By Zach Thummel
Columbia Gorge News
WHITE SALMON – The Columbia High School boys basketball program added one to the history books Feb. 10, with a 69-57 win over Rochester High School in a home WIAA Class 1A District 4 playoff play-in game.
The Bruins (8-14), led by head Coach Brady Trullinger, advanced to the district playoffs for the second year in a row under his watch. The last time the Bruins made back-to-back district tournaments was 1981-82 (44 years ago).
“I'm excited, I'm really happy for them,” Trullinger told the Gorge News after the game. “We put in a lot of work this season. It's been a long season with a lot of ups and downs, and they put themselves in a position here at the end of the season to make the playoffs for the second year in a row. I'm really proud, happy and excited. All the good things for my boys, they earned it.”
The Bruins got out to a 16-8 lead on the Warriors (3-18) after the first quarter, spurred by Aidan Hainline's two 3-pointers. Columbia built on its start in the second quarter, nearly doubling its lead at halftime - leading 36-21 at the break.
The Warriors fought back in the second half. Rochester gave Columbia all it could handle in the fourth quarter, cutting the Bruins' lead to 56-50 with 3:22 left to play. That’s when Hunter Wang and Caleb Reynolds closed out the game by scoring their team’s final 13 points (Wang had seven and Reynolds six). Reynolds and Wang both finished with 17 points apiece.
Wang said: “It's awesome. We’ve been striving for this the whole season. We haven't made districts twice in a row ever, so we're trying to continue to make school history and hopefully make state here.”
Wang and five other Bruin seniors (Hector Orozco, Kevin Melton, Hainline, and Josh Chiccino) played their final game on the Columbia High School campus in front of the White Salmon community.
“I’ve played here my whole life,” said Wang. “I've grown up here since kindergarten, so playing out my high school career here and my final game here, it feels really good. It's a bittersweet feeling.”
The Bruins will have one day off before a road District 4 first-round playoff matchup Feb. 12 against the Fort Vancouver High Trappers (17-3).
“We've got to take care of our bodies tonight and tomorrow,” said Trullinger. “Fort Vancouver's a really good team. They won our league this year, so getting them in the first round is going to be a tough game. We have to limit them in transition, play good defense, get a lot of rebounds and then our shots will come. It's going to be a tough one.”
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