Onalaska Wins District 4 1A Championship in the 4th Quarter

The Onalaska girls hold up the District IV trophy after a 55-30 victory over Toledo on Saturday night.

There is something about the number four that is working for the Onlalaska Lady Loggers of late. The fourth seed from the Evergreen Conference have earned improbable wins in the last four games with two wins over league champion Toledo, one over Trico League champion La Center and one over nemesis Rainier.

On Saturday night, the Loggers polished off Toledo for the second time inside of the last four weeks with a 25-6 4th quarter to win the SWWA 1A District Championship going away 55-38.

The Loggers have been very special lately; Making great comebacks and picking themselves up after falling on their face early in each game.

Saturday night was no exception as The Lady Indians were up by six points late in the second quarter after making a methodical 10-0 run and seemed on the verge of stomping any thoughts of another Ony upset.

Onalaska's Hailey Givens (#3 left) and Mandy Reynoldson (#23 right) double team Toledo's Haley Hellem.

“That was our talk at halftime when we were down 25-20,” said Logger Head Coach Doug Ashmore. “I told them that we needed to stay calm and play our game”. He then allowed the girls to suggest what they need to do and they suggested running their patented full-court press against one of the quickest teams in the District.

“Can you handle (the physicality) it” he asked them. His team’s reply was an emphatic yes.

“I listen to my girls and they knew what we needed to do, they know how to run our system. They did what they needed to do,” he continued as he watched his girls cutting down the nets.

The Lady Loggers outscored Toledo in the 3rd quarter to narrow the gap to 32-30 and in the 4th, the Toledo wheels came off.

With both teams consistently pressing, loose balls were the rule of the day. Here players from both teams scramble for the advantage of possessing the ball.

Indian sharpshooter Tiffany Tornow gathered in 6 points by bombing a three in both the 1st and 2 quarters. Largely though, Logger defender Samantha Gordon was tasked with keeping the lid on the Evergreen MVP candidate and she was very effective. Tornow’s last basket came with 5:32 to go in the 4th . She finished with just 8 points.

Meanwhile, Onalaska’s Amber Durand was everywhere. She hit four treys in the first quarter, but was largely shut down in the second as Toledo made a serious run. With 12 seconds to go in the 3rd, she began a personal tear that lasted three minutes into the 4th as she personally outscored the Indians 11-4. Meanwhile, Ony went on an 18-4 run until Toledo scored their last basket with 3:20 left in the game to bring the score to 46-38 in favor of the Loggers.

Durand completed the game with 29 points and the Loggers finished the game on a 9-0 run.

Mandy Reynoldson and and Kalie Richey finished with nine points a piece for Ony. Toledo had balanced scoring with Tornow at 8, Haley Hellem and Cadi Zion both at 7 points each.

Toledo held a huge advantage in rebounding, Haley Hellem the games leading rebounder at 9 grabs.



Both teams are headed to state this week, but Onalaska won't be the 4th seed from District 4 and may carry the title of the hottest team to enter the tournament.

Loggers 55 Indians 38

ONALASKA (55) Amber Durand 29, Mandy Reynoldson 9, Kalie Ritchey 9, Hailey Givens 4, Samantha Gordon 4, Sarah Barnes 0, Erin Wrzesinski 0, Regan Givens 0, Amie Working 0.

TOLEDO (38) Tiffany Tornow 8, Haley Hellem 7, Candi Zion 7, Ashlee Coffey 5, Brianna Vowtow 5, Brittany Hope 4, Lia Lucas 2, Sara Buswell 0, Lacey Scott 0, Nicole Ewers 0, Kelsey Stone 0.

Onalaska 14 6 10 25-55
Toledo 11 14 7 6-38

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

Toledo Contains Onalaska in Overtime Thriller

Toledo's Candi Zion (#30) of Toledo takes a shot over two Onalaska players Tuesday night.

It's the loneliest place in the gym and Onalaska Senior Guard Mandy Reynoldson stood there. The Lady Loggers were down by two points with 11.6 seconds left in regulation with Reynoldson at the line for two free throws. “I was nervous, but I just focused and tried to shut out the crowd noise” she said. She calmly sank both free throws at the end of regulation in a 1A Girls Evergreen League game between Onalaska and Toledo. The Lady Indians came back in the overtime to capture a hard fought, 48-44 victory.

It was Tiffany Tornow though that struck the first and most striking blow a minute into the overtime. She hit a three-pointer and then sank one of two free throws 16 seconds later. Brittany Hope was fouled on the ensuing rebound and she hit two free throws to extend the Toledo lead to 43-37. Baskets by Reynoldson and Amber Durand brought the Loggers back to within two at 43-41. With 1:01 left, Candi Zion was fouled and hit one of two free throws. The Loggers cashed in on the next possession as Hailey Givens was fouled and made two free throws drawing the score to 44-43. Toledo’s next possession ended with a Candi Zion jumper that led to a 46-43 lead. When Givens was fouled again with 4.5 seconds left, she missed the first and converted the second. In an attempt to stop the clock, Brittany Hope was fouled and she stepped up to the line and drained the last two shots of the night.

Few could have foreseen the dramatic ending when the Lady Indians took an 11-2 lead after the first quarter. The Loggers seemed to miss everything. Later in the game, they improved their field goal percentage to a paltry 25%.

Unhappiness seem to be the tone early.

“We didn’t play very smart tonight,” said Toledo Head Coach Mandie Olson. “I don’t know if that was contributed by their athleticism. We came out very hard and then we lapsed. I felt like we were playing at a seven or eight and then we dropped to a four,” Olson continued.

Onalaska came alive in the second quarter, taking advantage of Toledo fouls and converting six free throws from a variety of Lady Loggers and two three pointers by Amber Durand but Toledo took a 18-14 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Despite tough defense by Toledo's Tiffany Tornow, Onalaska's Amber Durand (#25) finished the game with 18 points, 9 rebounds and 2 steals. She played all 36 minutes of the game.


1:38 into the 4th quarter found Onalaska leading for the first time when Durand put in two more of her 18 points. The two teams then proceeded exchange the lead 5 times. With 1:26 to go Haley Hellem drove the lane successfully for two points a 37-35 Toledo lead.

“They are quick and they are athletic, and we could have pressed earlier, but we were more concerned with Durand then we were with the rest of the kids,” continued Olson. “That was our focus tonight to try and limit her touches of the ball. I think Tiffany Tornow did a good job on her.”

Toledo's Haley Hellem (#14) drives along the baseline during Tuesday's game against Onalaska. Hellem finished with 9 points, and 4 rebounds.

Candi Zion quietly accumulated 12 points but four other Lady Indians accumulated 6 or more points including Hellem and Tornow who both had 9 points each. Onalaska out rebounded Toledo 44 to 35 with Hailey Givens grabbing 10 and Durand 9. Above all, there was a striking difference in mistakes with Toledo forcing 32 Onalaska turnovers even though they rarely extended their defense.

“We decided not to go into a trap because they were so quick and athletic,” said Toledo Senior Post Ashley Coffey. When the Indians did employ a full court trap in the 4th quarter, the pace of the game sped up, but neither team seemed to grab an advantage.

Toledo is now 5-1 in conference play (9-2 overall) and will host Winlock on Thursday. Onalaska 3-3 (6-5) will play Montesano at home on Thursday.

ONALASKA-Amber Durand 18, Kalie Ritchey 9, Mandy Reynoldson 7, Samantha Gordon 7, Hailey Givens 3, Sarah Barnes 0, Erin Wrzesinski 0, Regan Givens 0, Amie Working

TOLEDO-Candi Zion 12, Haley Hellem 9, Tiffany Tornow 9, Kelsey Stone 8, Brittany Hope 6, Ashley Coffey 2, Sara Buswell 2, Nicole Ewers 0, Lia Lucas 0, Lacey Scott 0, Brianna Votaw 0

Onalaska 2 12 8 15 7-44
Toledo 11 7 5 14 11-48