By Mark Gilman
MaxPreps.com
Just a handful of games remain in conference play for Oregon's 6A basketball teams, but plenty of league titles are still undecided.
The Grant Generals can win their first 6A PIL title in 20 years with a pair of victories this week. Lincoln is tied with Grant in the standings, but the Cardinals lost two of three to the Generals in head-to-head matchups this season.
Previously top-ranked South Medford, which lost its first game of the season to an Oregon opponent last week (65-61 to Sheldon) can wrap up the Southwest Conference title with a victory over last place Grants Pass.
Other league leaders don't have quite that much pressure. Central Catholic can take the Mt. Hood League crown by winning one of its two remaining games. Same goes for top-ranked Lake Oswego, which faces second place Oregon City and third place West Linn in Three Rivers League action.
Still others are on auto-pilot heading into the last week of the season. No. 3 Jesuit leads the Metro League by two games with just one game left to play. Tenth-ranked McKay has a three-game lead in the Central Valley Conference with two games to play, and fourth-ranked Canby has a four-game lead over its nearest opposition in the Pacific Conference.
In the 5A ranks, ninth-ranked Roosevelt of Portland can clinch its first outright boys title since 1954 with a win over Cleveland. The Roughriders defeated fourth-rated Jefferson twice in PIL play to give them the edge in a tie breaker. Tenth-ranked Ashland can wrap up the Southern Sky title with a win over second place Klamath Falls. One victory is also all it will take for Mountain View of Bend to take the Intermountain Conference title. The seventh-ranked Cougars can clinch the title with a win over Summit.
The top two teams in the 5A poll can already look ahead to the playoffs. Mid-Willamette leader Corvallis (No. 2 in 5A) has a four-game lead over the rest of the pack in conference play, while top-ranked North Eugene is up five games in the Midwestern League.
The drama in the Northwest Oregon Conference was last week, when third-ranked Hillsboro beat fourth-ranked Century, 49-39, to take the league title. Both teams finished with 12-2 records, but the Spartans beat the Jaguars twice in conference play.
