ILWACO — In their regular season finale, the Ilwaco Fishermen basketball team played one their most complete games of the year, outscoring the Raymond/South Bend Ravens each period led by a cast of underclassmen, culminating in a comfortable 72-39 win that secured a second-place league finish and first-round bye for the upcoming district playoffs.

It was a remarkable turnaround for Ilwaco, a team that was roughed up by the same Ravens squad 63-33 a little over two weeks ago in South Bend.

This time around, however, Ilwaco outscored RSB significantly each period, (20-10; 15-6; 19-10;18-13).

“Great win by the boys,” said Ilwaco head coach Eric McMillan, who watched his team eclipse the 70-point mark for the third straight game, fueled by stellar play from a handful of underclassmen who’ve been thrust into action late in the season.

“Our last practice on Friday, we only had 12 kids between the varsity and JV there. With school being canceled Monday through Wednesday and so many kids being gone last week due to being sick, I didn’t know how we’d come out tonight. Boys definitely wanted it and the icing on the cake was winning the coin flip to have a first-round bye in districts.”

Ilwaco took the lead after the opening tip and never looked back. Five different Fishermen contributed in the opening eight minutes, highlighted by 6-foot-4 junior Spencer Needham (33), who dropped six of his 11 points as Ilwaco opened up a 20-10 lead.

In the second period, back-to back three pointers by Needham and junior Cooper Petit (31) extended the Ilwaco lead to 31-14, forcing a Raven timeout. Following the timeout, buckets from Ilwaco junior Diego Hernandez (3) and Corbin Johnson (23) capped the scoring with the Fishermen leading 35-16 at the half.

“We came out aggressive and focused in the first half,” McMillan said. “We were able to get some good looks in transition and executed our sets pretty well while limiting RSB’s opportunities by tracking down rebounds. The second quarter we had a bit of a dry spell on the offensive end and luckily translated our defense to some fast break buckets to keep adding to our lead. Chase Cunningham and Jacob Gordon did an excellent job pushing the ball down the floor and setting up teammates for great shots.”

In the third period, Ilwaco got off to a sluggish start before Petit awoke for eight of his game-high 17 points. Ilwaco freshman Sawyer McClure (20) came off the bench and promptly scored 11 points in only a few minutes of play. Ilwaco limited Raymond/South Bend senior guard Chris Quintana (4) to 16 points, below his 21-point season average.

“RSB hopped into a zone in the second half that gave us some trouble at the start, but we found our groove and continued moving the ball pretty well to get guys in position to score,” said McMillan. “Although the scoreboard was heavily in our favor by the end of the third quarter, the boys didn’t press off the gas. Freshman Sawyer McClure had 11 points in the fourth to keep our lead. Cooper Petit and Spencer Needham had their best offensive games of the season and the great team defense was an awesome way to end our regular season.”

A coin toss was held at the end of the game with Raymond/South Bend to determine second place in the league, which Ilwaco won, securing a first round bye in the upcoming district playoffs.

Up next: Ilwaco will face Toledo in the their first district playoff game on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Rochester High School.

Raymond/South Bend will face Mossyrock in their first district playoff game on Feb. 8 at noon at Montesano High School.

Both teams will be guaranteed a second game, win or lose. The district tournament is double elimination.