ILWACO – The Lady Fishermen breezed to a 20-0 lead and blew out Stevenson by 40 points, 73-33 here Saturday. Senior all-star guard, Heather Hocking, scored 15 points and sophomore standout, Ashley Kitzman added five in the binge and each lady handed out two assists during the initial six-minute assault on the Lady Bulldogs.

Ilwaco continued to outscore Stevenson at a three-to-two ratio in the second half, as they cruised 39-26 while Coach Joe Williams substituted freely. “We passed the ball extremely well tonight,” he praised. The Lady Fishermen had a season-high 24 assists in the contest.

Ashley Fauver hit on three three-point attempts and had 12 points in the route. The junior guard also swiped the ball from the Dogs five times and dished out six assists. Hocking amassed 25 points at the end of three periods of play, while successfully hitting on five “threes,” and unselfishly passed for four assists in the final quarter.

Kitzman rolled in 21 markers for the contest and secured 13 rebounds for a double-double. She hit on several mid-range jumpers as well as scoring at will inside, while using her knack for anticipating the pass to intercept seven steals to lead Ilwaco in that category.

Michelle Wroble handed out a team-high seven assists and pulled down eight rebounds while scoring two points. Ariel Barker gathered in eight boards and banked in eight points as the sophomore post player continues to increase her contributions. Robyn Unruh hit on a three-pointer and Laura Herbold broke into the scoring column by swishing a jump shot.

Argelia Mendez contributed in a reserve role as the Lady Fishermen were short-handed. Mary Margaret Tomberlin is recovering from toe surgery and Katie Holmes had planned a family trip before the contest with Stevenson had been rescheduled to Saturday.

“We need to continue to stress the team concept on offense and defense in practice. Some of our players still aren’t playing solid team help defense and are not looking to make the extra pass to make our offense click,” a concerned Williams pointed out, saying the week of drills could have been more productive. “I am hoping we can pull together the final couple of weeks and do well in the post-season,” he concluded.

The Lady Fishermen out-rebounded Stevenson 44-34 and forced 24 turnovers, while committing 20 of their own. The fouls were even at 16 for both teams. Ilwaco shot 28-68 from the field (41 percent) and 8-12 from the line (67 percent) while Stevenson was a meager 24 percent from the court on 13 of 55 attempts and 6-18 (33 percent) on their free throw tries.

The Lady Fishermen improved to 4-4 in Trico-League play and continue to keep their hold on fourth place, while sporting a 10-6 overall record. The junior varsity did not play. Ilwaco girls travel to White Salmon on Tuesday and visit Castle Rock on Thursday, with both games being League encounters.

Stevenson 1 8 12 1 2 -33

Ilwaco 24 10 18 21 -73

Ilwaco – Hocking 25, Kitzman 21, Fauver 12, Barker 8, Unruh 3, Wroble 2, Herbold 2, Mendez

Stevenson – Goodrich 15, Johnson 5, Ramirez 5, McLemore 4, Larson 2, Sourek 2, Horn 1, Buettner 1