MATLOCK – The Naselle Comets boys won their second basketball game of the season Friday, Dec. 17, and it was an important win as it was a Pacific League game, giving Naselle its second league win of the year. They outlasted the Mary M. Knight Owls 53-44 in the Owls gym. Naselle’s league record climbed to 2-0, their overall record to 2-4.

NHS started out slowly, at least in the opinion of coach Brian Macy, who said, “We appeared to be a little over confident in the first half and didn’t play that well early. In the second half, the guys played a lot harder.”

The scoring backs up Macy’s thoughts. The Comets led 14-9 after one quarter, but they were outscored 17-13 in the second period. That surge allowed the Owls to get within one point of the Comets, at 27-26, at the half. Naselle came back with a strong second half as they drilled 26 second half points to the Owls 18.

The Comets got all but eight points of their total scoring out of three players. Aoy Marion popped in 19 points to lead all scorers. Kyle Burkhalter had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds while Evan Hendrickson just missed the double-double with 10 points and 9 boards.

Naselle closed out their pre-holiday schedule with a non-league game played with South Bend in the Naselle gym Monday night. The boys’ next action will be in the Christmas Tournament, held in the Naselle gym on Monday, Dec. 27, and Tuesday, Dec. 28. The three other teams in that tournament will be Clallam Bay, Tacoma Baptist and Cathlamet. After that tournament, the Naselle boys do not play again until Thursday, Jan. 6, when they play Raymond at home and Saturday, Jan. 8, when the Naselle boys and girls teams both play Cathlamet teams on a night when the Naselle gym will officially be named the Lyle Patterson Gymnasium.

NASELLE (53) – Aoy Marion 19, Kyle Burkhalter 16, Evan Hendrickson 10, Gradt 3, Johnson 2, Mendoza 2, Williams 1, Queener, Torppa; Rebounds: Burkhalter 11, Hendrickson 9; Shooting: FG – 22 of 54 for 41 percent

KNIGHT (44) – Hartley 11, Shelton 10, Finch 8, Brehmeyer 6, Shumate 6, Christensen 3

Vikings pillage Comets MENLO – The Willapa Valley Vikings are rated as one of the top class B basketball teams in the state.

You won’t get much of an argument from the Naselle Comets boys and their coach Brian Macy. Not after the Vikings ran over the Comets 66-31 in a non-league game played in the Vikings Menlo gym Tuesday, Dec. 14. The loss dropped the Comets’ early season record to 1-4 with their only win coming in a league game.

The frightening thing about this big, fast Valley team is that only three of their players are seniors – Garrett Foster, Zach Baugher and Kelly McNamara. Their front line goes 6-11, 6-5 and-6-4 along with some speedy guard-types who give them exceptional balance. In a showdown last week on the North Beach home court, the Vikings beat the Hyaks, the team which will probably be their biggest competitor in the district B ranks, on a last second bucket by Ryan Freeman. When the two teams meet in their league counting game on Jan. 14, they will be playing on the Vikings home court.

As for this game, the first quarter set the pattern for the short Comets when they were outscored 18-3. Coach Brian Macy said, “They are big across their front line which I am sure altered some of our shots. They are a very good team. We played hard, but we just didn’t hit enough shots.”

That shortage of made shots was demonstrated by the fact that the Comets only got into double figures in one quarter, the fourth. They also didn’t have anyone in double figures for the first time this season, as Aoy Marion was the top scorer with only eight points. Marion also led the Naselle rebounders with six. Evan Hendrickson, who had scored in double digits in every game thus far, was held to only three points.

Things didn’t improve for the Comets for the next two quarters as they were outscored by 13 points in the second quarter, to trail 37-9 at the half and by eight points in the third period. After trailing 54-18 though three periods, the Comets closed out the game with a 13-12 fourth period advantage and they went home with their 66-31 loss.

NASELLE – Aoy Marion 8, Williams 6, Burkhalter 5, Queener 4, Hendrickson 3, Perez 2, Mendoza 2, Gradt 1, Griss, Johnson

WILLAPA VALLEY – Garrett Foster 15, Brady Langer 12, Baugher 8, Bannish 6, Freeman 6, Anderson 6, Friese 5, Svinth 4, McNamara 2, Carey 2, Gerow