Mule boys top Cards, lose to Pirates

The Mules suffered their first loss of the young season last Friday night, taking the fourth-ranked Adna Pirates to the wire before succumbing to a 56-51 defeat.

The two teams matched up well on paper, and it showed as neither team was able to build and sustain a lead in a back-and-forth game that was tied at the half and had the Mules leading after the first and third quarters by a point.

With three minutes to go in the final frame, the Pirates managed to overtake the Mules and build what seemed to be an insurmountable lead at the time of six points.

However, with less than 30 seconds to go the Mules managed to battle back to tie the game, but after a quick timeout, Adna’s 6’6” senior forward Nate Trotter nailed a 12 foot jumper from the left side of the lane to put the Pirates up for good.

John Chambers led all scorers with 15 points on six of 13 shooting. Wyatt Parker added 14, including 8 of 9 from the charity stripe. Lars Blix was the third Mule to reach double figures with 11 points, including two of the Mules’ three hits from beyond the arc. Chris Bilgic dished out five assists and picked up three steals to lead a solid defensive effort. Brett Chaput pulled down a team high seven boards while also contributing with seven points.

Two days earlier, the Mules picked up their third win of the season in a 63-47 game that wasn’t as close as the score dictates. The Mules led comfortably for most of the game and were up 20 after three quarters of play. The lead was extended into the mid-20s before the Mule reserves came in to finish the game. Chambers and Blix led Mule scoring with 12 apiece followed by Parker’s 10, Chaput’s eight, Yannik Kreuter’s seven, and Bilgic’s six. Key to the Mule’s victory was an aggressive defense that swiped 12 steals and their ability to convert from the free throw line, hitting 16 of 20 attempts.

The Mules go on the road twice in the coming week as they visit Mossyrock in a Central B matchup on Wednesday and head to Naselle Thursday to play for the KM Trophy.

The Wahkiakum junior varsity had a rough two week stretch, dropping all three of their games to Kalama (36-31), Winlock (46-34), and Adna (64-56).

Mitchell Dault led the Mules against Kalama with 11 points and Brady LaBerge and Bradley Peek chipped in with nine and six, respectively. Collan Riley also contributed nicely raking in 14 rebounds.

Against Winlock, Travis Wegdahl paced the team with nine points followed by Seth Doumit’s eight, Shane Souvenir’s five and LaBerge’s four. Souvenir stepped up to lead the team versus the Pirates with 13 points to go alongside Wegdahl’s nine, Doumit’s eight, and six apiece from Riley, Dault, and Brandon Budd.

In the C-squad report, the Mule’s picked up a 60-58 double-overtime victory over the visiting Tigers of Clatskanie on December 12. Riley recorded a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards for the Mules while Colton Pfenniger added another eight points and 10 rebounds.

In two quarters of action Friday night, the Mule C-team slipped by the Pirates with a 22-19 victory. LaBerge and Budd netted six apiece and Jamey Gehrman and Zach Calvert added five apiece to round out the Mule scoring. Pfenniger and Calvert each pulled in six rebounds in the half of play.