KELSO — The Adna boys basketball team did it again.
Less than a month after getting shown up on their home floor against Wahkiakum, the Pirates avenged their loss to the Mules in a 58-54 victory in the 2B District 4 semifinals Wednesday night at Kelso High School.
The win catapults an Adna squad that desperately needed a spark just a few weeks ago into a district title matchup against Morton-White Pass, and better yet: a outright regional round of state bid.
“We didn’t have fight there for a while,” Adna coach Luke Salme said of the Pirates' poor end of the regular season. “They are kids that don’t like getting embarrassed or shown up, and sometimes that’s the greatest motivator. We knew that we had better change something so we don’t feel like that anymore.”
Wednesday night in Kelso, a week after an upset of rival Napavine in the district quarterfinals, the Pirates grinded out another slog against the Mules, making timely plays to survive and advance.
Down by one with 1:26 left on the clock, Eli Smith cashed in a layup to give the Pirates what would turn out to be the go-ahead bucket, and after forcing several misses — and benefiting from a Mule lane violation that erased a made one-and-one free throw — Lane Johnson drilled the dagger at the end of the shot clock with four seconds left to seal the Pirates’ place in the district title.
It’s the Pirates’ first district title appearance since they won the whole thing in 2018.
Smith had 16 points and again took advantage on drive-situations, hitting all six of his free throws and making two late shots that gave Adna the lead. Along with Johnson’s last-second bucket to clinch it, he scored nine points and stepped up in the second half to limit the damage of Wahkiakum’s size advantage.
“The ones that stick out are the big baskets made,” Salme said. “Everyone is going to remember Lane’s 3-pointer forever and a couple of other buckets in the paint. But sometimes a big play is making a guy shoot over you. We forced some tough shots when we needed stops.”
Braeden Salme scored a game-high 20 points, and led the Pirates’ defensive effort, holding the Mules without a point in the game’s final two and a half minutes.
Wahkiakum’s Brodie Avalon had just 13 points, and didn’t score in the first half, while Kyler Sause sliced and diced the Pirates early and scored a team-high 16 points.
Once the Pirates made an adjustment to contend with Sause, the defense sharpened up and got the job done.
Adna will take on Morton-White Pass in an all-Central 2B district title game Saturday at W.F. West at 8 p.m., immediately following a girls district title game that will feature the Pirate girls and Napavine.
It’s the first time both programs have advanced to their respective district title games in the same year since 2012.
“It’s a big thing in what makes this so cool,” Luke Salme said. “Our teams are tight. We do practices together and everything together. Relationships in sports can’t be understated. Sometimes you run into a little magic, and you hit a little magic. Saturday night’s going to be a ton of fun for two teams and for a whole bunch of people in the Adna community.”
