Wapato boys basketball coach Adam Strom did not mince words with Jacoby Howe. The instructions were clear and unqualified.

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Attack.

Early, often and always.

"I was point-blank with Jacoby this morning," Strom said. "I told him, 'You have the ability to get to the basket from anywhere on the floor. It will help you and it will help us.' He knew what I was talking about, and that today we had to have that."

Howe then suited up and delivered the goods.

A day after offering just two points in a first-round loss to Deer Park, the junior guard led the Wolves to a 69-54 loser-out victory over River Ridge in the Class 2A state tournament in the SunDome.

In a survivor's duel between two district champions, Wapato overwhelmed the taller Hawks with tough defense and a more intense desire to stay in the tournament another day.

"We were more mad than sad about yesterday," said senior Matt Guevara, who started the game on his braced left knee and contributed nine points and a team-high seven rebounds. "The difference today was we had our intensity back. And we didn't let down."

"That's the team I've watched all season," said Strom, drawing a contrast to the one he saw Wednesday that came out flat against Deer Park and fell 64-58. "We had that look of resilience again."

And much of that was thanks to Howe.

After starting a 10-0 run in the second quarter by converting a 3-point play, Howe scored 14 of his game-high 17 points in the second half to help repel all of River Ridge's attempts to get back in the game. He finished 6-for-8 from the field and 4-for-4 from the foul line and was a big reason the Hawks' piled up 29 fouls.

"Yesterday I think we were a little big-headed," Howe confessed. "I had to step up and do more. If I attack the basket it opens up our shooters, and I had to do more of that. Yesterday we didn't attack the zone enough."

Wapato also did a stellar job defending that same zone against a River Ridge squad that started a front line measuring 6-3, 6-4 and 6-5 -- well above the shorter Wolves. Strom's defenders sagged in on those tall kids and generally left the perimeter open, and the Hawks could cash in on only 2 of 24 attempts from 3-point distance.

"We had to counter their size, so we kind of welcomed the 3-pointer and clamped down on the inside," said Strom, whose team held Evergreen Conference MVP Joel King to five points. "It was a real credit to team defense."

Wapato pushed the margin to 18 in the third quarter and had a strong answer both times River Ridge threatened to make a comeback.

The Hawks got within 48-38 on the first basket of the final period, but, after Strom called a 30-second timeout, the speedy Howe went coast-to-coast for a layup.

The closest River Ridge got was 54-46 with 3:35 left, but Efrain Reynoso followed with a huge hustle play as the 5-9 junior won a battle for an offensive rebound and converted a 3-point play.

"I questioned their physicality after yesterday's game and some of them were kind of insulted," Strom said. "But today they were very physical against a taller team. The kids showed their true heart today."

Wapato (18-6), which got double-figure scoring from seniors Rigo Alvarado (11) and Greg Strom (10), will play CWAC rival Grandview (17-9) in a loser-out game Friday at 9 a.m.