MWC champions

A smile began to form on Karly Laney's face as she walked to the free-throw line in the closing seconds of Monday night's Mid-Willamette Conference girls basketball showdown.

Laney, a senior at Corvallis High, stepped to the line with her team up seven points and a conference title all but wrapped up.

"I walked up to my free throws and I was smiling already cause I saw seven seconds left and I thought, 'we got this,' " Laney said.

She made one of two free throws and the Spartans closed out a 59-51 win over Silverton to claim the MWC title.

"I was so pumped and relieved to win," Laney said. "I knew they are a good team the entire time but there was something in me that knew we were not going to lose, we were not going to lose on our home court and I don't know, I just felt that the entire game. Every shot we hit I felt like this is it we're going to win. It felt amazing."

The Spartans close out the regular season at West Albany on Wednesday. CHS (19-3, 12-1) holds a two-game lead over the Bulldogs (10-3) and Silverton (10-3).

Last year the Spartans shared the title with West Albany and Silverton, but won a draw to receive the No. 1 seed to the 5A playoffs.

Not this year.

"We didn't have to wait or anticipate all day long who's going to win," Laney said of the difference this year.

It was a goal the Spartans made at the start of the season.

"I think a lot of us at the very beginning of the season, we looked back on that and we all said we didn't want it like last year," senior point guard Gabe Johnson said. "We wanted to be able to win every game and be satisfied with our last game. That's what we did and I'm really proud of everybody."

It was anything but easy, despite building a 10-point lead in the first half.

Silverton, which handed the Spartans their lone MWC setback, 63-55 on Jan. 28 at Silverton, took a 31-30 lead early in the third quarter.

But Laney scored back-to-back baskets to put CHS up 34-31. The baskets keyed an 8-2 run that put the Spartans up 40-33 midway through the quarter.

"It was just playing the game," Laney said of the two baskets. "I knew that we were down, but I knew that somehow even though we were down we had the drive and the passion that we weren't going to give up. When I made that bucket I was like, 'yeah, we're back in it.' We were seeing the open players and we were hitting our free throws so it was good."

But Silverton came right back and closed the quarter on a 7-1 run to trail 41-40.

That's when Johnson took over. She scored 10 of her game-high 23 in the quarter and hit 6 of 7 free throws.

She was a bit fortunate early in the quarter when a close call resulted in a three-point opportunity instead of a charge on Johnson, which would have been her fourth foul with 5:59 left and CHS up 45-42.

But the call went her way and CHS led 47-42.

The Spartans were then able to close out the game by running their offense and hitting free throws.

While Johnson was the main scorer, Kayla Laney added nine points, Katie Schrock 8, Karly Laney 7 and McKenzie Redberg 6.

"It's trust," Johnson said. "Everybody on the team, we're all so close and I know we all trust each other. When we put the ball in someone's hands we know if they miss it we've got their back or got the rebound. We're hoping they are going to make the shot and we are right behind them all the way.

"Yeah it just shows everyone has their spot and everyone is good at what they do."

It was a perfect way to cap off senior night for the five seniors -- Johnson, Redberg, both Laneys and Leah Seitz -- who all started and finished on the floor on Monday.

"It means a lot," Johnson said. "Us playing together since seventh grade all the way to this time, we have always dreamed of winning first and winning state."

Had the Spartans lost, they would have been tied with Silverton, but the Foxes would have held the tiebreaker by sweeping the Spartans.

And the Spartans would have needed to win at West Albany on Wednesday to avoid falling to the No. 3 seed and two road games to get to the Chiles Center.

There was no doubt in the players' minds before Monday's game, and they showed that confidence down the stretch.

"Honestly, I didn't feel any vibes of people thinking we might not win this game," Johnson said. "Everyone was pretty confident today. I was impressed no one was like what if we lose. Everyone was like we're going to win this one. As a team, we were like yeah, we're going to win."

And that's what they did.

Corvallis 59, Silverton 51
SILVERTON 13 11 16 11 -- 51
CORVALLIS 18 10 13 18 -- 59
Silverton: Sasha Ousterhout 13, Ashley Milliron 13, Sprauer 11, Kuenzi 9, Tschiegg 5, Stadeli, Hibbs, Whitaker, King
Corvallis: Gabe Johnson 23, Kay. Laney 9, Schrock 8, Kar. Laney 7, M. Redberg 6, Gerner 4, Adams 2, Seitz, W. Redberg
JV: Corvallis 56, Silverton 25
Frosh: Silverton won