Ilwaco senior forward Beckett Turner (32) is mauled by Forks defenders in the first half.

ILWACO — The Ilwaco boys basketball team captured the 2B Pacific League Championship after beating Forks 82-72 on Jan. 31 in their regular-season finale at Carl Aase Gymnasium.

It was the second league title in three years for the Fishermen, who last won in 2021-2022, after finishing runner-up to Chief Leschi last year.

The Fishermen, now 16-4 overall and 11-1 in league play, secured a first-round bye for the upcoming double-elimination District 4 2B tournament and will begin district play at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 7, at Rochester High School against the Adna Pirates (15-6). The Pirates narrowly defeated the Fishermen 60-58 in their only meeting in early December.

Seniors lead over Forks

Just as they had done the game before, Ilwaco held their opponent scoreless in the opening minutes as they built a 13-0 advantage that grew into a 17-point halftime lead, a hole the Fishermen never let Forks recover from.

“[The] last home game and regular season game of the year was a fun one,” said Ilwaco head coach Eric McMillan following the 82-72 league win over the Spartans last Wednesday night.

“Although defensively we weren’t as sharp, we still forced Forks to make some tough shots and they were able to convert. Luckily for us, we were able to knock down more.”

The Fishermen were led by a balanced effort from a quartet of seniors, including Kyle Morris (21 points, 7 rebounds), Beckett Turner (18 points, 8 rebounds), Boston Caron (18 points, 5 rebounds) and Sam Needham (14 points, 7 rebounds).

“We were moving the ball extremely well in the first quarter as Kyle Morris had four points, Derrick Cutting had two, Boston Caron had seven, Beckett Turner had four, and Sam Needham had seven,” McMillan said.

“That kind of balance from your starting group is pretty great and enabled us to jump ahead early even though Forks started out relatively hot as well with a few threes and put-backs. The second period we were able to get out on the break more and Kyle Morris was able to have 10 by attacking the basket with Boston Caron adding another five, while Beckett Turner cleaned up some misses to get six points. Forks was able to answer by crashing the offensive boards and got some more putbacks, but we were able to go into halftime with a 17-point lead.”

In the second half, Ilwaco focused on their transition and half-court offense before giving their senior starters a rest.

“[I] emphasized at halftime that we could keep looking to get out on the break, but also wanted to work on our discipline in our half-court offense. We continued to probe inside off the dribble where Turner and Caron were able to chip in six each, with Morris getting four and Needham with two,” McMillan said. “We left the third period with a 20-point lead. We were able to rest our guys the last few minutes, but Forks definitely made it interesting having five different guys hit a three in the period to pull it back to 10 before the game ended.

“With the win, we were able to win the Pacific League and get to enjoy that accomplishment before getting back to work tomorrow for our district game next week on [Feb. 7]. Was really proud of our ball movement tonight and look forward to the challenge that the district tournament will bring!” he added.

‘Balanced’ Fishermen

The Fishermen, led by a deep and talented senior class, were dominant in league play all season, winning 11 of their last 12 games by an average of 27 points.

Ilwaco has a rare scoring tandem in Kyle Morris and Beckett Turner, each having exceeded the 1,000-point career scoring milestone. Both are capable of taking over games offensively with 30-point outbursts.

Also fueling the Fishermen success has been superb play from 6-foot-4 senior Sam Needham and 6-foot-2 senior Boston Caron, with fellow seniors Jacob Rogers and Derrick Cutting also contributing heavily down the stretch.

Ilwaco’s lone league loss over the past 12 games was a 69-54 setback to Chief Leschi on Jan. 25, a team they handled 64-53 earlier in the season but could face again in postseason play.

The seniors on the Fishermen roster include: Kyle Morris (2), Derrick Cutting (3), Boston Caron (5), David Roberts (20), Jacob Rogers (22), Beckett Turner (32) and Sam Needham (33).

Up next: The Ilwaco boys basketball team (16-4) will begin district play at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 7, at Rochester High School against the Adna Pirates (15-6).