2B Boys: Miles, Viks Pay Back Napavine

MOSSYROCK — The Vikings’ last meeting with Napavine resulted in a 43-point blowout for the Tigers.

That memory — from back on Jan. 7 — may have been something of a motivational factor here Wednesday night for Mossyrock.

Bo Miles shot through the Tigers’ triangle-and-two defense early on, and Mossyrock thwarted a late Tiger rally for a 74-65 win on senior night. The victory moved the Vikings into a tie with Napavine for third place in the Central 2B League boys basketball standings with only Friday’s games remaining.

“We just knew that this was one of those games that we needed to prove ourselves,” Miles said. “We needed to come out and show that we’re a top-10 team, not just some pushover that shouldn’t be there, just because we have one guy.”

Miles, in particular, proved himself on Wednesday, scoring 16 points in the first quarter and finishing with a team-high 28.

“He caught fire. That was impressive,” Mossyrock coach Kelly Ross said. “We’ve had games where people have left him open, and he just cashes in.”

The “one guy” Miles referenced — All-State guard/forward Jaron Kirkley — had a solid night as well, recording a triple-double with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

Napavine’s Wyatt Stanley scored a game-high 29 points and hauled in 15 rebounds, though the Tigers trailed 45-26 at the intermission and 60-42 with just over five minutes left in the game.

At that point Peyton Stanley caught fire for the Tigers. The sophomore guard hit a pair of 3-pointers in a 10-0 run, and then — after an open 3 from Kirkley — knocked down back-to-back 3s that made it a 63-58 game with 2:36 to play.

Kirkley and Wyatt Stanley traded successful trips to the foul line, but Kirkley scored on the other end to make it a 7-point game again. After a Tiger turnover, Miles found Griffin Coleman under the basket for a layup to extend the lead to 9, and Napavine — despite a lengthy final minute of action — was unable to get closer than 7 the rest of the way.

Coleman finished with 15 for Mossyrock, with 11 coming in the second half and giving the Vikings a second source of offense outside of its two typical producers.

“Those are guys they probably didn’t expect to do a whole lot in tonight’s game,” Ross said. “You give them the opportunity, and they’re ready to step up.”

Napavine started the game out in a triangle-and-two defense geared to slow Kirkley and Danny Nelson, Mossyrock’s leading scorers. Miles, though, was able to take advantage, hitting four 3s in the first quarter alone.

“We’ve spent a lot of time working on our shot, and making that extra pass, and being ready to shoot when that extra pass is made,” Ross said. “If he’s hitting that shot, we’re tough to beat.”

Austin Filley added 8 points for Napavine, while Jordan Purvis chipped in 7.

Nelson finished with 9 for Mossyrock, which won its third straight game.

The Vikings (13-6, 11-6 league) close out the season at Onalaska on Friday. Napavine (13-6, 11-6 league) hosts Winlock, also on Friday, to wrap its own regular season.

Notes: Should both Mossyrock and Napavine win on Friday, the tie for third in the Central 2B League standings will be broken by a coin toss, which will be performed late Friday night. … Mossyrock honored seniors Kirkley and Timmy Allen prior to the game.

Poquettes Lead MWP Past Toutle

TOUTLE — Kaleb Poquette scored 30 points, and Morton-White Pass built a big lead early to cruise to a 65-51 win over Toutle Lake here Wednesday in Central 2B League boys basketball action.

The Timberwolves led 36-17 by halftime.

“The focus was to come out quick, play extremely hard on defense and get a hand up on some shooters, and put some pressure on them, defensively,” MWP coach Tony Gillispie said. “I think our first half was about as good as we can play.”

The Ducks had won four straight heading into the game, but managed just 5 points in the first quarter and trailed by 26 heading into the fourth.

Poquette went 10 of 18 from the floor, while younger brother Matt Poquette added 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Braiden Elledge played well defensively, Gillispie added, and the T-Wolves’ foul shooting — 21 of 28 — was a bright spot.

Morton-White Pass (18-1, 17-0 league) plays at Pe Ell on Friday to wrap up the regular season.

Indians Shoot Past Mules on Senior Night

TOLEDO — The Indians shot 58 percent from the field on senior night and pasted Central 2B League foe Wahkiakum 90-55 here on Wednesday. Reece Wallace and Connor Vermilyea each had 18 points for Toledo, who had wrapped up second place in the league standings but didn’t let up on the gas pedal against the Mules.

“Everything was going in,” Toledo coach Grady Fallon said. “It was a great team effort. There were lots of extra passes and when you shoot like that, it makes it fun.”

Toledo led 49-27 at halftime, and finished with four players in double-digit scoring while two others had 8 points.

Senior Jared Pohll notched 12 points, while Junior Arroyo had 15 points for the Indians. The Indians also won the rebounding battle 36-18 with Fano Arceo-Hansen hauling in 10 boards.

Toledo had a season-high 21 team assists.

“There were lots of extra passes,” Fallon said. “We could have taken earlier shots but that showed part of our maturing as a team.”

Toledo (15-4, 14-3 league) plays at Adna on Friday to wrap up the regular season.

Pirates Blast Cardinals

WINLOCK — Adna came out the gates running and Winlock couldn’t keep up in a 73-37 Central 2B League win for the Pirates on Wednesday. Tanner Rigdon led Adna with 15 points while Austen Apperson and Garrett Trotter each had 11 for Adna.

“They came out and did a really good job working the ball inside,” Winlock coach Nick Bamer said. “And when they did go outside, they hit 50 percent from the 3-point line.”

Adna led 52-19 at halftime. Conner Weed finished with 10 points for the Pirates.

“We did a better job of competing in the second half but we just didn’t show up to start the game,” Bamer said.

Thomas Gifford and Dawson Hall each had 10 points for the Cardinals while Nicholas Patching added 9 points. It was senior night for Winlock and the team honored Jose Keim, Luke Nielson, Nolan Patching and Jose Gonzalez.

Winlock (4-15, 2-15) plays at Napavine on Friday to conclude the season. Adna (10-9, 9-8 league) hosts Toledo on Friday.

Loggers Shut Down Trojans

PE ELL — Onalaska grinded out a 38-36 Central 2B League victory over Pe Ell here on Wednesday night. Matt Swett led the Loggers with 15 points and helped his team to its fourth league victory of the season.

“We had about four opportunities towards the end of the game to get open looks and had some shots,” Pe Ell coach Justin Phelps said. “We were down 2 points for the last minute or so.”

Pe Ell led 18-15 at halftime. Kaelin Jurek and Tyler Shepherd each finished with 10 points for the Trojans.

“We played into their hands and we played their basketball game,” Phelps said. “They wanted it more and there wasn’t a lot of intensity from us.”

Jacob Modica added 7 points to the Loggers’ efforts while Stone Whitney notched 6 points.

Pe Ell (7-12, 5-12 league) hosts Morton-White Pass on Friday while Onalaska (5-15, 3-14 league) hosts Mossyrock.