Rose City Roundup: Grant and Benson set up for first-place showdown
We’ve reached the end of the first week of PIL basketball action, but that’s not all that happened.
Local wrestlers are out winning tournaments and showing off on the mats, meanwhile Parkrose boys basketball is solidifying its spot as the No. 1 team in 5A.
We’ve got a look at the week that was plus a collection of stories you might have missed!
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Stage is set
After the Benson boys basketball team took out Jefferson 79-60 and Grant beat Roosevelt 80-72 at the PIL Showcase, the stage is now set for a possible round one, league-deciding showdown.
The Astros and Generals will match up at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13 at Grant in the first of two league games. Both sides survived the first week of PIL play unblemished at 3-0.
Benson came into the 2025-2026 season as the favorites with its entire starting five and rotation back, plus the addition of highly-ranked freshman Kendall Hopkins-McGlothen.
Grant on the other hand lost its whole starting five to graduation or transfers, and in their place is a starting five made up of four sophomores and a freshman. However, one of those sophomores is Jacob Harper-Grant, who made a good opening statement this past week to be considered for PIL Player of the Year.
Jefferson and Roosevelt will certainly have something to say in this league title race as well. And Ida B. Wells continues to be a potential dark horse after pushing Benson to the brink earlier in the week.
But for now, this Benson and Grant matchup is can’t miss if you’re a basketball fan in the city.
Girls grapplers showing out
Local girls wrestling continues to be some of the best in the state, starting with two-time state champion Zorina Johnson. The Ida B. Wells senior won the Braided 64 130 bracket at Kelso High School in Washington with relative ease.
Lincoln has sophomore Sofia Patterson having an excellent season. She took home seventh at the Braided 64 after taking first at the Canby Tournament and second at the Rick Sanders Invitational earlier this season.
Roosevelt competed at the Dragon Invite this weekend at Dallas High School and saw two wrestlers go deep into the tournament.
Emony Greely went all the way to the title bout at 190 and won with a third-period fall. She took out the top seed en route to the final in the semifinals.
Niazeal Orduna-Torres made the semifinals at 100 and ended up in fourth place after losing a tight 14-13 decision in the third place match.
Parkrose dominating early
Broncos boys basketball is making good on that No. 1 ranking, jumping out to a 3-0 mark in the NWOC with three blowout wins.
It started Monday with a 91-63 win at Hillsboro, followed by their first home game of the season on Wednesday which turned into a 69-35 win over Milwaukie.
Then it was back on the road to take on Canby, who came in 2-0 in league play also. But the Broncos took it 72-50 to be the only undefeated team in the NWOC after week one.
Next week will be challenging as well, starting with a home game against 2-1 Wilsonville at 7:15 p.m. Monday, Jan. 12. Then it’s on the road to play 1-1 Centennial, who beat Wilsonville, at 7:15 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15.
Race for second heating up
As expected, the Benson girls basketball team has looked dominant to start the PIL slate, starting out 3-0 with wins of 91-20 over McDaniel, 66-24 over Wells and 69-46 over Jefferson.
Give credit to Grant as well who is also 3-0 after the first week, taking down Lincoln 60-55, Cleveland 60-45 and Roosevelt 59-42. The Generals take on the Astros next at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13 at Benson.
Behind those two are three teams at 2-1 in Jefferson, Cleveland and Lincoln. The Demos play two of them next week with a 6 p.m. Jan. 13 matchup at Lincoln followed by a 6 p.m. tip Jan. 16 at home against Cleveland.
All those games are sure to leave a lasting impact on who can get the second and third spot that comes with an automatic bid to the postseason.
Cleveland wins Don York
Warriors boys wrestling hosted the annual Don York Invitational and took home first with 243 points, beating out Oregon City in second with 208.5 points.
Cleveland had three individual champions, starting with Eli Borrayo at 120 pounds, followed by Stewart Bromwell at 132 and then Nolan Johnson at 165.
Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln and Parkrose all competed in the event as well, taking eighth for the Lightning, ninth for the Democrats, 10th for the Cardinals and 13th for the Broncos.
The Demos had two individual champions, one being two-time state runnerup Titus Rodela at 157, and the other Dereon Peters at 215.
Lincoln got one champion as well in Leo Farris. He took home first at 175.
Parkrose was led by Asher Priestly who took second at 165 and Franklin had Nigel Everly lead on the podium with a third place finish at 106.
