Comets Basketball Schedule

Naselle Boys’ Basketball
December 3 Wahkiakum Away Comets 36 Mules 60
December 6 Ilwaco Away
December 7 Montesano Here
December 10 South Bend L Here
December 16 Northwest Christian L Here
December 17 Ocosta L Away
December 21 Raymond L Away
December 22 Warrenton Here
December 28 Holiday Tournament Ilwaco
December 29 Holiday Tournament Ilwaco
January 4 Valley L Here
January 5 Knappa Here
January 7 North Beach L Away
January 13 Warrenton Away
January 15 South Bend L Away
January 18 Northwest Christian L Away
January 22 Ocosta L Here
January 27 Raymond L Here
January 29 Valley L Away
February 2 North Beach L Here
*JV games 5:45 p.m., varsity 7 p.m.; L = league game


Naselle Boys’Middle School
Basketball
January 12 North Beach Here
January 18 South Bend Here
January 19 Valley Here
January 26 Ocosta Here
January 27 Raymond Away
January 31 North Beach Away
February 2 South Bend Away
February 7 Valley Away
February 8 Raymond Here
February 14 Ocosta Away
Seventh grade begins 5:45 p.m., eighth grade follows


Naselle Girls’Middle School
Basketball
November 9 North Beach Away
November 10 South Bend Away
November 15 Valley Here
November 17 Raymond Away
November 22 Ocosta Here
November 23 North Beach Here
December 2 South Bend Here
December 6 Valley Away
December 8 Raymond Here
December 13 Ocosta Away
Seventh grade begins 5:45 p.m., eighth grade follows

Naselle Girls’ Basketball
December 1 Warrenton Here
December 6 Ilwaco Away
December 9 Wahkiakum Away
December 11 South Bend L Away
December 14 Northwest Christian L Away
December 17 Ocosta L Away
December 20 Raymond L Here
December 21 Montesano Here
December 28 Holiday Tournament Ilwaco
December 29 Holiday Tournament Ilwaco
January 6 Valley L Away
January 8 North Beach L Here
January 13 Warrenton Away
January 14 South Bend L Here
January 18 Northwest Christian L Here
January 22 Ocosta L Here
January 25 Raymond L Away
January 28 Valley L Here
February 3 North Beach L Away
*JV games 5:45 p.m., varsity 7 p.m.; L = league game

Boys Basketball: Mules win KM Mountain Trophy

The Daily News - Friday, December 3, 2010

Three Wahkiakum players scored in double figures as the Mules topped Naselle 60-36 in nonleague boys basketball in Cathlamet on Friday.

The Mules' victory also earned them the KM Mountain Trophy, the rivalry award contested between them and the Comets.

"We have some things we need to work on, but the kids hustled and played good defense," Wahkiakum assistant coach Todd Souvenir said. "We had a rough shooting second quarter but we played well."

Wahkiakum (1-0) doubled-up on the Comets 22-11 in the first quarter, and built a 46-32 lead going into the fourth quarter.

John Chambers led the Mules with 18 points and nine assists. Brett Chaput added 11 points and 14 rebounds, and Lars Blix chipped in 10 points.

Leonel Mendoza paced Naselle with 21 points.

Wahkiakum hosts Warrenton on Saturday night. Naselle entertains Montesano Tuesday.

Mules 60, Comets 36

NASELLE (36) — Ollie Baker 1, Chase Chapman 2, Leonel Mendoza 21, Dustin Eaton 3, Nicholas Strange 2, Nick Zimmerman 3, Trevin Leeland 0, Ryley Queener 0, Jesse Lopez 0, Chandler Chapman 0, Gonzalez 4, R. Baker 0.

WAHKIAKUM (60) — Zach Pierce 3, Brandon Fudge 3, Lars Blix 10, Eli McElroy 1, John Chambers 18, Wyatt Parker 7, Joel Nicolazzi 2, Ryan Helms 5, Brett Chaput 11, Peter Weiler 0, Tyler Russell 0.

Naselle 11 11 10 4 — 36

Wahkiakum 22 10 14 14 — 60

State basketball tourney sees an overdue update

11/23/2010

By KEVIN HEIMBIGNER
Observer staff writer

The Ilwaco Fishermen played in the Sun Dome at last year’s tournament. This year teams will have to make it past the first two rounds to make it to Yakima.

RENTON - The Naselle Comets could be playing in the state 2B basketball tournament in 2011, but not in Spokane in March. Instead should either the boys or girls teams be a second seed out of the District IV tournament they could be playing at state in Mount Vernon in February.

Ilwaco teams could be playing at state in February at Glacier Peak High School. Glacier Peak is a new high school in Snohomish named after the most isolated of five major stratovolcanoes in Washington.

In a move to save money, the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) has created a first round for the six boys and six girls state basketball tournaments and gone away from the 16-team, double-elimination format that was first introduced in 1923. WIAA data showed that in loser-bracket games the average attendance was fewer than 300 fans at the 12 tournaments. Washington was the last state to have the 16-team, double-elimination format for basketball.

Under the new format all district tournaments will be moved up one week. The first round of "state tournaments" will be in a regional format. There will be four such regionals in all six boys and six girls tourneys from class 1B through 4A. The Feb. 25 games will have a pair of two seeds playing in a loser-out contest followed by a pair of one seeds playing with the winner qualifying for the next round. The Feb. 26 games will have the winner of the two-seed game playing the loser of the one-seed game and that winner will also go on to the eight-team, double-elimination state tournament.

The second round of state will be March 3 through 5 with the 1B and 2B teams playing in Spokane, the 1A and 2A teams playing in Yakima, and the 3A and 4A schools playing in Tacoma. Two boys and two girls tournaments will be at those locations and be played simultaneously.

For the first time ever eight teams in the 12 tourneys will play two state games to get to the final round venues and could possibly play five state tournament contests.

In the 2B classification, first round state games will be played at Mount Vernon or Mark Morris in Longview. The 1A first round games will be at Glacier Peak or the girls will play in Centralia and the boys in Chehalis. The WIAA is banking on the fact that more fans will pay to see the first round games Feb. 25 and 26.

With the proliferation of private schools dominating 1B, 2B, and 1A tournaments the crowds at Spokane and Yakima could still be on the slim side since the fan base for the private schools is significantly less than that of public school communities. That lack of fan base from private schools has had a negative impact on state tournament revenue. Rather than considering moving the private schools to separate divisions as some states do, the WIAA has decided to change the tournament format instead.

The eight-team second round will be double-elimination. There will be seven winner's bracket games in each of the 12 tournaments and four loser's bracket contests. Under the 16-team format there were 15 winner's bracket games and 11 loser's bracket contests in each tourney.

All 12 tournaments will be played March 3 through 5 instead of over three weekends. With two classifications of tournaments at each venue, schools with two teams would not have a possible conflict as has been the case in the past because the two classifications will alternate boys and girls games.

The new format may bring in more cash to the WIAA's coffers in Renton. The cost will be that 1,152 boys and girls will be denied the opportunity of the true state experience and to be able to play basketball in Spokane, Yakima or Tacoma in 2011. There will also be 96 cheerleading squads, 96 pep bands, and 96 hometown fan bases that will instead go to a one-and-done play-in game at places like Mount Vernon or Glacier Peak High and then return home.

After last season, Ilwaco basketball senior Justin Short said, "Going to Yakima for state basketball was the highlight of my high school career. Having a Miner's Burger, watching the Chelan-Vashon game, and making my first basket in the Sun Dome were all very special. Spending that time at state with my friends and coaches are things I won't ever forget."

Sadly, that experience is also something the WIAA can no longer afford to provide for half of those teams that qualify.

Comets' season ends

CENTRALIA - Naselle's trapping defense paid dividends until fatigue caught up to the Comets during the fourth quarter of a 65-54 loss to Napavine in a winner-to-state, loser-out game of the Southwest Washington 2B District boys basketball tournament Friday.Naselle led 32-21 after outscoring Napavine by 10 points during a fruitful second quarter."We went to a half-court trap in the second quarter and it worked for quite some time," Naselle coach Brian Macy said. "But I think we ran out of gas, and they started breaking it a little easier and pulled away in the fourth quarter."The Tigers stretched a 44-42 lead entering the final period to end the Comets' season.Naselle's only senior, Kyle Burkhalter, led the team with 15 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals."I'd like to thank him for all his hard work and effort," Macy said of Burkhalter. "He's been a pleasure to coach and has done a lot for our program. We're going to miss him."Also for Naselle, which closed out a 15-8 season, Hunter Smith and Nathan Sultemeier netted 12 points apiece, and Austin Burkhalter added nine.Arturo Ramirez led all scorers with 19 points for the Tigers.

Tigers 65, Comets 54

NASELLE (54) -Nick Hines 4, Nathan Sultemeier 12, Kyle Burkhalter 15, Austin Burkhalter 9, Hunter Smith 12, Gabe See 2, Alan Erickson 0.

NAPAVINE (65) -Keller 1, J. Brown 6, Carnes 12, M. Brown 2, Anthony 14, Arturo Ramirez 19, Bigre 11.Naselle 10 22 10 12-54Napavine 19 12 13 21-65

Naselle boys fade against Navigators

Friday, February 22, 2008
By Ben Zimmerman The Daily News

Naselles Nathan Sultemeier drives on Northwest Christian's Steven Dunn on Thursday.

Bill Wagner / The Daily News

CHEHALIS - Naselle dug itself too big of a hole in a Southwest Washington 2B District semifinal at W.F. West High School on Thursday against Northwest Christian.The Comets were "tighter than a drum," said head coach Brian Macy.They did too much standing and watching, "and not enough playing," he said."We came out like we were deer in headlights," Macy added.

Those headlights belonged to Navigators senior Ryan Fox. They are locomotive headlights, and they've been on high-beam for the whole darn tourney."He has been astonishing," NWC coach Ed McClanahan said of Fox, who scored 29 points to lead the Navigators to a 65-57 victory that clinched the school's first state tournament berth in its 12-year existence. "He really knows how to score."Fox had 31 points in NWC's district opener and 30 in a quarterfinal victory over Adna. He'll lead the Navigators into the district title game against unbeaten Toutle Lake at 8 p.m. here Saturday. The win avenged a pair of regular-season losses to Naselle, which edged NWC on the final day of the regular season to win the Pacific 2B League title."This is incredible," said Fox, a 5-foot-11 point guard whose slight build belies his assassin's skill set. "I've dreamed of going to state all my life. They can have the league title. We'll take the trip to state."The Comets must regroup quickly for a winner-to-state, loser-out game against Napavine at 6:30 p.m. tonight in Centralia. Naselle's biggest priority will be a good start, or at least something better than the 10-0 mine shaft they stepped into against NWC."I'm not sure why we were so tight. A lot of it was about (Fox), but we were also just very tight," Macy said. "It seemed like we could never get over that hump."Nathan Sultemeier scored 18 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter for the Comets, and brothers Kyle and Austin Burkhalter chipped in 13 apiece. Conor Smith also had nine points for Naselle, which made several runs but could never tie or take the lead.The Comets went on a 10-2 run to answer NWC's 10-0 start, but trailed 16-12 after one quarter. A putback by Smith made it 24-22 in the second, one of four times in the game that Naselle would pull within two points.But Robbie Groeschell (13 points) hit a 3-pointer and Fox scored on one of his trademark floaters in the lane as the Navigators re-established a more comfortable lead.The Comets made a big push at the start of the fourth quarter, which they began trailing 48-41. Kyle Burkhalter swished a jump shot, and Austin Burkhalter had a steal and pull-up jumper in transition to make it a three-point game. After NWC split a pair of free throws, Sultemeier made two freebies and it was 49-47 with 6:27 left to play.But after an NWC miss, Naselle struggled through an agonizing possession that epitomized its night. The Comets missed five shots, scrapping for rebounds in between, before the Navigators finally corralled the ball - and set up a Fox jumper."We held him to 10 points the last time we played them," Macy said of Fox. "He just came out with an attitude."A free throw by Smith cut Naselle's deficit to six points with 1:31 remaining, but NWC tidied things up at the charity stripe, where they went 9-of-15 in the quarter."We've just gotta wipe this one away, come out (tonight) and get after it," Macy said.

Navigators 65, Comets 57

NASELLE (57) -Nathan Sultemeier 18, Nick Hines 2, Kyle Burkhalter 13, Austin Burkhalter 13, Conor Smith 9, Alan Erickson 2

NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN (65) -Ryan Fox 29, Cameron Hamilton 7, Dan Mailhot 2, Steven Dunn 8, Robbie Groeschell 13, Owens 2, Sowers 4

Naselle 12 14 15 16-57
NWC 16 13 19 17-65

Comets one win from state

2/20/2008
By PHIL RAISTAKKAObserver corespondent

MONTESANO - A win Thursday puts Naselle boys in championship game on Saturday.
At the end of one quarter of action in Saturday's District IV second round game in Montesano, the score was: Sultemeier 13, Mossyrock 11. Say what? After the first 11 minutes in the game, Naselle's Nathan Sultemeier had scored all of the Comets points, 13 in the first period, helping lead the Naselle boys to a 61-42 victory. The Comets are now one win away from advancing to the District IV 2B championship game and earning a seed to the state tournament.In the early going it was a good thing for the Comets that Sultemeier was hitting his shots because the rest of the team was doing nothing but clanking their tries. Sultemeier scored off the opening tip, added three treys and another deuce on his way to his big first quarter. Part of the problem was due to the Vikings aggressive, slapping, grabbing, pressure defense that collapsed into the middle and wings, tending to leave the top of the key open for Sultemeier's tries.With Naselle's offensive output sputtering, the Vikings tied the score twice in the early going, first at six, and again at 13 early in the second quarter. Sixth man Alan Erickson was the first Comet other than Sultemeier to hit a shot, coming at three minutes into the second quarter. The Comets went on a 6-0 run that finally gave them a little breathing room going into halftime.Sultemeier led the Comets with 20 points. Kyle Burkhalter added a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds and Austin Burkhalter had 15 points. Conor Smith came alive offensively in the fourth period with seven points. The 5-foot-8 Sultemeier added six rebounds to his game while Austin and Smith also each had six boards. The Comets eventually ended the game shooting 37 percent on 19 of 51 field goals, 36 percent on 4 for 11 threes, and 76 percent on 19 of 25 free throws. The Comets were only called for 14 fouls while the Vikings were whistled for 24 infractions.The Vikings' two high scorers for the season, Cyle Coleman with 17 and Jeremy Harper with 13 points, did the bulk of the Mossyrock scoring.The Vikings' defense began to cost them with foul calls and Kyle drilled 2-of-2 free throws with a little over half of the second quarter gone as the Vikings' fouls began to add up. Deuces from Nick Hines and Austin and another 3-ball from Sultemeier completed an 11-7 quarter and the Comets led 24-18 at the break.After giving up an easy hoop on the opening possession of the third quarter, the Comets then went on a 10-2 run as three Vikings found themselves in foul trouble early in the second half. Kyle scored six points in a row and Sultemeier and Austin each added a deuce in the surge. The Comets closed out the period with 4-for-4 free throws with two each by Kyle and Austin and a hoop by Austin. Kyle's third foul allowed the Vikings a three- point play as the quarter ended with the Comets holding an 11 point lead after a 16-11 period.That's when the basketball game ended and the football scrimmage began. The referees' foul calls sent the Comets to the line for 14 free throws while the Vikings were at the line making four of five tries in the last eight minutes. One Viking player was penalized for his fifth foul while Austin spent the last two and a half minutes in the dressing room with a bloody nose.Before he left, Austin put in seven fourth period points, matching Smith's seven for the quarter. Those two Comets led the Naselle fourth quarter scoring as the Comets closed with a 21-13 fourth period for their 19-point win.Naselle coach Brian Macy said, "I thought we played very good team defense, but struggled offensively. Mossyrock's defense had something to do with it, I am sure, but we didn't hit shots we normally knock down. Nathan's offense carried us early until the rest of the crew got involved."We'll have to bring the same defensive effort on Thursday and up the offense a bit. I think not having an entire week off again will help."The Comets' next step on the road to the state tournament in Spokane will come Thursday night, 6:30 p.m., at Chehalis' WF West High School against Pacific League rivals Northwest Christian. The Navigators advanced into the semifinal round with first a 74-45 win over Morton on Thursday and then a 77-62 win over the Central League's second place team, Adna, on Saturday. The Comets have now played NWC twice in the last month, having to come from behind to win both games, once in overtime.The winner of Thursday's game will face the winner of the Toutle Lake-Wahkiakum game in the championship game Saturday, Feb. 23, at 8 p.m. at WF West, with both teams advancing to state. The loser drops into a must-win game on Friday, Feb. 22, at 6:30 p.m. in the Centralia High School gym. The winner of that game will play for third and fourth at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23, at W.F. West, with both teams advancing to state.

NASELLE - Nathan Sultemeier 20, Austin Burkhalter 15, Kyle Burkhalter 14, Conor Smith 7, Nick Hines 2, Alan Erickson 2, John Hines 1

MOSSYROCK - Cyle Coleman 17, Jeremy Harper 13, Jacob Bradley 4, Jonah Bradley 4, Scot Wedam 4

Comets are league champs

2/13/2008
By PHIL RAISTAKKAObserver corespondent
NASELLE - In an emotional game Saturday, the Naselle Comets put together a huge fourth quarter to wrap up the outright championship of the Pacific League and the top seed in the District IV boys basketball tournament. The Comets doubled up the Northwest Christian (NWC) Navigators 22-11 in the final frame to record a 60-46 win. The win avoided a three-way tie for the top spot in the league and district.The Comets finished the regular season with a 12-2 league record, 14-6 overall. NWC dropped to third place in league with a 10-4 record. Tacoma Baptist finished in second place with a 11-3 mark. The Comets next action will come in the District IV Tournament at Montesano on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m., against the survivor of Thursday's South Bend at Mossyrock single elimination game. If the Comets win their first game they will advance to play on Thursday, Feb. 21, at 6:30 p.m., at WF West High School in Chehalis. If the Comets should lose their opener, they would fall into the losers bracket and their second game would be at Montesano on Monday, Feb. 18, at 5:30 p.m.Three weeks ago, the Comets boys had to come from nine points down in the fourth quarter to force a tie and then beat NWC 68-65 in overtime. It didn't come easily for the Comets in the rematch Saturday either. There were 11 ties and five lead changes in the first three quarters of play. In fact, Naselle didn't take the lead for good until Austin Burkhalter drained a 3-ball from the deep corner as the third quarter horn sounded. Up until that point the two scrappy, quick teams took turns knocking each other down. Kyle Burkhalter opened the scoring with an offensive rebound put-back for his only field goal of the game, Nick Hines added a hoop and the Comets had a four-point lead. NWC came back with six straight points, two by Dan Mailhot to forge a tie and then a lead change. By now, it had become evident that defense was going to play a major role in this game as both teams struggled to put points on the board. Conor Smith's six first quarter points had countered the NWC balanced scoring in 12-10 first quarter.The Comets were to finish with four double digit scorers, Austin Burkhalter with 20, Conor Smith and Nathan Sultemeier, both with 11, and Nick Hines with 10. Smith earned a double-double with 10 rebounds, Kyle added nine boards and Austin eight. The Comets shot 39 percent, but they were 4-of-9 from behind the arc. NWC shot just 31 percent. The Comets only made 62 percent of their free throws, on 24-of-39 shooting.The Comets went on a 10-4 run to open the second period. Austin was to nail has first 3-ball and put in seven points in the quarter. However, just as quickly as that lead was opened, the cat-quick Navigators came back with their own 6-0 run for a 12-10 quarter. The teams went in at the break tied at 22.The fast, sometimes frenzied action continued through the third stanza as neither side could gain much of an advantage. After two ties and three lead changes, the Comets suddenly found themselves in a pickle when Kyle was called for his third and fourth fouls in rapid-fire order. Kyle was forced to the bench with 4:04 left in the quarter and the Comets found themselves down by four points. The Comets did not panic, instead whittling away at the lead with a 10-3 run. A hoop by Austin and two freebies by Erickson tied the score yet again and Austin's three pointer put the Comets back in front just before the horn. The Comets 16-13 third period gave them the lead at 38-35 going into the final quarter.The Comets opened the fourth quarter without the services of Kyle, who was still on the bench with his four fouls. However, the remaining nucleus sucked it up and played some of their best ball of the year. Smith opened with a foul line jumper, Austin slammed in another three from the deep corner followed by a free throw and See and Sultemeier each went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. The result was a 9-3 Naselle run in the first four and a half minutes of the quarter, good enough for a 10-point Comets lead with 5:28 left to play. Sultemeier continued his hot foul shooting with two more in two tries and Austin added another freebie. Kyle reentered the game at mid-quarter to add some assistance to the Comet attack. Two Naselle steals led to two more Sultemeier free throws and Hines was to score seven points in the last three minutes on a drive to the hoop and four more free throws after being fouled on trips to the rim. The Hines-led late scoring surge saw the Comets outscore NWC 9-6 in the final three minutes for their 60-46 win and their long-awaited Pacific League championship.Coach Brian Macy said, "I really don't know the last time Naselle won a league title. At the start of the year I thought we could win it, but we got off to a slow start and we played a tough non-league schedule. But we really picked it up in the second half of the season."Prior to the game, senior night Senior Night festivities honored four-year starter Kyle Burkhalter and cheerleader Whitney Cooper and their parents.

NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN (46) - Cameron Hamilton 12, Ryan Fox 10, Steven Dunn 10, Robbie Groeschell 6, McRae Armstrong 2, Dan Mailhot 2, Peter Morgan 2, David Sowers 2, Cameron Vanlierop 2, Skyler Cook, Airick Owens, Cole Stormans;
FG - 20-65 (31%),
FT - 5-12 (42%)

NASELLE (60) - Austin Burkhalter 20, Conor Smith 11, Nathan Sultemeier 11, Nick Hines 10, Kyle Burkhalter 3, Alan Erickson 2, Gabe See 2, John Hines 1, Drew Macy, Leonel Mendoza;
FG - 16-41(39%),
3's - 4-9 (44%),
FT 24-39 (62%);
Rebounds: Smith 10, K. Burkhalter 9,
A. Burkhalter 8; Assists: K. Burkhalter 2, Sultemeier 2, N, Hines 2, See 2;
Steals: K. Burkhalter 3, Smith 3, A. Burkhalter 3, N. Hines 2