KELSO — Karsyn Freeman can’t go 100 percent, 100 percent of the time.
The reality of a lingering knee ailment leads to picking and choosing her spots of being the aggressor on the court, a trait that is the hallmark of her prep career at Adna High School.
She’s in for a stretch of minutes, goes to the bench to get her knee taken care of for 30-to-45 seconds, and she’s back on the court.
“Making those right passes and just being careful,” Freeman said.
So, what percentage was she going in the opening 3 minutes, 24 seconds on Tuesday night?
“I tried to go a little easy on my knee and I know how it is,” Freeman stated. “It was good in the beginning.”
Consider it a warning when she is at 100 percent.
The senior star scored the first 12 points and finished with a 24-point, 15-rebound double-double in lifting the Pirates to a 49-40 triumph over Napavine in the Class 2B District 4 semifinals at Kelso High School and securing a spot in the state tournament.
For the second time in the last three seasons, Adna (21-1) will play for a district title on Saturday night in Chehalis. Rainier, a 67-25 winner over Raymond-South Bend in the other semi, awaits.
In the lone C2BL contest, Adna upended Rainier 50-37 over a month ago.
“This group is special,” Pirates head coach Chris Bannish said.
Freeman launched a pair of 3s and was far from afraid of contact with four free throws and a floater in the 12-point start. She canned five 3-pointers on the night and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe.
Eleven of her 15 rebounds were defensive.
“We’ve been managing her reps at practice and she knows she’s going to have to go,” Bannish said of Freeman. “We’ve learned we have to pull her for 30 seconds, reset the mind, and she goes back and does her thing.”
The regular season meeting between the two rivals was a 32-29 barn-burner won by the Pirates. This one featured much more offense, but in spurts.
There were six combined scoring runs of at least five points and Napavine (17-6) had four of them. Yet 10 turnovers, losing the rebound battle by 15 and missing eight free throws made for a comeback attempt difficult.
“They’re playing with a purpose,” Tigers head coach Shane Schutz said of Adna. “Their execution was better than ours, both offensively and defensively. That being said, we’re not scared, we’re not afraid. They’re just better right now.”
Napavine cut the lead to four in the second quarter, nine in the third and 10 in the fourth. Each time, Adna had a response.
A 10-0 spree closed the first half. Then Kendall Humphrey buried an open wing triple to push the lead back to 12 to end the third quarter. The senior did a fake on an out of bounds set for a wide open layup that put the game out of reach.
Bannish and Freeman made sure to highlight Humphrey, who for the second time, held Hayden Kaut in check. Kaut finished with 13 points on 5-of-16 from the field.
“Her guts for not being that tall and just being tougher, it is amazing,” Bannish said. “She understands the game better than anyone. She’s a Humphrey and if you know the family, they’re just tough.”
The Tigers were led by Taylen Evander’s 17 points. Schutz felt it was one of her best offensive games of the season.
“You could see that drive,” he said. “She kept us in the game.”
Adna is a win away from its second district title ever. Its only one came in 2012, a victory over Pe Ell. For a girls athletic program that has gone through a volleyball season as a top contender, to the midst of a basketball run, Freeman doesn’t take it for granted.
“Being with each other, hanging out with each other out of season and becoming great friends,” she said. “That’s what really helped.”
Napavine will face Onalaska in a winner-to-state game on Thursday back in Kelso. Even though this team is younger, the roster is still littered with state champions.
“This team wants to get to (the state title) game,” Schutz said. “It is a grind, it is a process and we learned that from last year. We truly believe we’re capable of being in that game and capable of hosting that trophy again.”
