of the tournament, at noon Thursday.

Corvallis won the Mid-Willamette Conference and knocked off Bend 54-44 at home on Saturday to advance.

North Eugene finished second in the Midwestern League behind No. 1-ranked Willamette and dispatched Marshall 58-13 on Saturday.

Corvallis lost in the quarterfinals to Hermiston last year, but rebounded to finish fourth with two wins in the consolation bracket.

If the fourth-ranked Spartans win, they would face the winner of the No. 7 Ashland (19-6) and No. 3 Hillsboro (22-1) game in the semifinals on Friday. The losers play earlier Friday.

In 3A, the top-ranked Santiam Christian girls are headed to the final eight for the first time in coach Melissa McLain's six years at SC.

The Eagles (24-1) face Vale in the quarterfinals at 8:15 p.m. on Thursday at Willamette University in Salem.

SC knocked off Willamina 38-26 at home on Saturday to qualify. Vale (15-10) crushed Gold Beach 42-28 on the road.

Rainier (22-5) and Sheridan (20-8) are also in SC's bracket.

The SC boys rode their hot play in the PacWest Conference seeding playoffs to earn the top seed to the playoffs and knocked off Clatskanie 60-48 on Friday to reach the final eight, also at Willamette.

The Eagles (21-5) face Horizon Christian (20-4) in the quarterfinals at 8:15 p.m. on Wednesday.

Horizon Christian advanced with a 60-43 win at Rogue River.

Portland Christian (19-5) and Dayton (19-8) are also on that side of the bracket.

In the 5A boys playoffs, Corvallis (14-8) is home against Century (18-7) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

The Spartans missed a chance to secure the No. 2 seed from the MWC with a loss at Woodburn last week and now must win twice to return to the state tournament at McArthur Court in Eugene next week.

The Spartans, who finished second last year and have played at Mac the past two seasons, face a Century team that finished fourth in the Northwest Oregon Conference. The Jaguars defeated Corvallis 73-61 at home in December.

Should the Spartans win, they will travel to Intermountain Conference champ Mt. View on Saturday.

Crescent Valley, which shared the MWC title with Woodburn but earned the No. 1 seed by sweeping the Bulldogs, have one game to get to Mac Court.

The Raiders (15-9) are home against Hermiston, which placed second in the IMC, at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Hermiston (15-8) has won seven straight.

In the 4A playoffs, the Philomath (12-11) boys lost at home to Sweet Home last week in a Val-Co League seeding game and must travel to Marist (14-9) at 7 tonight. The winner travels to Cascade on Friday for a berth to the state tournament at Gill Coliseum next week.

Marist beat Philomath 62-54 in a tournament at Marist in early December.

On the girls side, Philomath (15-7) is home against North Bend (13-10) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday with the winner traveling to Seaside on Saturday to play for a state tournament berth.

Philomath has won 8 of 9 and 14 of 16 with the only losses coming in close games at home against Central.

Admission prices vary for the events, and only OSAA passes will be accepted.