By Aaron VanTuyl
For Peninsula Daily News
SPOKANE — The Red Devils knew since last March, where they wanted to be on the second-to-last day of the 2018-19 season.
And after a solid showing in the quarterfinals of the girls 1B Hardwood Classic they’re right on track.
Neah Bay pulled away in the second half here Thursday morning to beat Sunnyside Christian 63-51, notching the first win in program history over the Knights and setting up a semifinal today against No. 1 seed Colton.
“It was a big goal. As of last year, they knew they wanted to come back here and be here and play here,” first-year Red Devils coach Justina Grimes-Brown said Thursday. “Their goal is to get a shot at Colton, and they’re going to get it tomorrow.”
Colton, which has won three of the last four state titles, thumped Selkirk 68-16 on Thursday. Neah Bay’s win wasn’t quite that one-sided, but a balanced offensive effort and a late run made the victory a comfortable one.
Cei’J Gagnon scored 15 points with nine rebounds to lead the way, and sophomores Courtney Swan (12 points), Ruth Moss (11), Oceana Aguirre (11) and Laila Greene (10) all hitting double digits.
“A lot of us can just score, and (we) work together pretty well,” noted Swan, who added nine assists, five steals and four rebounds.
Sunnyside’s Madi Candanoza scored a game-high 29 points, including 18 first-half points that kept the Knights within striking distance.
A box-and-one defense helped slow down Candanoza after the break, but teammate Sydney Banks picked up the slack. Banks knocked in a three-pointer with about a minute left in the third quarter to trim the Red Devils’ lead to 41-40.
Grimes-Brown, though, knew her team only needed to take a breath and slow the pace.
“They just needed to relax and keep their composure,” she said. “Everything else will come if they can play relaxed and work hard defensively. Their offense will come.”
The one-point margin was as close as Sunnyside would get, as buckets from Aguirre and Greene closed out the third to leave the Red Devils up five.
It was the first bucket of the game for Greene, who was just getting started. Swan stole a pass to end the first Knight possession of the fourth quarter and found Greene for a layup on a fastbreak, and after Swan hit a coast-to-coast runner Greene cashed in back-to-back threes that put the Red Devils up 55-40 with just under five minutes left to play.
Candanoza then scored six straight to cut Neah Bay’s lead to single digits, but a three from Swan with 2:45 to play pushed the lead back to 60-48. The 10-point margin stayed intact the rest of the way.
It was a promising start to the tournament for Neah Bay, which lost to Sunnyside Christian to finish sixth at state last year with a lineup mainly comprised of freshmen. Aside from Gagnon — a junior who missed last season’s state run with an ankle injury — the Red Devils are now a team of experienced sophomores.
“It felt pretty good,” Swan said of the opening win. “We’re pretty ready. We came ready to go, and we started off strong.”
Notes: Neah Bay (22-2) and Colton (22-2) play at 3:45 p.m. today, back in the Spokane Arena. Sunnyside Christian attempted 39 three-pointers in the loss, just three shy of the tournament record set by Colton in the 2015 championship game. The Knights hit eight. Neah Bay outrebounded Sunnyside Christian 44-39, and shot 43 percent (26 of 60) from the field. Gagnon and Moss each grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
Neah Bay 63, Sunnyside Christian 51
SC 14 16 10 11 — 51
NB 21 11 13 18 — 63
Sunnyside Christian (51) — M. Candanoza 29, Banks 13, Den Hoed 2, Bravo 3, Andringa 3, K. Candanoza 1
Neah Bay (63) — C. Swan 12, Greene 10, Aguirre 11, P. Swan 2, Moss 11, Horejsi 2, Gagnon 15
Neah Bay’s Courtney Swan dribbles against Sunnyside Christian’s Madi Candanoza at the girls 1B state basketball tournament in Spokane on Thursday. (Chris Johnson/for Peninsula Daily News)
