Zillah edged Rainier 51-50 in overtime to win the title on Sunday, capping three days of competitive basketball on local courts.

ILWACO — Sixteen varsity girls basketball teams from around the region converged in Ilwaco last weekend to crown a new Battle at the Beach champion.

The annual competition brings hundreds of players, along with coaches and families, to the beach for a weekend of competitive fun. The Ilwaco boys varsity basketball team will host their version of the Battle at the Beach tournament on Friday, June 23 through Sunday, June 25.

Zillah edged Rainier 51-50 in overtime to win the title on Sunday, capping three days of competitive play on local courts.

More than a dozen teams participated in the tournament, separated into four groups, including Cashmere, Forks, Toutle Lake, Ridgefield and Naselle (Group A); Selah, Ilwaco, Ridgefield and Valley Catholic (Group B), Mabton, Onalaska, Knappa and Rainier (Group C), and Zillah, Napavine, Seaside and Seton Catholic (Group D).

The games were held throughout the day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Ilwaco High School and Hilltop Middle School.

The games were played under typical high school rules, albeit with a unique format, including two 20-minute halves with a running clock and no 30-second shot clock.

Ilwaco went undefeated on the first day of the tournament on Friday, notching wins over Valley Catholic (37-29) and Selah (49-48). Naselle, among the smaller schools in the tournament, dropped their opening game to Toutle Lake (38-18), then fell to Forks (64-33) and Onalaska (50-27) on Saturday. Ilwaco ultimately lost to Forks on Saturday evening (45-38) and Rainier on Sunday.

Among the more memorable moments of the three-day tournament was the return of the Ilwaco alumni team, which competed against Rainier varsity, ultimately falling to the Mountaineers 47-35 on Saturday night.

It has been a couple of years since an Ilwaco alumni team last took the court, this time comprised of former Lady Fishermen players over the past 25 years, including Jasmine Coffin, Katelynn Whealdon, Madeline Jacobson, Julianna Fleming, Eliza Bannister, Estella Sheldon, Lanie Kary, Brianna Woodham, Makenzie Keach and Ione Sheldon.

“We did it about five years ago,” recalled Ilwaco girls varsity head coach Ned Bittner. “We’ll try to keep that tradition going.”

The pre-summer basketball tournament has become a popular destination for varsity basketball teams around Oregon and Washington in recent years, with some teams traveling more than five hours to participate.

“Teams come from all around and we play some good basketball in a quality tournament — and everybody that comes here has a great time at the beach,” Bittner said.

“Zillah and Cashmere — a lot of these teams have been coming for several years, and people love coming back. Before it was over we had 10 of the coaches say they were coming back and to save them a spot. And with the Dylan Jude Harrell Community Center breaking ground [soon], that might give us a couple more gyms. Shoot, we might even maybe make it a little bit bigger next year. It’s awesome.”