Boys Hoops: 5 Double-Digit Scorers Lead Bearcats to Rivalry Win Over Centralia

1/4/23

Centralia 10 15 13 21 59
WF West 21 22 19 14 76

(Chehalis, WA) Whenever two rivals meet regardless of the sport, you can be sure to throw out their records and buckle up for an unpredictable ride. When the Centralia Tigers and WF West Bearcats meet, it always has the atmosphere of a playoff game with a ton of unpredictability. While Centralia’s record of 3-9 was extremely misleading, WF West’s record of 7-3 was also a bit misleading after the Bearcats returned home from a very successful trip to Yakima.

Centralia struggled out of the gate shooting while WF West could not have gotten off to a hotter start. Lucas Hoff was lights out early with three three-pointers in the opening quarter of the game. Grady Westlund dominated the glass for the Bearcats as they got off to a 7-0 start and built their lead to 21-10 after a quarter of play.

Centralia would start cooking a little bit in the 2nd quarter. Cohen Ballard started to become a secondary scorer for Centralia while Landen Jenkins continued to lead the way for the Tigers. A clutch three for Ballard cut the deficit down to single digits for the Tigers as they only trailed 28-19. However, the Bearcats had a response and Grady Westlund opened the lead back up. After an offensive rebound and putback for two, Westlund then did it on the defensive end. A massive blocked shot by the Bearcat junior shutdown the Centralia possession and Tyler Klatush would capitalize on the other end with an easy two. That helped WF West open their lead back up as they had a 43-25 lead at halftime.

Again, WF West started quick in the second half and went on another scoring run to lift their lead north of 20. Von Wasson would get going for the Tigers while Jenkins and Ballard continued their scoring output. WF West’s balance scoring approach with a sizeable lead was too much to overcome. The combination of Grady Westlund and Parker Eiswald in the paint for the Bearcats controlled the boards and limited opportunities for Centralia. Eight second half points for Eiswald kept Centralia out of reach as the Bearcats dribbled out a 76-59 victory.

Our Thorbeckes MVP of the game was Grady Westlund for the WF West Bearcats. A double-double machine this season, the junior added another one with 15 points and 12 rebounds plus a few blocks as well. The paint was dominated by the Bearcats and Westlund was the biggest reason for that on both ends of the court. Limiting Centralia to a lot of one shot possessions while earning the Bearcats plenty of offensive rebounds, Westlund owned the paint and helped edge time of possession in WF West’s favor. It was just another strong performance for Westlund who continues to get more and more comfortable in the biggest role he has had for the Bearcat basketball team in his career.

Leading the Bearcats in scoring was Lucas Hoff with 17 points while Parker Eiswald and Tyler Klatush each had 11 and Trenton Schoepf added 10 off the bench with some strong defense as well. Gage Brumfield scored five while Braden Jones had three and Brooks Ledgerwood and Dylan Rockey each added two.

For Centralia, it was Landen Jenkins scoring a game-high 19 points for the Tigers while Cohen Ballard was just behind him with 17 points. Von Wasson scored 12 with nine of them coming in the second half. Aidan Haines had eight and Jordan Yeung capped off the Tiger scoring with three.

Taking home the Better Homes and Gardens Takin’ it to the House Play of the Game was Lucas Hoff of WF West. It wasn’t just one play earning Hoff the award, but three three-pointers right out of the gate lit a spark under the Bearcats and led their 21-point quarter. The hot start put the Bearcats in a great spot early and that seemed to be the most important stretch in the game for WF West.

WF West continues their hot stretch as they have won five consecutive games to move to 8-3 overall and 5-0 in EvCo 2A play. They will now await a big showdown with league title implications on Wednesday at 7pm when they visit the Tumwater Thunderbirds. For Centralia, they drop to 3-10 and 1-4 in league play. The Tigers have a big opportunity to create a three-way tie for the final playoff spot when they visit the Black Hills Wolves on Wednesday at 7pm.

For more on the game check out the ESN postgame show below with our video highlights. To watch the full game replay, you can do so on the following link to the NFHS Network. (Subscription service) Watch full game replay on this link

ESN Post Game Show