The Bearcats became the latest victim of the River Ridge buzzsaw Friday night in Chehalis, falling 54-25 to top-ranked, undefeated Hawks in Evergreen 2A Conference girls basketball action.
River Ridge outscored the Bearcats 32-12 in the middle quarters, with sisters Jasmine and Samira McDonald combining for 26 points on the night.
“It wasn’t so much our half-court defense that got us,” W.F. West coach Henri Weeks said. “It was us turning the ball over and giving them some transition.”
The Bearcats got 8 points and 10 rebounds from Kaylee Hartman, who Weeks said has been battling the flu this week.
“Kaylee did a great job,” the coach said. “She just battled tonight.”
The game plan, according to Weeks, was to turn the contest into a half-court game. In the third quarter, though, the Hawks pressured W.F. West into a few turnovers to stretch the lead past 20 and run away with it.
“Against any other team, 54 doesn’t look so good,” Weeks said. “But I thought the kids played pretty sound half-court defense.”
The Bearcats (7-5, 3-3 league) meet up with the rival Tigers on Tuesday in Centralia.
Tigers Fall at Elma
ELMA — Katie Colard and Brandi Thomas combined to score 43 points in Elma’s 74-48 rout of Centralia here Friday night in Evergreen 2A Conference girls basketball action.
The Eagles brought out the big guns, according to Tiger coach Mark Westley.
“It was the big guns — the athleticism of Elma,” he said. “We did a pretty good job against (Thomas) in the first half, before she sat out.
“But Colard took over the second half,” he added. “You can only hold down great players for so long. It was a tough matchup.”
Caitlyn Sande and Annnie Voetberg led the Tigers with 11 points apiece. Amy Boyajian and Molly King had 9 each, and King added seven rebounds.
“With a young team and only one senior, we’re building and working towards putting all those positives together,” Westley said, “and building for better things in the future.”
The Tigers had a season-low of 15 turnovers on the night. Both teams excelled from the free throw line, as Centralia made 17 of 23 and Elma hit 18 of 25.
Centralia (3-9, 1-5 league) hosts W.F. West Tuesday in a Twin Cities rivalry match.
