Mark Shoff Quotations

I think we traveled and played more nationally ranked opponents than anyone in Oregon has ever done.

We were lucky to pull it off. We haven't played like that all season, and it goes to show why so many teams get knocked out of the NCAA Tournament. All it takes is one bad game at the wrong time. I was sitting there and it was like a team I had never seen before.

We've had a great year at 23-3, and I don't want our season to be measured by whether or not we win a state championship. That would be unfair. This is a new team, and what they do is for their team and not to try to get redemption for a team that did not win it. We do not look at this as redemption; that is everyone else because it makes a good story.

I'm not just saying that to put the pressure on them. Nobody in Oregon has given them a game yet. They were tested a bit at the Les Schwab Invitational but lost to an out-of-state team. The teams they played from Oregon they beat handily. Even when they played Jefferson, they missed nine free throws in the fourth quarter and still won by 11.

All I know is this feels better than last year. It came down to the end again, six-tenths of a second and a three could beat you. I just did not want to come up short like last year.