District 4 1A Boys Tournament

1A DISTRICT TOURNAMENT

Monday’s pigtail game
Forks at Kalama, 7 p.m.

Wednesday’s games
First round (sites, times TBA)

Forks-Kalama winner vs. Winlock (WInlock HS says at Castle Rock)
Rainier vs. Stevenson
Ilwaco vs. Onalaska
Montesano vs. Castle Rock

Evergreen/Trico Boys Tournament Discussions

With Rainier beating Winlock on Tuesday, that put them in a position to claim the a high seed in the Evergreen Conference. Meanwhile Toledo's loss to Forks and then Fork's overtime loss to Rochester knocked out Toledo and then dropped the Spartans to the 5th place spot in the Evergreen.

Kalama and Ilwaco ADs will be in phone contact with each other . The boys' teams are tied now and if both win or both lose there will be a playoff Saturday at La Center.

The loser hosts Forks on Monday.

The game on Monday now looks more competitive depending which team from Froks shows up.

Evergreen
Winlock, Onalaska, Rainier, Montesano and Forks

Trico
Castle Rock, Stevenson, Ilwaco and Kalama

Winlock Hands Onalaska a 2nd Defeat

Sometimes, a seemingly insurmountable lead can evaporate in just minutes. On Saturday night a ten point lead by the Winlock Cardinal nearly disappeared in the 4th quarter of an SWWA 1A, Evergreen Conference marquee match with Onalaska. The Cardinals scored three points in the 4th quarter but it was enough to stay unbeaten in league play as Winlock defeated the Loggers 39-37.

Winlock’s Tyler Hertz (left) and Jordan Davis (#20) stops Onalaska’s Dalton Richey under the basket. Richey led all scorers in Saturday’s game with 16 points.

Onalaska came out fast and took an 11-10 lead after the 1st quarter, but the Cardinals came back and out scored Ony 15 to 4 in the second stanza. With 7 points from Jordan Davis and contributions, usually 2nd chance rebounds from Tyler Diamond, Jake Brown and Nathan Booth.

The third was played to an 11-11 push. But Dalton Richey began to assert himself as a slashing scorer as he earned 7 of his 16 points during a five minute portion of the 3rd. Winlock took a 36-26 lead into the final period.

Onalaska’s Jeff Swett tries to back down Winlock’s Nathan Booth in the 3rd quarter of their game on Saturday night.

Onalaska took advantage of a Winlock scoring drought with Jeff Swett grabbing a rebound and putting it back up and in. Richey went to work scoring off of an inbounds play narrowing the lead to 36-30. Winlock then turned the ball over in the backcourt and then Richey was fouled slashing to the bucket. He dropped both free throws and then Winlock proceeded to turn the ball over twice more leading to another Richey bucket and then a visit to the foul line by Eddie Miles. In all the Logger executed an 10-0 run from 52.9 seconds in the 3rd until 1:21 left in the 4th.

Miles however, contributed to the Loggers ten missed free throws at a key moment. In all, Onalaska went 11-21 from the free throw line. Winlock shot only eight times from the charity stripe, converting six on the evening.

Winlock is most dangerous on the offensive boards and Jake Brown proved that on a put-back with 1;21 left in the 4th.

Mike Kent (left) of Winlock “denies” Onalaska’s Brady Stanley the ball. Stanley is a prolific scorer but Winlock’s defense often prevented him from getting the ball.

19 seconds later, Brady Stanley got lose for his only shot of the game and was fouled by Cardinal Senior Tyler McCarthy. Stanley sunk the free throw leading the Loggers to within one at 38-37.

With 40.9 seconds, Winlock’s Nathan Booth was fouled and went to the free throw and hit the front end of a one and one to make the final score of the game at 39-37.

Onalaska had the final opportunity to tie or win as Jeff Swett had the ball under the bucket but was surrounded by Cardinals. The ball found its way to Richey, whose 20 foot plus shot flew only 16 feet just before the game ending buzzer.

“We knew they would come back on us,” said Winlock Head Coach Gary Viggers Sr. “We just had to be ready” said one of the calmest guys in the gym after the game.

Dalton Richey led all scorers with 16 points while Jordan Brown led the Cardinals with 14 points. Jake Brown had 12 rebounds in addition to his 9 points.

Winlock is now 12-0 in the Evergreen Conference while Onalaska falls to 12-2. Onalaska plays Rochester and Toledo as well as a non-conference game against Willapa Valley this week. Winlock will visit Rainier on Tuesday and host Montesano next Friday.

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ONALASKA-Dalton Richey 16, Jeff Swett 10, Eddie Miles 5, Cody Naillon 3, Brady Stanley 3, Eric Messal 0, Zach Barnes 0, Kolby Steele 0

WINLOCK-Jordan Davis 14, Nathan Booth 11, Jake Brown 9, Tyler Hertz 3, Tyler Diamond 2, Mike Kent 0, Tyler McCarthy 0


ONALASKA-11 4 11 11-37
WINLOCK 10 15 11 3-39

Significant Wins and Losses

River Ridge 72, Elma 60
Tumwater 50, Black Hills 47

In what is probably not an upset, Tumwater handed Black Hills their first league loss and their second loss on the season. Elma however, couldn't take advantage as River Ridge took them down as the top of the Girls 2A Evergreen league bunches up with three teams with two losses.

Skyview 40 Heritage 38

Part one of the battle for the 4A Girls Greater St. Helens League battle saw Skyview on the upside of Heritage. The two horse race will resume on February 12th at Skyview.

Boys Basketball

Onalaska 60, Rainier 57

Onalaska took on Rainier in its own gym, this time with sharpshooter Jacob Fox in the line-up. The result was only slightly closer than the 61-56 win at Onalaska last weekend without Fox. Onalaska is now 11-0 on the season and hosts Winlock on Tuesday, February 3rd.

Pe Ell 58 Napavine 52

I don't know what to think of Napavine these days. Like much of the mix of Boy's 2B top teams including the Tigers, Toutle Lake, Mossyrock and Adna, nobody wants to take charge of the league.

Stevenson 56 Kalama 46

Stevenson has now defeated the what I thought were the top two teams in the 1A Boys Trico League. In addition to Kalama, the Bulldogs smoked Castle Rock a couple of weeks ago and now are in charge of the league but will visit both Castle Rock and Ilwaco next week and Kalama on February 13th.

Onalaska Handles Foxless Rainier

The Onalaska boys looked sharp as they defeated Rainier 51-46 in a 1A Evergreen League game on Saturday. The loss was only slightly tempered by the fact that Rainier was playing without one of its best shooters in Jacob Fox and the fact that the two teams will meet again on Tuesday night at Rainier. In fact, Onalaska will play three games in four nights as they continue to make up snowed-out and flooded-out games from December and January.

Onalaska's Brady Stanley (#10) hit four threes and hit the last two free throws of the game for 14 points.

The Mountaineers stormed out of the locker room to a 15-9 1st quarter advantage, but Onalaska went on a 10-2 run to start the 2nd quarter and went into the locker room on a 7-3 flourish. Brady Stanley hit threes during the quarter and other points were contributed by Nick Modica, Eric Messal and Zack Barnes.

The Loggers employed an aggressive defense that resulted in several quick baskets after turnovers.

The Loggers largest lead was 41--30 after two Dalton Ritchey free throws with 6:55 to go in the 4th. Rainier went on a 6-0 run with a bucket and two free throws from Kyle North and two points from Bradon Franklin. After a bucket by Ony’s Jeff Swett, Franklin contributed three more free throws as he attracted the physical play of the Loggers and the lead dwindled to just 43-39.

Onalaska may not start any Seniors, but one plays an awfully big role on the team. Erik Messal hit a three with 4:02 to extend the lead to 46-39 and then a minute later he contributed another clutch 2 pointer. Rainier scored two more free throws by North and another bucket by Frankin, but it would not be enough.

Without fellow shooter and floor leader Jacob Fox, Kyle North (#14) kept Rainier in the game and was the overall high point man with 24 points.

Onalaska’s most productive five are juniors and sophomores with only two guys on the roster listed as a forward. The floor leader for Onalaska is Dalton Ritchey. “He missed a couple of early shots and got trying a little too much. But even on a bad night, he is good,” said Onalaska Head Coach Dennis Bower. “He is our floor leader, our emotional leader, he and Brady Stanley. He is just real solid and I feel comfortable with him, even when he is trying to do too much.

The aforementioned Stanley finished with 14 points while Ritchey had 10.

Dalton Ritchey ran the floor for Onalaska and added 10 points to the team's total.

The one senior on the team sits close to the coach though.

It was the performance of Eric Messal that caught the coach's attention. “The kid that hit the big shots down the stretch was a Senior” said Bower He is a great 6th man for us. He hit some big shots for us. Even when he was missing shots early, he hit the big shots.”

Onalaska Senior Eric Messal hit some clutch shots in the 4th quarter.

The Loggers are now 11-0 and 7-0 in league.

RAINIER-Jacob Fox 0, Delton Delio 0, Kevin Volaskey 6, Kyle North 21, Tyler Schaff 1, Mitch McComb 0, Matt Tietjen 0, Brandon Eygabroad 2, Bradon Franklin 9, Chris Ashby 5. FG — 14-41NA; FT — 12-18.
ONALASKA-Brady Stanley 14, Nick Modica 4, Dalton Ritchey 10, Eddie Miles 5, Cody Naillon 4, Eric Messal 12, Jeff Swett 2.

RAINIER 15 6 9 16 — 46
ONALASKA 9 19 12 12 — 51

Doubleheader of the Day...Rainier at Onalaska

There is an odd assortment of boys and girls basketball this Saturday with many non-league games that were either snowed out or flooded during our late December weather chaos. I don't see any match-ups as intriguing as the doubleheader at Onalaska this evening. At 5:45, the Onalaska girls will take on Rainier who are now officially the leaders of the 1A Evergreen Conference with their 40-34 win over previous league-leader Forks. Onalaska is 4th, but one through six, anybody can beat anyone as Winlock proved to Toledo, and Rainier certainly showed against Forks.

The Lady Logger's record is not impressive on paper, but they have been in every game and have a competitive mentality among the very best.

"Ony is Ony and they are always tough to beat on the road, said Rainier Girls Head Coach Dave Wasankari. "They are athletic and can shoot. We will have to play well to give ourselves a chance to win."

Rainier will come straight at Ony with Kristen Schoenherr who average about 15 points and 5'9" Chelsea Owens who contributes nearly 17 points and 8 rebounds per game.

Onalaska is led by Abmber Durand who is averaging about 21 points per game. Toledo concentrated on stopping her this week and only gave up 18 points to her. The Lady Loggers throw a multitude of talent in the intangibles. They score in tight spots, and move the ball around.

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The Onalaska boys are quietly undefeated on the season and can't seem to get much respect as yet. A game with Winlock was rescheduled after is was flooded out earlier this month. A victory against a hard-nosed Rainier team will put them in the minds of many observers until quality is proven otherwise.

The Loggers feature five pleayers that average in double figures and there is not a Senior among them. Cody Naillon, and Eddie Miles both average close to 12 points a game and are capable of grabbing 4 to 6 rebounds a piece. Sophomore Dalton Richey has emerged as one of the floor leaders as he and Brady Stanley both average 3 assists per game. Ritchy is now averaging 13 points a game. Jeff Swett is a worker under the boards with 8 rebounds a game. He also averages about 8 points a game.

Rainier counters with the interior play of Brandon Franklin who averages 12 points and over 5 rebounds a game. Kyle North is the floor leader with 4 assists per game but also has the capability to drop a big three-ball. Jacob Fox is also a great shooter from the outside. Both North and Fox average about 9 to 10 points a game.

This will be my first chance to see the Onalaska boys and the Rainier girls! It is a great opportunity to see some intense, high quality, high school basketball

District 4 teams in the TNT Top 10

We have finally arrivied at a point in the season where we can start comparing teams. For the first 6 weeks of the season, I can't figure out why anyone tries to do this, but at some point, the values begin to become clear.

To this point, I have not seen enough 3A and 4A games to make compelling arguments against those lists. While Squalicum (currently ranked #1)is a virtual unknown, only Centralia looks out of place on the 2A top 10. That will be solved this evening when they visit Hoquiam.

At the 1A level, Vashon is a no brainer, especially after their defeat of Chelan last night. They have played the toughest schedule possible and are a point from being undefeated. Of course, that one loss was to Roosevelt High School in Portland, Oregon. One team that is lurking and should at least be included in the outside group is Onalaska, They are being punished I suspect for playing weak competition thus far but undefeated is just that!

I have few arguments with the girl's top 10, but there is a lot of basketball yet to be played!


Tacoma News-Tribune High School Girls Top 10.

At the 4A level, there are no teams from District 4 in the TNT rankings. 3A District 4 teams in the top 10 include only mighty Prairie High that dropped from 4A last year to its current level. Southwest Washington is well represented at the 2A level with Black Hills at 2nd, Elma at 7th and Hockinson at 9th. Teams at the 1A level are limited with only Forks cracking the 10, but La Center, Onalaska, Rainier and Toledo all received honorable mention as teams just outside the big list.

Tacoma News-Tribune High School Boys Top 10.

The firs Distrct 4 team thought to be in the top 10 at the 4A or 3 A level is Columbia River which was included at the number 5 spot. The 2A Evergreen conference is well represented with River Ridge, Hoquiam and Centralia holding the 3rd, 6th and 10 spots respectively. Centralia’s hold on a Top 10 ranking may be in peril as they travel to # 6 Hoquiam tonight. Not to be out done, Mark Morris from the Greater St. Helens League holds the number 2 spot on the charts. At the 1A level, Winlock moved up to the 3rd spot while Kalama earned honorable mention just outside the top 10.

District 4 Results

Boys Basketball

Winlock 71 Montesano 40
Onalaska 52, Toledo 32
Mossyrock 85, Vancouver Christian 38
White Pass 69, Columbia Adventist Academy 58
Ilwaco 67 Naselle 64
Lake Quinault 43, Wishkah Valley 41

Girls Basketball

Kelso 63 Ridgefield 43
Mossyrock 61, Vancouver Christian 14
Toutle Lake 46, Pe Ell 42
White Pass 66, Columbia Adventist Academy 17
Wishkah Valley 33, Willapa Valley 31
Ilwaco 45 Naselle 34

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Winlock 71 Montesano 40

Four Cardinals scored in double figures as Winlock cruised to a 71-40 1A Evergreen League victory over Montesano on Monday. Nathan Booth had 20 points while Jake Brown had 19 points for the Cardinals. Derek Jensen had 12 for the Bulldogs.

Winlock's Nathan Booth and Jordan Davis (left) double team Montesano's Josh Tyler in the corner during a 1A Evergreen Conference game Monday night.

WINLOCK-Nathan Booth 20, Jake Brown 19, Jordan Davis 14, Tyler Diamond 4, Tyler Hertz 12, Mike Kent 2, Tyler McCarthy 0, Angel Sanchez 0, Nick Hoven 0, Collin Kupers 0

MONTESANO-Jack Aldrich 6, Tyler Fry, Evan Truax, Kale Tremble 1, James McCulloch 0, Josh Tyler 4, Sean McNealley 9, Gabe Thompson 6, Joe Benedict 0, Derek Jensen 12 Doug Benedict

Winlock 17 22 17 15-71
Montesano 4 9 16 11-40

Brown Finishes Tough Mountaineers

The Winlock Cardinals went on an 11-3 run in the last 3:15 to nail down a 44-34 SWW 1A Evergreen Conference win over a scrappy visiting Rainier team.

6’9” Winlock Senior post Jake Brown was responsible for seven of the final 11 points as the Cards salted the game away. “They were starting to panic because we came out strong “ Brown said of the 4th quarter run by the Cardinals.

Scoring in this game came slowly with a first quarter advantage of 11 to 6 for Winlock. There were plenty of opportunities, but Winlock shot for just 35% in the first half. Rainier’s 6’5” Senior Bradon Franklin scored from underneath to tie the game at 14 with 1:11 to go befor the break. At 50 seconds, Jordan Davis hit the only three of the night for the Cardinals to take the 17-14 advantage into the locker room.

Franklin scored the first bucket of the 2nd half then Rainier’s 5’10’ shooter Jacob Fox hit a three to tie the game at 19 after a Jordan Davis bucket. The Cardinal’s Tyler Diamond grabbed a rebound and scored a put-back before the Jordan Davis show began.

The 3rd quarter featured a scoring drought of nearly four and a half minutes after Tyler Diamond scored two of his six points and grabbed one of his 11 rebounds. “He played great,“ said Winlock Head Coach Gary Viggers Sr. “We told him all along that is going to happen. They are always going to put their weakest guy on him. You have got to really work hard and be prepared.”

Winlock's Jordan Davis shoots a free throw early in the game. Davis finsihed with 16 points and half of those came in a 70 second period during the 3rd quarter.

When the drought came to an end, the weather-maker was Davis, Jordan Davis. In a 71 second period, the Winlock Senior had two steals and 8 points to power a 10-0 Winlock run that gave the Cardinals a 29-19 lead at the end of three quarters.

Rainier's Jacob Fox (#4) finished the game with 13 points, most of which were from beyond the arc.

Early in the 4th quarter, the Mountaineers rode back, with Franklin working for two, Fox hitting two threes and Kyle North scored on a transition steal to even the score at 29 with about six minutes to go. While it was Davis in the 3rd, Jake Brown took the game over with about four minutes to go. He put an exclamation monster jam with 45 seconds to go.

Winlock's Jake Brown was named the "Player of the Game" by Comcast Sports who were on hand broadcasting the game for distribution on Varsity Sports.

Tyler Hertz had five assist for Winlock while Brown had 5 blocks. Hertz and Junior MikeKent also had three steals for the Cardinals.

It wasn’t a thing of beauty for the 4th ranked Cardinals, and you almost saw relief on Viggers face. “We were just a little too keyed up,“ he explained. “We were standing around watching each other when they shot and that is what we went over at half time. We got to play our basketball“.

More Winlock basketball will be played at Montesano on Monday where the Carinals (10-1, 4-0) will play the Bulldogs. Rainier (6-3, 3-1) will visit neighboring Tenino on Monday.

Rainier 6 8 5 15-34
Winlock 11 6 12 15-44

RAINIER-Chris Ashby 2, Brandon Eygabroad 4, Brandon Franklin 9, Mitchell McComb 0, Kevin McCrea 0, Kyle North 6, Alex Proffitt 0, Tyler Schaff 0, Matt Tietjen 0, Kevin Volesky 0, Jacob Fox 13, Dalton Delio 0
WINLOCK-Nathan Booth 5, Jake Brown 15, Jordan Davis 16, Tyler Diamond 6, Tyler Hertz 2, Tyler McCarthy 0, Angel Sanchez 0, Nick Hoven 0, Mike Kent 0, Bryson Coleman 0, Collin Kupers 0