ELMA — A rough and tumble first half gave way to an offensive surge for Ilwaco on Elma’s home court on Wednesday night.

With both teams compiling fouls and grinding through the first half, the visiting Fishermen found the second-half current to their liking to pull away from the Eagles, 61-37, in a non-league boys basketball game.

Elma’s Cody Vollan scored 13 of his team-high 19 points in the first half. Freshman post Cobey Moore established a standard with 13 rebounds in his first varsity contest.

Ilwaco’s Reese Tynkila led all scorers with 20 points, with Alex Kaino adding 17 points.

“We have to get people under 50 and we have to work on our offense; we need less turnovers and more shots,” Elma head coach Jeff Niemi said. “We told Cody we would give the ball to him more and he did a great job. They put (Kaino) on him in the second half and he did a good job of defending Cody, pushing him out and getting into him. The ball just didn’t fall for us in the second half.”

Vollan personally powered the Eagles through the Fishermen’s defense in the first half on drives into the paint — 10 of his 13 first-half points came on driving layups.

Overall, Elma was effective in the paint, hitting 11-for-16 attempts in the contest, a mark Niemi was happy to highlight after the game.

Elma and Ilwaco kept pounding in the paint to draw fouls, which turned the contest into a choppy affair. Through the half, the Eagles had 17 turnovers to give the visitors a chance at additional possessions.

Ilwaco took advantage, ending the first half with a 14-4 run in the final 5 minutes for a 30-20 halftime score.

“They started to exploit our zone more; we knew it was coming, but couldn’t stop it,” Niemi added. “Their two post players played very well together and fed off of each other. We just continued to turn the ball over. Twenty-seven is too many. You don’t get a chance to shoot when you turn the ball over that many times.”

Ilwaco adjusted in the second half, putting 5-foot-7 guard Kaino on 6-2 Vollan and keeping pace with him. With Vollan shadowed and the defense patrolling the paint, the Fishermen pulled away with offensive runs with more consistency, even in the choppy rhythm of the contest.

In the junior varsity game, Elma got a steal and a basket with five seconds left to send the contest into overtime. There, the Eagles prevailed, 55-53.

On Saturday, Elma (1-10) will travel to Aberdeen to take on the Bobcats in a non-league contest.

Ilwaco 14 16 17 14 — 61

Elma 11 9 10 7 — 37

Ilwaco (61) — Whiting 3, Kaino 17, Ramsey 8, Kaech 4, Glenn 3, Baze 6, Merino-Ortiz, Tynkila 20, Sheldon. FG — 24-52 (.462). FT — 8-15.

Elma (37) — Aho 7, Jacobson 2, Johnston 3, Billerback 1, Vollan 19, Schneider 2, Swint, Richey, Moore 3. FG — 13-36 (.361). FG — 10-19.