1B District 4 Boys Basketball Playoffs: Comets fall to Chitwhins in semifinals
Published 11:44 am Sunday, February 22, 2026
SOUTH BEND — The Naselle boys basketball team had their season reach a conclusion last weekend, falling to Taholah 64-59 in the district semifinals on Friday, Feb. 20 in South Bend.
The No. 3 seed Naselle Comets (11-12) lost their opening game in the district playoffs to Columbia Adventist Academy 56-55 on Feb. 11, then rebounded by beating No. 4 seed Oakville 62-34 on Feb. 13 to keep their season alive, before ultimately falling 64-59 to No. 2 seed Taholah (17-6) in the loser-out game, denying the Comets an appearance in the state playoffs.
Comet comeback falls short
Taholah controlled the first half, taking their biggest lead of the game (34-24) just before halftime. Naselle responded by outscoring the Chitwhins 22-14 in the third period, fueled by senior Trajen Ford (24), who scored nine straight points to give Naselle a narrow lead (49-48) heading into the final quarter.
Both teams traded leads over the final eight minutes, with Naselle’s final lead (51-48) coming after a putback by senior Tucker Bennett (5) with 6:31 remaining. Taholah was then able to contain Naselle to just one bucket over the final three minutes, escaping with an emotional 64-59 win.
The Comets will lose nine senior players to graduation, including Luke Dalton (1), Justin Moncy (2), Scott Henington (3), Tucker Bennett (5), Kyle Pakenen (12), Leith Chadwick (23), Trajen Ford (24), Kyle Eastham (32) and Royce Hoff (34).
Season notes: Naselle (11-12) finished ranked No. 36 in the WIAA 1B state rankings among 78 teams.