After a thrilling, last-second upset victory in the first round of the 1A District 4 Tournament, the Elma Eagles were hard-pressed to come up with something better in the semifinals four days later.

And yet the Eagles found a way to 1-up themselves.

Elma broke Eatonville hearts on Valentine’s Day, beating the Cruisers 78-69 on Tuesday in Eatonville, earning a spot in the state-regional round and district-title game in the process.

Elma (13-9 overall) and Eatonville (13-8) were tied at 17-all after one quarter with the Cruisers taking a 35-29 lead heading into halftime.

But with four players scoring in double figures – led by sophomore guard Traden Carter’s 22 points – the Eagles outscored Eatonville 49-34 in the second half to advance to the title game.

The victory was so monumental for the Eagles, head coach Matt Ferrier struggled to put it into words.

“Any night you can follow your biggest win by the next biggest win, or the best biggest … I can’t even talk I’m so incredibly excited,” a joyous Ferrier said. “The excitement isn’t going to go away for a couple of days, that’s for sure.”

In addition to Carter, junior guard Cason Seaberg (17 points, 4 rebounds, 8-9 FT), junior guard Grant Vessey (12 points, 6 rebounds, 6-6 FT) and junior forward AJ Holmes (10 points, 4 rebounds) each scored in double figures for an Elma team that shot well on the evening.

Sophomore guard Theo Flores (9 points, 2-4 3pt.) and senior post Gibson Cain (8 points, 6 rebounds, 4-6 FG) also hit multiple field goals for Elma.

The Eagles made 21 of 47 shots from the floor (47%), including 7 for 17 from 3-point range (41%) and 29 of 34 (85%) from the free-throw line.

At the charity stripe, Carter led the way by knocking down 12 of 15 shots (80%) while the rest of the Eagles missed just two free throws in the game.

“Over the last week-and-a-half something has clicked with us,” Ferrier said. “They’re making the right decisions. They are making the right calls. We made shots like crazy tonight. … We were extremely well-balanced again.”

Eatonville had defeated Elma by an average of 16.5 points in its two league games this season.

When asked what the difference was in Tuesday’s contest, Ferrier said it was a matter of learning from past mistakes and executing a game plan.

“(Eatonville) is extremely athletic and obviously a good basketball team. I went to the video tape and tried to really pick apart the areas where we kind of let them take over games down the stretch,” he said. “Our plan was to control the pace by taking long possessions, use the shot clock and we didn’t fast break whatsoever tonight, which is crazy. … To have my guys buy into that was remarkable. They took our plan and executed it perfectly.”

Ferrier added that to get his team to do the opposite of what they had become accustomed to this season – running the break – the coaching staff simply had to show them the evidence.

“We showed them on film the possession down the stretch that were costing us basketball games, and it was typically when we were making decisions based on fast play,” he said. “They fixed it and they fixed it big tonight.”

With the victory, Elma has a date in the district’s big dance against King’s Way Christian (14-8) at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday (location to be determined, subject to change).

Elma 17 12 22 27 – 78

Eatonville 17 18 16 18 – 69

Scoring: Carter 22, Seaberg 17, Vessey 12, Holmes 10, Flores 9, Cain 8. Eatonville – n/a.

King’s Way Christian 66, Hoquiam 52

Hoquiam couldn’t slow down King’s Way Christian’s Giovanny Evanson in suffering a 66-52 loss in a 1A District 4 Tournament semifinal game on Tuesday in Vancouver.

Hoquiam (17-5) trailed 18-8 after one quarter as Evanson — the Knights’ 6-foot-5 senior point guard and Trico League MVP – scored 12 of his team’s points in the frame.

The Grizzlies rallied to trail 33-28 at halftime after four different players combined to hit five 3-pointers in the second period.

Senior guard and 1A Evergreen League MVP Michael Lorton Watkins scored all 13 Grizzlies points in the third quarter as Hoquiam trailed 48-41 entering the fourth.

The Knights (13-6) put the game away with an 8-0 run to take a 56-43 lead with approximately four minutes left in the game.

Hoquiam shot 20 for 57 from the field (35%), including 10 for 31 from the 3-point line (32%). The Grizzlies got to the free-throw line seven times in the game, converting two shots (28.5%)

By contrast, KWC went 23 for 41 from the field (56%) and 17 of 25 from the charity stripe (68%).

Evanson led all scorers with 37 points, including a 13-for-17 performance from the free-throw line (76%).

Lorton Watkins led Hoquiam with 19 points while Zander Jump added nine points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds for the Grizzlies.

Hoquiam had 33 rebounds on the evening – 21 on the offensive glass – and committed 18 turnovers in the game.

“Kids played really hard against a great program. Did some good things but Evanson was too much,” Hoquiam head coach Jeff Niemi said. “We pointed the offensive glass, but didn’t convert them into points and misses a lot of lay-ins. Combine that, Evanson’s shooting and ability to get to the free throw line with them, scoring probably close to 20 points off our 18 turnovers, and you have a tough loss. Can’t do any of those three things and we did all three.”

Hoquiam will face Seton Catholic in an elimination game at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Montesano.

Hoquiam 8 20 13 11 – 52

KWC – 18 15 15 18 – 66

Scoring: Hoquiam – Lorton Watkins 19, Jump 9, Templer 8, Stankavich 7, Higgins 4, McNeill 3, Butcher 2. KWC – Evanson 37, Hall 14, Belefski 8, Duke 4.

GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL

Willapa Valley 48, Taholah 46

Willapa Valley got several clutch performances down the stretch to defeat Taholah 48-46 in a 1B District 4 semifinal game on Tuesday at Taholah High School, earning a spot in the district championship in the process.

The Vikings (17-6) led 23-17 at halftime but fell behind in the second half as the Chitwhins (13-6) rallied to take a 44-41 lead with two minutes left in the game.

Willapa Valley senior Grace Huber scored to cut the deficit to 44-43 but Taholah responded with a basket to go up 46-43.

Willapa Valley took a 46-45 lead after freshman guard Lauren Matlock scored two baskets for the Vikings.

Still up 46-45 with 10 seconds left in the game, Valley senior point guard Brooklyn Patrick was fouled and hit 1 of 2 free throws to stretch the lead to 47-45.

With Taholah looking to tie or take the lead on the game’s final possession, Valley senior post Gaby Quezada blocked a Taholah shot and Patrick scooped up the loss ball then dribbled out the clock to put Willapa Valley in the district-title game.

“Our heart is huge,” Valley head coach John Peterson said. “These girls are tougher than a pine knot. … They don’t ever quit.”

Matlock led Willapa Valley with 17 points.

Huber had nine points while Patrick scored eight points to go along with 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks.

Willapa Valley punches its ticket to the state’s regional round with the win and will face Mossyrock for the district championship at 7 p.m. Saturday in Montesano.

Willapa Valley 10 13 13 12 – 48

Taholah 8 9 15 14 – 46

Scoring: Willapa Valley – Matlock 17, Huber 9, Russell 4, Quezada 4, Patrick, Channell 3, Emery 3.

Raymond 51, Ilwaco 34

The Raymond Seagulls survived to fight another day after eliminating Ilwaco 51-34 in a 2B District 4 Tournament game on Tuesday at Castle Rock High School.

The Gulls (18-5) got off to a hot start, outscoring the Fishermen (17-5) 20-7 in the first quarter led by 17 points from sophomore guard Karsyn Freeman.

Raymond poured it on in the second quarter, getting seven points from freshman forward Kassie Koski in the frame to take a 37-17 lead at halftime.

The Seagulls held Ilwaco to just four points in the third quarter to take a commanding 47-21 lead into the fourth quarter, allowing Gulls head coach Jason Koski to clear his bench for the final stanza.

”In the first half, our kids’ attention to detail and focus on the defensive side of the ball was great, because of this we were able to get our offensive transition game going early. We made just enough key outside shots to keep the Ilwaco defense honest on our driving lanes,” Coach Koski said. “In the second half, you wouldn’t know it by looking at the scoring, but we actually ran better offense, having multiple attempts at easy baskets, but we didn’t finish.”

Freeman finished with 30 points, six rebounds and five steals.

Kyndal and Kassie Koski finished with eight points apiece while Paige “Willy” Williams drew praise from Coach Koski with 21 rebounds.

Raymond will face Rainier in an elimination game at 7 p.m. on Thursday at W.F. West High School in Chehalis.

Raymond 20 17 10 4 – 51

Ilwaco 7 10 4 13 – 34

Scoring: Raymond – Freeman 30, Kyndal Koski 8, Kassie Koski 8, Enlow 4, Kongbouakhay 1. Ilwaco – Warfield 15, McKinstry 7, Avalon 5, Banuet 3, Tynkila 2, Gray 2.