Nighthawks fail to hold off Vikings

CHEHALIS - The Oakesdale Nighthawks began its bid for a state 1B girls basketball crown on Feb. 25 at W.F. West High School in Chehalis as the seventh-seed against the second-seeded Mossyrock Vikings.

Oakesdale couldn't secure the upset and lost to Mossyrock 52-48 to drop to the round of 12 on March 1 in the Spokane Arena.

In the opening quarter, defense was on the display for both squads, with the Nighthawks owning the slight edge in the (at that point) defensive battle. The Vikings trailed 12-9 going into the second quarter.

The second quarter was almost identical to the first, this time with the edge going to Mossyrock, who outscored Oakesdale 11-9 in the quarter to cut into the Nighthawks' lead and go into halftime trailing 21-20.

Come the third quarter, one team was finally able to go on an offensive run and gain separation over their opponent. It was the Vikings, who outscored Oakesdale 14-5 in the third quarter to take an eight-point, 34-26 lead over the Nighthawks heading into the final eight minutes of the opening-round, state tournament contest.

In the last quarter, any semblance of the defensive struggle of the first half was gone, with both teams combining for 40 total points in the fourth frame. Oakesdale owned the point-differential in the final eight minutes, outscoring Mossyrock 22-18 to make a final push for the win, but the eight-point lead by the Vikings after the third quarter was too big of a hole for the Nighthawks to climb out of, and Oakesdale suffered the four-point loss.

"We were very evenly-matched with Mossyrock," Oakesdale head coach Heidi Perry said. "Ultimately, the game came down to some offensive rebounds that led to second-chance points and a few possessions where we didn't value the ball."

Oakesdale was paced by Jessie Reed, who scored 23 points in the loss.

Mossyrock was led with 20 points from Caelyn Marshall, while Payton Torrey added 13.

With the loss, the Nighthawks played at 10:30 a.m. on March 1 in a loser-out Round-of-12 game against Wellpinit at the Spokane Arena. Results were unavailable at press time.

OAKESDALE (20-4)

Emily Dingman 0 0-0 0, Jessie Reed 7 8-12 23, Marila Hockett 3 2-2 9, Bradyn Henley 2 2-2 6, Lucy Hockett 3 0-0 7, Grace Perry 1 0-0 3, Samantha Holling 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 12-16 48.

MOSSYROCK (20-3)

Abbie Lovan 1 0-0 2, McKenna Torrey 3 2-2 9, Payton Torrey 5 1-2 13, Caelyn Marshall 8 1-2 20, Renzy Marshall 1 1-2 3, Delany Marshall 0 0-0 0, Hailey Brooks 1 3-5 5. Totals 19 8-13 52.

3-point goals – Reed, M. Hockett, L. Hockett, Perry, C. Marshall 3, P. Torrey 2, M. Torrey.