Mossyrock had let a double-digit lead slip away in the second half of a 2B District 4 Tournament Elimination game against Morton-White Pass, but the Vikings came away with a takeaway in the game’s waning moments to pull out a 55-53 victory and extend their season.
“The girls didn’t hang their heads and battled through,” Mossyrock coach Nick Rashoff said. “Our effort was great tonight on both ends of the floor.”
The two sides finished the first tied at 15, but the Vikings built an eight-point lead into the second thanks to a pair of threes from Maci Rashoff and a third from Kendall Cournyer. Rashoff finished the first half with four threes and went into the locker room with 14 points.
The lead got as high as 15 at one point in the third, but the Timberwolves began battling back and chipping away at the deficit.
“We kinda slowed down in the second, and that hurt us,” Morton-White Pass coach Tim McCoy said. “They finally woke up in the fourth and started playing hard.”
With less than 10 seconds left, Morton-White Pass took possession down two, but the T-Wolves turned the ball over with three seconds remaining before they could get a shot off.
Maci Rashoff finished with 20 points, Taylor Schwartz added 10, and Cournyer finished with nine. Adyson Barrows added eight, and both Brooke Schwartz and Calliope Schultz pitched in four.
“Kendall and Brooke had some big minutes for us tonight on both sides of the floor,” Nick Rashoff said. “Maci hit some big shots. Ady (Barrows) and Taylor played the whole game for us and made big plays down the stretch … MWP played hard and are a tough team, so to come out with a win in a loser-out game feels good for the girls.”
Ryelin Wiedenmann finished with 20 points to lead the Timberwolves, while Chevy Fuller added 11. Layna Sams scored 10, and Caydence Franz scored six, and Malia Armstrong added six of her own in her final high school game.
Armstrong finishes her career with the second-most points in MWP history.
“She’s just been such a good leader,” McCoy said of Armstrong. “Every coach would wanna have her on her team. She's just a wonderful kid.”
While Armstrong will be the only senior to graduate, high school basketball in both Morton and Randle will look different next winter.
Morton and White Pass are set to split and return to the 1B ranks, and McCoy said he was happy that he got to return to Morton for MWP’s “last ride.”
“I wanted to go home and see if I could help the program,” McCoy said. “I just wanted to finish where I started. The girls exceeded expectations for the year, and they battled. It's been a fun ride, and I think the girls will look back and really appreciate it.”
Mossyrock (10-10) moves on to the next round of the elimination bracket, where it will play either Ilwaco or Raymond-South Bend in Castle Rock on Tuesday. A win there would put the Vikings in a winner-to-state game against the loser of the Forks-Napavine semifinal.
