Sandy takes on league foe Wilsonville in a consolation game Thursday morning

EUGENE – For the first nine minutes, Sandy was every bit as good as top-seeded Churchill. Once that nine-minute mark hit, the Lancers stepped into a different world and pulled away from the Pioneers on their way to an 82-61 win.

Sandy had the energy initially and played the game at its pace. At the end of the first quarter, the Pioneers trailed by just two points. On the first possession of the second quarter, Sandy guard Jacob Groom sank a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Pioneers a 19-18 advantage.

Then the wheels came off.

Churchill started playing like the No. 1 team in the state. The Lancers penetrated at will and Sandy couldn’t stop them. When the Pioneers did converge on a driving Lancer, he would kick it out for an open 3-pointer. Churchill finished the quarter on a 13-2 run and outscored Sandy 25-10 after Groom’s 3-pointer.

“There was one quarter that got away from us,” Sandy coach Jason Maki said. “We were close in the other quarters.”

For Sandy, the second half was just about making the game respectable. Justin Adams scored 11 points for the Pioneers in the fourth quarter in an effort to narrow the gap. Adams finished with 17 points and 18 rebounds. For every Adams make, there was a Churchill answer, which allowed the Lancers to hold a comfortable lead throughout.

“We would have needed a darn good game to beat them,” Maki said. “We had some darn good moments, but not a darn good game.”

With the loss, Sandy fell into a consolation matchup against Wilsonville at 9 a.m. Thursday.

Other scores from the 5A quarterfinals ...

Mountain View 49, Wilsonville 39

Silverton 55, Milwaukie 47

Jefferson 55, West Albany 52