![Reaching out. Christopher Lesh, student at Central Catholic High School, serves ice cream during the event on March 2, 2025, at the Portland waterfront. Central Catholic was just one of the schools that sent student volunteers out to cook, prepare, dish, and serve food. Interact club’s co-president Rachel Gerber, junior, plated the food during the event. “I like how direct the contact is,” Gerber said. “You’re there [and] you’re just doing something good. It’s simple, it’s easy, you can feel good about it.”](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/interact-1-edited-1200x744.jpg)
![At the bottom of the third inning, the Lions are still scoreless. Rowe stands at home plate, preparing to bat, while Vandenbrink stands off to the side as the next batter up. Despite having the bases loaded, the team was unable to score any runs. “It’s just the beginning of the season. We’re just going to be playing out best by June, [and] that’s where champions are,” Rowe said.](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_3077-1200x900.jpg)
Both Lions basketball teams made it to the finals, finishing third and fourth in state. Looking back on their season, one highlight game was the doubleheader against Oregon City High School.
From inside the locker rooms, the mens varsity basketball team took the floor for the matchup. The womens varsity team watched from the bleachers, and an hour and a half later, they gathered on the court for their own game against Oregon City.
On Jan. 31, the two teams traveled to a doubleheader basketball game against Oregon City. The mens team took to the court first and fought through a close game with a final score of 54—64 for the Pioneers. The women’s team followed and won their game 68—43.
The morning of the matchup, Reese Jordan, junior, and Kaylor Buse, sophomore, anticipated that night’s game.
“I’m really excited, OC is always a rival game for us, so it’s always super fun, they’re always really scrappy, and it’s always a good game,” Jordan said.
Last season, the team played Oregon City twice, losing in their first encounter away, and beating them the second time they played at home.
Following their game against Tigard on Jan. 28, the team had three days to prepare for the Oregon City game.
“I feel really good, we’ve stacked up a couple of really good practices, and I think going on from there, we’ll end up playing really good tonight,” Buse said.
During the first game of the night, the mens team started the game ahead of Oregon City, but as the game progressed, they struggled to keep up.
Gavin Gross and Jalen Smith, seniors, are this year’s team captains and have reflections from the game.
“I felt that we played pretty good in the first half, second half we struggled on defense, they got a lot of kick outs, just too many easy things,” Gross said. “I think we could have played better.”
Similar to the womens team, last year, the mens team won against Oregon City once and lost once as well.
“It sucks but we gotta come back. We play Tualatin on Tuesday, and we gotta bounce back and try to get after it,” Smith said.
