Talented eighth-grader Mikaila Warfield played an important role, securing more than half the points in Ilwaco’s 49-33 victory over Chief Leschi Thursday, scoring from the field and the free-throw line.

TUMWATER — Ilwaco’s basketball hopes survived a scare Thursday.

The Lady Fishermen won 49-33, a margin that didn’t reflect the story of the game.

Senior Zoey Zuern opened the scoring in the first few seconds as Ilwaco dominated Chief Leschi in the first quarter of their District IV playoff. In fact, it was more than five minutes into the contest before the Warriors scored.

Pull Quote

‘When the beating of your heart

Echoes the beating of the drums

There is a life about to start

When tomorrow comes!’

— ‘Do You Hear the People Sing?’ (“Les Miserables”)

In the early stages, powerful eighth-grader Mikaila Warfield ran the length of the court for a score and junior forward Natalie Gray was on the floor fighting for the ball.

Despite these highlights, the Puyallup team staged a comeback, tying the game with a couple of minutes left in the second quarter.

Ilwaco entered the halftime break 17-15, prompting coach Ned Bittner to fire up his squad. They needed to ratchet up the intensity rebounding and fight for every loose ball, he told them. “We have got to go out and show that we want this game more than they do.”

That message kicked in during the latter stages, but not before Chief Leschi had gone ahead during a third-quarter surge that saw the Warriors leading 28-21.

Ione Sheldon, one of five IHS seniors, conceded that was challenging. “It was a little scary, but I had a feeling our team could pull it together,” she said. “Everyone came with a good attitude and they wanted to win!”

Senior Julianna Fleming scored a basket and Warfield added more at the free-throw line to catch back up. Then another eighth-grader, Brooklyn Avalon, made the prettiest play of the game, receiving the ball with her back to the basket, pivoting around and tossing it through the hoop to give Ilwaco a 29-28 lead.

Warfield, despite being surrounded by opponents, began the fourth quarter with another basket. In a timeout that followed, the Ilwaco pep band sang the uplifting, “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from “Les Miserables.” Its chorus, “When tomorrow comes,” was a timely reminder there would be no tomorrow for the defeated team.

A Warrior 3-pointer tied the scores for the fifth time at 33-33, but Ilwaco inched ahead with free throws that disrupted the flow of the action but kept the scoreboard operator busy.

Fleming — at 6-1, the tallest on the court — was in the action helping Warfield add to her tally. When the eighth-grader missed a shot, Fleming tipped the rebound back to her and Warfield scored on the second attempt. Fleming had performed a similar service for freshman guard Sophia Bittner earlier in the contest.

The Warriors sought to prevent Warfield scoring from the field, but she punished them at the line. As the scoreboard clock clicked down, the points clicked up. Avalon missed a free throw, but grabbed the rebound and scored. With just seconds remaining, Warfield had the last word.

Fleming was jubilant. “It’s exciting to be able to fight it out for another day,” she said.

Her coach was pleased, too. “I think we did an outstanding job, once we got past that little lull in the third quarter,” Bittner said. “I really felt that with going after the loose ball and rebounding, we did an amazing job in the second half — and that was the difference in the game.”

* Raymond defeated Kalama 65-46 and will play Ilwaco in another loser-out game Tuesday night at Castle Rock. Ilwaco’s earlier league games against the Seagulls were a 58-56 win and a 54-44 loss.