Wahkiakum and Naselle in the district tourney

The postseason is underway, and Naselle and Wahkiakum are still battling to earn spots in the 2025 1B Washington State Basketball Tournament. Naselle and Wahkiakum met in the first round of the boys and girls district tourneys last week, and the Mules came away victorious in both matchups.

Let's look at how those games played out and what the Comets and Mules must do to advance to the big stage.

Girls Basketball

Wahkiakum came away with the win when they took on Naselle at Wahkiakum High School on Feb. 12. After a back-and-forth first quarter that ended 11-10 in favor of the home team, the Mules grabbed control in the second quarter and kept the Comets at bay for the rest of the game.

The game finished with Wahkiakum as the winner, 50-37, in front of a rambunctious crowd of Cathlamet and Naselle folks in full voice. The win avenged the Mules' earlier loss to the Comets on Dec. 16.

For the Mules, the win also earned them a chance in the district semifinals against Taholah on Feb. 18, while Naselle will need to fight through the backdoor bracket to earn a berth in the state tournament. They played Columbia Adventist on Feb. 18.

Unfortunately, the results of both games were not available at the time of press.

Rivalry in districts

Wahkiakum also came away with the win in the boys matchup with Naselle on Feb. 12. The crowd was loud, and the game played at a frantic pace. After battling through a physical first few minutes, Wahiakum got a burst of scoring from Jayden Stoddard, who canned five three pointers in the first quarter and put the Mules up 20-12 with less than a minute left in the first quarter. The highlight of the first quarter came with a midrange fallaway buzzer-beater from Naselle's Jacob Lindstrom to bring the score to 14-20.

Things got out of hand for the Comets in the second quarter as Stoddard, Parker Leitz, Preston West, and Gage Robinson started putting points on the board. The Mules attacked the Comets relentlessly and fought for every rebound and loose ball. The result? A 16-0 run through the first five and a half minutes of the second, giving the Mules a commanding 36-14 lead. Wahkiakum entered the halftime break up 38-22.

Though the Comets got the wheels back on the offense to start the third, the Mules caught fire from outside, hitting four three pointers and trading baskets with Naselle to push their lead to 49-30 with 5:34 in the quarter. Naselle took a timeout to break up the three-point barrage.

Out of its timeout, Naselle went on a 10-0 run. Lindstrom hit a three that blew the roof off the Naselle section of the crowd and brought the score to 40-49. Leitz would stop the bleeding for the Mules, as he hit one of his trademark deep three pointers to get the lead back to 52-40 with 1:21 left in the third quarter.

The fourth quarter was about maintaining and managing the lead for the Mules, and they largely saw Naselle off without too much trouble. The game ended with a final score 63-48.

While Wahkiakum was able to advance to the district semifinals, they would not be able to advance to the final, as they lost a tough one to Willapa Valley 63-57 on Feb. 17. To keep their hopes of reaching the state tournament, Wahkiakum will need to beat Taholah when they meet at Raymond High School on Feb. 19.

As for the Comets, they won their first game in the consolation bracket against Oakville to keep their playoff hopes alive. Standing in Naselle's way of a ticket to the state tournament is a matchup with Columbia Adventist, also on Feb. 19, at Raymond High School. In their previous matchup with the Kodiaks, Naselle took a tough 66-52 loss. The Comets will hope to flip the script this time around and keep their season from fizzling out.