The Toledo boys basketball team had its ups early and its downs late, but couldn’t quite dig itself out of a late hole in a 52-50 non-league loss to Mossyrock on Wednesday.
“Rough shooting night, credit to those guys,” Toledo coach Grady Fallon said. “They’re improved, they play hard. The point of emphasis this year is the hand checking and they kept bringing it, they kept bringing the pressure and energy and we didn’t react well to it. It was one of those off-nights.”
The Riverhawks went into halftime up by four points, but a seven-point struggle of a third quarter let the Vikings take a lead heading into the final quarter. Mossyrock’s advantage grew to as large as 10 points three minutes in, and while Toledo whittled it down to three on a Kaven Winters triple with 20 seconds left, Zackary Munoz hit a pair of clutch free throws to ice the game. Conner Olmstead nailed a 3-pointer of his own at the buzzer, but it wouldn’t matter for anything other than final stats.
Those final numbers saw Munoz lead all scorers with 19 points, including four 3-pointers. Easton Kolb added 12 for the Vikings, and Cooper Young scored 10.
On the Toledo side of things, Winters dropped 17 points and also finished with five rebounds and four assists. Olmstead had 15 points and seven boards.
Christian Malunat led the Riverhawks with 10 rebounds, and Rogan Stanley brought down seven.
Toledo (1-1) will get a ferry trip north and an overnight stay this coming weekend, playing at Orcas Island on Friday before taking on Friday Harbor on Saturday. Mossyrock (1-0) will be off over the weekend before taking on Firm Foundation in a league matchup next Tuesday.
