PE ELL — A devastating offensive stretch in the second and third quarters doomed the Pe Ell boys basketball team in a 48-32 loss to Willapa Valley at home Friday night after the first quarter featured a promising start.
Trading blows early on with the Vikings through a quarter and a half, the Trojans offense then fell apart, and didn’t score again until midway through the third quarter. By that point, the Vikings had taken a commanding lead and all hope of a comeback were virtually squashed.
“Executionally, we failed offensively tonight,” Trojans coach Chris Phelps said. “Our defense kept us in the game. Our goal was to hold them to 10 points a quarter and I thought that would give us a chance. But we’re not going to win many games scoring 16 points in the first two and a half quarters of a game.”
The Trojans started hitting some buckets late in the fourth, and kept Valley from scoring more than 12 points in a quarter save for one, but that one tough offensive stretch was enough to sink the Trojans against a team they are all-too-familiar with.
Fresh off the combined program’s first 2B state semifinal appearance since 2015, Pe Ell and Willapa Valley were just practicing a few weeks ago as a football team, so facing off early in the hoops season as league rivals made for an interesting game Friday night.
“I have so much respect for those guys,” Phelps said. “We will be better, but kudos to them, they rebounded the ball well offensively. I was proud of our effort. We just have to get on the same page and once we do that, we’ll be ready for the playoffs. It’s early.”
Kail Homan led the Trojans with 12 points, and Isaiah Workman added two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to become Pe Ell’s second-leading scorer with six points. Willapa Valley was led by Wil Clements’ 19 points and Derek Fluke’s 14.
The Trojans play next against Ocosta Saturday night back in Pe Ell.
