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The energy ran out. The legs were tired. The margin proved to be too much for a six-player rotation to overcome.
All of the obstacles that have hindered the Black Hills High School girls basketball team this winter came up at once on Monday night.
Behind forcing 16 first half turnovers and drilling shots from beyond the arc in critical moments, GSHL champion Columbia River pieced together a 62-41 triumph over the Wolves in a Class 2A District 4 semifinal in Chehalis.
“They’re bigger than us, they’re deeper than us, they’re older than us,” Wolves head coach Herb Guscott said. “They’re just a good team. Tonight, we got the you-know-what kicked out of us. My hats off to them.”
The Rapids will get a chance at revenge on Friday when they face reigning district champions W.F. West in Kelso. It was a 10-point loss they took last year in the final and a senior-laden bunch will attempt to pull off the upset.
The GSHL has not won districts since Washougal in 2019. Columbia River (20-2) is trying to win its first district title since realignment back in 2007.
“I got a much bigger group of scorers,” Rapids head coach Tee Anderson said. “The girls are super pumped to have that revenge game. We know it is going to be a tough game.”
Much of the Wolves’ struggles were in the rebounding and length department.
A handful of the first half turnovers came from shot clock violations. Columbia River’s guards and posts caused deflections and possessions were long. Still, Black Hills was only down three after the opening eight minutes.
Senior Peyton Dukes buried a trifecta that jumpstarted an 18-2 run for the Rapids, including 13 straight, that turned a single digit margin into a 21-point cushion.
“That was a big momentum shift,” Anderson said.
Black Hills (14-8) started to get a rally going in the fourth stanza.
It scored the first four points of the frame and whittled the deficit down to nine. It was cut to 10 with over five minutes left in regulation.
Mikayla King and Marley Myers canned 3-pointers to get the lead back to double figures. The Wolves didn’t score again the remainder of the night.
Tyler Venable – who nailed a halfcourt buzzer beater to close the first half – led Black Hills with 18 points while Natalie Buchanan added 11. Those two plus Ellie Johnson and Cassidy O’Reilly all grabbed at least five rebounds.
“We executed the game plan,” Anderson said. “Big point of emphasis was applying pressure, but containing.”
It was the second straight playoffs where Black Hills and Columbia River met in the semis. The former had already expelled one demon in Mark Morris, the same team that ended its season last February.
It couldn’t get past the second stage of the revenge tour.
“Proud of my girls,” Guscott said. “We held our own. We got some good looks.”
Now, the Wolves face another winner-to-state affair, this time against Ridgefield. The Spudders upended Tumwater 57-50 in an elimination game on Monday.
“We got a great shot,” Guscott said. “I told the girls there is no doubt in my mind we’re going to state.”
