Willapa Valley and Ocosta faced off for the fourth time in the 2024-25 campaign, but this time the season was on the line.
Valley held of a late rally by the Wildcats en route to a 51-46 victory in a 1B State Tournament elimination game on Friday at the Spokane Arena.
With the victory, the Vikings (24-3 overall) earn a trip to the state’s fourth/sixth-place game on Saturday while a historic season for the Wildcats (17-10) comes to an end.
Eighth-seeded Ocosta took a short-lived 7-6 lead on a Noah Prigmore three with 2:40 to play in the first quarter, but Valley would close the frame on a 7-2 run – five of those points from guard Brody Ritzman – to take a 13-9 lead after eight minutes of play.
PHOTO BY TIA CHANNELL Willapa Valley’s Brody Ritzman drives to the basket during the Vikings’ 51-46 win over Ocosta in a 1B State Tournament elimination game on Friday at the Spokane Arena.
The two Coastal League rivals would tie or trade the lead four times in the second quarter.
Ocosta regained the advantage at 14-13 when senior guard Kayden Turner hit a fadeaway jumper at the 6:18 mark.
Valley guard Blane King followed with a pull-up jumper of his own to give the Vikings a 15-14 lead at 4:41.
Tied at 16-all after Ocosta’s Dalton Welch scored on a nice post-pivot move halfway through the quarter, No. 3 Valley would close the first half on a 10-2 run to take a 26-18 lead into halftime.
Willapa Valley took the first double-digit lead for either team when post J.B. Russell grabbed a rebound off his own missed shot and scored on a short jumper to go up 37-27 at the 2:13 mark of the third quarter.
Ocosta charged right back thanks to five-straight points from Turner, including an offensive rebound and putback to cut the Valley lead to 37-32 with 24 seconds on the clock.
The Wildcats had a chance to further cut into the deficit on the final possession of the frame, but Ritzman came up with a steal at halfcourt and cruised in unopposed for a layup to stake Valley to a 39-32 lead entering the final quarter.
But Ocosta kept the momentum throughout the early minutes of the fourth, with Turner hitting a pair of free throws followed by a pull-up jump shot to bring the Cats to within a bucket at 39-36 with 6:10 to play.
Valley went up by four after forward Brody Aust banked in a shot from the low post to make it a 43-39 game at the 3:50 mark.
Ocosta followed with a bucket from guard Luis Solis in the high post to cut the lead to two at 43-41 and – after Ritzman hit a pair of free throws – the Wildcats got back to within a basket when a Welch steal led to a tough shot in the paint from Turner, trimming the deficit to 45-43 with just under two minutes to play.
But Ocosta couldn’t get over the hump as Valley had an answer whenever the Wildcats got close.
King hit a clutch three for a 48-43 lead at 1:35 and was followed by an impressive, spinning pull-up jumper from the elbow by Turner to trim Valley’s lead to 48-45 with 1:12 to play.
Ocosta would get back to within two points on a Solis free throw with 30.9 seconds left.
The Wildcats then fouled Valley guard Nathan Fluke, who left the door open by making 1-of-2 free throws with 28.7 seconds left.
But Ocosta guard Jesus Agramon missed a three and Ritzman grabbed the rebound and was fouled, making 1-of-2 free throws to go up two possessions at 50-46 with 12.5 seconds on the clock.
PHOTO BY TIA CHANNELL Willapa Valley’s J.B. Russell pulls up for a jump shot against Ocosta’s Jayden Turner during the Vikings’ 51-46 victory in a 1B State Tournament game on Friday in Spokane.
A long Ocosta pass to midcourt was intercepted by Russell, who was fouled and hit 1-of-2 free throws to make it a 54-46 game with 7.9 seconds left.
The final seconds ran off the clock, giving Valley their fourth victory over Ocosta this season and securing a state trophy for the Vikings.
“I’m really proud of our kids for putting themselves in position to place here at the state tournament. They earned it,” Valley head coach Derek Rask said. “It was not a pretty game for us as we struggled with every aspect of the game. Credit Ocosta, they played hard and made it extremely difficult for us to score. We have prided ourselves this season on being a strong defensive team and that’s what got it done for us today.”
Fluke led Valley with 16 points while Ritzman had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Vikings.
Aust also scored in double digits with 10 points to go along with eight rebounds for Valley, which shot 18 of 54 from the field (33%) and hit 10-of-21 free throws (48%).
Turner led all scorers with 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds while Welch was the leading rebounder for the game with 14 boards for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats went 19 of 51 from the floor (37%) and was without the services of 6-foot-5 freshman post Sonny Beard, who suffered a broken wrist in the first half of the Cats’ quarterfinal loss the night before.
Beard’s absence was felt on the glass as Ocosta was outrebounded by Valley 41-35, including 15 offensive rebounds for the Vikings to eight for Ocosta.
“My guys battled their butts off today and I couldn’t be more proud of them. Valley is a heck of a team and Derek (Rask) has done a great job there. Feel like we’ve played them better and better each time we’ve played them, they just had our number for some reason this year,” Ocosta head coach Jason Quinby said. “I couldn’t be more proud of my guys. I love each and every one of them. My seniors – Jesus Agramon, Dalton Welch, Kayden Turner, Bryan Ceja, Noah Prigmore and Matt Wyland – are all great kids and have added tremendously to our culture here. They will be hard to replace, but have left our program stronger than they found it. That is my charge to each kid that plays in our program and they definitely have done that. Sad it’s over, but thankful for the ride they put us on this year.”
PHOTO BY TIA CHANNELL Ocosta’s Kayden Turner (14) and Dalton Welch (1) compete for a rebound against Willapa Valley’s J.B. Russell during the Vikings’ 51-46 win in a 1B State Tournament elimination game on Friday at the Spokane Arena.
The loss ends a season where Ocosta reached and won a game at the state tournament for the first time since 1971.
With the win, Valley advances to face No. 6 Tulalip Heritage in the state’s fourth/sixth-place game at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday in Spokane.
Willapa Valley 13 13 13 12 – 51
Ocosta 9 9 14 14 – 46
Scoring: Willapa Valley – Fluke 16, Ritzman 12, Aust 10, King 5, Russell 5, Lusk 3. Ocosta – Turner 18, Welch 9, Solis 6, Agramon 4, Priest 4, Prigmore 3, Ceja 2.
PHOTO BY TIA CHANNELL Ocosta’s Dalton Welch (1) shoots a free throw during a 51-46 loss to Willapa Valley in a 1B State Tournament elimination game on Friday at the Spokane Arena.
