PUYALLUP — Clallam Bay’s bid to make a repeat trip to the Class 1B State Tournament in Spokane came off the tracks under a torrent of turnovers and fouls in a 52-43 state regional round loss to the Columbia Adventist Kodiaks Saturday night at Rogers High School.
An emphasis on attacking the rim had the Bruins (15-9) up 16-6 after one quarter. Clallam Bay’s lead continued to climb through much of the second quarter, eventually reaching as much as 26-9 with 4:41 left before halftime.
“We came out ready to play, we came out aggressive,” Bruins coach Michael Maines said.
Momentum seemed to shift with Clallam Bay leading 30-15 with a little over a minute until halftime.
Columbia Adventist’s Mariah Fernando pushed off in the post, missed a shot inside and fell to the floor clutching her collarbone. She remained down and had to be helped to the locker room in obvious pain, her return in question.
The Kodiaks edged closer, trailing 32-19 at the break.
Clallam Bay took the opening 3:53 of play in the second half to get its first and only basket of the third quarter, a basket inside by Hannah Olson.
Columbia Adventist outscored the Bruins 11-2 in the third, the kind of quarter teams can’t afford to have in playoff contests.
“No, you absolutely cannot,” Maines said.
“We had a 1 for 17 shooting quarter in our playoff win over Quilcene, but we couldn’t get away with that tonight against a better team.”
The Bruins had trouble getting into their offense in the third quarter, struggling to dribble upcourt and pass to teammates. When they did get looks at the basket they were contested or rimmed out.
Turnovers were many after Columbia Adventist switched to a man-to-man defense after halftime.
“I think we struggled with the man-to-man and I’m not sure why because we have good aggressive ballhandlers,” Maines said. “I have three girls that can handle the ball against any three on the Peninsula and even over here. I thought we were fine guard for guard and even player for player I thought we were a little better. But we had trouble.”
The Bruins clung to a 34-3o lead after three quarters, but momentum was clearly on the Kodiaks’ side and several Clallam Bay players were in foul trouble.
Columbia Adventist was whistled for just 10 fouls, while the Bruins were called for 20, sending the Kodiaks to the line where they were 15 for 26. Clallam Bay ended up just 2 for 6 at the free-throw line.
Columbia Adventist continued to chip away at the Bruins’ lead in the fourth quarter, eventually taking just its second lead of the game on a 3-point basket by Rachael Reed with 3:10 to play.
Miriam Wonderly tied the score with a layup on the next trip down, part of her team-high 18 points, but five Clallam Bay turnovers to close out the game allowed the Kodiaks to finish the contest on an 11-2 run.
“We are such a young team and I am excited about what the future holds for us,” Maines said. “We can get back here. We have five starters back, our leading scorers, and they are a fantastic group of girls, I’ve already had a couple of them come up and ask about what we can do to get better this summer.
“We’ll miss our two seniors [Kendra Anderson and Kaitlynn Tyree], but we will be strong next season.”
Columbia Adventist 52, Clallam Bay 43
CA 6 13 11 22 — 52
CB 16 16 2 9 — 43
Columbia Adventist (52) — B. Ermshar 8, Pearson 14, Tyler 9, Boatright 7, Reed 5, Fernando 9
Clallam Bay (43) — Wonderly 16, Olson 11, Johnson 8, Smith 4, Clemmons 2, K. Tyree 2, Anderson.
Clallam Bay’s Sydney Smith looks to score against Columbia Adventist. Mark Krulish/Kitsap News Group
