Taking the show on the road in a return to 2A Evergreen Conference play, the 2A No. 3 W.F. West girls basketball team built up an early lead and managed to hang on in Grays Harbor against Aberdeen, 52-31, Wednesday night.
“We really battled through some adversity,” Bearcats coach Kyle Karnofski said. “We had a good start, Maddie Gore for them is super dynamic, all the momentum was toward them for most of the night and we just had to dig down to find stops and win.”
Gore finished with 16 points to lead the Bobcats, but Bearcat sophomore Julia Dalan added 25 points, and Morgan Rogerson was nearly in double figures with another nine.
Karnofski also recognized Lena Fragner and Amanda Bennett for some strong defensive on the perimeter, and Grace Simpson for eight points off the bench and some timely shots in the second half.
After taking a 15-2 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Bobcats managed to keep pace with the Bearcats, and made things interesting at times for a W.F. West team looking to seize control.
In the second half, the Bearcats erased any hopes for a comeback, taking the double-digit, 21-point win.
“We have to take control of the game and play it on our terms,” Karnofski said of the halftime discussions. “We dictated more of the tempo and how the game went from there.”
The Bearcats will renew their crosstown rivalry with Centralia in Chehalis on Friday in more league action.
