SPOKANE — Neah Bay claimed the rubber match in the most important of three contests against Evergreen Lutheran, a 47-39 victory in a loser-out contest at the Class 1B girls basketball state tournament Wednesday at Spokane Arena.
The Red Devils and Eagles had split regular season contests, each winning on the opponent’s home court.
With the win, Neah Bay (19-3) will face the UConn of 1B girls’ hoops, eight-time defending state champion Colton (21-2) at 10:30 a.m. today.
Against Evergreen Lutheran, the Red Devils shook off a case of state tournament nerves that left Neah Bay trailing 6-0 to open the game.
The Red Devils regrouped and stuck to their game plan of keeping the Eagles’ 6-foot post Jessie Holder and guard Katelyn Schwartz in check and tied the game at 13 after the first period.
“I think we did a good job against them. We ran a box-and-one against her [Holder], so somebody was on her all the time and we had good help side defense on her. And she didn’t do much,” Neah Bay senior Tristin Johnson said.
Head coach Tony McCaulley said his team was prepared for the six-footer.
“We had a couple of different defenses we were planning, we started with man help and that didn’t really go well, so we switched into the box-and-one and it was pretty effective for us.
“We wanted to take her feet away from her, make it hard for her to move with the ball, and I thought we shut her down pretty good.
Schwartz was an early pain for the the Red Devils, scoring eight of her game-high 17 points in the first quarter, but her opportunities were markedly limited in the final three periods.
Vonte Aguirre was tough down low offensively for Neah Bay, scoring the first two buckets of the second quarter to give the Red Devils a lead the team would never relinquish.
Aguirre had 12 of her team-high 16 points as Neah Bay led 23-20 at halftime.
“Vonte stood out again like she did last Saturday [at regionals],” McCaulley said.
Johnson agreed.
“We did a good job of taking it in down low and scoring,” she said.
The teams traded scores through a tight third quarter, as Neah Bay hung on to a slim 31-29 advantage in the final 37 seconds of the period.
Starlena Halttunnen then drew two jump balls, the first alternating possession giving the ball back to the Eagles, the second gifting the Red Devils the basketball with less than 10 seconds on the clock.
Neah Bay took advantage, getting the ball to Johnson who launched a deeper-than NBA range buzzer beater that hit nothing but net for a 34-29 lead heading to the final frame.
Halttunnen’s hustle was matched by some scrappy play by Cheyenna Svec and Kayla Winck.
“It’s a deal where its a loser-out game and we discussed it the last few days that every possession counts and any loose ball is ours and we are athletic enough to do that and sell out,” McCaulley said.
“We thought it might be the difference in the game, getting those loose balls.”
Second-chance baskets by Aguirre and Johnson gave the Red Devils a 10-point lead, 41-31, just over halfway through the fourth quarter.
Evergreen Lutheran had one last comeback bid remaining, as Holder dropped five straight points to cut the lead to four, 41-37 with 2:34 to play.
But a score by Johnson and Cei’J Gagnon’s putback on a missed free throw with less than a minute to go sealed the deal for Neah Bay.
“We played just well enough offensively to win,” McCaulley said.
”Today was about staying alive and getting to play some more games.”
And now a shot at knocking off Goliath in the Colton Wildcats.
“As a coach you want that opportunity,” McCaulley said. “You want to be able to challenge your team and have something to shoot for.
“Somebody is going to beat them. If we play the way we can, I think we are athletic enough to have a chance to do it.”
Neah Bay 47, Evergreen Lutheran 39
Neah Bay 13 10 11 13 — 47
Evergreen Luth. 13 7 9 10 — 39
Neah Bay (47) — Aguirre 16, Johnson 13, McCaulley 8, Gagnon 8, Svec 2, Halttunnen, Winck.
Evergreen Lutheran (39) — Schwartz 17, Holder 8, Fassil 8, Bergemann 3, Mirjalli 2, Rowland 1.
