RICHLAND — There were sloppy turnovers before crossing half court. There were missed defensive assignments on rotations. There was the continuous struggle to put the ball in the basket.

Those first two ailments? That wasn’t the kind of play the Mossyrock High School girls basketball team made a habit of this winter.

“We were overplaying and overhelping out of our zone and we were caught out of place,” first-year head coach Nick Rashoff said. “We lost our heads too many times and they made us pay. We were taking gambles on stuff.

“They made the moment too big.”

In the biggest game of the season for the Vikings, they spiraled and never fully recovered on Saturday afternoon.

Behind a staggering 32 points from Hailey Jamison and a fourth quarter that put the Class 2B Opening Round game out of reach, 11th-seeded Columbia (Burbank) boat raced 14th-seeded Mossyrock 58-35 at Richland High School.

After a run through the consolation side of the District 4 bracket to get to the opening round, the Vikings (12-12) retire with a .500 record and a locker room that experienced plenty of emotions after the final whistle.

For the first time in five years, Spokane will be without Mossyrock.

“It was rough; we thought we had more in the tank,” junior point guard Taylor Schwartz said.

It caps a season filled with turnover.

Rashoff took over for Autumn Moorcroft, then before the first game of the season, two starters transferred right after a state volleyball run. Another starter graduated and a starter from two years ago also transferred. 

The lineup consisted of a senior, two juniors, a sophomore and a freshman. Adyson Barrows, Chesney Schultz and Schwartz were three of the holdovers from last year’s group that won in the opening round in 1B.

“Our team has grown up a ton from people saying we’re going to get beat by 100 (points) in multiple games in just our league,” Schwartz stated. “I’m proud of us.”

The Vikings got out to a quick 4-0 lead, but never led the rest of the afternoon. Columbia ended the first frame on a 12-3 flurry and Jamison launched a triple just before the halftime buzzer to push the lead to nine.

She did the same to end the third to up the margin to 15. The Coyotes went from up 10 in the waning moments of the third quarter to 27 midway through the fourth.

“That was unexpected; I wouldn’t have put money on us losing by that much,” Rashoff said. “That kind of took the wind out of our sails. Whoever sticks to their gameplan the best and does the little things the best, something has got to separate you.

“Just never got in a rhythm.”

Schultz battled foul trouble – she picked up two quick ones in the third – and fouled out early in the fourth. She walked off the court for the final time in disbelief.

And when asked about the calls, Rashoff chose his words carefully, but didn’t hold everything back. Mossyrock and Columbia both finished with over 15 fouls.

“There’s some freaking questionable calls, but when you get beat by that much, that’s not the difference,” Rashoff said. “We got to be mentally tougher when things don’t go our way.”

Freshman Maci Rashoff led the way for the Vikings with 13 points while Kendall Cournyer added eight and Schultz chipped in seven. Schwartz admitted they pressed on both sides of the court early.

For at least a night, nothing went right for Mossyrock.

“We were out of system,” Schwartz said. “We worked on it all week and our plan didn’t come together when we needed it to.”

Schultz departs as the lone senior who Schwartz stated is more like the “team mom.” Everyone else is expected to be back for the 2025-26 campaign.

And if the Vikings return to this point in the season? Don’t say they didn’t warn you.

“I hope this makes them hungry and have a huge offseason,” Coach Rashoff said. “Our goal will always be to get to Spokane. They know we’re not settling.”