The Willapa Valley Vikings, a team loaded with talent and a potential state playoff contender, passed another significant test Saturday evening.
Willapa Valley was in top form in its 70-58 2B Pacific League victory over a talented Chief Leschi Warriors team at Willapa Valley High School, with senior guard Matt Pearson leading the way.
Pearson scored a game-high 28 points and held Chief Leschi’s top player — Kahea Baker — to just 14 points with a little over two minutes left to go in the game.
“We challenged Matt, a senior and four-year varsity player, to pick his game up and start playing,” Willapa Valley head coach Jay Pearson said. “I think he did all right on that one didn’t he?”
Pearson and Willapa Valley forward Peter Hamilton got the Vikings off to a good start with a 24-14 after the first quarter. Hamilton, who finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds, scored the Vikings’ first eight points while Pearson buried three 3-pointers in the opening frame.
“The first three games, I wasn’t looking to score as much,” said Hamilton, whose taken on the role of doing the lunch-pail work in the paint for Willapa Valley than putting up big scoring nights. “This game, I just came in and was looking to play with a lot more confidence. Just look to score and hit my shots because the first few games, I wasn’t able to hit anything. In practice, we did a bunch of shooting and it’s helped a lot.”
Willapa Valley (4-0 overall and Pacific 2B) kept Chief Leschi (2-2) at a safe distance throughout much of the second period, with the Warriors never getting closer than seven points until late in the frame. After Vikings sophomore Logan Walker hit a 3-pointer with 1:25 left in the half to give Willapa Valley a 35-25 lead, the Warriors went on a 7-0 run to end the half, capped by a steal and subsequent layup from guard Delshae Gower, trimming the Vikings lead to just three points at the break.
Willapa Valley’s Matt Pearson (12) dribbles around Chief Leschi’s Darnell Lewis Jr., in the Vikings 70-58 victory. (Ryan Sparks | Grays Harbor News Group)
Coach Pearson acknowledged his team “slacked off on defense” which let the Warriors back in the game.
“We gave them one, two, sometimes three opportunities by not blocking out, not being aggressive and just taking defense off,” he said. “We made an adjustment at halftime and talked about a gut-check and a heart-check and how to play defense, rebound and block out. They responded.”
And the Vikings response was a loud one.
After the Warriors scored the first five points of the second half to take a two-point lead, Willapa Valley went on a 17-2 run that included a corner-three from Walker with 44 seconds left in the third quarter to give the Vikings a 52-39 lead.
Entering the fourth period with a comfortable 54-39 lead, the Vikings didn’t let off the gas pedal. Willapa Valley went on another sustained scoring run, blitzing the Warriors with a 12-3 streak that included several highlight-worthy plays, including an athletic baseline drive and reverse layup from Pearson followed by a give-and-go with Vikings center Beau Buchanan finishing off an assist from Pearson.
When the dust settled, Willapa Valley held a 22-point lead at 68-46 with just over three minutes left in the quarter.
Willapa Valley sophomore Logan Walker dribbles up the court against the Chief Leschi Warriors on Saturday. (Ryan Sparks | Grays Harbor News Group)
Chief Leschi high-scoring senior Kahea Baker had 18 points in the game, with seven of those coming in the final two minutes of the game when the outcome had already been long decided.
“We knew they had one shooter, so we sagged in the paint and we stepped up on Baker and wouldn’t let him shoot,” said Matt Pearson, who was tasked with guarding Baker, who has scored more than 24 points in a game multiple times this season. “Then we got the rebound and we were out and running.”
The win keeps Willapa Valley atop the 2B Pacific League standings with three teams — Ilwaco, Ocosta and Northwest Christian — hot on the Vikings’ heels at 3-1.
“This was kind of a ‘changing’ game for us,” Pearson said. “The first few games, we were forcing up dumb shots and weren’t looking to pass the ball. This game, we’re passing, we’re back in transition, back to our normal self.”
Willapa Valley plays next at Life Christian Academy at 7 p.m. on Monday.
Chief Leschi 14 18 7 19 — 58
Willapa Valley 24 11 19 16 —70
Top Players: Willapa Valley — M. Pearson (28 pts., 4 rebs.), Walker (14 pts., 4 rebs.), Hamilton (12 pts., 11 rebs.); Chief Leschi — Baker (18 pts.), Chris Lee (14 pts.), Gower (12 pts.)
