Two years ago in the Tourneytown.com Shootout, West Valley’s Jared Robinson drained five 3-pointers in a win over Mark Morris, a tournament record he still shares.

Monday night the 6-foot-4 senior didn’t make one shot from his favorite distance but he found another line from which to shine in the sixth annual tournament in the Yakima Valley SunDome.

Led by a run of eight consecutive free throws and 10 for the game, Robinson put together 18 points, eight rebounds and three blocks to spark the Rams to a 54-41 victory over Selah in a prime-time game that drew the biggest crowd of the day.

Senior teammate Evan Berndt joined Robinson’s parade to the foul line, scoring nine of his game-high 19 points on free throws.

“I remember that Mark Morris game real well and I was really looking forward to playing in here again,” said Robinson, who missed last year’s Shootout because of an injury. “It’s different now because I play inside more. But happy about this because I’ve been struggling with my free throws. This was so much better.”

On night when West Valley’s offense sputtered and clanked, the defense saved the day. Despite spotting Selah a 15-7 lead in the first five minutes, the Rams held the Vikings to 35.6-percent shooting and a season-low 41 points.

“We made a lot of mistakes tonight on offense, but our defense was always there,” said WV coach Jim Berndt. “Some of this was a little ugly, but we finished strong.”

Locked in a 32-32 tie late in the third quarter, Robinson canned four straight free throws in the final 37 seconds, including a pair with 0.4 left in the period, to open a gap the Rams wouldn’t relinquish.

The run Robinson started extended to 11-0 by the time Selah was able to answer, and West Valley kept the pressure on with an 18-9 advantage in the final period.

Selah had some encouraging stretches, like the early burst when the Vikings hit three 3-pointers and the third quarter when they held West Valley one field goal. But a lack of consistency derailed their shot at the win.

“We’re playing much better offensively now but we just had a breakdown early in the fourth quarter and that got us out of sync,” said Selah coach Merle McLain. “Our offense has to be running smooth for us to be successful and there are times when we get out of sync like that and it’s hard to recover from.

“But I liked our defense,” the first-year coach said, echoing Berndt’s words. “Defensively we’re right where we want to be.”

Selah’s backcourt led the team Monday as guards Nick Colmenero and Trevor Dallman scored 11 and 10 points, respectively. Sophomore Drew Washut came off the bench for nine points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Colmenero and Dallman hit two 3-pointers apiece while West Valley managed only one trey - Matt Borton’s long shot that opened the game.

“Normally we shoot 3-pointers well,” a perplexed Berndt pointed out. “I don’t know what happened with that.”

The Rams more than made up for that at the foul line as Robinson and Berndt connected on 19 of 25 free throws. Selah never found that range, making just 5 of 16.

“Sometimes you hear guys have trouble shooting in here,” Robinson said. “But it didn’t bother me. I love playing in here.”

West Valley (9-5), which has won four straight and six of seven, returns to CBL 3A play Friday at home against Sunnyside. Selah (4-8) resumes CWAC play at home against Toppenish on Friday.