Toledo Blows By Ilwaco in 2nd Round

Everything Ilwaco did was was contested by the Lady Indians as Toledo crushed the Fishermen 82-47.

Speed and defense, It can make a good team great and that is how the Lady Indians of Toledo looked on Saturday night as they ran all over Ilwaco 82-47 in the second round of the SWWA 1A Girls Tournament on Saturday night at Mark Morris High School in Longview.

Ilwaco's Cameo Ulbricht receives an inbounds pass as Toledo enforces 90 feet of defense. Behind Ulbricht Haley Hellem (#14)and Tiffany Tornow (#12) are set for the assult.

Tiffany Tornow exploded for 27 points as she shot lights-out from beyond the arc and Candi Zion finished with 21 points. Most of Zion’s contributions were the result of transition baskets off of Toledo’s incredible number of steals or second attempts on offensive rebounds.

Candi Zion (#30) shoots an eight-footer over Ilwaco's Ashley Tapio (#44).

Until halftime, Toledo would run and Ilwaco would surge back. With 2:39 to go before the intermission, Kady Kirby hit a shot to bring the Fishermen to within four at 32-28. Earlier in the 2nd quarter, Ilwaco went on a 7-0 run when Ashley Tapio had a nice put-back, Vallori Crowston scored then Aimee Banuet busted a memorable three that banked in as the shot clock buzzer sounded.

A physical game amounted to 47 total fouls and 39 free throws in the first half alone. Both teams were in the double bonus early in the 2nd quarter.

Despite sickness, Toledo's Ashley Coffey (#44 in white) checks her Ilwaco counterpart Ashley Tapio (#44).

The Lady Indians finished the half on an 8-1 run with Zion hitting 3-4 free throws and then converting two transition buckets in the last 40 seconds. Toledo took an 11 point advantage into the halftime locker room.

In the 3rd quarter, Tornow went off, threatening the tournament record for the number of threes made by a team. In all she hit eight, five of which came in a six minute period in the 3rd quarter and was some of the fuel to allow a 16-0 Toledo run.

Tiffany Tornow (#12) was in a familiar pose as she hit 8 three-pointers in the game against Ilwaco on Saturday night.

It was Toledo’s patented full-court defense that rattled Ilwaco into submission as ball after ball found its way into the hands of the Lady Indians and would more often than not, result in points on a transition. Even after missed baskets, the Toledo transition game was always in effect. The shot clock was never a threat.

Ilwaco now plays familiar foe La Center in a loser-out game on Thursday while Toledo looks to face rival Onalaska for the District Championship on Saturday, February 28th.

Ilwaco (47) Karly Kitzman 16, Amy Banuet 5, Elleigh Kaino 0, Cameo Ulbricht 3, Vallori Crowston 6, Alexa Wirkkala 5, Kady Kirby o, Erin Kelly 0, Marin McDonnell 1, Sydney Ward 3, Kenzi Wirkkala 2, Ashley Tapio 7
Toledo (82) Kelsey Stone 7, Tiffany Tornow 27, Haley Hellem 14, Lacey Scott 2, Nicole Ewers 2, Sara Buswell 3, Candi Zion 21, Brittany Hope 2, Lia Lucas 2, Brianna Votaw 6, Ashley Coffey 2

Ilwaco 11 17 8 9-47
Toledo 18 22 27 15-82

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

Ilwaco Take Firm Grip on the Trico Girls

1A TRICO League
W L
Ilwaco (8-5) 4 0
La Center (9-4) 3 1
Castle Rock (7-3) 3 1
White Salmon (7-5) 1 2
Stevenson (3-8) 0 3
Kalama (0-11) 0 4


The Ilwaco girls did what few thought they could do. They beat Castle Rock a week ago and held Lacey Seidl to just 11 points. Last night, the went to La Center and held Laurn Baker to just 4 points. In the meantime, Ilwaco's Vallori Crowston had 14points, 8 steels, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
Ilwaco was behind 37-34 at the start of the 4th quarter.


ILWACO 50, LA CENTER 43
ILWACO — Carley Kitzman 6, Aimee Banuet 5, Elleigh Kaino 0, Cameo Ulbricht 2, Vallori Crowston 14, Alexa Wirkkala 6, Erin Kelly 0, Marin McDonnell 1, Kenzi Wirkkala 5, Ashley Tapio 8, Kibby 0. Totals 18 12-29 50.
LA CENTER — Annie Baker 0, Lauren Baker 4, Katrina Chamberlain 11, Lacey Dykgraaf 0, Hannah Hendrickson 0, Kiley Monson 4, Marissa Moore 13, Araceli Santos 0, Hannah Trigg 5, Emily Vis 0, Sydney Wise 6. Totals 15 10-24 43.
Ilwaco 6 18 10 16—50
La Center 7 15 15 6—43
JV — Ilwaco 50-33.

Ilwaco Gains Momentum in the Trico

Sometimes, I speak too quickly or have a short memory. Both conditions were in force this morning as I wrote that I was only surprised about Forks 61-49 defeat of Toledo. Right after I read a post about Toledo's loss, another post informed the world of the Ilwaco girls defeat of Castle Rock.

My instinct was to look for reason why Castle Rock lost. Could it be that Lacey Seidl didn't play after her injury on Tuesday night? Did Ilwaco have a gimmick defense that shut her down? I was assured that she played and was a big part of the game.

Castle Rock's Lacey Seidl shooting a free throw against Stevenson.

It was simple. Ilwaco outplayed the Lady Rockets in their gym. It happens and while we try to build up teams to be unbeatable, every coach expects his or her team to have a chance to win against anyone when the ball is tipped. The Ilwaco girls have the upper hand in this match-up, but there are obstacles ahead. The Lady Fishers are tied for the Trico league lead with La Center at 3-0. Castle Rock is now 2-1.

Ilwaco gets to take their momentum to La Center next Friday, January 23rd.

A Mid-Season Look at the District IV 1A and 2B Favorites

Now that we are beginning the league Season, some stories are starting to write themselves. One of my favorites (Napavine Boys) has an uphill climb while two others are standing tall. The excitement is just beginning so put on your seat belts and get read for a wild ride in the various District IV leagues.

Follow these links for discussion about the Evergreen Boys 1A and the Trico 1A. Castle Rock had a key victory over Ridgefield to confuse the discussion, but the return of Kalama’s Brandon Walker still gives the Chinooks the advantage.

Central 2B Boys

Napavine is smarting from two losses this week that shows the depth of the Central 2B Boys. Mossyrock applied a box and one defense to essentially deny Napavine’s Blake Anthony the ball. It worked and Mossyrock ran away with the home victory. On Saturday night, Toutle Lake’s starless team had too many weapons for the Tigers to overcome. With Mossyrock’s 47-44 home victory over Toutle Lake in their pocket, the 2B Central is theirs to lose. The caveat of course is that they must visit both Toutle Lake and Napavine later in the season. Great for my upcoming calendar!

Pacific 2B Boys

Naselle took the first big opportunity and cashed it in with a 60-57 victory over South Bend last week. They are unbeaten in conference and their lone loss comes to a larger (756 student, a 2A Washington equivalent) Astoria, Oregon school. South Bend will host Naselle again on February 3rd. Their only other loss was to thus far undefeated 1A Onalaska.

Central 2B Girls

The Napavine girls made a big statement this week by defeating Mossyrock at the Lady Viking’s gym. Those two teams look like the class of the Central 2B with Wahkiakum and Adna lurking in the distance. Mossyrock will travel to Adna this week, but mark February 9th on you calendar if you like high quality girls basketball as the Vikings visit Napavine.

Remember that Mossyrock and Napavine both fit well in with the areas best 1A schools in the area. Both Mossyrock and Napavine already have victories over Onalaska.

Pacific 2B Girls

To be honest, the Girls on the coast are going to have a tough time matching up with the big four of the Central . Raymond has played the toughest schedule of all, sampling the best basketball teams of the area. They lost to both Onalaska and Toledo, but defeated a tough Rainier team at the Napavine 1A/2B Challenge and Northwest Christian. Northwest Christian of Lacey is 7-2 and has been less than dominant. They split with Pe Ell in a home and home series and defeated South Bend. Of course one of their two losses was to Raymond. North Beach looks like a distant third in this division.

Evergreen 1A Girls

The Evergreen 1A girls heart is in Toledo. The Lady Indians put themselves in the driver’s seat with a big win over Winlock in late December and then a hard fought win over Rainier last week. In this league, it is never easy, but Toledo is making it look that way. In second is Onalaska which faces Toledo on January 20th. The Lady Loggers have two non-league losses to neighboring Napavine and Mossyrock from the 2B Central. They took care of Winlock this week, but Montesano, Rainier and Forks are all solid opponents in a very competitive league.

Trico 1A Girls

La Center appears to be the class of the Trico with big wins over 2A Washougal and large margins of victory most of the time. The Lady Rocket of Castle Rock has a similar resume with wins of Rochester and Knappa of Oregon. La Center and Castle Rock will meet for the first time on January 27th. Ilwaco’s One loss to impressive 2B Raymond also makes them look like a contender. Ilwaco will visit Castle Rock this Friday to clear up that picture a little.

Weather Forces Overnight Stays on the Coast

I got an email today from Rod Anderson, a long time P.A. Announcer in Ilwaco about the weather trouble in the Southwest corner of our state. Slides along routes in and out of the region have forced the postponement of several sports contests and stranded a couple of teams that were there for competitions last evening.

Ocosta was at a wrestling meet in Ilwaco, but due to slides on Highway 101 between Bay Center and South Bend among other calamities, they became overnight guests in Ilwaco.

Raymond spent the night in Westport after playing Ocosta.

Something more for kids to remember about their high school athletics!