SPOKANE — The Neah Bay girls basketball team didn’t have a great shooting game in the first half against Mount Vernon Christian, hitting just 4-of-21 shots (19 percent) and scoring just 12 points in the entire half.
It didn’t matter. The Red Devils won with ease. And they won with suffocating defense.
Neah Bay allowed Mount Vernon Christian to score just seven points in the first half, beating the Hurricanes 39-28 Saturday night to win the 1B state basketball championship for the second year in a row.
The Red Devils joined Colton as the only 1B girls team to win state championships in back-to-back seasons. In fact, Neah Bay and Colton are the only schools in the state to win multiple 1B girls championships.
“It just means a lot to all of us, not just our community but to all the other Native communities,” said head coach Cherish Moss.
“We worked even harder this year to get here,” said senior Ryana Moss in a television interview after the game. “It feels weird to do a repeat.”
The game was the final contest of the night at the Spokane Arena and didn’t start until 9:45 p.m. Moss said the Red Devils so exhausted themselves on defense that they struggled with the offense early. She wasn’t worried, however, when Neah Bay was only able to take a 12-7 lead into halftime.
“We were doing so well on defense. We were getting our hands on every ball,” she said. “You’re not going to shoot well every night. Defense is something you can control.”
All season long, Neah Bay got every team’s best effort, going 22-2 on the season, with most of the Red Devils’ victories by double digits. Along the way, they beat good teams from bigger schools such as Port Angeles, Sequim, Forks (twice) and North Mason. Their only two losses were to the No. 1 and No. 2 2B teams in the state Rainier and Adna.
“It really is a hard thing to do to repeat. You’re no longer the hunter, you’re the hunted,” Moss said.
In fact, Neah Bay didn’t allow Mount Vernon Christian to score in the first three minutes of the second half. Counting the semifinal game against Crosspoint in which Neah Bay allowed just one point in the fourth quarter, the Red Devils’ defense allowed eight points in 27 minutes of play, and they did that against two of the toughest teams in the state.
Amber Swan led the Red Devils in scoring with 13, scoring 11 of those points in the second half.
Neah Bay took control quickly in the third quarter, as Ryana Moss hit a 3-pointer and scored five points in the quarter and Angel Halttunen hit a 3-pointer as the Red Devils quickly opened up a commanding 22-9 lead.
Mount Vernon Christian, which beat Neah Bay in the 2022 finals 37-33, rallied to get right back in the game at 27-22 at the end of the third quarter.
Swan hit four free throws in the quarter and Moss, Ezrah Ray and Qwaapeys Greene hit baskets as the Red Devils pushed the lead back up to 37-24 with 2½ minutes to play, cruising the rest of the way to the championship. They gave up just six points in the fourth quarter.
At the beginning of the season after winning the state title in 2023, coach Moss said she asked Ryana what could motive the girls to win the championship again. She brought up Ray, who tore her ACL in 2022 and wasn’t able to play in the state championship game. She was able to play on last year’s team and this year has struggled with a shoulder injury. She contributed with a huge game in the semifinal win and had seven points and extremely tough defense on Mount Vernon Christian’s big 6-foot-1 post Allie Heino, who was held to seven points.
“I asked her what are fighting for next. And she said, ‘for Ezrah.’ I thought that was a special thing,” Moss said.
Moss has spoken before about the unselfishness of her seniors — Ray, Swan and Ryana Moss. Swan and Ryana Moss played in four state championship games — three for the basketball team, winning two of the games, and one for the Neah Bay volleyball team that finished second at state last fall.
“I’m really going to miss my seniors,” coach Moss said.
Neah Bay beat Mount Vernon Christian three times this season, 39-33, 61-30 and 39-28. The Red Devils also played the Hurricanes in the state semifinals last year, beating them 64-41.
Over the past three seasons, the Neah Bay girls have gone 60-7.
Neah Bay 39, MVC 28
Neah Bay 9 3 15 12 — 39
MVC 1 6 15 6 — 28
Neah Bay (39) — Swan 13, Greene 7, Ray 7, R. Moss 7, Halttunen 5.
MVC (28) — Rozema 9, Heino 7, McCullough 5, Brown 3, Link 3, Brunk 1.
Friday’s Game
Neah Bay 67, Crosspoint 34
SPOKANE — A fourth-quarter tidal wave of a scoring run by Neah Bay broke open a close game and pushed the Red Devils back to the Class 1B girls state basketball championship game for the third straight season after a 67-34 semifinal win over Crosspoint on Friday.
Up 40-33 entering the fourth quarter, Neah Bay was absolutely dominant to close the game, going on a 20-0 spurt over the first six minutes of the fourth— and finally allowing Crosspoint its first and only point of the fourth — a free throw — with 2:01 to go in a 27-1 final frame.
Swan led Neah Bay with 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Ray went 7-for-14 from the field and had 15 points, five rebounds and three steals after a tough shooting night in Wednesday’s win over Wilbur-Creston-Keller.
Neah Bay 67, Crosspoint 34
Crosspoint 14 7 12 1 — 34
Neah Bay 13 11 16 27 — 67
Crosspoint (34) — A. Kuske 10, Tobosa 8, Iwata 7, Wasson 5, Ajanovic 4.
Neah Bay (67) — Swan 22, Ray 15, R. Moss 8, Ce. Moss 8, Q. Greene 7, McGimpsey 3, Ca. Moss 2, A. Halttunen 2, D. Halttunen, Martin.
