Kalama came out on fire, draining seven 3-pointers in the first quarter, and Morton-White Pass was never able to recover in a 64-51 defeat to the Chinooks at home on Tuesday in Central 2B League action.
Reigning league MVP Jackson Esary led all scorers with 24 points, but the T-Wolves managed to hold him to just seven in the second half. Still, it wasn’t enough against the well-rounded defending District 4 champions.
“(Esary) is league MVP for a reason,” MWP coach Chad Cramer said. “It took us a while to just gameplan defensively.”
The Timberwolves were a little rusty, playing in their first game in 22 days, a stretch that included just six practices.
“Offensively, we were good until the fourth quarter,” Cramer said. “We have to close out, especially at home. We got into foul trouble and had some miscues. Against a team like that, it doesn’t take much.”
MWP cut the deficit to three points with five minutes to go, but couldn’t complete the comeback and Kalama kept its foot on the gas to the end.
The T-Wolves were led by Gary Dotson’s 18 points, while Josh Salguero added nine in his first game back this season and Leytan Collette finished with seven.
Morton-White Pass (5-4, 1-1 C2BL) hosts Winlock on Thursday.
