Willapa Valley earned a trophy from the Class 1B Boys State Basketball Tournament by finishing in fifth place Saturday at the Spokane Arena. DeSales Catholic defeated the Vikings 64-52 to capture third place.
The fast-paced #3 seeded Irish from Walla Walla opened up a 24-16 lead after one quarter and extended it to 42-29 at halftime. The never-say-die #4 Vikings cut the margin to 51-40 entering the fourth quarter but were outscored 13-12 in the final eight minutes.
"Well, I never questioned if these kids would bring it on game day...The only question that I had is how much did they have left in their tanks after that huge and emotional game the night before," WVHS Head boys Basketball Coach Jay Pearson told the Herald. "You just never know how these constellation games go after playing in such a high stakes game the night before. The semifinal game had high emotions and it was a game where we spent so much energy to compete.
However, bring it they did the next morning...somewhere, somehow they found the extra energy to compete.
"Again, this game came down to the first quarter and those first few possessions," Pearson said. "DeSales was on fire converting on almost every trip and we were quite not as efficient. I really do think it took us the first quarter to get our legs stretched out and have the ability to play at their level. We gave up 24 points in the first quarter and that is something that we do not usually do with our defense. After midway through the second quarter, I thought we played with them; however, we were just a little too far behind.
"Kolten Fluke had one heck of a state tournament and carried us along with Wil Clements to keep us in the game," Pearson said. "Kolten is playing his best basketball right now and led us in scoring with 15 points. Wil Clements, who has been solid and consistent for us all year long, put together another great game, scoring 11 points and grabbing four boards.
"Derek Fluke had a monster floor game for us today grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds, dishing out eight assists and scoring six points despite battling foul trouble the entire game," Pearson noted. "Derek just plays so hard for us underneath the basket and his play usually determines how we roll that night.
"Garrett Keeton also had one heck of a state tournament this year as well," Pearson continued. "I have never seen a kid play so hard and for a big guy. Garrett has quick hands, can see the floor so well, and can make those impossible passes. Garrett was our leading assist player on the team this year and one of the players that put a lot of time in the gym.
"Riley Pearson finished the night with eight points and went a perfect 4 for 4 from the line," Coach Pearson said. "Today, Riley's shots didn't fall the way he wanted them to; however, had a great tournament scoring 24 in the Mossyrock game, 21 in the Wellpinit game and eight points today. Riley is one of the purest shooters that I have ever coached and when it is his night, it doesn't matter how far away or how hard of a shot it may be - it's going in."
Coach Pearson paid tribute to his six graduating seniors. "Finally, my hat is off to all my seniors as they are a great group of kids. They are so dedicated to the game, set high goals and have the work ethic to accomplish these goals. This year one of our main goals came up a little short; however, how they played and how they left everything they had on that floor over in Spokane...that, you don't need a scoreboard to tell them that they were a winner. The best part about this team is that they liked each other a lot and were fun to be around daily. They will be sorely missed in part of my life and Willapa Valley."
The Vikings finished the season with a record of 20-7. DeSales Catholic ended up 24-3.
Wellpinit 56, Vikings 53
In the semifinals, #1 seeded Willpinit defeated Willapa Valley 56-53 last Friday night. Riley Pearson poured in 21 points for the Vikings.
"This game for sure felt a heck of a lot more than just a semifinal game," Coach Pearson told the Herald. "After watching tape on Wellpinit and other teams in the tournament, we felt whoever won this game one would most likely win the state title. Wellpinit is a very good team...they are quick and can really shoot the ball. I think their speed really made the difference in this game as they forced us to go more lateral off screens instead of downhill towards the basket like we normally do. Also, their bench play really surprised me. I knew they platooned guys out; however, we had no idea that their bench could score 31 points. I mean when Wil Clements holds their leading scorer and best player to four points and Kolten Fluke their second leading score to five, you think we would win the game for sure. Wellpinit's Andrew Moyer came off the bench to score 16 points and Eli Leyva scored nine is what really hurt us.
"The first quarter also played a role in this one as it took us a little time to adjust to their speed forcing us to take our shots a little quicker than we are accustomed too," Coach Pearson said. "We only scored seven points in the first quarter, again talking about how important those first four possessions are in a game; this time we missed on the first few trips and played from behind the whole game. We made several runs at Wellpinit, cutting their lead to only one with about six minutes in the fourth quarter; however, they either answered with a big three or we made a costly turnover at an important time. Seven of our 14 turnovers happened in the fourth quarter.
"I am so proud of our kids on how hard our kids played tonight - how they battled, how they never gave up," Coach Pearson said. "They left it all on the court tonight. This game was very intense, very emotional, and physical from the start to finish. Both teams wanted it so badly and both teams never backed down to each other. I'm disappointed for the kids in not winning; however, not for how hard they played and how they battled. I told them after the game, when you play like that and leave everything you have out on that court like tonight, you are a winner. It doesn't matter what the scoreboard says.
"Kolton Fluke (17 points, 6 rebs, 4 assists) kept us in the game in the first half with his ability to penetrate to the elbow, elevate and nail his jumper," Coach Pearson said. "By far this was one of Kolten's best game of the season.
"Riley Pearson took over in the second half for us in scoring and scored a game-high 21 points," Coach Pearson said. "Riley scored 17 points in the second half and was 7 for 8 from the free throw line - not missing a free throw in the second half.
"Wil Clements (8 pts, 7 rebs) also had a solid night for us in this one," Coach Pearson said. Despites Wil's strong floor game and scoring, his greatest attribute to the game tonight was holding Wellpinit's best player to only four points.
"Derek Fluke was a beast for us inside tonight grabbing a game high nine rebounds and scoring four points," Coach Pearson said. "Despite giving up 4-to-5 inches inside tonight, Derek was able to control the inside and get us those big rebounds to get us out and running on the offensive side of things.
"Garrett Keeton grabbed five rebounds and scored three points for us tonight," Coach Pearson said. "You don't even have to ask if Keeton played hard. It seemed like he was all over the court and he also left everything he had on the court."
Vikes 77, Mossyrock 58
Willapa Valley won its opening game in the quarterfinal round over rival league Mossyrock 77-58 Thursday afternoon. Riley Pearson led all scorers with 24 points.
"Wow, what a game!," Coach Pearson exclaimed. "I'm really proud of our kids, they were pretty confident before the game and they played with confidence for the whole game. Our coaching staff has been waiting for this game like this all year long when we would be firing on all cylinders and tonight was that night.
"We had four players in double digits," Coach Pearson said. "Led by Riley Pearson with 24, Wil Clements and Kolten Fluke with 12, Garrett Keeton with 10, and Derek Fluke seeing limited minutes due to foul trouble scored nine. Everyone said it's tough to beat a team three times; however we took the approach of what we knew for a fact (that) we have already beaten them twice."
Willapa Valley raced off to an 8-0 start and kept the pressure on MHS.
"Mossyrock made several runs at us throughout the game, once even cutting it to two points at the beginning of the fourth quarter; however, that is when we started our final run of the game scoring 31 points in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
"Riley Pearson was our leading scorer tonight with 24 points and hitting some big three's in the first half and scoring at will on drives in the second half," coach Pearson pointed out. "Riley went 9 for 10 from the free throw line down the stretch that prevented Mossyrock from getting back in the game.
"Wil Clements set the tone for us in the beginning of the game by hitting his first two shots and scoring 10 of his 12 points in the first half," Coach Pearson said. "Wil always has the tough assignment of guarding the opponents' best player. Tonight, he did just that again, Wil guarded Zach Munoz, who just scored 27 points the night before and limited him to only 15 points.
"Kolten Fluke had one heck of a game for us tonight, seemingly never missing from his pullup jumper from the elbow," Coach Pearson said.
"Garrett Keeton played one of his best games of his career, scoring 10 points, being our leading rebounder with six and dishing out eight assists,' Coach Pearson said. "Garrett is seeing the floor really well at the moment and is attacking the basket strong while fishing at the rim. It is good to see him get rewarded like this as he puts a lot of time in the gym.
"Nathan Fluke (5 pts) and Blane King (2 pts) also played considerable minutes tonight; both played some great defense and made some steals."
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