The Summit High School boy’s basketball team just finished an unforgettable season. Going undefeated (23-0) in the regular season, they ended the year with a 27-1 record. Going 4-1 in the playoffs, only to lose to #1 ranked Tualatin in the State Championship. The Storm were anticipated to have a good season but instead managed to exceed all expectations. They were the only team in the Oregon 6A division to go undefeated in the regular season. All season long, this consistently placed them as the #2 ranked team in the state.

Before the season started, both players and coaches knew the team had potential to be good – they just didn’t know how good. A shortened season last year due to Covid-19 saw the Storm go 10-2 overall and 6-0 in their league.

Head Coach Jon Frazier knew this team could be good because of last year’s success. But it wasn’t until the fall practices and workouts early this year that the coach realized the team’s full potential.

“Within a few practices, I thought it was pretty apparent that we had the talent, work ethic and attitude this year to put together a really successful season,” Frazier said.

Caden Harris, starting varsity forward, had a similar prediction.

“We thought we were going to be a really good basketball team. The thing with us was we didn’t know how we would stack up against the Portland and valley schools,” Harris said.

The season began with nine pre-season games where the Storm finished 9-0, winning most games by 25+ points. Within the very first week of the season, 1st year Assistant Coach Joe Wells noticed the ability and talent this team possessed. 

“I realized this team could be special the first weekend we played at Crook County. I was able to watch this team prepare behind the scenes which was pretty special… I realized that this team has all of the right pieces to do something special.” said Wells. 

Summit beat Crook County High School 79-40. 

Two other confidence boosts and turning points of the season came in the pre-season. Senior point guard Julian Mora touched on the pre-season victories over the Portland based teams: Lake Oswego and Mountainside High schools. Both teams were ranked high in the standings at the time, and later they both ended up making playoff pushes. 

“Towards the start of the season, we beat Lake Oswego and Mountainside… That was something good to see,” Mora said. 

Shortly after those substantial wins, the regular season began. The Storm charged through team after team, winning by an average of 24 points. Another significant and extremely celebrated victory came on February  17. This was an away game at Sprague high school, who finished second in the conference. This was one of the closer games of the season, but Summit was able to fend off Sprague and claim a nine-point victory. This win clinched the Mountain Valley Conference title for Summit. After the game, the team rushed outside and celebrated, dowsing each other with water.

The regular season concluded and the #1 Storm were placed as the 2nd seed in the playoffs. Entering the postseason, a mindset change occurred in the players. The focus at practice ramped up and everyone prepared for the battles ahead. 

“Going into the playoffs, our intensity picked up. Caden [Harris] stepped up a ton and got us all focused. This made us realize that if we kept this intensity, we could be really good,” stated Sophomore Guard, Collin Moore. 

On March 1, Summit faced Liberty high school in their first playoff game. It was a blowout, 32-point victory for the Storm. Game 2 in the playoffs came only three days later, when Summit played Barlow High School. With a grueling back-and-forth first half, the Storm were electric in the second, pulling ahead steadily and defeated Barlow 76-50. This win clinched a ticket to the state tournament in Portland. The Storm rushed to the locker room and celebrated together. 

“[It was] a surreal feeling… everyone was so pumped,” Moore said.

The Storm celebrated, but knew there was still much more to be done.

“It was a great feeling, but we also had to flip the page to the next chapter and see there was a lot more to be done,” Harris said.

The first state tournament game was against Roosevelt High School on March 9. The Chiles Center in Portland roared the entire game. At one point, the Storm battled back from a 10 point deficit. Late in the 4th quarter, with 4.6 seconds left, the score was 64-63 in favor of Roosevelt. Mora was at the line shooting free throws. He missed both, and all hope seemed lost. But with almost no time left, Harris grabbed the rebound and attempted a shot. It missed. The season seemed over, but Mora surged through the air and managed to put back Harriss’ miss, beating the buzzer in an electric win. The Storm won 65-64. 

Following this victory, Summit went on to face Mountainside High School on Mar. 11. This highly competitive game saw the Storm come out on top, 73-61. This win placed the Storm in the state championship where they would go against the #1 ranked Tualatin.

The game was close, but Tualatin was able to pull ahead and didn’t look back.  Summit finally fell in a crushing loss, 49-66 in favor of Tualatin. This loss snapped a 36 game win streak Summit strung together between the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 basketball seasons. 

“It was a tough feeling right after the buzzer went off. It was hard, it hurt pretty bad. Once we soaked it in for a little bit, we looked back at the positives and what we accomplished,” Harris said.

For a team with eight seniors, this loss felt devastating, but after coming together, they managed to look back and reflect on what they had done. 

“I am still sad we won’t be able to play together again, but very proud to have done what we did. Especially for a team from Central Oregon,” Mora said.

The Storm were 1 of 3 Central Oregon teams to make it to the playoffs–and they were the only central Oregon team to advance to the second round. Summit was also 1 of 2 non-Portland area teams to make it to the State Tournament. The team has made a name for itself, and brought attention to not only Summit High School, but all of Central Oregon basketball. This season meant much more than the broken records and achievements, it has shined a light that will burn on for the years to come.