Toutle Lake trounces Lady Vikes
By GEORGE KUNKE
Willapa Valley’s basketball season came to a sudden stop at the hands of Toutle Lake 67-40 at the District IV Girls’ Basketball Tournament last Tuesday (Feb. 12) at Montesano. Karli Friese scored 15 points for Valley.
“Toutle is a strong team that shoots well, plays very physical, and has big
athletes,” Willapa Valley HS Head Girls’ Basketball Coach Melissa Aust told the Herald. ‘Toutle killed us in the first quarter with five three-pointers and then in the second quarter they shot as well inside the arc. We were getting pay looks at the basket but they weren't falling. We had three different large droughts where we let Toutle Lake go on a 13-0 run end of the first and beginning of the second quarter, a 7-0 run midway into the second quarter and an 8-0 run one minute into the third quarter. Three huge unanswered runs like that during any game will kill you; but to have them so close together really put a damper on us mentally.
“My girls played hard the entire game, and held a good attitude,” Aust said. “You never want to see your season come to an end – especially with a score
like this, but I am proud of all my players for their hard work, commitment, and performance this year. This is a great group of girls to coach and we will definitely miss our four seniors next year.”
Valley’s ended the season with an overall record of 12-10.
Individual Scoring Courtesy of Coach Aust:
Willapa Valley: L Friese 2, Bannish 3, Huber 5, K Friese 16, Walker 2, Cook 0, Abby Smaciarz 3, Fluke 6, Alicia Smaciarz 0, Wilkeson 0, Harden 3.
Toutle Lake: Woodley 20, Breezy Hockett 3, Halverson 7, Kent 0, Deffenbaugh 0, Bailey 0, Hockett 22, Makala Gardner 4, Mann 0, Lidorkiotis 2, Marissa Gardner 3, Adams 6.