Mule teams play well in Colton tournaments

The Wahkiakum Mules basketball teams traveled to eastern Washington late last week to participate in a two day Colton Tourney. The boys came home with two wins, and the girls split games, losing to a perennially tough Colton team.

The boys opened their tournament with a win against Tekoa-Rosalia, 60-57.

“It was a good win versus a very long and athletic team with several shooters,” Coach Todd Souvenir said. “I was happy with our defensive effort over all and after a rough third quarter offensively, we responded with 21 points in the fourth and made some clutch shots late in the game from the field and the free throw line to secure the win.”

“With just under a minute to go, Brody Carlson hit two free throws, giving us a 56-55 lead, followed by a stop on the defensive end and a deep transition three by Logan (LaBerge) with about 45 seconds left for the win,” Souvenir added.

Jake Leitz scored 21 points and pulled down 13 rebounds. Logan LaBerge added 15 points and four assists. Brodie Avalon had nine points. Brody Carlson scored seven. Dominic Curl had four points. K.C. Beery added four points and five rebounds.

Tekoa-Ros 26 4 13 14 --57

Mules 18 13 8 21 --60

On Saturday, they turned around a slow start in the first quarter to beat Garfield-Palouse 56-51 and claim the tournament championship.

“After playing man defense the night before, we had to switch to a zone versus a very big, physical team,” Coach Souvenir said. “After struggling in the first quarter against a tough defense, we got some confidence and got to the rim which opened things up for the rest of the game. Dominic (Curl) had his best offensive game of the year with 15 points.”

“With 53 seconds left, we were up 53-51,” Souvenir said. “Jake (Leitz) was able to get an offensive rebound and put back off of a missed free throw to give us a four point lead. The two freshmen (Dominic Curl and Brodie Avalon) secured the game from the line in the last 30 seconds.”

LaBerge scored 16 points. Curl added 15 points, five rebounds, and three steals. Leitz had 10 points and eight rebounds. Carlson scored six points, Avalon had five, and Beery finished the game with four points and five boards.

Gar-Pal 11 16 13 11 --51

Mules 4 19 17 16 --56

The Lady Mules opened their two day tournament with a 48-25 win against Garfield Palouse. The next day, they took on a powerhouse Colton team and lost 58-48 in the title game. The Wildcats have won the 1B State Basketball tournament nine of the last ten years.

“We need to be more disciplined if we want to have a year we can look back on and be proud of,” Coach Rob Garrett said.

Teams return to play this week. The girls travel to Rainier today (Thursday) and Chief Leschi on Saturday. They host Onalaska on Tuesday. The boys host Napavine on Friday, travel to Clatskanie on Monday, and to Toledo on Wednesday.