ADNA — Further evidence as to the balance in the Central 2B League: White Pass, in last place, beat Adna — which had already wrapped up the C2BL boys title — 56-50 here Wednesday night.
“We got beat in every phase of the game,” Adna coach Casey Dotson said. “It was real disappointing. Yesterday, we probably had our worst practice in two years, and it showed tonight.”
Keenan Muir led White Pass with 16 points on 4 of 5 shooting from behind the 3-point arc, while Kyle Kelly scored 10 and Trevor Blackburn added 9.
Adna managed to shoot just 16 of 49 from the field, and trailed 22-18 at halftime. Kyle Grosshans scored 14 points and Coulsen Kohler added 13.
“Neither team shot the ball exceptionally well,” Dotson pointed out. “It was not a real well-played game by either team, but White Pass played a lot harder and more physical than we did. They deserved to win tonight.”
The smaller Panthers also held a 33-30 advantage on the boards.
“One of the most disappointing things is we gave up second and third shots on a number of occasions,” Dotson said. “We were really poor defensively, and didn’t block out.”
The loss has no effect on the teams’ place in the standings, but will give the Panthers (3-9 league, 5-14 overall) a nice boost before taking on Wahkiakum, the C2BL’s No. 3 team, Monday night in Rochester.
“Credit Tony (Gillispie, Panther coach) and White Pass,” Dotson said. “They came in here on our senior night, and wanted it a little more than we did.”
Adna (16-4, 9-3 league) will play the winner of the Toutle Lake/Northwest Christian (Lacey) game in the second round of the District IV 2B Boys Basketball Tournament on Wednesday in Rochester.
Note: It was the final game in Adna for Pirate seniors Grosshans, Jacob Revis and Colton Trotter.
