SPOKANE — After winning a pair of games at the 1B state girls basketball tournament, Neah Bay is playing for the state championship Saturday night against Mount Vernon Christian.
The Neah Bay girls (13-3), who went into the tournament ranked No. 3 in state the after a season shortened somewhat by COVID-19 cancellations, won their quarterfinal game Thursday 59-48 over Wilbur-Creston-Keller 59-48 and followed that up with a victory against No. 2-ranked Colton 48-41 Friday night in the semifinals.
The championship game is at 9 p.m. Saturday and can be viewed at www.nhfs.com.
Mount Vernon Christian (21-3) is the No. 1-ranked team in the state via Ratings Percentage Index. Neah Bay and Mount Vernon Christian played previously in the Tri-District tournament championship in February, with MVC winning 65-53. That game was played at Mount Vernon Christian’s home court.
WCK win
Against Wilbur-Creston-Keller, the Red Devils found themselves locked in a tight game at 24-22 at halftime. Neah Bay was able to blow the game open with a 16-9 third quafter.
Neah Bay won despite outside sharpshooter Allie Greene only being 2-for-10 from beyond the arc. However, she was 6-for-7 from two-point range and scored 18 points.
Amber Swan had a big game with 21 points, while Oceana Aguirre returned from injury to pull down 10 rebounds. Ryana Moss contributed five points and six rebounds.
Neah Bay 59, WCK 47
NB 11 13 16 19 — 59
WCK 9 13 9 16 — 47
Neah Bay (59) — Swan 21, A. Greene 18, Aguirre 5, R. Moss 5, C. Moss 4, Halttunen 4, Ray 2.
WCK (47) — Arden 21, Haden 13, Brashers 11, Maioho 1, Timentwa 1.
Colton win
The last time Neah Bay played Colton in the state tournament, the Red Devils lost 83-38. This time, Neah Bay rode a solid 15-5 second quarter to open up a lead that the Red Devils never gave up.
Colton had played in the 1B state championship game 10 straight times, from 2009 to 2019. Colton won the state championship from 2009 to 2016, 2018 and 2019.
Colton is a hot outside shooting team, but Neah Bay held the Wildcats to 3-of-14 shooting from beyond the arc.
The Wildcats’ Maggie Meyer scored 27 points for Colton, but the rest of the team only scored 14 points.
Neah Bay had much better balance with Greene scoring 13. Aguirre chipped in 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Amber Swan had eight points and seven rebounds.
Neah Bay 48, Colton 41
NB 9 15 12 12 — 48
Col. 12 5 8 15 — 41
Neah Bay (48) — A. Greene 13, Aguirre 10, Swan 8, R. Moss 6, C. Moss 5, Q. Greene 4, Halttunen 2.
Colton (41) — Meyer 27, Stout 8, Baelocet 5, Whitcomb 1.
