SPOKANE — The Neah Bay girls basketball team has won three straight state championships, and, without a single member of Red Devils’ starting five graduating this year, who’s to say they can’t win four or more in a row?
The Neah Bay girls made history, becoming only the second 1B girls team to ever win three straight, beating Garfield-Palouse 46-36 in the state championship game at the Spokane Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Colton won eight straight Class 1B state championships from 2009 to 2016.
Somehow, the Red Devils were able to win the three straight after graduating numerous players from their first two state championship teams. Some of those players have moved on to have highly successful careers playing college basketball around the Northwest Athletic Conference.
Qwaapeys Greene, who led the team with 16 points, said coach Cherish Moss always challenges the players to set a goal.
“I’m so proud of us. Everyone did amazing. We worked so hard for it, we deserved it,” Greene said. “Coach is always talking about setting a goal. We set a goal of defending our title. On the first one, our goal was just getting a title.”
The Red Devils won with their usual stifling defense as all five starters — Greene, Martin, Caylee Moss, Cerise Moss and Angel Halttunen — played the entire 32 minutes without going to the bench. They never tired, and if anything, it was Garfield-Palouse that looked worn down at the end.
All five of those players return next year, plus seven other players on the Neah Bay bench. Watch out for them next year.
Coach Moss said she was a little nervous that the team hadn’t faced much adversity this year. The biggest challenge the Red Devils faced all year was the state quarterfinal game against Oakesdale in which Neah Bay was down pretty big early, but they roared back with a 20-3 fourth quarter to win 51-36.
In the title game, Garfield-Palouse started off hot, hitting two straight 3-pointers in the first minute of the game to take a 6-0 lead. After the first quarter, Neah Bay held a 14-12 lead, but then allowed Garfield-Palouse just 24 points the rest of the game.
Despite the tough defense, the Red Devils had trouble shaking the Vikings until late in the third quarter when Neah Bay erupted on a 9-2 run over a 90-second span.
After Neah Bay took a 23-17 lead into the halftime break, neither team could score much in the third quarter. The Red Devils were hanging on to a tenuous 25-23 lead when the dam finally burst. Caylee Moss began the big run by hitting a 3-pointer, her second of the game. Halttunen added two buckets and Greene a basket all in the final 1:30 of the third quarter to take a 34-25 lead into the fourth.
In the fourth, the Vikings were never able to get within seven points and Martin had some clutch rebounds, while Cerise Moss, held scoreless all game, scored four points down the stretch.
It was not only the third straight title for Neah Bay, it was the fourth straight year the Red Devils have gone to the state championship game. They were narrowly defeated by Mount Vernon Christian in the title game in 2022. Mount Vernon Christian has since moved up to the 2B level.
Caylee Moss finished with eight points, while Halttunen had seven. Greene had four assists.
The Red Devils finished the season with a record of 23-1, which included wins over 2A teams Port Angeles and North Mason, which both qualified for the state tournament, and three wins over 2B Forks, which won the Pacific 2B League championship. That one loss was to 2B Rainier, which was the No. 1-ranked team at the 2B level entering the state tournament.
Friday’s semifinal
Neah Bay 53, Wellpinit 30
SPOKANE — Neah Bay dominated the second quarter against Wellpinit in Friday’s semifinal and cruised in the second half in a 53-30 victory.
The Red Devils were up just 11-10 a the end of the first quarter, but a 15-2 second quarter blew the game open. By the end of the third quarter, Neah Bay was ahead 39-18.
Cerise Moss shot 5-for-13 on her 3-pointers and scored 20 points, adding four steals on defense. Wiinuk Martin had a big game with 14 points and eight rebounds. Angel Halttunen had nine points and 10 rebounds, while Caylee Moss had seven points and eight rebounds. Qwaapeys Greene had four assists.
Boys basketball
Saturday’s third-place game
DeSales 65, Neah Bay 59
SPOKANE — The Neah Bay boys basketball team came tantalizingly close to winning the Class 1B state semifinal, but Lummi effectively hit its free throws down the stretch, sending the Red Devils into the consolation final Saturday.
The Red Devils lost in the consolation final to DeSales 65-59. Tyler Swan finished that game with 27 points.
DeSales went into the first-half break up 34-25 thanks to 16 points from Spencer Green, who also had a big game against the Red Devils in last year’s state tournament.
Neah Bay battled back to make it 41-37 for DeSales with about 4:15 left in the third. DeSales went on a critical 9-0 run to open the lead up to 50-37, and Neah Bay couldn’t get the margin below nine points until the final minute of the game, when Mathias Greene drilled two straight 3-pointers to make the final score close at the end.
DeSales beat Neah Bay 64-52 earlier in the state tournament.
Neah Bay finished the season 20-6 and goes home with a fifth-place trophy for the second straight year.
In addition to Swan’s huge game, Makyah Chambers had eight points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. Thomas Sawyer hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored seven, and Greene and Seactis Woodruff each scored six.
Lummi, which beat Neah Bay in the semifinals in the final seconds, went on to win the state championship 53-50 over Almira-Coulee-Hartline.
Friday’s semifinal game
Lummi 49, Neah Bay 45
SPOKANE — The Class 1B boys semifinal battle Friday night between old rivals Neah Bay and Lummi was neck-and-neck throughout the entire game. In the end, the Blackhawks hit 3-of-4 free throws in the final three seconds to pull out a 49-45 win.
The Red Devils came within six seconds of playing for the state championship.
Down 46-45 and with possession of the ball in the final 30 seconds, Neah Bay had its chances for a game-winning bucket or free throws, but a potential game-winning shot rattled just out with a few seconds left.
Swan got the rebound and was fouled, but he missed a pair of free throws with six seconds left.
Swan has nothing to hang his head about, as he did a lot in the fourth quarter to bring the Red Devils back from a deficit, including a steal and a fast-break basket with 1:49 left in the game to give Neah Bay a 45-42 lead. Those were the last points the Red Devils scored as Lummi closed the game out 7-0 over the final 1:08.
Free throw shooting by the entire team was the difference. Neah Bay shot 7-for-15 from the charity stripe, while Lummi shot 12-for-14.
Swan led the Red Devils with 16 points and 10 rebounds. He scored 12 of his points in the second half. Jodell Wimberly had 10, Seactis Woodruff eight and Makyah Chambers seven.
Neah Bay and Lummi went into the fourth tied 31-31. The Red Devils overcame three Lummi 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to stick with the Blackhawks until the very end.
