MENLO — After three quarters of everything seeming to go wrong for Willapa Valley, the fourth quarter belonged to the Vikings in a 60-57 win over Naselle to take the championship at the Jack Q. Pearson Holiday Classic on Wednesday.
Trailing by seven with six minutes to go in the game, the Vikings (4-4) switched to a full-court man-to-man defense and the change shocked Valley back to life. The Vikings went on a 14 to 0 run and led the rest of the way against the Comets. The run made up for a start where the Comets scored the games first 10 points and a second quarter where Valley turned the ball over nine times.
“It was a night that we won when we did all the wrong things,” Valley coach Jay Pearson said. “The fourth quarter changed the outcome. In the first three quarters, they outhustled and outworked us. In the fourth quarter, we decided we had to pick up the tempo or do something and we switched to our full-court man-to-man defense.”
Valley may not have been exactly snoozing in the first quarter, but the Comets blew past them turning two turnovers into five points on the other end and grabbing a 10-0 lead under three minutes into the contest. Matt Pearson hit a 3-pointer to get the Vikings started, but Valley wouldn’t get rolling until after halftime.
Naselle grabbed its biggest lead of the game two minutes into the third when Donny Edwards hit a 3-pointer to give the Comets a 33-22 lead. From there, the Vikings outscored their opponents 15 to 6 through the rest of the quarter. Valley forced six turnovers through the rest of the period with Matt Pearson capping the run with a put back at the buzzer to cut the lead to 39-37.
The Comets ran the lead back up to seven when the defensive switch made all the difference for the Vikings. Carter Pearson hit two free throws to get the run started for Valley, followed by an old fashioned three-point play from Matt Pearson. Moments later Matt Pearson stole the ball and found Carter Pearson for the layup to tie the game 44-44, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long. Carter Pearson came up with a steal of his own seven seconds later and hit a runner in the lane to put Valley up for good. From there, Ryon Ashley scored an old fashioned three-point play and got a steal and score under the basket to cap the run.
Although Edwards would hit three 3-pointers and score the final 15 points for the Comets, Valley was able to make its foul shots down the stretch and stay in front of Naselle. Edwards finished with 27 points for the Comets.
Matt Pearson led the Vikings with 16 points, five steals and five rebounds. Ashley added 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Walker Oblad finished with 11 points and Carter Person added nine points. Chad Flemetis pulled down eight rebounds for the Vikings.
Willapa Valley travels to Naselle on Jan. 4.
Naselle 4 16 9 18 — 57 Will Valley 7 15 15 23 — 60
Naselle (57) — Edwards 27, Nolan 11, Dorman 6, Lund, Gregory 5, Fontanilla, Eaton 3, Fauver 5. FG — 22-54. FT — 4-8.
Willapa Valley (60) — M. Pearson 16, Oblad 11, Ashley 15, Flemetis 5, Hamilton 4, C. Pearson 9, Roonsburg. FG — 21-48. FT — 16-22.
