WENATCHEE — The Neah Bay Red Devils came to play Friday night.
They traveled for 10 hours to Eastmont High School, leaving Neah Bay at 6 a.m. that morning, and performed well in their 1B girls regional game against Pateros.
But a big fourth quarter by freshman Ashton Steggall gave the Nannies a 56-43 win and ended the Red Devils’ season one game shy of a return trip to the 1B state tournament in Spokane.
The young Neah Bay team (14-4) more than hung with Pateros (17-3) for the first three quarters.
In fact, coach Nate Tyler lamented that the Red Devils weren’t able to put the Nannies away in the first half, citing turnovers as the reason.
“We just couldn’t pull away,” Tyler said. “We couldn’t build a big lead.
“The offense would collapse on turnovers, and Pateros would take full advantage of it.”
The game featured nine lead changes and four ties, and after three quarters, the score was tied 35-35.
But in the final period, Steggall scored a majority of her team-high 20 points at the same time as Pateros was cranking up its defensive pressure.
“We couldn’t get shots off, we couldn’t move the ball,” Tyler said of the final period.
“They played suffocating defense. The difference was night and day from what we saw in the first three quarters.”
Neah Bay held Lorie LeDoux, who Tyler said is Pateros’ best player, to just six points on 2 for 13 shooting from the field.
Cierra Moss scored a game-high 22 points for the Red Devils to go along with 10 rebounds.
Kaela Tyler had eight points, six rebounds and three blocks, while Faye Chartraw scored six and grabbed seven boards.
With the loss, third-ranked Neah Bay finishes the season on a three-game skid, all in the postseason, after making it through the regular season with only one loss, and that came at the hands of its own alumni.
The loss also prevents the Red Devils from returning to the state tournament, in which they have placed each of the past five seasons, including two consecutive fourth-place finishes.
“We had bigger plans than where we finished; we wanted to be in the top eight in the state,” Tyler said.
“We had two bad games, back to back, [against Tulalip Heritage and Mount Vernon Christian] and it was in the playoffs.
“But I can’t complain about how we did. Next year the girls will be a lot more prepared than this year.”
Moss will be back for her senior campaign next season, while key contributors sophomores Chartraw, Tyler, Blair Hill and Hailey Greene, will be juniors and Holly Greene will be a sophomore.
Pateros 56, Neah Bay 43
Neah Bay 17 8 10 8— 43
Pateros 16 10 9 21— 56
Individual scoring
Neah Bay (43)
Moss 22, Tyler 8, Chartraw 6, Hailey Greene 5, Holly Greene 2.
Pateros (56)
Steggall 20, LeDoux 6, Vasquez 10, Easter 8, Figueroa 6, Wilson 6, White 2.