By Pierre LaBossiere
Peninsula Daily News
MOUNT VERNON — The Neah Bay girls got 10 points from Laila Greene in the fourth quarter and blew open a close game down the stretch to beat Mount Vernon Christian 58-40 in a 1B Regionals game.
In other regionals action, the Clallam Bay girls’ season came to a close with a 67-55 loss to Naselle in Longview.
The Hurricanes actually got up 9-0 to start Friday’s game, but the Red Devils chipped away to take a 26-24 lead into the half. Neah Bay then outscored Mount Vernon Christian 20-5 in the final minutes to win going away. Neah Bay had already qualified for the 1B State Tournament, but the win over Mount Vernon Christian gives the Red Devils a better seed.
And Mount Vernon Christian wasn’t just any team. The Hurricanes went into Friday’s game 21-2 and ranked No. 4 in RPI in the state. It was the ninth straight win (11th counting forfeits) for the No. 5-ranked Red Devils (21-2 overall).
The game also served as a de facto championship match for the Tri-District 1B Tournament, though not officially. It didn’t actually count as a Tri-District game, but Mount Vernon Christian and Neah Bay were going to play in the Tri-District championship game last week. That game had to be canceled because of all the delays caused by snowstorms earlier this month and Mount Vernon Christian and Neah Bay were seeded at regionals based on their RPI. They just happened to play each other at regionals.
Neah Bay gets a first-round bye at the state 1B Tournament and will begin play at 9 a.m. Thursday at Spokane Arena against the winner of Sunnyside Christian (19-4, N0. 6) and Inchelium (16-8, No. 16).
Back to Friday’s game, the Red Devils went on a 11-0 tear to open up the second half, but the Hurricanes got back in the game, closing the third quarter out with five straight points, hitting a 3-pointer to open the fourth and another basket to cut the Neah Bay lead to 38-35 with a lot of time left in the fourth quarter.
Greene responded with a pair of 3-pointers and Cei’J Gagnon had five points in the fourth, as the Red Devils were able to reopen a double-digit lead and cruise to a win.
Greene ended up with 12 points, while Gagnon led Neah Bay with 15. Courtney Swan had nine points, five assists and five rebounds, while Oceana Aguirre had eight points and eight rebounds.
Clallam Bay’s record finishes at 13-10.
Neah Bay 58, Mount Vernon Chr. 40
NB 11 15 11 21 — 58
MVC 13 11 5 11 — 40
Neah Bay (58) — Gagnon 15, Greene 12, C. Swan 9, Aguirre 8, P. Swan 6, Moss 4, Cummins 4.
Mount Vernon Chr. (40) — J. Droog 13, Faber 7, Wood 6, Pedrosa 4, Stogner 3, K. Russell 3, Russell 2, E. Droog 2.
