ILWACO – It was too much Kitzman as the Lady Fishermen cruised by Naselle 66-23 in the lid-lifter of the Ilwaco Christmas Tournament Monday. Senior Ashley Kitzman dominated play inside with 28 points and her sophomore sister Anna Kitzman added 14 to snuff out the Comets.

The sister act scored the first 11 points of the contest and Ashley scored the first eight of the second half and the first seven of the fourth period to help the 1A Lady Fishermen to an easy victory over class B Naselle. Both teams entered the contest with identical 1-6 records.

Freshman lefty Sylvia Herrold knocked down eight points for Naselle and sophomore guard Erin Saari scored six for the Comets. Both Kitzmans handed out three assists and Katie Hazen scored her first basket as a varsity player.

Lady Fishermen freshman Lanie Kary contributed 6 fourth-quarter points. “She made the three best post-moves I have seen all season from any team,” assistant coach Elmo Wise said following the contest in praise of Kary’s concise moves in the paint. Kary has seen most of her playing time on the junior varsity this season.

Ashley Kitzman sank 12 straight free tosses as Ilwaco hit on 18-23 as a team from the charity stripe for an outstanding 78 percent while the Comets struggled at 4-15 for a slim 27 percent. Ilwaco turned the ball over 17 times and Naselle committed a whopping 34 miscues, many of which were unforced errors on both sides.

The bigger, taller, stronger Lady Fishermen garnered 45 rebounds to Naselle’s 29.

“We finally got the monkey off our back,” Coach Ned Bittner said after the win broke a five-game losing streak for Ilwaco and sent them to the championship game against Valley, who defeated Seaside 51-44. “We made several corrections, got better entry passes to the posts, and our post players passed very well for open looks (at the basket).”

Neither team shot above the “one-fer-three” mark from the field as the Lady Fishermen were 21-68 for 31 percent and Naselle struggled at 9-42 for a paltry 21 percent. Fouls were 19 for Ilwaco and 18 for Naselle. The Comets were to meet Seaside in the consolation game as the Lady Gulls dropped a 51-44 contest to Pacific B rival Valley.

Naselle – Jamie Ahlstrom 2, Saari 6, Kellyn Pakenen, Kelli Revis 4, Katherine Herrold, Collette Beaulaurier 1, Annie Herrold, Sylvia Herrold 8, Brinnanie Vaughn 2

Ilwaco – Bonnie Perez 4, Anna Kitzman 14, Heather Bartlett 3, Holly Hocking 5, Robyn Unruh 2, Ashley Kitzman 28, Ariel Barker 2, Andrea Becken, Kary 6, Katie Hazen 2, Allison Brooks