ADNA — After tightening a couple screws and bolts at the halftime break, the Adna boys basketball team pulled away from Toutle Lake late Tuesday night at home in a league win, 71-50.
The Pirates trailed after a quarter, and held a slim 3-point lead at the half, but clamped down on defense and got out in transition to outscore the Ducks, 37-19 in the third and fourth frames.
“That will be a team in February that no one wants to play,” Pirates coach Luke Salme said. “They were going to come in here pissed, they’re 1-3, they’re going to be fired up to play us. Absolutely that’s a great win, any league win is a big win, but any win over Toutle is one we’ll take.”
Eli Smith and Seth Meister paced the Adna attack in the first half, with the latter going for 13 points and Smith scoring 10 with a fastbreak dunk to lead scorers at halftime. At that point, Toutle Lake scorer extraordinaire Zach Swanson had just 11 points to lead the Ducks.
Then it was Braeden Salme’s turn to finish the game, scoring most of his 22 points in the second half, with eight boards and five assists, to help the Pirates pull away for the win. Meister also finished with 22 points, and Lane Johnson had a team-high 12 rebounds to go along with seven points.
The Pirates shot a blistering 53% from the floor to Toutle’s 36%.
“I’m proud of the condition we’re in,” Luke Salme said. “That’s been a point of emphasis. We’ve run more in the last three and a half weeks than we ever have. They were ready for that second half.”
Swanson finished with 20 points to lead the Ducks, fresh off several 30 and 40-point scoring outbursts over the last several games. Luke Salme said that the Pirates’ goal was to hold the junior under 30.
“We had three different plans and we employed all three,” Luke Salme said. “I thought we did a good job on him, but he’s still going to make baskets.”
The Pirates take on Winlock next on Thursday for more league action.
