COMETTES SURVIVE PREZ DAY ELIMINATION
With balanced scoring and a strong rebounding effort, the Naselle Comets girls basketball team overcame a poor start to defeat their K-M rivals Wahkiakum 65-49 in a loser out game at the 2B District IV Tournament at Bo Griffith Gymnasium in Montesano Monday night.
Down 12-4 in the first period, Naselle responded with 18 straight points to close the quarter, completing a 20-0 run early in the second period to take a 24-12 lead. The Mules never really challenged from there. Wahkiakum cut the lead to six in the second period, then made their final run to close within 47-40 with 5:56 to play in the game. From there, a 12-1 Naselle run put the game out of reach.
The Comets controlled the paint, outscoring Wahkiakum 21-9 on second chance points.
"A lot of effort tonight," said Naselle head coach Bob Torppa. "Defense definitely made the difference. We stepped up offensively and were able to get the ball in the basket. We started really slow, but the girls stayed with it and got it done when we needed to get it done."
Comets senior guard Erin Saari recorded a triple-double with 11 points, ten rebounds and ten steals, while Cheryl Steppe (13 points, 8 rebounds), Ashley Ahlstrom (12 points, 8 rebounds) and Brandi Keightley (12 points) all scored in double figures for Naselle, which moves to within two games of clinching a state tournament berth.
The Comets face Raymond for the third time this season Wednesday night, this time with the loser eliminated. The game will be at Rochester High School at 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live on KAST-AM 1370 with pregame coverage beginning at 6:05 p.m. A win over the Seagulls would put Naselle in a winner-to-state game Friday night and provide the Comets with another "get out of jail free card" should they lose.
With five district seeds to the state tournament this season, teams that lose Friday night's loser's bracket semifinals will play off for the fifth seed, setting up a "triple elimination" format for the fifth berth.
"We played them early and we beat them without Keightley," said Torppa, of the Comets first win over the Seagulls without the junior guard, then laid up with a broken finger. "Then we went down to Raymond and we didn't play very well and they got us pretty good at Raymond. We're gonna need to play much better than we did at Raymond and I know they will. They want to move on so they're going to step up when we need to."
Naselle improved to 13-10 overall with the win, while Wahkiakum season ended with an 0-2 district tournament and a 6-16 overall record. Naselle is vying for its first state tournament appearance in girls basketball since the 7th place 2003 team, led by current Carnegie-Mellon guard Nora Darcher.
Naselle's boys likewise have not graced the floor at Spokane since the 2003 tourney. They will have to wait at least another year following a 56-50 loss to Northwest Christian Monday.
The Navigators never trailed after sprinting to leads of 9-1 and 17-6 in the first period, however, the Comets never let them get comfortable, closing to within 25-22 at halftime and trailing only 49-45 with 1:42 left in the game following a 3-point play by junior Kyle Burkhalter.
A missed 1-and-1 free throw by N.W. Christian guard Ryan Fox gave the Comets the ball with 1:02 left, but Burkhalter missed a shot and the Comets were forced to foul the Navigators, who hit 7-of-8 at the line down the stretch to seal the win.
Burkhalter finished with 22 points, completing an outstanding season in which he averaged 20 points and ten rebounds per game. Talented 6-4 senior forward Matt Myers paced the Navigators with 26 points.
The Comets kept in the game with a strong rebounding effort, outboarding the Navigators 33-22 with a 17-3 edge on the offensive glass.
Northwest Christian moves on to play White Pass, a 61-55 winner over North Beach Monday.
GIRLS
-
WAHKIAKUM 12 11 13 13 --49
NASELLE 22 10 14 19 -- 65
Pakenen 4, Keightley 12, Saari 11, Steppe 13, Ahlstrom 12, Rodriguez, Green, Klinger, Laney, Beaulaurier 3, Landis.
BOYS
NASELLE 8 14 14 14 -- 50
Heagy, Griss, K. Burkhalter 22, A. Burkhalter 13, Smith 8, Sultemeier 5, See 2, Hines.
N.W. CHR. 17 8 16 15 -- 56
Fox 12, Hamilton 6, Cummings 3, Myers 26, Groeschell 1, Owens, Dunn 4, Hobbs 2.
FIELD GOALS-NAS: 19-54-35%, NWC: 17-29-59%
3-PT FG'S-NAS: 4-16-25%, NWC: 3-7-43%
FREE THROWS-NAS: 8-11-73%, NWC: 18-27-67%
REBOUNDS-NAS: 33, NWC: 22
TURNOVERS-NAS: 13, NWC: 14
Down 12-4 in the first period, Naselle responded with 18 straight points to close the quarter, completing a 20-0 run early in the second period to take a 24-12 lead. The Mules never really challenged from there. Wahkiakum cut the lead to six in the second period, then made their final run to close within 47-40 with 5:56 to play in the game. From there, a 12-1 Naselle run put the game out of reach.
The Comets controlled the paint, outscoring Wahkiakum 21-9 on second chance points.
"A lot of effort tonight," said Naselle head coach Bob Torppa. "Defense definitely made the difference. We stepped up offensively and were able to get the ball in the basket. We started really slow, but the girls stayed with it and got it done when we needed to get it done."
Comets senior guard Erin Saari recorded a triple-double with 11 points, ten rebounds and ten steals, while Cheryl Steppe (13 points, 8 rebounds), Ashley Ahlstrom (12 points, 8 rebounds) and Brandi Keightley (12 points) all scored in double figures for Naselle, which moves to within two games of clinching a state tournament berth.
The Comets face Raymond for the third time this season Wednesday night, this time with the loser eliminated. The game will be at Rochester High School at 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live on KAST-AM 1370 with pregame coverage beginning at 6:05 p.m. A win over the Seagulls would put Naselle in a winner-to-state game Friday night and provide the Comets with another "get out of jail free card" should they lose.
With five district seeds to the state tournament this season, teams that lose Friday night's loser's bracket semifinals will play off for the fifth seed, setting up a "triple elimination" format for the fifth berth.
"We played them early and we beat them without Keightley," said Torppa, of the Comets first win over the Seagulls without the junior guard, then laid up with a broken finger. "Then we went down to Raymond and we didn't play very well and they got us pretty good at Raymond. We're gonna need to play much better than we did at Raymond and I know they will. They want to move on so they're going to step up when we need to."
Naselle improved to 13-10 overall with the win, while Wahkiakum season ended with an 0-2 district tournament and a 6-16 overall record. Naselle is vying for its first state tournament appearance in girls basketball since the 7th place 2003 team, led by current Carnegie-Mellon guard Nora Darcher.
Naselle's boys likewise have not graced the floor at Spokane since the 2003 tourney. They will have to wait at least another year following a 56-50 loss to Northwest Christian Monday.
The Navigators never trailed after sprinting to leads of 9-1 and 17-6 in the first period, however, the Comets never let them get comfortable, closing to within 25-22 at halftime and trailing only 49-45 with 1:42 left in the game following a 3-point play by junior Kyle Burkhalter.
A missed 1-and-1 free throw by N.W. Christian guard Ryan Fox gave the Comets the ball with 1:02 left, but Burkhalter missed a shot and the Comets were forced to foul the Navigators, who hit 7-of-8 at the line down the stretch to seal the win.
Burkhalter finished with 22 points, completing an outstanding season in which he averaged 20 points and ten rebounds per game. Talented 6-4 senior forward Matt Myers paced the Navigators with 26 points.
The Comets kept in the game with a strong rebounding effort, outboarding the Navigators 33-22 with a 17-3 edge on the offensive glass.
Northwest Christian moves on to play White Pass, a 61-55 winner over North Beach Monday.
GIRLS
-
WAHKIAKUM 12 11 13 13 --49
NASELLE 22 10 14 19 -- 65
Pakenen 4, Keightley 12, Saari 11, Steppe 13, Ahlstrom 12, Rodriguez, Green, Klinger, Laney, Beaulaurier 3, Landis.
BOYS
NASELLE 8 14 14 14 -- 50
Heagy, Griss, K. Burkhalter 22, A. Burkhalter 13, Smith 8, Sultemeier 5, See 2, Hines.
N.W. CHR. 17 8 16 15 -- 56
Fox 12, Hamilton 6, Cummings 3, Myers 26, Groeschell 1, Owens, Dunn 4, Hobbs 2.
FIELD GOALS-NAS: 19-54-35%, NWC: 17-29-59%
3-PT FG'S-NAS: 4-16-25%, NWC: 3-7-43%
FREE THROWS-NAS: 8-11-73%, NWC: 18-27-67%
REBOUNDS-NAS: 33, NWC: 22
TURNOVERS-NAS: 13, NWC: 14
posted by Matt Richert at 11:42 AM
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