By Zach Thummel
Columbia Gorge News
WHITE SALMON — The Columbia High School boys basketball team split its start to the district playoffs with a 69-57 win over Rochester High School in a home WIAA Class 1A District 4 playoff play-in game on Feb. 10, followed by an 87-38 loss at Fort Vancouver High School on Feb. 12 in Vancouver.
The Bruins (8-15), 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). Next up, the Bruins will play Hoquiam High School Grizzlies in a loser-out game on Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. in Hoquiam.
“I’m excited, I’m really happy for them,” Trullinger said. “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 led 36-21 at the break before 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 the game out. Wang (seven points) and Reynolds (six points) combined for the Bruins’ final 13 points as CHS pulled away.
Reynolds and Wang each finished with 17 points.
“It’s awesome, we’ve been striving for this the whole season,” said Wang. “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, Aidan Hainline, Jordan MacCormack 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.”
Fort Vancouver
The Trappers (18-3) got out to a 20-9 lead after the first quarter and then used a 15-2 run to take control of the game before halftime. In the third quarter, the Bruins got some shots to fall, but so did the Trappers. Fort Vancouver widened the gap to 33 at 64-31 to finish out the quarter.
The fourth quarter was more of the same for Fort Vancouver, as the Trappers extended the lead to 49 to close out the win 87-38.
Next up, the Bruins will play Hoquiam High School Grizzlies in a loser-out game on Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. in Hoquiam.
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