BREMERTON — W.F. West was down a couple of key players here on Saturday but still managed to snag a 50-41 win over Olympic in a non-league boys basketball affair.
With senior point guard Kayden Kelly out with an illness and the sophomore forward Dirk Plakinger out with an injury, the Bearcats had to get creative against the Trojans. In turn, Max Taylor and Cade Haller took over the floor general duties while Carter McCoy seized the opportunity to become the Bearcats’ first scoring option.
McCoy finished with a game-high 19 points and Tyler Speck added 11 points in the win. Haller added 10 points for W.F. West.
At halftime the Bearcats held just a three-point lead but an 18-7 advantage in the third quarter helped to stake out their final margin. W.F. West knocked down 35 percent of its 59 shots.
Soren Dalan, a 6-foot-8 freshman from W.F. West used the game to log his first significant varsity minutes and came away with his first four points. His presence was also felt on defense as the Bearcats held Olympic to just 28 percent shooting in the contest.
Malcom Dewalt and Tyler Lindal each scored 13 points for Olympic.
W.F. West (6-3) will host Black Hills on Tuesday to open Evergreen 2A Conference play.
TOLEDO — Toledo hosted a set of games here on Saturday and walked away winners both times with a 53-14 final over Concrete and a 51-45 barn-burner against Darrington in a pair of non-league boys basketball contests.
Ryan Bloomstrom led all scorers with 16 points against Concrete and also led Toledo with seven rebounds. Walker Sorensen chipped in a pair of points and six rebounds in the win.
The Tribe won the rebound battle 39 to 20. Toledo also shot 48 percent from the field and knocked down 8 of 10 free throws to run out their advantage. Jake Cournyer added a dozen points and Carlo Arce-Hansen chipped in nine points.
Toledo faced a tougher test in its nightcap against the Loggers, but managed to hold off Darrington in the fourth quarter (19-8) for the six-point win.
Toledo fell behind 17-10 after one quarter of play but put the defensive clamps on in the second quarter to keep the game close at halftime.
Miguel Soto scored five points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds in the win, much to his coach’s approval.
“We’ve been challenging him to do that and he finally did and it was a good thing because we needed some big stops down the stretch,” said Toledo coach Grady Fallon.
Jaxon Cook, a 6-foot-5 freshman, also made big contributions in the game with nine points, seven rebounds, and six blocks. Cournyer, a fellow freshman, tied for a team-high in points with Arceo-Hansen as both players notched 11 points.
The wins snapped a five-game losing streak for the Indians as they prepare to start Central 2B League play. Fallon noted that Darrington is considered the favorite in the Northwest 2B League and called the victory a “good win” for his program as they look to get off the schneid.
Earlier in the day Concrete and Mossyrock played a close affair that ultimately saw the Lions escape with a 59-57 win. Gunner Mulligan scored 16 points and swiped seven steals for the Vikings in the tough non-league loss.
With winter break still in effect the atmosphere on Saturday was far from what local hoop fans have come to expect. But that’s sure to change when league play strikes up in a few days.
“From Darrington and Concrete, nobody’s going to travel very far except for a few moms. There were no bands,” said Fallon. “It was just kind of a weird day.”
Toledo will host Wahkiakum on Wednesday while Mossyrock (2-7, 0-1 league) will host Toutle Lake.
OYEHUT — North Beach held Pe Ell to just two points in the second quarter here on Saturday on their way to a 62-43 victory in Pacific 2B boys basketball action.
“That second quarter just killed us,” said Pe Ell coach Clape Lusk. “We were 1 for 14 from the field in that quarter.”
The Trojans made 15 of 54 shots (27%) in the contest and sank just 6 of 16 free throws (37%). Max Smith managed to drop in a team-high 12 points to go with seven steals while Kollin Jurek added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
North Beach was a model of consistency on the night with 16 points in each of the first three quarters, and 14 points to close out the game. Tre’Vaughn Green led the Hyaks with 20 points and Kyle Fry added a dozen points in the win.
“They’ve got a 6-foot-8, post, the Tre’Vaughn Greene kid. He made it real difficult on us,” said Lusk.
Pe Ell (3-7) will host Willapa Valley on Tuesday.
