By GEORGE KUNKE
Willapa Valley claimed a tie for first place with a rousing 55-43 victory over North Beach Saturday night at rockin' Tenoski Gym in Menlo. Stephen Camenzind pierced the nets for 24 points on 8 of 11 shooting, and he snatched 14 rebounds.
“It was a great basketball game,” Willapa Valley HS Head Boys' Basketball Coach John Peterson told the Herald. “It was a great game to be a part of. It was just like the one we lost. There was a great crowd, the band, and all that. It was like a heavyweight fight, but with no head shots – all body blows.
“He (Camenzind) might have played the best game that he ever played,” Peterson said. “Stephen was wonderful, and Matt was very, very good. All the kids that played did a fantastic job. Anthony Sagen really helped us. He was really sick with a soar throat and headache. But he gutted it out.
If you look at the box score, it doesn't look like Cody (Buchanan) had a good game, but he did,” Peterson said. “He was really good defensively. Drew Pearson was pretty darn good, and Hunter Gray came off bench to play well. Kyler Oblad played really good defense. North Beach is as athletic a group as your gonna see. I was pretty happy with how we played.”
The game featured three critical runs to close out the game. Valley went on a 16-0 spurt, followed by an 11-0 burst by North Beach, and then Valley took care of business with a 10-0 run. Valley jumped out to a 15-7 lead after one quarter before the Hyaks came back to lead 25-24 at halftime. The Vikings outscored NB 16-7 in the third panel for a 40-32 lead.
Matt Konigsberger contributed 14 points and 8 rebounds, and Anthony Sagen tossed in 8 points. Camenzind made 3 steals and was 8 of 9 at the foul stripe.
The Vikes canned 16 of 21 charity throws and committed 13 turnovers. Valley shot 45% onr 18 of 43.
The loss was the first on the season for North Beach (15-1). Both teams are 8-1 in the pacific league with three games to play. The Vikings are 14-3 overall.
Valley 60, Ocosta 39
Willapa Valley rolled over Ocosta 60-39 at Westport Thursday night.
“Ocosta has been playing really well of late,' Peterson said. “And wouldn't ya know, we got behind 7-1, and then went on a 29-2 run. We were really good defensively. We didn't let 'em do very much.
Konigsberger led the charge with 23 points and 11 rebounds. “They couldn't guard him. He's a really good basketball player.
The Vikings shot out to an 18-9 bulge after one quarter and increased the margin to 33-17 at halftime and 49-26 after three stops.
Camenzind scored 11 and blocked 2 shots and Drew Pearson popped through 8 points.
“Stephen was solid,” Peterson said. “We're playing well as a team. We play good defense and we have pretty good offense, too.”
Vikings 50, Adna 46
After a slow start, Willapa Valley warmed up its scoring in the second half to knock off Adna 50-46 last Monday (Jan. 20) in Menlo. Camenzind dipped in 16 points and Konigsberger ripped down 14 boards and scored a dozen.
Adna led 8-3 after a stagnant first quarter. The Pirates were ahead 14-11 at halftime. Both teams got going offensively in the third quarter. Valley won the frame 19-16 as the game was knotted at 30 heading into the fourth quarter. Willapa won the final eight minutes 20-16.
“We were absolutely pathetic in the first half,” Peterson said. “They (Pirates) had only 14 (points). It was absolutely horrible.
“(At halftime), we talked about effort and I kind of challenged 'em,” Peterson said. “I was really disappointed in the way we played in the first half. This is a good group of kids who knows what it takes and they just weren't ready to play. And then they played pretty darn well.”
The Vikings host Northwest Christian Friday.
“Every team we played was a good team,” Peterson said. “We had a good week and hopefully we can continue to play well, and continue to take care of business.
“Northwest Christian has one of the best players in the league in Austin Koukal. And, he has good players around him. We'll have to play well defensively to be successful.”
Pacific League
Boys' Standings
(As of 1-26-14) W-L ALL
Willapa Valley 8-1 14-3
North Beach 8-1 15-1
Ocosta 5-4 9-7
Raymond 4-4 7-8
NW Christian 4-5 9-8
Naselle 1-7 4-11
South Bend 0-8 2-14