WOODLAND — A performance like Friday was one the La Center boys basketball team had been patiently waiting for. During an up and down opening month of the season, the Wildcats played in their fair share of close games, with four of their first seven decided by five points or less. La Center’s 64-28 win over Woodland was quite the opposite. The Wildcats’ stifling defense held the Beavers to 10 points in the first half to build a 25-10 halftime lead. Then in the third quarter, their offense caught fire to outscore Woodland 30-3 led by the likes of Logan Rainey (21 points), Zayne Latham (14 points) and several others who made the most of their minutes before the Wildcats emptied their bench to start the fourth. If they continue to play like they did Friday, La Center coach Jeremy Ecklund told his team after the game, the Wildcats will be just fine this season.

“We finally brought the energy, and this is what happens when we bring the energy,” La Center senior Jayce Grotte said. The win was a positive sign for the Wildcats (4-4, 0-2) as they resume their 1A Trico League slate next week with a Jan. 7 road game at Columbia-White Salmon after dropping games in December against Seton Catholic and Castle Rock by five and three points, respectively. “I think it’s just playing the games before this, learning from our mistakes and then fixing them in this game,” Rainey said. “This was the game we finally put it all together and were able to execute.” The what-ifs of multiple close defeats early in the season could spell doom for some teams, but the Wildcats instead focused on the silver lining, knowing they were close to better outcomes with room to grow.

Another encouraging trend Friday? The Wildcats committed a season-low 11 turnovers. “We lost Castle Rock by three and we had 30 turnovers, so it shows you how bad we played, but we were still right there,” Ecklund said. “Those close games, we lost to Ridgefield by two, we lost to Seton by five, so our losses have been close. It does help you, because you can reflect back on it and say, ‘hey, this possession right here, if we would’ve done this differently, totally different outcome.'” Earlier in the holiday break, La Center took a multi-day trip to Chelan, where it played host Chelan High School and Liberty Bell on back-to-back days, going 1-1. Outside of basketball, the Wildcats were afforded some extra time to hang out together and bond as a team. “It’s absolutely a great group of guys, it’s one of the best groups of guys I’ve ever coached,” Ecklund said. “Now we need to figure out a way to win those close games.” Woodland’s Jackson Gabbard led the Beavers (1-6) with seven points. “La Center is a good team, and they outworked us,” Woodland coach Justin Gabbard said. “They were better than us in every category.”

LA CENTER 64, WOODLAND 28 LA CENTER — Sharp Young 2, Jonathan Suhajda 2, Callum Bradley 0, Peyton Larkin 3, Zayne Latham 14, Jayce Grotte 5, Logan Rainey 21, Kaden Kohn 7, Gunner Shockelt 4. Totals 27 (8) 1-4 64. WOODLAND — Jackson Gabbard 7, Dyrian McPoland 2, Elijah Andersen 0, Michael Belvin 5, Moses Riscajche 0, Zane Logan 4, Cedar McCarty 0, Tanner Cusick 4, James Long 6, Jackson Andrews 0, Jack Lindsay 0. Totals 10 (3) 5-6 28. La Center                15             10             30             9—64 Woodland                4             6             3             13—28