WHITE SALMON – After falling behind 20-7 in the first period, the Lady Fishermen netted a victory at White Salmon Tuesday, 66-49. Ilwaco held the Lady Bruins cagers to four points in the second quarter and poured in 25 points of their own in the final eight minutes to sail to their fifth Trico-League win against four setbacks.

The defensive work of Michelle Wroble inside and Heather Hocking’s six three-point baskets were very instrumental in Ilwaco’s turnaround in the contest. Wroble’s 12 rebounds, a season-high for her, were also a factor in the win, as was the hustling defense of Katie Holmes, according to Coach Joe Williams.

“We played solid basic man-to-man defense after allowing 24 points in the first quarter – nothing fancy,” the veteran coach said. Williams commented that the foul situation was lopsided at first in favor of the home team, but Ilwaco adjusted and also picked up the intensity in blocking out and rebounding.

“Our bench performed very well and our smaller lineup with Michelle (Wroble) on (Jessica) Kinder was a turning point,” Williams said. The Lady Fishermen moved the ball very well in the contest according to the coach. Ashley Fauver, Wroble, Holmes, and Robyn Unruh did an excellent job of penetrating the Lady Bruin defense and of passing, Williams praised.

In the second half, having come all the way back to take a 31-28 lead at intermission, Ilwaco went more to Ashley Kitzman in the post. She responded with 15 points on the evening, while making 50 percent of her field goal attempts. The hot, as in sizzling, hand belonged to Hocking as she had a game-high 27 points and passed for a team-leading five assists as well.

“It was encouraging to see us play solid team defense and move the ball unselfishly on offence,” Williams concluded of the come-from-behind win. Holmes scored nine points and Kitzman recorded a “double-double” by hauling down 10 rebounds to go with her 15 points. Ilwaco had seven players in the scoring column in the final period, as the balanced attack increased the lead from three to 17, icing the win.

Fauver led the team with three steals and scored four points and Unruh had five assists, her best effort in that category on the year. Williams had special kudos for Laura Herbold and Argelia Mendez’s effort coming off the bench. “They have worked hard all year and are contributing,” Williams, the former Reardan Indian standout said.

The Lady Fishermen won the rebound war 33-32, turned the ball over 14 times to 9 for White Salmon, and committed 19 fouls to the home team’s 17, with eight of the violations coming early in the first quarter. Ilwaco shot 25 of 71 from the field (35 percent) and 9-17 from the line (53 percent) while the Lady Bruins were 20-60 (33 percent) and 8-16 (50 percent).

There was no JV game due to travel constraints. The Lady Fishermen are now 11-6 for the campaign.

Ilwaco 15 16 10 25 -66

W.S. 24 4 10 11 -49

Ilwaco – Hocking 27, Kitzman 15, Holmes 9, Wroble 8, Fauver 4, Unruh 3, Barker, Herbold, Mendez

White Salmon – Holtman 17, Kinder 14, Blankenship 6, Janney 6, Putman 4, Henderson 2