Ilwaco boys basketball defeated Ocosta 65-51 and continued to see younger players stepping up

The Fishermen led 30-25 at the half, but Ocosta moved firmly back in contention with some physical defense that dislodged the IHS team’s rhythm.

Head coach Eric McMillan made adjustments, mixing up the man-to-man defense in the half-court to a full-court press that forced some turnovers.

“Alex West continued to be our senior leader by handling their pressure and finding guys for open shots, while remaining aggressive and getting good looks for himself when he had a mismatch,” the coach said. West scored 14 points and Beckett Turner chipped in 18 and led with 10 rebounds. Kyle Morris hit just eight, but the coach said he contributed his usual hustle on defense.

“A huge catalyst to our press in the second half was our freshman, Dylan Pelas. He did a great job of pressuring Ocosta’s ball handlers and got out on the break when a turnover was forced. Jacob Rogers also helped pick up the slack on the offensive end by hitting two big 3s and had a season high of eight points, which is something we know he is capable of, [he] just needs the confidence.”

Chief Leschi defeated Ilwaco 61-54. The Puyallup team continues to lead the 2B Pacific League. Next, the IHS boys have three home games, North Beach Jan. 11 and South Bend Jan. 13, then the South County “bragging rights” battle with Naselle Jan. 14.

Split

After a trip to Three Rivers Christian, Naselle boys host Washington School for the Deaf Jan. 12 before taking the short ride to Ilwaco.

Earlier they hit a road block with a 67-43 home loss to Willapa Valley. The Vikings led 31-17 at the half and put the game away with a powerful 25-point third quarter.

However, they bounced back with a 60-46 home win over Pe Ell.

‘Battled’

The Naselle girls warmed up ahead of their weekend loss to Ilwaco, splitting earlier games against Willapa Valley and Pe Ell.

Senior Grace Huber sparked the Vikings with 26 points on their way to the 54-49 win. Their defense held the Comets’ most prolific scorer, Lauren Katyryniuk, to nine, but fellow senior Kaylin Shrives stepped up as team high scorer with 16, adding 10 rebounds and three steals. “Kaylin had a breakthrough night. She had a double-double and was all over the place on defense,” said coach Marie Green.

She stressed positives. “At one point we were down 16 and battled back,” Green said. “We know what we need to do when they come to us on the 25th. The girls fought and we will continue to improve and prep for Round 2 with some of the teams we have already played.”

Younger players, including Brooke Davis, Brianna Johnson and Aubrey Katyryniuk, contributed. “Aubrey finally started to find her footing out there,” the coach said. “She had a few big point plays for us and then was on point with her defense.”

Changes

On the road at Pe Ell, the Comets won 57-43. Shrives, again team-high with 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Aubrey Katyryniuk with 15 points, continued to shine.

They faced Charlie Carper, a talented senior athlete who began playing for the Trojans as an eighth-grader. She sank 20 points. “My dynamo freshmen were great with their pressure defense tonight on Charlie,” said Green. “She is super quick and they held their own against her.”

Bella Dunagan and Gladys Wilson came off the bench and “had a solid presence on defense,” the coach added. Lauren Katyryniuk and Bella Colombo were not shooting as well as the others, but “were fantastic in other roles for the team tonight with steals and assists.”

Johnson added to defense. “After our game with Valley Monday, we were in the gym at practice working on taking charges. That work paid off because Bri took one tonight and it was at a great time in the game to really help swing the momentum toward us.”

After traveling to Longview to face Three Rivers Christian, the Comets host Washington School for the Deaf in a doubleheader with the boys (first game 5:30 p.m.) Jan. 12. The strong Mossyrock squad, which beat Naselle 62-25 in mid-December, is scheduled to visit the NHS gym Jan. 20.

300!

Ilwaco girls are gearing up for road trips to South Bend Jan. 12, then Raymond Jan. 17 before hosting Forks Jan. 19. In the early part of the season, the squad trampled South Bend, narrowly defeated Raymond and lost to Forks.

If there was a separate headline for last week’s trip to Ocosta it would be “Lady Fishermen tame Wildcats.” Ilwaco won 78-30. The home team scored fewer than 10 points in two of the quarters. IHS enjoyed a 40-14 lead at the half and stretched the winning margin in the third.

The season gets busy for Ilwaco wrestlers this coming week. They travel to Cathlamet Jan. 11 to battle Wahkiakum High School, then Jan. 14 at Hoquiam. The girls will compete at Kelso Jan. 13-14.