Moments of trepidation followed by spurts of brilliance was a key theme for the Adna High School girls and and boys basketball programs. A timeout here and there only calmed the Pirates down in their respective third place games in Chehalis.
By the time the final buzzer went off, Adna celebrated double digit victories over P2BL regular season champs to cap off their Class 2B District 4 tournaments.
The girls used a 20-0 spree to pull away from Raymond-South Bend 57-34 and the boys needed an 11-0 run in the fourth to triumph over Ilwaco 61-43, both games on Saturday afternoon.
“This has been a grind for us,” Adna girls head coach Chris Bannish said. “For this group to come up and do what they did, without a foundation game, I am actually very impressed.”
RSB evaded a couple half-court traps and nailed 3-pointers to lead 6-2. Bannish quickly called a timeout with 5 minutes, 37 seconds left in the first quarter. That was the last time the Ravens led by more than a possession.
Emma Kissner’s layup to make it 8-7 put the Pirates in front for good. McKenna Torrey converted a three-point play, Kamryn Freeman scored five straight and to open the second, Freeman converted back-to-back 3s.
The freshman finished with 13 points, all in the first half.
“She can flat out shoot the ball,” Bannish said. “I am so proud of her stepping up in the first half.”
McKenna Torrey paced Adna with 15 points, Alyssa Carroll added 14 and Ryhlee Beebe recorded 10 points. Torrey also registered nine rebounds, five assists and five steals. Carroll finished with nine boards as well.
Bannish relished the defensive effort in the second half to keep the Ravens at bay.
“I thought we did a good job,” he said.
For the boys, trifectas from Kaden Richardson and Grayson Humphrey brought the margin to 13 in the second stanza. Then an 8-0 outburst brought the margin to 18 just before halftime. Ilwaco slowly made it respectable, at one point trailing by 12.
Adna head coach Luke Salme stated from the sidelines to “make a run” and did his group deliver. The Pirates used seven straight Trevin Salme points and two Landen Cline dribble-drive layups to lead by 20.
To boot, Coach Salme called Saturday’s win the best defensive performance of the season.
“That was the most connected we’ve been,” he said.
Trevin Salme recorded his second straight 20-plus point game with 24, Cline added 16 and Humphrey registered 11. That trio each dished out multiple assists and Kannen Kephart grabbed eight rebounds.
“The ball will find the right body and who knows who that will be,” Coach Salme. “We make more “P.I.G. 3s than contested 3s.”
For both programs, they now wait and see if the whole season stacks up to be rewarded a top-eight seed and guarantee a trip to Spokane. For the girls, from their non-league, multiple schools went deep in their respective district tournaments.
Plus splitting with Toutle Lake and losing by a possession to Napavine has Bannish bullish about the chances.
“Between us and Napavine, there aren’t better schedules,” Bannish said.
The four losses for Adna’s boys team – R.A. Long, Tumwater, Napavine and Toledo – are all playing for district titles. For a group that is junior-laden, Coach Salme was all smiles in the locker room.
“I am really pumped,” he said. “There are some limitations just physically, but to have 21 wins at this point, we’ve been pretty good.”
