TACOMA — The No. 1-ranked Neah Bay girls basketball team found itself in a huge hole early against No. 8 Waterville-Mansfield on Saturday, but the Red Devils showed why they are going to be a tough out during the upcoming state 1B tournament.
The Shockers shocked Neah Bay to begin with, hitting three 3-pointers right off the bat to take a 9-1 lead early in the first quarter and adding two more 3-pointers while holding a 19-11 lead midway through the second quarter in the state regionals matchup held at Tacoma Community College.
The Red Devils responded by not allowing Waterville-Mansfield to make a field goal over the next 14½ minutes while taking a commanding 37-24 lead.
Waterville-Mansfield rallied late, but the 20-1 Red Devils hung on for a 44-36 victory, earning a first-round bye during the state tournament, which will begin Thursday at the Spokane Arena.
“After another long bus ride, we actually started out cold and just couldn’t seem to connect with the basket last night,” said coach Cherish Moss. “However, everyone commits to defense and boxing out on this team, and it makes the biggest difference. Another team win.”
During that 26-5 Neah Bay run, the Shockers scored all of their points on free throws.
It was the second-lowest offensive output of the year for the high-scoring Red Devils, but they won thanks to their relentless defense that harried Waterville-Mansfield into shooting 10-for-47 (21.2 percent) from the floor. They also outrebounded the Shockers 39-22. Waterville-Mansfield is a good team that came in to Saturday’s game with a 19-4 record.
The usually sure-shooting Allie Greene struggled from the floor, especially early, while sisters Jasmine and Jimena Garcia were red-hot from the floor early, combining for four of the Shockers’ five 3-pointers. Ryana Moss was huge for the Red Devils, picking up the scoring slack. She finished with 22 points to go with 10 rebounds.
Down 19-11 with 3:40 left in the second quarter, the Red Devils finished the period on a 6-0 run behind four points from Moss.
The Red Devils stretched their run to 17-0 by scoring the first 11 points of the first half to take a 28-19 lead. Angel Halttunen and Moss combined for eight points to open the half while Greene finally connected on a 3-pointer.
The Shockers didn’t hit a field goal again until 5:04 left in the game with the Red Devils holding a 37-24 lead. Waterville-Mansfield actually managed to make a game of it late as they cut the lead to 37-32 after a Jasmine Garcia 3-pointer.
Neah Bay still held just a 41-36 lead with less than two minutes to play, but the Red Devils held the Shockers scoreless down the stretch while Moss added a bucket and Amber Swan a free throw.
Greene finished with a pair of 3-pointers and eight points. Halttunen finished with six while Cerise Moss had a 3-pointer and eight rebounds. Swan shot 5-for-6 on her free throws and pulled down 11 rebounds.
Neah Bay begins play at the state tournament at 10:30 a.m. Thursday against the first-round winner of No. 7 seed Oakesdale (20-3) and No. 10 seed Wellpinit (14-6). The Red Devils, who finished second at state last year, will move on to the second round win or lose. That game will be streamed on the NFHS Network (www. nfhsnetwork.com).
Neah Bay 44, Waterville 36
WM 14 5 4 13 — 36
NB 6 11 16 11 — 44
Neah Bay (44) — R. Moss 22, Greene 8, Halttunen 6, Swan 5, C. Moss 3.
Waterville-Mansfield (36) — Jimena Garcia 14, Jasmine Garcia 11, Finkbeiner 5, Miller 4, Petersen 2.
