SPOKANE — In a game that looked awfully familiar to the last time the No. 5 Adna girls basketball team played No. 12 Raymond, the Pirates separated in the second half to down the Seagulls in the 2B state tournament round of 12, 55-33, to advance to the state quarterfinals Thursday.
Thursday, the Pirates will see an all-too-familiar face in No. 3 Napavine, just a few weeks removed from a district title loss to the Tigers on a buzzer-beating shot.
The Pirates had to battle a slow start, with the Seagulls banking in a couple of 3-pointers to make it close after a quarter, but a 15-point outburst from Gaby Guard in the first half and a steady dose of Brooklyn Loose in the second gave the Pirates another double-digit win over their district rivals from Pacific County.
“Our eyes were big last year, and they weren’t big today,” Pirates coach Chris Bannish said. “This is a mature group, they’ve been focused the whole time. When you play a team like Raymond that has a stud like that, we had to put that game we played against them in the quarters behind us. We did a great job, Gaby and Brooklyn shot it really well, and that’s who we are.”
Guard ended the game with 22 points, with six made 3-pointers, with Loose adding 16 points of her own.
Star post Karlee VonMoos was held to just four points, but hauled in 14 massive rebounds to help the Pirates dominate down low.
“We’ve been here a little bit,” Bannish said. “Brooklyn and Karlee have played here, and this group deserves to be in the final eight. We have to be able to adjust in game, we know what we’re dealing with tomorrow. Napavine deserves to be where they are, I’m just proud to represent our league at state.”
The Pirates will take on the Tigers for the third time this season Thursday at 7:15 p.m. in Spokane, after falling to their rivals in both of the first two matchups.
