W.F. West, Toledo reach semifinals at Hub City Classic

Both the W.F. West and Toledo boys basketball teams impressed at the Hub City Classic in Centralia over the weekend, winning their respective pools to reach the tournament semifinals.

Both teams lost those semifinals, but there were still some positives to take away from those matches and the run to get there.

W.F. West went 4-0 in pool play, beating Tenino, Winlock, East Jefferson, and Forks to finish atop Pool B. Against Cedarcrest in the semifinals, the Bearcats fell behind double-digits almost instantly and eventually lost 58-33. Cedarcrest went on to win the tournament.

It wasn't a W.F. West squad at full strength, as multiple baseball players missed Sunday's action in Centralia, but it was one that coach Chris White was pleased to see compete.

"Today was a good growth day," White said. "We knew (Cedarcrest) was a really well-coached squad. I really like to see the growth in the second half. Really proud of how they grew and competed."

Three seniors - Luke McMillan, Race Rockey, and Kobe Arevalo - were present on Sunday. McMillan and Rockey led the way on the floor, while a recovering Arevalo cheered from the bench.

While White didn't dive deep into his playbook, he was pleased to see his group execute some offensive concepts throughout the weekend.

"They did a pretty good job executing a few different things," White said. "The nice thing about a weekend like this is that you see a lot of different things thrown at you. So it's fun to see if they can remember the tools that we have for those different situations. It was pretty positive in all."

The other semifinal was much closer. Toledo and Ridgefield were tied at 47 in the game's final seconds, but a three-quarters court heave from a Spudder fell as the buzzer sounded to give Ridgefield a 50-47 victory.

"That's summer ball, I guess," Toledo coach Scott Holt said while shaking his head and holding back a smile. "Anything can happen."

While the final shot denied the Riverhawks a shot at the tournament title, the weekend as a whole was a success for Toledo.

Nico Acosta, Joaquin Acosta, and Jaxyn Pelagio impressed throughout the weekend, helping fill the shoes of the four seniors Toledo lost from last winter.

Before the semifinal, the Riverhawks went 3-2, beating Willapa Valley, Yelm, and Evergreen Lutheran while losing to Capital and Centralia.

Toledo will get another chance against Ridgefield at a tournament in La Center next weekend.

"They're ready to compete," Holt said. "They worked hard, rebounded well, communicated, and had fun. I was very pleased with what I saw."

Centralia focused on the process

It was a tale of two days for Centralia over the weekend. The Tigers lost all three of their games on Saturday, losing to Evergreen Lutheran, Yelm, and WIllapa Valley, but they rebounded nicely by defeating Toledo and Elma on Sunday.

"It's like this roller coaster that we're going through," Centralia coach Tyler Ashmore said. "We're trying to really focus on being about the process. From going where we were last year to this year, it's just been skyrocketing."

Over the summer, Trevor Griffis has stepped up on both ends of the floor and with his leadership, according to Ashmore, and Alfonso Villaba, JC Moir, Braden Baine, and Joseph Aguilar also showed flashes throughout the tournament.

"We're building habits that we want to keep going into the next year," Ashmore said. "We got a lot of guys coming up that are pretty hungry. They guys want to compete, and they want to win games. I'm just here to try to help them figure that out."

Other area teams

Seven other area teams competed in the tournament, including the Black Hills boys. The Wolves went 4-1, losing only to champion Cedarcrest while also picking up wins over Napavine, Pe Ell, Elma, and Tenino.

Tenino finished the weekend 3-2, losing to Black Hills and W.F. West and topping East Jefferson, Winlock, and Forks.

Napavine and Rochester both finished the weekend 2-3, Pe Ell finished 1-4, and Winlock went 1-5. In just two games on Saturday, Mossyrock went 0-2.

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This story was originally published June 16, 2026 at 11:30 AM.