The two area 1B girls basketball team will compete in the same league this season, as Oakville is joining Pe Ell in the Columbia Valley League.
Oakville isn’t the only 1B team that made a change this season.
Naselle and Willapa Valley are out of the CVL and into the Coastal League (where Oakville came from), and Mossyrock and Wahkiakum switched places in the 1B CVL and the C2BL.
Pe Ell is hoping to duplicate the success it had last season, when the Trojans went 19-6 en route to a second-place finish in league, a third-place finish at districts, and an appearance in the opening round of the 1B State Tournament.
Kelsey Lennox is back for first full season as the team’s head coach after serving as the interim last season, and she’ll have everyone back.
League MVP and All-Area guard Karli Phelps, who averaged 12 points, four steals, and three assists a game last season, and senior guard Brookelynn King, who averaged eight points, six rebounds, and a pair of assists and steals per contest both return.
Junior Center Peyton Zock is also back in the mix after a sophomore campaign where she averaged a double-double.
Lennox is also hopeful for sophomore forward Emma Kissner, who Lennox said has improved and matured in her game since this time last season.
Lennox and the Trojans are working with just 11 players, including eighth-grader Maisy King, who joins the team after the middle school season.
Oakville is looking to build on an 8-11 season, a year where Oakville coach Kevin Cavanagh said several close games slipped just out of reach.
“We need to play well for all four quarters and stay focused,” Cavanagh said. “The group has a deep familiarity, with many of these players playing with each other for years.”
Sophomore Ui Siufanua led the way last season by averaging 9.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.7 steals per game, while Vivi Cruz, Andrea Mendez-Castro, and Carolann Black are all returning contributors entering their senior seasons.
Freshman Naenae Filitaula has already made an impact, scoring 20 points in her first game as an Acorn earlier this week.
Oakville has made the district tournament in each of Cavanagh’s first three seasons, but they haven’t won more than one game at district in any of those years.
If things go according to plan this winter, the Acorns could be looking at a deeper postseason run.
