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ADNA — Both the Riverhawks and Pirates knew that in the grand scheme of things, their meeting in the regular-season finale on Wednesday meant little.
Adna had already locked up the C2BL title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming district tournament, and Toledo was already locked into the No. 2 seed regardless of the outcome thanks to a coin flip win over Napavine during a meeting between the league’s athletic directors on Wednesday morning.
Even knowing that, though, both coaches were hopeful that their teams would be able to end the regular season on a high note and head into the district tournament with some momentum.
“That’s what I wanted deeply,” Toledo coach Grady Fallon. “I just wanted us to play well going into the playoffs.”
Toledo will be the team to enter the district tournament off a win, as the Riverhawks snapped Adna’s 11-game winning streak with a 68-62 victory.
Toledo stormed out of the gate, taking a 10-2 lead in the first 3:13 of the game. Cooper Fallon got going early, scoring 10 points in the opening frame, and Eli Weeks added 10 of his own in the second to help the Riverhawks build a 34-25 halftime lead.
“We struck first and we kept it going,” Grady Fallon said.
With 3:31 left in the third, Toledo’s lead was up to 13.
“They were the aggressors,” Adna coach Luke Salme said. “We talk about how the toughest team sets the rules, and they set the rules from the tip … If you’re not tough for a half against Toledo, you’re gonna lose.”
Just as it seemed the Riverhawks were about to pull away, Trevin Salme hit back-to-back threes to kickstart a 17-4 Adna run that tied the game at 46 with 6:28 to play. Grayson Humphrey capped the run with a three of his own, giving him seven points in a span of three game minutes.
“We showed good fight,” Luke Salme said. “Other coaches will probably never feel really comfortable with a lead against us because we have guys that can go do that. That’s nice to have. Unfortunately, we don’t want to have to be in that spot.”
Toledo responded almost immediately. After the two teams traded buckets and were tied at 48, Toledo scored 13 straight points and led 61-48 with 2:04 to play.
Trevin Salme hit a pair of threes and hit three free throws in the final two minutes, and Talan Guerrero added a three of his own to get Adna back within three with 18.6 seconds to play, but Cooper Fallon and Weeks hit three free throws in the final 15 second to close it out.
Weeks scored a career-high 27 points and added four rebounds, while Cooper Fallon finished with 21 points and 16 rebounds.
“The seniors stepped up,” Grady Fallon said. “I’m really proud of them, to end the (regular) season that way.”
Adam Kruger scored 11 points to go along with seven assists and four rebounds, Trevin Gale scored five points and dished out four assists, Ryder Buswell added three, and Joaquin Acosta scored one. As a team, the Riverhawks shot 24 for 47 (51%) from the floor.
Trevin Salme finished with 26 points and added nine rebounds and four steals to lead the Pirates, while Grayson Humphrey scored 14 and Landen Cline added 11. James Greenwood scored six, Guerrero added three points and six rebounds, and Jackson Knittle added two points.
The loss prevented the Pirates (18-3, 15-1 C2BL) from finishing the league season undefeated, but they will still enter the district tournament as the No. 1 seed. They’ll have a week to stew on Wednesday’s loss before they play their district quarterfinal next Wednesday, Feb. 11, against either No. 5 Rainier or No. 4 North Beach in Centralia.
“I’m excited to know we have a week until we play another basketball game,” Luke Salme said. “We fought really hard, we just made a few too many mistakes to give us a chance to really get over the hump. Hopefully, this will help teenage kids bottle up the fact that we need to be tough for four quarters, not two.”
Toledo (16-3, 14-2 C2BL) enters the district tournament as the No. 2 seed, and the Riverhawks will also have a first-round bye. Grady Fallon admitted they could use some time off, as they have played seven games in the last 10 days.
The Riverhawks will begin their district title defense in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, Feb. 11, against either No. 7 Mossyrock or No. 3 Raymond-South Bend in Centralia.
With Adna and Toledo on opposite sides of the district bracket, Grady Fallon said that he wouldn’t be shocked if it ends up being a rematch of the 2025 District 4 Championship Game come Feb. 21 in Chehalis.
“They proved that we should be our top two going to state out of this district," Grady Fallon said. “Hopefully, we can repeat.”
