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ILWACO — More than 40 varsity basketball teams from across Washington came to Ilwaco to participate in the BNB Basketball Camp, held from June 27-30 at Ilwaco High School.

The four-day camp allowed each team to compete in up to 10 games, building team chemistry while facing stiff competition before basketball season officially tips off next season.

Fishermen work on fundamentals, team chemistryIlwaco went 7-2 over the duration of the camp, with the two losses coming to Davenport and Lind-Ritzville-Sprague, two teams from the east side of the state that Ilwaco head coach Eric McMillan said could likely contend for spots in the state tournament next season.

“It was good to see that competition now, so we know what we need to work on for the season,” McMillan said.

The BNB camp followed the Battle at the Beach tournament, capping a couple weeks of intense varsity basketball for locals teams.

“We were pretty tired by the end of the week, but I was impressed with how our guys came to compete every game. We have four core players (Alex West, Kyle Morris, Beckett Turner and Sam Needham) who have substantial varsity minutes under their belt, but Jacob Rogers, Derrick Cutting and Logan Kuhn really stepped up to fill out the rotation. Austyn Taylor, who hasn’t played the last few years, also got some minutes and we hope to get him up to speed as he is a big kid that can help us in the post,” McMillan said.

Up next: The Ilwaco boys basketball team will head to Chelan from July 11-13, a tournament anticipated to include some tough competition. “All these summer events really help gel the group together, on and off the court,” McMillan said.