Offense has never been an issue for the West Valley boys basketball team.

With a post player like senior Parker Mills, a slashing rim-finisher supreme such as sophomore Austin Birley, and a surplus of 3-point snipers, points are rarely a problem for the Rams.

Unfortunately, an oft-porous defense made scoring against the Big Nine-favorite easier than West Valley coach Tyson Whitfield or anybody associated with the program would like.

But as the new year begins, and with the conference stretch in site, it seems things are tightening up.

The seventh-ranked Rams limited Selah standout Oliver Pepper to seven points and rode Mills’ broad shoulders to an 84-66 nonleague victory in Friday night’s matchup between the former Mid-Valley League rivals.

It’s the first loss of the season for the Vikings, ranked third in Class 2A.

“The first six games we were terrible at defense,” said Mills, who bullied his way to 32 points and 16 rebounds. “That’s all we’ve been doing at practice and I feel it’s gotten better so far but still a lot more to grow.”

With all but one starter 6-foot-3 or taller – West Valley kept Selah from getting much going. While the Viks made seven 3-points, the three made by the team’s scorer Carson Decker were well beyond the arc, and one of Jaxon Benge’s two treys was a nearly 40-foot heave at the final buzzer.

“It feels different, it looks different, it is different,” Selah coach Jordan Starr said. “We play other teams and you can get in there and get your shot off, now it’s being creative around the trees.”

At a lanky 6-foot-5, Birley spearheaded the effort on Pepper, who was coming off a SunDome Shootout in which he put up 27 and 24 points, respectively, in victories against 2A state hopefuls Ridgefield and Lynden.

Friday night, the junior couldn’t find his range from deep and was sometimes swallowed up when he got into the key.

“That length and athleticism we have, it helps when we decide to use it on the defensive end,”  Whitfield said.

Meanwhile, the Vikings had no answer for Mills, who’s likely to commit to play offense line collegiately in the next couple weeks. The stout 6-6 throwback had his way inside, putting up 19 points in the first half.

“It was about the same time last year when he got into basketball and he’s starting to get a feel for things,” Whitfield said. “He’s reminding teams if you want to play him single coverage it’s going to be a long night.”

Finnegan Tait, a couple inches taller than Mills but dozens of pounds lighter, drew the assignment on the CBBN all-leaguer. Four days after scoring 25 against Glacier Peak and all-Wesco tight end 

Zachary Albright, there was nothing slowing the Rams star – other than a fadeaway that made Whitfield wince.

“He’s a bruiser,” Starr said. “He’s a big strong, physical and really skilled player.”

Mills’ big night opened things up for teammates. Birley, Jett Bremerman, Parker Hill and Jrayden Whitfield all knocked down 3-pointer for the Rams.

Birley finished with 15 points – two of those on a powerful right-handed dunk – and Hill with 12.

The Rams (7-2) are off until Jan. 9 when they host Sunnyside.

Benge finished with 17 points and seven rebounds, and JR Depell added 15 points for Selah (8-1), which returns to conference play Saturday with a trip to Othello.