Ilwaco boys head basketball coach Eric McMillan sought to inspire his squad.

They were coming off a 66-56 tournament loss to Adna and next faced the No. 2-ranked team in Washington.

And Morton-White Pass, fifth at state last year, had just defeated hosts Willapa Valley 64-44.

“We wanted to continue building on the defensive effort that we had against Adna, but I challenged our boys to give us everything they could,” McMillan said/ “We knew that MWP had some physical advantages on us with their length and physicality, but we wanted to come out and let them know that we were not going to back down.”

So McMillan offered a couple of inspirational quotes — including one from IHS baseball coach Bret Hopkins, who stresses being in the “present,” putting aside memories of past mistakes.

Fueled by this admonition, Ilwaco won 59-58.

The Fishermen fired out to a 21-12 first quarter lead, boosted by three 3-pointers from Kyle Morris. He added two more in the second. When the Timberwolves adjusted their defense to minimize his further opportunities, the squad’s lone senior, Alex West, stepped up to knock down four 3s of his own.

Morton clawed back the deficit in the second half, with 6-7 senior forward Josh Salguero scoring 27 points.

“Sam Needham did a good job of knocking down some mid-range jumpers with Salguero clogging up the lane and did a decent job making him work on the offensive end,” McMillan said. “Obviously Kyle and Alex had great nights, but two guys really made their presence known and that those were Beckett Turner, distributing the ball and rebounding, and Derrick Cutting.

“Derrick made the MWP guards work with his defensive pressure, and he got all 5-8 of himself up in the air to track down rebounds. I cannot stress how much of a motor and heart that kid has — as he never backs down from anyone. He grabbed some big-time rebounds for us with guys much bigger than him right behind him.”

West ended with 20 points; Morris had 19 and Turner scored 10 and led the team with seven rebounds.

For the record, the Adna loss (66-56) offered some bright notes.

Adna had begun its season with 10 of its 12-man varsity squad listing themselves on the roster as 6-0 or taller, including Braeden Salme, a junior guard who was the high-scorer with 21 points.

Team scores were even throughout the first three quarters (IHS was down 33-31 at halftime), but the Pirates earned their plunder by outscoring the Fishermen 18-9 in the fourth quarter.

Morris was Ilwaco’s high scorer with 19 and also led the way with nine rebounds. West scored 15 points and Beckett Turner added 14. “Ethan Hopkins usually comes in off the bench, but we needed his length on the defensive end and he really came into the game and gave us a great effort, which I am extremely proud of,” the coach said.

He also commended Adna coach Luke Salme’s squad. “Adna did a great job in their man-to-man defense and forced us to make some big shots. We just got a little gassed at the end and made some silly turnovers trying to make up the deficit with one play.”

The Ilwaco boys are heading to Puyallup next to play Chief Leschi Jan. 5, after opening the year hosting Ocosta. They will look forward to another home game, against North Beach Jan. 11, before they host Naselle Jan. 14.

Wins

Ilwaco wrestling closed out the year with a trip across the water to Clatskanie for the Phil White Classic.

Senior Bethany Martin won the 235-pound division with three wins and one loss.

Pull Quote

‘We were not going to back down.’

Eric McMillen

IHS basketball coach

For the boys, four Fishermen placed in their weight classes Thursday. At 106 pounds, Jace Linthakhan placed third with three wins and two losses. Xavier Smith wrestled at 113, placing third with three wins and one loss. Claudio Lopez Mendez placed fourth at 120, splitting his matches, two wins and two losses. Wade Smith also placed fourth in his 145-pound division, winning three and sustaining two losses.

Five other wrestlers competed, with four winning one match and losing two. They were Luis Lopez Mendez at 126, Cody Miller and Yunior Bautista Cruz, both at 132, and Marcus Lynch at 220; Christian Olivio also took part at 160.

Next they travel to Castle Rock Jan. 7 with the calendar loading up after that — Wahkiakum Jan. 11, Hoquiam Jan. 14 and Forks Jan. 18

Rivals

The Naselle boys basketball team was set to begin the calendar year hosting Willapa Valley, then another home contest against Pe Ell Jan. 6. A trip to Longview to play Three Rivers Christian looms Jan. 10, then they are back home against Washington School for the Deaf Jan. 12 before the Ilwaco contest.

The Naselle girls were continuing new year action, heading to Pe Ell Jan. 5 after kicking off the year’s schedule against Valley this week. Bragging rights will be on the line when they host Ilwaco Jan. 7.

Ilwaco’s girls team has two games ahead of that contest. They travel to Ocosta Jan. 4, then host Chief Leschi Jan. 6. After the Lady Fishermen-Comets contest, they travel to South Bend Jan. 12.

During the break, the Lady Fishermen played in the Jack Q. Pearson Holiday Classic tournament at Willapa Valley High School. They lost to highly rated Adna 73-43. The Pirates were ahead 35-22 at the half then piled on more points in the final quarters. The IHS squad bounced back the next day to defeat Toutle Lake 50-31, taking a solid halftime lead and winning to go to 5-2 on the season.

January will see a full slate of basketball with all four teams scheduled through Feb. 2 before postseason action begins.