TACOMA — The Port Angeles basketball girls won their second straight West Central District III championship, blowing away Fife in the fourth quarter to win going away 55-42 in the championship game.
The Roughriders outscored Fife 20-13 in the fourth quarter to blow open a close game.
The Olympic League 2A Division champion Riders came into the district on the outside looking in as far as an automatic berth to the state 2A tournament in Yakima. But thanks to three big wins over tough opponents, Port Angeles moved up in the Ratings Percentage Index rankings to No. 7 in the state, automatically moving on to state.
The Riders (19-4 overall) will first play a regional game, just for seeding purposes, this weekend. It appears the Riders will play the 2A No. 2 seed Tumwater.
“Our offense struggled early on due to early-game high energy. We took rushed shots and scored only seven points in the [first] quarter on 2 for 16 field goals — we were 1-10 from the 3-point line in the first quarter,” said coach Michael Poindexter.
“As the game wore on, we settled down and were more patient with shot selection and had better shooting form. Our players executed our defensive game plan well all game long. We held Fife’s two best scorers to 10 points each,” Poindexter said.
Fife took a 23-21 lead with 6 minutes left in the third quarter. Poindexter said the Riders switched to a triangle-and-two defense, using Bailee Larson at the top to double-team Fife’s Bre Hernandez and Aliya Hunter, holding Fife to just six points in the rest of the quarter.
After the Trojans’ brief lead, Port Angeles finished the game outscoring Fife 34-19.
The Roughriders opened up a healthy lead thanks to a pair of steals by Millie Long, which led to baskets by Long and Mikkiah Brady. Brady added a 3-pointer, while Eve Burke scored four points as Port Angeles got back ahead 33-25, scoring 11 points on five straight possessions.
Brady scored all 13 of her points in the second half, shooting 3 for 3 from the 3-point line after the halftime break. Burke had 12 points, scoring nine after the half and shooting 4 for 4 from the floor. She also pulled down 10 boards.
Long and Wood each scored 10 points as the Roughriders had solid balance. Long had a great all-around game with seven rebounds, seven assists and six steals. Larson added six assists and seven points.
Port Angeles 55, Fife 42
PA 7 14 14 20 — 55
Fife 6 9 14 13 — 42
Port Angeles (55) — Brady 13, Burke 12, Long 10, Wood 10, Larson 7, Brown 2, Petty 1, Brenkman, McGoff, Walker, Stensgard, Gedelman.
Fife (42) — Wise 18, Hernandez 10, Hunter 10, Breland 3, Thomas 1.
Neah Bay 73, Mount Vernon Chr. 31
MOUNT VERNON — The Neah Bay girls won the Tri-District 1B Tournament with a 42-point thrashing of Mount Vernon Christian, winning their 12th straight game 73-31.
Neah Bay had already all but locked up a trip to the 1B state tournament in Spokane in March, but the win guarantees the Red Devils will be moving on to state.
Cei’J Gagnon led Neah Bay with 16 points, while Ruth Moss had 12 points and four assists, Allie Greene 12 points and six assists, Laila Greene 11 points, four assists and four steals, Ryand Moss eight points and Ezra Ray eight points. Oceana Aguirre had six points and six rebounds.
Neah Bay (17-5 overall), ranked No. 4 in the state, will play a regionals game Friday or Saturday purely for seeding.
Neah Bay 73, Mount Vernon Chr. 31
MVC6 11 8 6 — 31
NB 21 16 11 25 — 73
Neah Bay (73) — Gagnon 16, Ruth Moss 12, A. Greene 12, L. Greene 11, Ray 8, Ryand Moss 8, Aguirre 6.
Clallam Bay 47, Muckleshoot 30
MOUNT VERNON — The Clallam Bay girls got five 3-pointers and 24 points from Cedar Johnson to beat Muckleshoot Tribal 47-30 to take third place at the Tri-District 1B Tournament.
The Bruins also got 10 points from Amber Swan.
Clallam Bay came in to the tournament with no guarantee of moving on to regionals, but with the third-place finish will play at regionals on Friday or Saturday. The Bruins will be a likely No. 10 seed at regionals, meaning they will have to win to move on to the state 1B tournament in Spokane.
The Bruins (17-6 overall) had a great Tri-District tournament winning three games over Cedar Park Christian (a loser out game just to stay alive), Tacoma Baptist and Muckleshoot. Their one loss was by eight points to Mount Vernon Christian, which finished second at the tournament.
Clallam Bay 47, Muckleshoot 30
CB612 12 10 13 — 47
M’Shoot 6 7 9 8 — 30
Clallam Bay (47) — Johnson 24, A. Swan 10, Jimmicum 6, P. Swan 5, Signor 2.
Muckleshoot (30) — Lezard 6, Courville 5, Jansen 5, Thompson 4, Sam 4, Yellowbear 2, Offord 2, Reyas 2.
