Oregon couldn't make a 19 point lead hold up as Washington, behind the strong post play of DeAngleo Casto, rallied in the final minutes to defeat Oregon 108-105 in a thrilling main event win at the Les Schwab Northwest Shootout at Chiles on Sunday evening.

Oregon had the height advantage with twin towers 7'0 Andy Poling and 6'10 Sammy Schafer but Washington countered with the more rugged Casto as well as Kavario Middleton and Jared Karstetter, both who will attend college on football scholarships next season. The game was acentuated with plenty of highlight reel spectacular plays but it was Casto and his defense that was the difference as the future Washington State Cougar, who has to make Tony Bennett smile, would finish with an impressive 19 points and pull in 8 rebounds but the stat line that would steal the show were his eight blocks. Many coming against the taller Poling.

Early on one could see it was Washington's brawn against Oregons speed as Sunset's Garret Sim was dissecting the Washington defense along with Oregon City's Brad Tinsely who would both dribble penetrate and dish back to shooters Paul McCoy and Mario Gill or take it to the basket. Oregon in the first half played clean ball and committed just four turnovers to Washington's 13 which resulted in Oregon jumping out to a 52-45 lhalftime lead. North Eugene's Brian Conklin was one of the few Oregon posts finding any success around the basket.

The second half, Washington managed to cut down on their turnover ratio and continue outrebounding the Oregon team. They let Oregon jump out to a 68-49 lead before Fresno State bound Reggie Moore would lead a rally that would cut the lead to 68-62 and a 13-0 Washington run before Grant's Paul McCoy would hit a deep three and move the lead back to 71-62 with 10:00 left in the game. Then it was Bethel's Brandon McGee's turn and he would answer with two straight three point plays, both driving lay-ups with converted free throws and suddenly it was Washinton surging ahead 89-84. Sim would hit a deep tre' and with 4:45 it was Washington hanging onto a 95-94 lead. Several times Oregon would have the chance to retake the lead only to end up short a point. With 1:26 left McCoy would covert one of two and tie it at 104.  Inside the final minute, Oregon, trailing 107-105 would get a steal and a chance for a final shot only to get called for traveling. With 21 seconds left, Oregon ran a great play and got McCoy the perfect shot at the top of the key but it wasn't to be on this night as it rimmed out. Oregon fould Casto who converted one of two free throws and Brad Tinsley missed a runner from about 25 feet out at the buzzer and the Washington boys duplicated the Washington girls efforts with back to back wins.

Keys To The Game: Washington ruled the rebound. They would end up holding a hefty 57-39 advantage and more importantly, getting a whopping 27 O-Boards. The first half, Washington was sloppy with 13 TO's but would commit only eight more in the game. Meanwhile, Oregon who had played a fairly clean first half with just four, would commit ten in the second half.

Oregon's Best Perfomances:

Brian Conklin-The future St. Louis Billikan had a stong game and finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. He also lead both teams in offensive boards with five.

Garret Sim-Looks and plays like a PAC-10 point guard. He has quicks and a nice deep shot and see's the passing lanes very well. He finished with 17 points and four assists.

Brad Tinsley-Also is a big time point guard. More physical and better at getting into the lane, he finished with 13 points and led Oregon with five assists.

Paul McCoy-I'm sorry but the fact that Oregon's football and basketball coach don't figure out a way to get this guy to become the next 'Dual Duck" is a mystery and travesty. He is a PAC-10 player on both the football field and basketball court. He finished with 15 points and 'wants' the ball in crunchtime. Simply put, he's a winner. Whats not to love about this kid?

Washington Stars:

DeAngleo Casto-A rugged 6'8 leaper from Ferris. For those that don't know, Ferris is the Washington two time 4A State Champ (4A is largest of Washington schools) and are 59-0 over the past two years. Three players from Ferris made the Washington roster. Shawn Stockton and Jarred Karstetter who will join Casto at WSU but on a football scholarship. Casto is ready for PAC-10 ball. Nice shooting touch, phyiscal but also runs really well. 19 points, 8 rebounds, 8 blocks and MVP. Not bad.

Reggie Moore-Led all scorers with 23 points and added six assists. This future Fresno State Bulldog from 3A Champ Rainier Beach is deadly on the perimeter and is a scoring point guard. Very smooth and if one stat jumped out, it was he had just one turnover on the night. And he handled the ball more than anyone. Coaches love that.

Aaron Broussard-At 6'4 he's phyiscal and athletic enought to mix it up around the glass or shoot a deep three. Broussard had 15 points and six rebounds on the night.

Brandon Magee-This undecided Bethel native put the dagger in Oregon with aggressive drives to the basket and finished with 15 points, 13 in the second half. He also added five rebounds.