Vikings find clear sailing to semifinal
After a pair of games at this year’s tournament, Willapa Valley has made a habit out of two things: starting off slowly and winning.
One day after overcoming a halftime deficit in an opening-round win over LaCrosse-Washtucna, the Vikings (26-0) overcame another sluggish start in a 57-36 victory over Selkirk in a State B boys basketball tournament quarterfinal at the Arena.
Willapa Valley missed its first nine field-goal attempts. By the time Vikings head coach John Peterson called a timeout 5 1/2 minutes into the contest, the Rangers (18-11) had jumped out to a 6-0 lead.
“In the timeout I told the guys to just relax,” Peterson said. “It’s almost like we have to get punched in the face to wake up, but once we do, we’re all right.”
Brady Langer finally put points on the board for the Vikings with a 3-pointer from the corner with 3:05 left in the quarter. By quarter’s end, Selkirk was clinging to a 12-11 lead.
Selkirk’s Travis Zimmerman scored six of his team’s 12 points in the quarter, and finished the half with 11. Early on, the quick 6-foot-1 forward appeared to be an answer for the strong inside presence of Willapa Valley, but he only mustered four points in the second half.
Ryan Freeman’s jumper with 22 seconds remaining in the first quarter ignited a 16-2 run for the Vikings. Selkirk suffered through a 6-minute scoring drought in the second quarter. An 18-6 scoring advantage in the second quarter sent the Vikings to the locker room with a 29-18 lead at the half.
Improved shooting was one factor in the Vikings’ quick turnaround. Langer and Garrett Foster did most of Willapa Valley’s work in the comeback. The two combined for 17 first-half points, including a combined 4-of-7 effort from the 3-point line.
A second element in the improved play came in the form of a tenacious defense that caused 11 Rangers turnovers in the half.
“We were sitting on the Zimmerman kid and he was tearing us up,” Peterson said. “We went to a 1-2-2 press which seemed to bother them.”
The Vikings continued their hard inside play in the second half. After both teams ended the first half tied at 20 rebounds apiece, by game’s end Willapa Valley held a 42-34 edge.
“Their interior game hurt us in the beginning,” Peterson said. “We challenged our big guys to do better, and they did.”
One of those big guys was Freeman. He finished with 10 points and recorded 11 rebounds in the second half.
Langer finished with a game-high 18 points.
“Usually if I’m open the coach tells me to shoot,” Langer said. “I haven’t been shooting it well lately, but I’m starting to get it back now.”
The Vikings will meet Northwest Christian in tonight’s semifinals. The Crusaders (26-3) jumped out to a 37-26 halftime lead and cruised past Wahkiakum 76-58.
Four players scored in double figures for NWC. Karl Richardson’s game-high 18 points, on 9-of-10 shooting, led the way.
The Crusaders jumped out to an early lead over the Mules (21-5) behind the outside play of Joe Grewe and Josh Greer, who combined for 21 first-half points.
In the second half Richardson, a 6-3 post player, scored 11 points on a perfect 6-of-6 effort from the field.
“We were the runner-up in the 1A tournament last year, so we have had some experience,” NWC head coach Ray Ricks said. “A goal was to take a trophy home. Now we’re just trying to get as high of a trophy as we can.”