2/16/24
The District 2B Boys Basketball Tournament is underway after games began last Saturday. In this post we will have all the match-ups and follow-up with scores and re-caps, pictures and video highlights of all the games that we cover. Many of the games will be on the NFHS Network and we have linked the page to watch next to each game.
Saturday, February 17 Trophy Day!
District Championship @ WF West
Napavine 69, Adna 41
Napavine 11 34 53 69
Adna 14 21 33 41
Postgame Show
3rd/4th Place @ WF West
Toutle Lake 77, Chief Leschi 60
Toutle Lake 29 46 64 77
Chief Leschi 13 32 46 60
Postgame Show
5th/6th Place (Winner to State, Loser Out) @ WF West
Wahkiakum 68, Toledo 56
Wahkiakum 32 45 60 68
Toledo 22 37 44 56
Postgame Show
Friday, Feb. 16 (Winner to State) @ WF West
Toutle Lake 58, Wahkiakum 53
Chief Leschi 58, Toledo 53
Toutle Lake 8 20 33 58
Wahkiakum 11 20 39 53
(Chehalis, WA) Toutle Lake came roaring back in the 4th quarter led by Duck Senior Zach Swanson who finished with 30 points. The Ducks were down by as many as 10 in the 2nd half and put up a 25 point 4th quarter. Toutle Lake advances to the State Tournament and will play Chief Leschi Saturday at 3pm for 3rd place. Wahkiakum will have to play Toledo on Saturday at noon in a winner to state, loser out game.
For more on this game check out the ESN Postgame show below.
ESN Postgame Show
Chief Leschi 18 40 51 58
Toledo 7 23 37 53
(Chehalis, WA) Chief Leschi was on fire in the 1st half scoring 40 points and led by 17 at the half. But as hot as they were in the 1st was as cold as they came out in the 3rd quarter. Then even cooler in the 4th scoring a total of 18 2nd half points. Good thing for the Warriors that 1st half with a few key buckets late in the game were enough to earn their way to the State Tournament. Toledo closed within 4 points with about 4 minutes to play but that is as close as they would get. Chief Leschi faces Toutle Lake for 3rd place Saturday at 3pm while Toledo takes on Wahkiakum in a winner to state, loser and your season is over game at noon.
For more on this game check out the ESN Postgame show below.
ESN Postgame Show
Wednesday, Feb. 14 (Semifinals)
Napavine 71, Toutle Lake 57 (Below)
Adna 63, Toledo 54 (Below)
(Loser Out)
Wahkiakum 67, Ilwaco 63 (Dan Rosenfield at The Daily News)
Chief Leschi 73, Forks 52
Friday, Feb. 9 (Loser Out)
Wahkiakum 59, Kalama 49 (Dan Rosenfield at The Daily News)
Chief Leschi 71, Raymond 36
Ilwaco 74, Rainier 56 (Dan Rosenfield at The Daily News)
Forks 78, Ocosta 44 (Pierre LaBossiere at Peninsula Daily News)
Wednesday, Feb. 7 (Quarterfinals)
Toutle Lake 47, Chief Leschi 46 (Jordan Nailon at The Daily News)
Toledo 53, Wahkiakum 43 (Below)
Adna 70, Ilwaco 48 (Dylan Wilhelm at The Chronicle)
Napavine 74, Forks 38 (Below)
Saturday, Feb. 3
Toutle Lake 57, Kalama 42 (Jordan Nailon at The Daily News)
Forks 72, Rainier 66 (OT) (The Chronicle Staff)
Toledo 60, Raymond 49 (The Chronicle Staff)
Adna 64, Ocosta 41 (Dylan Wilhelm at The Chronicle)
Feb. 14 Recaps
Napavine 71, Toutle Lake 57
Toutle Lake 19 34 46 57
Napavine 22 36 51 71
(Kelso, WA) Another trilogy took place in Kelso on Wednesday night but this time it took place in the District 4 2B boys semifinal as the Toutle Lake Ducks looked to become the first team to defeat the Napavine Tigers this season. Napavine’s defense was the story in each of the first two meetings, but an unlikely hero stepped up for the Ducks in the first half while others got going which created some drama in the 4th quarter.
Right out of the gate both offenses were red hot. Cayle Kelly hit two early threes to get things going for Napavine while Hunter Lundquist roared out to a fast start for Toutle Lake. Of course it wasn’t just a one-man show for either side as James Grose was involved in the scoring as always and Cael Stanley also hit an early three for the Tigers. However, Toutle Lake continued to respond as Connor Cox hit a three and Kale Kimball got going offensively as well. The very quick start for the two teams led to a high-paced and high-scoring 1st quarter as Napavine led 22-19 after one.
Things cooled down just a tiny bit in the 2nd quarter but Grose and Lundquist did not. James Grose has become one of the most prolific scorers in the state regardless of classification in his Napavine career, so it is never a surprise when he lights up the scoreboard. However, for 6’1 junior Hunter Lundquist, it was surprising to see how he was scoring. Not the typical presence in the paint, Lundquist continued to find himself open down low and even got some offensive rebounds and put backs to go along with a couple of early threes. The teams just traded baskets for the most part in the 2nd quarter and Napavine maintained their lead going into halftime up 36-34.
Two players were notably quiet in the first half. The first was Karsen Denault for Napavine. After being held scoreless in the first 16 minutes of the game, that quickly changed as Denault scored on a phenomenal no-look pass from Cael Stanley to open the 3rd quarter and then got another great feed from James Grose as he got more involved in the offense. Foul trouble for both Denault and Cayle Kelly opened the door for the other player who had a quiet first half in Toutle Lake’s Zach Swanson. While he did score six points in the opening half, Swanson really turned it on in the 3rd. He made a living at the free throw line which was a great spot for both teams as they combined to go 13-13 from the line in the game. Every time it felt like Napavine was about to pull away, Toutle Lake had an answer including a late basket in the quarter by River Moss which kept things close thru three quarters as Napavine’s lead was just 51-46.
Something flipped for the Tigers in the 4th quarter because their defense took over the final eight minutes of the game. With Dylan Fraidenburg fouling out for Toutle Lake and Swanson playing with four fouls, the Tigers could get a little more aggressive thanks to Jack Nelson playing really strong minutes of the bench in the post for Napavine. The steals began to pile up and Cael Stanley began to score at will as the senior tallied 11 second half points. James Grose would also continue to score consistently and get to the free throw line often to ice the game away. When the final horn sounded, it was the Napavine Tigers celebrating a 71-57 victory.
Our Thorbeckes MVP of the semifinal matchup was James Grose for Napavine. Another casual 30-point game paced the way for the Tigers as Grose continued to do what he does best, score. However, it isn’t a high quantity of shots as Grose consistently looked to feed his teammates on Wednesday night especially when Cayle Kelly and Cael Stanley went on their scoring runs. A player that can feed the hot hand or be the hot hand as soon as he’s needed is a special player and James Grose put his talents as both a scorer and passer on display Wednesday night.
Napavine advances to both the district championship at 8pm on Saturday night in Chehalis as well as the regional round of the state tournament next weekend. For Toutle Lake, they will have two more games and only need to win one to also make regionals. Next up for the Ducks, they will take on Wahkiakum on Friday night in Chehalis at 6pm in a game that will be streamed here on ESN.
Scoring
Toutle Lake: Lundquist 18, Swanson 17, Cox 9, Kimball 7, Moss 4, Fraidenburg 2
Napavine: Grose 31, Stanley 16, Kelly 9, Denault 6, Bullock 5, Prather 4
Postgame Show
BHG Takin’ it to the House Play of the Game
Toutle Lake Cuts Deficit to Three With Lob
Napavine Dagger Three
Adna 63, Toledo 54
Toledo 12 25 41 54
Adna 15 30 46 63
(Kelso, WA) Two teams who got things going late in the season met in the second semifinal as the Toledo Riverhawks took on the Adna Pirates. The return of senior Braeden Salme turned the Adna Pirates’ season around while for Toledo, it was the meshing of the paint play of Cooper Fallon with the perimeter shooting of Kaven Williams and Rogan Stanley that got them to this point.
Opposite of the first game, both teams started a little slow with a lot of fouls being called early in this one to try to tone down the aggressive play styles. Braeden Salme was the hot hand in the game early as he knocked down a couple of first half threes while the freshman Trevin Salme also knocked down a three ball in the opening half. Lane Johnson was the balancing paint presence for Adna as he picked up his scoring in the 2nd quarter as well to finish with six first half points.
The opening half for Toledo was a mixture of good and bad. The good was the three-point shooting for the Riverhawks. Toledo hit four shots from beyond the arc in the opening half with three coming from Kaven Winters and one coming from Rogan Stanley. They did struggle to get the paint game going so utilizing the great equalizer in the three ball was massive for Toledo. The turnovers were a big problem for the Riverhawks. Giving away possessions is never in the recipe for success and Toledo consistently did just that. If they could have cut the turnovers in half, Toledo likely would have let at halftime but instead trailed Adna 30-25.
Things remained the same in the 3rd quarter for both sides. The biggest difference was Cooper Fallon getting things going in the paint for Toledo. Another theme of the game was the foul trouble that both teams faced. With each side having multiple players in foul trouble, both teams needed their bench players to step up and play some big minutes. Rayder Stemkoski and Eli Weeks both stepped up for Toledo while Grayson Humphrey put together some good minutes for Adna. While Fallon got going, turnovers continued to plague Toledo as Adna carried a 46-41 lead going into the final quarter.
Lane Johnson and Braeden Salme were huge in the 4th quarter but three balls from Jens Neilson and Trevin Salme really swung the momentum in the Pirates favor. Kaven Winters and Rogan Stanley tried to match threes for Toledo but the turnovers were just too costly for the Riverhawks. When Braeden Salme fouled out of the game, there was an opportunity for Toledo to fight back. But the Riverhawks shooting went cold down the stretch and Adna was able to do enough down the stretch especially defensively and on the boards to pull away. For the second consecutive season, the Adna Pirates advanced to the District Championship with a 63-54 win over Toledo.
Our Thorbeckes MVP for Adna was Braeden Salme. A senior on the team, Salme’s return coincides with the turnaround for the Pirates and despite fouling out in the 4th quarter, he was the best player on the floor on Wednesday night. Scoring a game-high 26 points, Salme also used his defense to create some of the turnover issues for Toledo. There were also multiple times where the senior could be seen directing traffic and being the leader on the floor as well. This is a completely different Adna team than it was in December and even January and Braeden Salme is a huge reason why.
Next up for the Adna Pirates will be a matchup with their rivals the Napavine Tigers in the District Championship game on Saturday at 8pm in Chehalis. Regardless of the outcome of that game, Adna will advance to the regional round of the state tournament next weekend at a date and time to be announced. For Toledo, they will next take on the Chief Leschi Warriors on Friday night at 7:30pm in Chehalis in a winner to state but not a loser out game.
Scoring
Toledo: Winters 17, Fallon 12, Stanley 11, Gale 7, Stemkoski 4, Weeks 2, Kruger 1
Adna: Braeden Salme 26, Trevin Salme 14, Johnson 13, Neilson 8, Muller 2
Toledo Ties It
BHG Takin’ it to the House Play of the Game
Adna Pulls Away with a 3
Feb. 7 Recaps
Toledo 53, Wahkiakum 43
Toledo 14 26 37 53
Wahkiakum 3 21 35 43
(Chehalis, WA) Back in January, southwest Washington faced a nasty snow and ice storm that put high school basketball on hold. One of the games affected by the storm was a battle between the Toledo Riverhawks and Wahkiakum Mules. When they finally did meet on January 18th in Toledo, it was arguably the game of the year in the Central 2B League. The rematch took place in Chehalis on Wednesday night with a spot in the district semifinals on the line.
Four minutes into the game and we were still looking for our first points. Finally, a three went in for Wahkiakum’s Parker Leitz to end the drought and give the Mules a 3-0 lead. That would be the only basket Wahkiakum would make in the opening quarter. Toledo answered with a 14-0 run with some strong shooting from Rogan Stanley and Adam Kruger. That run powered Toledo to an 11-point lead after the 1st quarter.
Whatever was said in the Wahkiakum huddle fired up the Mules because they were red-hot to start the 2nd quarter. The defense and offense both got more aggressive as Zakk Carlson got going down low but it was a couple of huge threes for Jacob Johnson that brought Wahkiakum all the way back. It looked as though the Mules were on their way to a halftime lead, but Cooper Fallon flipped a switch and took over the game. Fallon scored the final eight points of the half for Toledo after only having two through the first 14 minutes of the game. The strong finish by the Toledo big gave the Riverhawks back the lead at halftime, 26-21.
Wahkiakum continued to fight back into it in the 3rd quarter. The hero that hit the game-winning buzzer beater in the first meeting started to make his mark on this district game. Kyler Sause came out of the halftime break and immediately hit a three to cut it down to a two-point game. Baskets were traded back-and-forth practically for the rest of the quarter as Rogan Stanley for Toledo and Zakk Carlson for Wahkiakum led their offenses as Toledo maintained a 37-35 lead going into the 4th quarter.
Rebounding and free throws ended up deciding this one. Neither offense could get in any sort of groove in the 4th quarter. Wahkiakum’s shooting was cold and Cooper Fallon continued to bring in rebound after rebound to limit the Mules to one look per possession. With Toledo having a four-point lead, Wahkiakum was forced to start fouling. Toledo made them pay with some good free throw shooting down the stretch but the Mules could not respond on the offensive end. Toledo ended up outscoring Wahkiakum in the 4th quarter, 16-8 to get a little payback as the Riverhawks knocked off the Mules 53-43 to move on to the district semifinals.
The Thorbeckes MVP of the game was Rogan Stanley for Toledo. Stanley knocked down three three-pointers but also was aggressive attacking the basket. While other players for Toledo went on strong scoring runs, Stanley was the consistent scoring. Going 3-4 from the line down the stretch, Stanley was not play selfish basketball as he consistently would attack the basket and then dish it to another teammate to give them the points instead of forcing shots. In the upset win, Toledo needed someone to step up and be consistent and that’s exactly what Rogan Stanley did.
Scoring
Toledo: Stanley 16, Fallon 12, Winters 8, Gale 6, Stemkoski 5, Kruger 3, Nef 2, Weeks 1
Wahkiakum: Zakk Carlson 16, Leitz 12, Johnson 6, Sause 5, Garrett 2, Cooper Carlson 2
Highlights
Postgame Show
BHG Takin’ it to the House Play of the Game
Fast Start to 2nd Half for Wahkiakum
Toledo Retakes Lead in 3rd
Napavine 74, Forks 38
Forks 13 21 29 38
Napavine 18 51 71 74
(Chehalis, WA) An undefeated regular season is impressive enough but the Napavine Tigers were not satisfied with that. A hungry, senior led squad came into the season with state title aspirations and the next stop on that journey was a matchup with the Forks Spartans in the quarterfinals of the District 4 2B boys basketball tournament.
Both offenses actually came out of the gate hot. James Grose and Jarin Prather were hitting jumpers from all over the floor for Napavine, but Forks answered. Landin Davis hit a couple of early threes and Dylan Micheau hit one himself while Brody Lausche got a few offensive rebounds and was the paint presence for Forks. After a quarter of play, Napavine’s lead was just 18-13.
Like the Tigers always do though, they caught fire and went on a big run in the 2nd quarter. Grose and Prather continued to score at will as Karsen Denault also got going in the paint for the Tigers. The big key to the quarter was the Napavine defense as they went to a full court press and created turnovers in bunches to steal extra possessions. The trio of Grose, Prather and Denault scored 49 points in the first half and Napavine outscored Forks 33-8 in the 2nd quarter to open up a sizable lead. While Aidan Salazar got going late in the first half and into the second half, it was just too much to overcome. Napavine coasted with a running clock to pull away with a 74-38 win to advance to the district semifinals.
Our Thorbeckes MVP of the game was Karsen Denault for Napavine. Denault did a nice job at the glass being a rim protector on defense while also recording 19 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers. The athleticism was on full display for the junior as he helped take away the inside game for the Spartans and allowed Napavine to pull away with their high-powered offense.
Scoring
Forks: Lausche 8, Davis 8, Salazar 7, Rowley 6, Davila 4, Michaeu 3, Lohrengel 2
Napavine: Grose 31, Denault 19, Prather 15, Watson 3, Kelly 2, Brody Landram 2, Nelson 2
Highlights
Postgame Show
Forks Hot Shooting Start
Napavine Fast Break
BHG Takin’ it to the House Play of the Game
elisportsnetwork.com
