Benson gets back to prominence with win

In their first year at Class 5A, the Benson Techmen ended years of frustration by advancing to the state tournament semifinals with a win over Mountain View Wednesday at Matthew Knight Arena.

Benson, which has won five state titles at the large-school classification, hasn't reached the state tournament portion of the playoffs since 2006 and hasn't played into the semifinals since 2001 when it lost to Churchill in the Class 4A final.

The semifinals are entirely new this year as Class 5A seeks a new champion after three years of dominance by Jefferson. Corvallis, Wilsonville and Bend also played into the semis. Of the four semifinalists, only Bend has never won a title.