Despite the less-than-ideal weather conditions, Willapa Valley held the Jack Q. Pearson Holiday Classic basketball invitational on Wednesday.
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
Toutle Lake 37, Willapa Valley 31
Though they gave a solid defensive effort, the Willapa Valley Vikings struggled from the floor in a 37-31 loss to Toutle Lake in the Jack Q. Pearson Holiday Classic on Wednesday in Menlo.
Willapa Valley (4-4 overall) shot just 17% from the floor on 8-of-47 shooting in a performance that perplexed Vikings head coach John Peterson as Willapa Valley shot a respectable 11-of-15 (73%) from the charity stripe.
“The kids are frustrated and so am I,” said Peterson, adding the Vikings missed approximately a dozen shots at the rim. “We were in the game because of our defense, but if you shoot 17%, you’re not going to win the game. It was one of those nights that no matter what we did, we couldn’t score.”
Vikings post player Chayse Coady led the way with 11 points that included two clutch 3-pointers to keep Willapa Valley within striking distance.
Lanissa Amacher scored nine points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
Willapa Valley committed 24 turnovers in the contest.
The Vikings are scheduled to face Adna in the second day of the invitational at 3:30 p.m. Saturday (subject to change).
Toutle Lake 5 14 9 9 — 37
Willapa Valley 5 9 7 10 — 31
PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
Willapa Valley 86, Winlock 47
Willapa Valley got off to a hot start in an 86-47 drubbing over Winlock in a Jack Q. Pearson Holiday Classic matchup on Wednesday at Willapa Valley High School.
Willapa Valley (7-3) opened up a 22 point lead by the end of the first quarter and got a balanced scoring effort with at least five players scoring no less than eight points apiece.
“They came out focused and played pretty darn well for winter ball,” Vikings head coach Jay Pearson said, noting that teams often play lackadaisical in the days following Christmas. “They wanted to set the tone in the first quarter and they did that.”
Tyler Adkins and Riley Pearson led the Vikings with 16 points each.
Wil Clements, Grady Christen and Garrett Keeton grabbed eight rebounds each with Kolten Fluke and Adkins recording seven apiece for a Vikings team that won the battle of the boards 46-14.
Willapa Valley shot 14-of-22 (70%) from the foul line, which is the first time this season the Vikings shot over 40% from the free-throw line in a game.
Willapa Valley takes on Oakville in a holiday classic game at 5 p.m. on Thursday (subject to change).
Winlock 7 11 12 17 — 47
Willapa Valley 29 19 24 14 — 86
Other Pearson Holiday Classic scores
Boys Basketball
Oakville 55, Naselle 47
Girls Basketball
Adna 60, Naselle 26
