TUMWATER — If anything, the Toledo High School boys basketball team has been prone to having a flair for the dramatics this winter.
The start of it was back in Alaska at the Clark Cochrane Christmas Classic, when the Riverhawks were in a dogfight with Dimond. Trends continued back home when they were in one-score games at some point in the fourth quarter with the following teams:
Napavine (thrice), Adna (twice), Onalaska at home, Rainier on the road and Ilwaco in the District 4 semifinals.
“We didn’t quit,” Toledo head coach Grady Fallon said.
It’s been a mix of wins and losses. Saturday was, to this point, the most gut-wrenching setback.
Despite trailing by 10 in the second half, the fourth-seeded Riverhawks took the lead several times and had a chance for the ultimate victory, but Adam Kruger’s 3-pointer was long and fifth-seeded Tri-Cities Prep celebrated a 64-63 triumph in a Class 2B opening round thriller at Tumwater High School.
For the second consecutive state tournament, Toledo will be in the Round of 12 and face an elimination game on Wednesday night against 12th-seeded Columbia Burbank, the reigning state champions.
“Our guys did a good job on the gameplan defensively,” Fallon said.
Things went from bad to in the blink of an eye, worrisome, for Toledo (20-6).
Cooper Fallon, the C2BL Co-MVP, got hit from behind after Kruger’s shot went off the side of the rim and he had to be helped off the court. He was down for several seconds post-buzzer, but when he left the locker room, walked on his own with a noticeable limp.
His father is hopeful the Riverhawks avoided a serious injury.
“He’s been battling the flu, felt better today,” Coach Fallon said. “We just got to play like (favorites).”
Toledo crawled back into the contest thanks to two straight Conner Hills 3s to end an 8-0 run in the third quarter. Over the final eight minutes, there were two ties and six lead changes. Layne McClure put the Jaguars in front 60-59 off a backdoor cut and layup.
They led the rest of the way, even with Eli Weeks notching buckets to cut the margin to one two different times and Kruger plus Cooper Fallon having looks underneath in the final 20 seconds.
TCP missed both free throws with seven ticks to go and instead of calling a timeout, Toledo pushed the ball up the court. Weeks threw a cross-court pass to Kruger, who was fading to his left when he released the ball.
Just like in football, albeit with less-vital stakes, the Jaguars got the better of the Riverhawks. The former missed just four free throws to the latter’s 10.
“I told those guys in the locker room, I’m sure the whole stands are going to be saying ‘Hey, that dumbass coach didn’t call a timeout,’” Coach Fallon said. “However, Adam is the fastest kid on the floor. Get it and go, rather than then set up the defense.
“They already had a plan on the free throw lane, I saw them talking. I rolled the dice. We got a shot off, but it was tougher than we wanted.”
Toledo jumped out of the gates with a 9-2 lead, but the veteran Fallon knew it wouldn’t be a rout. Sure enough, TCP responded with a 10-2 spree to close the opening frame up one. The Jaguars went up three on the strength of a 7-0 run in the second.
Jameson Elliott nailed a jumper just before the halftime buzzer, to the dismay of the Riverhawks bench and crowd, to put the Jaguars in front by six. They got the lead to double digits twice in the third.
Coach Fallon felt there were moments where his group didn’t play “smart.” The aforementioned go-ahead bucket in the fourth out of a timeout, Kruger fouling McClure from deep and the latter making three free throws and Cooper Fallon battling foul trouble in the first half.
“You can’t afford not to play smart,” Coach Fallon added. “I think we have to do a better job getting to the free throw line.”
The proverbial wheel of who leads Toledo in scoring landed on Trevin Gale, who finished with a game-high 19 points. The senior wing buried three 3s on the night. Weeks finished with 13 while Kruger and Cooper Fallon each scored 11.
Columbia Burbank graduated eight seniors off last year’s title team, paced by electric guard Quincy Scott. It’s a much younger Coyotes squad in 2026, but they did beat TCP once and won by 14 on Saturday versus Ilwaco.
Still, the Riverhawks believe they are more equipped to handle the lights inside Spokane Arena this time around.
“Now, I think… for those guys to win at least one and get into that double (would be huge),” Coach Fallon said.
