MOUNT VERNON — No. 1 Neah Bay repeated as the tridistrict girls basketball tournament champions, blowing out rival and No. 2-rated Mount Vernon Christian 61-30 on the Hurricanes’ home court Saturday.
Rated No. 1 in the Class 1B girls basketball RPI for the entire season, the reigning state champion Red Devils are hoping this victory is the next step in repeating as 1B champs. Mount Vernon Christian and Neah Bay played for the state championship in 2022.
Not surprisingly, the Red Devils (19-2) were seeded No. 1 in the state tournament and will play No. 8 seed Curlew (20-3) either Friday or Saturday. Curlew is ranked No. 4 in RPI, so Neah Bay will get a tough test right out of the gate. However, this is a seeding game, so win or lose, the Red Devils will move on to the round of 12 at Spokane Arena on Feb. 28.
Ryanna Moss led the Red Devils with 15 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Amber Swan was right behind with 14 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Qwaapeys Greene got going after halftime, scoring 11 of her 13 points after the break.
Neah Bay 61, Mt. Vernon Christ. 30
MVC 7 8 11 4 — 30
Neah Bay 19 10 13 19 — 61
Neah Bay (61) — R. Moss 15, Swan 14, Greene 13, Ce. Moss 6, A. Halttunen 5, Ray 5, McGimpsey 3, Cay. Moss, Martin, D. Halttunen.
Forks 50, Toledo 31
CHEHALIS — Forks controlled the second half to shake loose of Toledo 50-31 in a winner-to-state District IV girls basketball tournament contest and seal a return to the Class 2B state tournament.
“We knew coming in that we had to worry about ourselves and get active defensively and in how we rebounded the ball,” coach David Hurn said.
“We did well in the first half to limit Toledo to one-shot opportunities Avery Dilley and Bailey Johnson were good on the boards. We were just playing with maybe a little too much addrenaline and emotion because it was a loser-out game.”
The Spartans did it the hard way, winning three straight loser-out district tournament games after losing in the second round to Toutle Lake. They didn’t mess around, however, winning those three games by an average of 24 points.
Spartans seniors Keira Johnson and Janessa Ramos sparked Forks in the third quarter.
“They got us back to playing our style,. We want to play fast and uptempo,” Hurn said.
Keira Johnson scored 18 of her game-high 29 points in the second half.
“I think she had four straight trips down the floor that produced nine points in about two minutes,” Hurn said.
Forks celebrated its return trip to state in the locker room before jumping on “a long bus ride home,” Hurn said.
“It’s a grinding tournament. We played five road games and all of them are three-hour plus road trips.”
Forks (19-7, No. 9 RPI) was seeded No. 14 at state and will play No. 11 Cle Elum-Roslyn (17-7, No. 14 RPI) on Friday or Saturday, site still to be determined.
Forks 50, Toledo 31
Toledo 8 7 8 8 — 31
Forks 10 10 17 13 — 50
Forks K. Johnson 29, B. Johnson 9, Ramos 6, Dilley 4, Daniels 2.
Annie Wright 53, East Jefferson 32
TACOMA — The Rivals season came to a close in a winner-to-state, loser-out district contest.
East Jefferson was close at halftime, but the Rivals lack a deep bench and tired after playing their third district game in five days.
“The girls played an excellent first half,” coach Lorraine Rimson said. “Their effort throughout the entire game was top notch. Our lack of depth makes it hard to sustain the level of play for four quarters against quality teams — and this was our third game in five days.”
Kay Botkin led the Rivals with 13 points.
East Jefferson finished 11-12, a two-win improvement on 2022-23.
“Coach Samantha Miller and I could not be more proud of the girls. They learned through their own efforts and play that they belong on the court with top teams,” Rimson said. “They can compete, and they can win. We have come a long, long way, and it is incredibly exciting. We have only one senior, Abbie Liske, and she was a four-year contributor to the program. But we also had two freshman starters for much of the year — and overall eight of our 15 girls are freshmen. The future is bright for EJGBB.”
Annie Wright 53, E. Jefferson 32
East Jefferson 12 10 2 8 — 32
Annie Wright 11 19 15 8 — 53
East Jefferson (32) — Botkin 13, Vailolo 6, Riley 5, Shockley 4, O’Hara 2, Liske 2.
Forks’ Bailey Johnson tracks down a loose ball during the Spartans’ state regional sealing victory over Toledo in the Class 2B District IV tournament Saturday at W.F. West High School. (Jordan Nailon/Daily News)
