Willamina-Amity basketball recap

WILLAMINA — The Bulldogs continued their solid start to the season with a 51-38 win Tuesday over Amity in the first game of West Valley League play.

The Willamina girls basketball team (6-2) has won three straight, but it struggled early vs. the Warriors (4-2). The Bulldogs missed four of their first five shots to start the game and trailed Amity 11-10 at the end of the first quarter.

A new quarter brought new life to Willamina and it completely changed tempo. The Bulldogs went from a slower-paced perimeter offense, to an up-tempo one that charged into the paint.

The strategy brought Willamina senior leader Brook Wilson to life. She had five points after the first quarter but sped up her game and finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, her second consecutive double-double. 

Wilson’s scoring resurgence was contagious as the Bulldogs outscored the Warriors 13-9 down the stretch of the second quarter and took a 24-19 halftime-lead.

Amity wasn’t done fighting. Behind senior leading scorer Kiera Temple’s 10 points and five rebounds, the Warriors came back and trailed 34-31after the third quarter.

Junior Delaney Cruz also stepped up in the second half for Amity and finished with nine points and 10 rebounds.

It was Willamina’s relentless inside attack that allowed it to pull ahead for good in the final quarter. Both Kasey Anderson and Whitney Anderson had nine points.

The Bulldogs created 18 Warrior turnovers in the win. Amity had five turnovers in the fourth quarter.

Willamina plays at 6 p.m. Friday at Colton, while Amity will host Horizon Christian.

Amity turns up the tempo in win

The Willamina offense continues to struggle to find a leader on the floor and ways to score. It fell Tuesday to Amity 59-42, and it had trouble keeping up with the Warriors tempo.

Amity (5-1) controlled the tempo all game, and the Bulldogs (0-8) had trouble containing it. In the first half the Warriors ran a fast, up-tempo style offense and had a 16-8 lead after the first quarter.

Amity point guard Billy Hale controlled the pace all game and finished with 13 points and two rebounds. Half of Hale’s points came from 3-point range. Fellow guard Zach Wilson kept up the quick pace when Hale didn’t have the ball. Wilson finished with10 points and two rebounds.

Willamina went on a 6-0 run in the middle of the second quarter behind Shane Thomas’ hot hand, which cut the deficit to 25-21 at the half. Thomas finished with 15 points and Brody Bruckner finished with 14 points and three rebounds.

The Warriors completely changed their game plan at halftime. In the second half the Warriors turned to a slower pace concentrating on getting the ball to their big men inside and the plan worked.

Big man Taylor Miles benefited from the strategy and led Amity in the second half. He finished the game with 12 points and four rebounds. Miles scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half.

Fellow big man Kyle Hayes also benefited from the inside game. The 6-foot-4 Hayes finished the second half with nine points and three rebounds. The strategy helped the Warriors go on a 17-0 run and ballooned their lead to 42-26 after three quarters. The Amity defense allowed five Willamina points in the third quarter.

The final quarter was more of the inside game for the Warriors. Freshman forward Lance Nelson finished with seven points and seven rebounds. Amity forced 23 turnovers in the win.

Brandon Hubbell added seven points and two rebounds for the Bulldogs.

The Warriors play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at home vs. Horizon Christian. The Bulldogs look for their first win of the season Friday at Colton at 7:30.