Fishermen win close one, 50-46 over visiting AstoriaILWACO – “I’m glad we finally won a close one,” said guard Jordan Williams after his 24 points and Dylan Wirkkala’s 16 paced Ilwaco past Astoria 50-46 at home in a non-league game Wednesday.

Sophomore post Anthony Wirkkala’s first career varsity field goal with 6:15 remaining in the contest gave Ilwaco a 37-35 lead off a Williams’ assist. The home team’s 7-13 from the free throw line over the final four minutes bettered Astoria’s miserable 3-14 charity stripe shooting during that stretch by enough to allow Ilwaco to cling to its tenuous lead.

Astoria had opened the battle of Fishermen by scoring first, but Ilwaco went on a 14-2 tear behind Williams’ 10 first-period points to increase the bulge to 14-4.

With 5:05 left in the second stanza Astoria had claimed a tie at 14-14. Ilwaco’s Dylan Wirkkala canned two “threes” and Joe Goelz made a lay-in off a Scott Fagerland feed to give the local Fishermen a 22-14 margin.

The third period saw both Fishermen squads being skunked from the field until Astoria drained a pair of field goals in the final two minutes. Williams’ runner in the paint with four seconds left was Ilwaco’s only bucket from the field in the period as Astoria reclaimed a 35-29 edge entering the final quarter.

After Anthony Wirkkala’s heroics, Goelz and Peter Gaynor sank a pair of free throws and Williams went 4-4 inside the 1:38 mark to put the game on ice for Washington’s Fishermen. At the beginning of the fourth frame Williams had hit a “three,” made an assist, and scored on a jumper to help spark Ilwaco’s come back.

Both Fishermen teams were even from the field with Astoria going 18-56 (32 percent) and Ilwaco hitting 18-45 (40 percent). The difference was Ilwaco’s 18-31 from the line (58 percent) to Astoria’s 14-31 (47 percent). The Oregon’s forced 17 turnovers to 11 and out-rebounded Ilwaco 34-32 while being tagged with 25 fouls to the local’s 24, according to statistics compiled by Matt Richert of New Northwest Broadcasting.

“Anthony Wirkkala gave us a lift tonight,” said Coach Matt Blair as the sophomore helped replace the Fishermen’s leading scorer and rebounder, Jarod Schaak, who is on a family vacation. “Our plan was to get the ball in the hands of Dylan and Jordan and have them use screens from the high post.”

Blair added, “It was great to get the win and our kids played hard, but our defensive rotations must improve.” Ilwaco is now 2-6 on the season.

Williams, whose brother was wounded in Iraq the day before, put the game in perspective by saying, “I’m really glad Lonnie (Williams) is in Germany instead of Iraq. It all seems unreal.” As for basketball, Williams said, “This win was our Christmas present to Coach Blair.”

The junior varsity lost 53-37 despite the double-double of Matt Kaino, who finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Astoria – Geertz 2, Bogardt 7, Alfonse 15, Ray 11, Murray 3, Maddingly 2, McLein 3, Heick 3

Ilwaco – Dylan Wirkkala 16, Anthony Wirkkala 3, Williams 24, Scott Fagerland, Mooch Smith, Goelz 3, Peter Gaynor 4, Ubaldo Sebastian

Napavine blasts struggling

Fishermen 66-26ILWACO – Napavine drubbed the Fishermen 66-26 in a Southwest Washington League game at Aase Gym Monday. The loss was Ilwaco’s most one-sided since they were defeated in the 1991 State 1A Tournament opener 120-59 by eventual champion Grandview.

The Fishermen had fashioned a 7-6 edge when Joe Goelz sank two free throws at the 2:42 mark of the first period. Over the next 15 minutes of play the Tigers went on a saber-toothed 37-2 rampage to up the tally to 43-9 midway through the third quarter.

Sharp-shooting lefty Tyson Sturza sank 24 points from long and longer range and Jacob Werner and Loren Bluhm hit on a variety of mid-range jumpers and layups to add 12 points each for the visitors as the trio played just over three quarters of the contest.

Dylan Wirkkala led Ilwaco with six assists and had eight points and Jordan Williams hit for 10 points. The Fishermen made only 10 field goals in 40 tries (25 percent) while Napavine scorched the nets for 28 buckets in 48 attempts (58 percent).

The Tigers grabbed 34 rebounds to Ilwaco’s 17 and turned the ball over only nine times to 14 for the hosts. The Fishermen were whistled for a mere seven fouls and Napavine had 13. Ilwaco made 3-8 from the line and the Tigers were 2-5. The game breezed by in exactly one hour’s time.

The Fishermen plummet to 1-6 and 1-5 in the SWW while Napavine and White Pass share the league lead at 6-0 after the Tigers got off to a late start on the hardwoods due to their participating in the state championship football game.

Mike Huitt’s 16 points and Ubaldo Sebastian’s nine paced the junior varsity to a 46-36 victory in the tune up tussle.

Napavine – Sturza 24, Werner 12, Bluhm 12, Griffith 8, Ramirez 3, Tanori 1, Stenerson 6

Ilwaco – Jarod Schaak 2, Dylan Wirkkala 8, Jason Wirkkala 3, Williams 10, Goelz 3