The Hot Corner

These games are so worth the admission

By miles vance

The Beaverton Valley Times, Feb 4, 2010, Updated Feb 4, 2010

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There are times, my friends, when even my job at the Valley Times seems like work.

There are long hours away from home at night, endless emails in search of one more basketball box score, and seemingly perpetual typing on swimming, wrestling and skiing results.

That is, after all, why they call it work and why I get paid to do it.

Tuesday evening, however, was not one of those times.

That’s because Tuesday marked the second of three regular-season meetings between the top-ranked Jesuit boys basketball team and the No. 2 Westview Wildcats. And while Tuesday’s game – an 81-65 Jesuit victory – was not quite the gem that the first game between these two teams was – a 61-56 Jesuit home win on Jan. 15 — this 1 vs. 2 battle is special and unique and an honor just to be able to watch.

Just having a No. 1 against No. 2 battle in the same league is unusual enough. It hasn’t occurred in the Metro League during my 15 years and, while it may have happened before, I’m not aware of it. But getting it three times in a span of just one month – the final match-up is back at Jesuit at 7:15 p.m. Feb. 16 – is almost too much to ask.

The amount of talent on the floor in each of these games is staggering, the Crusaders paced by St. Mary’s-bound senior point guard Stephen Holt and junior post Kyle Wiltjer (a member of the Canadian Junior National team), while Westview’s unquestioned leader is USC-bound senior forward Garrett Jackson.

But those guys are just the marquee names. The athleticism and ability on the floor from start to finish is, frankly, astounding, even in a league as regularly powerful as the Metro League.

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