Jesuit senior Elizabeth Brenner draws a foul as she breaks through the Oregon City defense in the third quarter of the 6A girls basketball semifinal Mar. 11 at the Rose Garden in Portland. Brenner led the Crusaders with 23 points and 10 rebounds in their 72-61 win. (Photo by Matthew Ginn © 2011)

I spent the bulk of Friday and Saturday photographing basketball at the high school class 6A (big school) state championships at the Rose Garden. I’ve been editing like mad ever since, sorting through about 2500 frames shot during the four games I covered.

These images come from Jesuit’s 72-61 win over Oregon City in the girls semifinal Friday afternoon. Oregon City have dominated girls basketball in Oregon since 1992, with 11 championships and 3 second place finishes in the big-school bracket in the 19-year period.

On the other side of the coin, Jesuit—who have won just about every state title ever contested—have never won the girls basketball championship. After finishing second last year, the Crusaders were determined to take another shot at the title.

After erasing early 3-0 and 5-4 Pioneer leads, Jesuit led for the rest of the game. Senior center Elizabeth Brenner was dominant on the post, scoring 23 points and grabbing 10 boards. Jean Parker added another 17 points for the Crusaders, including four baskets from 3-point range.

Aly Holterhoff countered with 17 points and 10 rebounds for Oregon City. Find the complete game statistics here.

(Click the thumbnails below to view the photos. Buy prints and downloads of these and other game photos here.)