RIDGEFIELD – Ridgefield defeated Ilwaco with a major contribution coming from Peru – no not the country. To be more precise, the Fishermen lost their Trico League game Monday night, thanks in no small part to the Spudder’s 5-foot-6 dynamo Jonny Peru who poured in 27 points, 53-46. The two teams were previously unbeaten going into the game.

“We kept the score low,” said coach Matt Blair. “We had a hand in Peru’s face all night, but we just didn’t execute well on offense the final three minutes of the game.”

The Fishermen were tied with Ridgefield 39-39 with just over three minutes left in the final period, but several key turnovers and a 54 percent field goal percentage by the Spudders were the Fishermen’s undoing.

“We knew Peru seldom passed the ball and that he liked to shoot,” said Blair. “We made him take the outside shot, but the only thing that went wrong is that he made almost all of them (13 of 20).”

There is no doubt that Ilwaco fans would have been extremely satisfied at the beginning of the season if they had known that IHS would be second place in the Trico at the mid-point of league competition.

“I’m really pleased with the fight our kids have shown,” Blair said.

The game was tight through the first half, with Ilwaco only trailing 24-23 at the break and by four after three quarters. As usual, Ryan Cadwell led the Fishermen in several offensive categories – the senior scored 16 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and passed for 3 assists. Tommy Inserra also hit for double-digits in the scoring column with 10.

Tony Crete and Inserra each picked up 6 boards as the Fishermen and Spudders were even with 25 rebounds apiece. Ilwaco had 9 turnovers to Ridgefield’s 10 for the game.

Both teams shot over 50 percent from the field, with the Fishermen knocking down 20 of 38 shots and Ridgefield connecting on 21 of 39. Free throw shooting was near perfect as Ilwaco swished both of their tries and the Spuds nailed 7 of 8 from the charity stripe. The foul situation was 14 for the Fishermen and 11 for the home team.

The loss snaps a seven-game winning streak for Ilwaco and drops their overall record to 10-4. Their 5-1 league mark trails only the Spudders in the Trico and puts the Fishermen ahead of La Center by a game. Stevenson and White Salmon are battling to stay out of the league cellar.

The junior varsity was defeated handily at Ridgefield by a score of 58-32 to slide their record to 3-6.

Ilwaco 14 9 10 13 – 46

Ridgefield 12 12 13 16 – 53

Ilwaco – Cadwell 16, Inserra 10, Rocky Mirelez 7, Jordan Williams 4, Crete, 4, Ryan Gray 3, Shane Padgett 2,

Ridgefield – Peru 27, Bleth 12, Hefflin 6, Dougherty 4, Farr 2, Byrne 2.