PE ELL — The Lady Trojans are getting pretty good at playing shorthanded.
Pe Ell jumped on Adna early here Wednesday night, and hung on through second-half foul trouble for a 69-53 win over Adna in Central 2B League girls basketball action.
Sami Robinson led Pe Ell with 18 points, but played only 4 minutes in the second half before fouling out. Taylor Ratkie came off the bench to score 13 points on 5 of 7 shooting, and Cassie Johnson added 15 for the Trojans — who are still without starting forward Alissa Brooks-Johnson.
Ratkie also helped handle Adna’s full-court press, which the Pirates put into action every time Robinson was on the bench.
“The girls did a really good job of handling that,” Pe Ell coach Dawna Robinson said. “All in all, I can’t say enough for everybody. It was a real team effort, and real fun to watch.”
Twins Shawna and Shannon McLeod scored 9 and 4 points off the bench, respectively, with the former adding eight rebounds.
“That was really nice,” Robinson added. “They did an excellent job.”
Taylor Hoke led Adna with 23 points.
“She had to work her butt off the whole night, for every shot,” Robinson said of Hoke. “Our focus was to stay on her, and keep her contained. She did a good job for them.”
Pe Ell (12-4, 7-4 league) hosts Toutle Lake on Friday and, Robinson said, hope to have Brooks-Johnson back in the starting lineup. Adna (7-3 league) is at Mossyrock on Friday.
Note: Wednesday’s win moves Pe Ell just a half-game behind Adna in the C2BL standings, with Napavine and Toutle Lake tied with one loss apiece in the lead. ... Adna beat Pe Ell, 61-60, in the teams’ previous meeting this season.
Tigers Pounce on Cardinals
WINLOCK — The growing pains continue for the Cardinals, who fell to Napavine 64-15 in Central 2B League girls basketball action here Wednesday.
“Their pressure defense makes you turn the ball over, and if you’re not a good passing team and not patient, it’s tough,” said Winlock coach Scott Ashmore. “And we’re a young and inexperienced team.”
That high-intensity Napavine defense held the Cardinals to single-digit scoring in every quarter, while the Tigers utilized it to jump out to a 34-9 halftime advantage.
“They don’t give you an inch and they make you work for everything,” said Ashmore of the Tiger defense. “They’re after every loose ball like they think it’s theirs.”
It also didn’t hurt that the Tigers shot 27 of 50 from the field, with everyone who stepped on the court scoring.
Sophomore Demi Sahlinger led all scorers with 23 points, while Lacie Smith chipped in 15.
“We just couldn’t stop Sahlinger when she was driving, and when you tried to stop her drive she would shoot a 3-pointer,” said Ashmore of Sahlinger, who was 3-3 from beyond the arc.
Ali Brossard tallied 9 points for the Tigers and Kalli Brown notched 8, while Kayla Rakes led the Cardinals with 6.
Winlock (1-15, 1-9 league) will travel to Randle to take on Morton-White Pass on Friday, while Napavine (14-3, 10-1 league) will host Wahkiakum the same day.
Vikings Clinch Postseason Berth With Win Over Mules
CATHLAMET — The Vikings made the long trip out to Wahkiakum and came back with a guaranteed District IV playoff spot.
Mossyrock’s full-court press gave the Mules problems, and the Vikings hung on late to escape with a 48-40 Central 2B League girls basketball win here Wednesday night.
“It’s a tough place to come down here and play and it’s a long road trip,” said Mossyrock coach Gale Bridges. “We just man-to-man pressed them, and yeah, we got outrebounded, but after they would get the rebound we were right back on them defensively.”
The Vikings took a 5-point lead into halftime, and pushed it to 10 by the end of the third quarter.
“I thought we had a really great team effort. We pressed the whole game and the girls never got tired, which means they’re in good shape,” said Bridges.
Sami Dolan tallied 10 points and nine rebounds for the Vikings, while Jordan Nelson scored a game-high 22.
“Sami had a really great game and played really great defense — it was just an outstanding game,” said Bridges.
The win locked up at least a fifth-place finish for Mossyrock, which will host Adna on Friday at 7 p.m.
“That was our goal,” said Bridges of his team’s berth into the postseason. “Then we can see what happens in the second half of the season.”
Ducks Trample T-Wolves
TOUTLE — The visiting Timberwolves started off alright, but couldn’t keep pace with the Ducks here Wednesday night in a 62-38 Central 2B League girls hoops loss.
Breezy Hackett scored 17 points for the winners, who posted 20 points in each of the first two frames.
“We just still struggled getting the ball up the floor,” Morton-White Pass coach Lauren Kanyer. “Toutle plays such great defense, and pressures the ball so well, that it’s hard to run our offense correctly. We had 25 turnovers tonight, and the biggest part of that is that Toutle plays great defense.”
The Ducks also outrebounded MWP, 54-36.
Jade Lundy scored all of her team-high 9 points in the fourth quarter for Morton-White Pass, and Chelbi Eveland added 8 points. Ashley Kelly had 6 points and six boards.
Stefana Bertucci, Kanyer added, played great defensively, holding Toutle’s Payton Hoff to 2 points.
Morton-White Pass (5-12, 1-10 league) hosts Winlock in Randle on Friday.
