Taholah and Willapa Valley advanced to the district semifinals as we review Wednesday’s Twin Harbors boys prep hoops action.

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BOYS PREP BASKETBALL

Taholah 60, Pe Ell 56

Taholah advanced to the 1B District 4 Tournament semifinals with a 60-56 win over Pe Ell on Wednesday at Taholah High School.

The Chitwhins (15-6 overall) got a game-high 25 points from eighth-grade guard Hunter Crossguns in the close win over the Trojans (12-9).

Crossguns completed a double-double performance with 11 rebounds to go along with a team-best four blocks while recording three steals.

Freshman guard Domonique Rodriguez added 13 points and a team-high eight assists to go along with three steals for a Chitwhins squad that had 19 assists and eight steals as a team.

PHOTO BY TIA CHENEY Taholah’s Domonique Rodriguez (1) shoots from long range during a 60-56 victory over Pe Ell in a 1B District 4 Tournament game on Wednesday at Taholah High School.

Junior guard/forward Peyton Vitalis also finished in double figures with 10 points as the young Chitwhins – with just one senior to six freshman and eighth-graders –had seven different players score in the game.

Taholah senior Eric Adams had three points and three rebounds in the victory.

With the victory, the Chitwhins advance to the semifinal round where they will face Columbia Valley League top seed Wahkiakum at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Toledo High School.

No further information was available for this game.

Scoring: Taholah – Crossguns 25, D. Rodriguez 13, Vitalis 10, E. Rodriguez 5, Adams 3, Rhodes 2, Charlie 2.

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Willapa Valley 83, Oakville 36

Coastal League champion Willapa Valley opened its 1B District 4 Tournament with an 83-36 rout of Oakville on Wednesday in Menlo.

The Vikings (16-6) dominated the Acorns (7-11) from start to finish, opening up a 22-point lead after the first eight minutes of play and held Oakville to just 14 points in the second half.

“This was a solid opening round win for us at home,” Valley head coach Derek Rask said. “We received excellent contributions from our entire roster. I thought we set the tone early on defense and that got us into a nice rhythm on offense.”

Senior center J.B. Russell had what Rask called “a monster game” with a game-high 29 points while completing a double-double with 11 rebounds.

Valley junior forward Brody Aust dropped 21 points while dishing out a team-high seven assists and senior guard Blane King also finished in double digits with 16 points to go along with four steals.

The Vikings will face Columbia Adventist Academy in a district-semifinal matchup at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Toledo High School.

Oakville 6 16 7 7 – 36

Willapa Valley 28 19 22 14 – 83

Scoring: Willapa Valley – Russell 29, Aust 21, King 16, Mican 9, Lusk 4, Seely 4.

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Wahkiakum 47, Ocosta 43

Ocosta’s desperate comeback came up just short in a 47-43 loss to Wahkiakum in a 1B District 4 Tournament game on Wednesday at Wahkiakum High School.

The Wildcats (8-12) trailed 8-0 at the start to the charged-up Mules (15-6), which was playing their final home game of the season.

Five different Wildcats scored in the second frame as Ocosta outscored Wahkiakum 16-6 in the period to take a 24-19 lead at halftime.

But the Mules played a more physical brand of basketball in the third quarter, allowing just a bucket and-1 free throw from guard Bryce Bottleson to put Ocosta in a 35-27 hole entering the final eight minutes of the game.

“The halftime speech was about how we did well to finish the half, but to expect Wahkiakum to be more aggressive and more physical as with eight seniors playing their last home game of their career, they weren’t going down without a fight,” Ocosta head coach Jason Quinby said. “Unfortunately, that proved to be true and Wahkiakum out-physicalled us to the tune of a 16-3 quarter. From there, we had to play catch up.”

The Wildcats clawed back into the game and had the ball with eight seconds left in the game down by three points, but a corner 3-pointer rimmed out and the Mules pulled down the rebound.

Wahkiakum converted 1-of-2 free throws to secure the victory and hand Ocosta a tough loss.

“I told my guys that I’m disappointed that we lost as we gave ourselves a chance to win tonight, but I’m extremely proud of my guys for their effort tonight,” Quinby said. “Wahkiakum stream rolled us by 35 at our place earlier this season, so we have absolutely improved and will be a tough out going forward.”

Sophomore post Sonny Beard had a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds to lead Ocosta. Beard also had four steals and two blocks in the game, both team highs.

Bottleson added nine points while guard Luis Solis had eight points and a team-best five assists for the Wildcats.

Ocosta shot 31% from the field (17-54 FG) – including 6 of 23 from beyond the arc (26%) – and had 30 rebounds (10 offensive) while committing nine turnovers in the game.

With the loss, Ocosta will face Pe Ell in a district-elimination game at 6 p.m. on Friday at Raymond High School.

Ocosta 8 16 3 16 – 43

Wahkiakum 13 6 16 12 – 47

Scoring: Ocosta – Beard 11, Bottleson 9, Solis 8, White 6, Dungey 5, Ashby 2, Priest 2. Wahkiakum – Leitz 18, Sexton 10, Carlson 8, Stoddard 4, Mrez 2, Ohrberg 2, Moon 1.