ROCHESTER — Adna coach Chris Bannish would be the first to admit that his group hasn’t played its best ball as of late.
Slow starts have doomed the Pirates in recent weeks, and they couldn’t afford another in a do-or-die matchup against Onalaska on Thursday in Rochester.
“I didn’t know which team would show up,” Bannish said. “Credit to my team. We rose to the occasion.”
A second-quarter surge helped the Pirates take control against the Loggers, and they never looked back in a 55-39 victory.
The win puts the Pirates in the state tournament for the sixth year in a row (not counting the 2020-21 COVID season).
“I’m very proud of them,” Bannish said. “It was a team effort.”
Onalaska had the upper hand early, taking a 10-7 lead five and a half minutes in, but a Rhylee Beebe bucket put the Pirates within one with two minutes to play in the first quarter.
That bucket ignited an Adna bench that made an effort to bring a palpable energy, one that only intensified as the Pirates began stringing together stops on the defensive end.
Offensively, McKenna Torrey gave Adna the lead, and she opened the second with five straight points to put the Pirates up eight moments into the second.
Onalaska called a timeout, but had to call another one three and a half minutes later after Adna scored 10 more unanswered points.
By the time the Loggers got back on the board, it had been nearly a full quarter of game time, and the Pirates had turned their 10-7 deficit into a 28-10 advantage. After Onalaska’s lone bucket of the second, Adna added eight more and went into the locker room up 36-12.
“We’ve been starting in different defenses and then we kind of switched to what we really want to do,” Bannish said. “Tonight, we just went with what we were trying to get to.”
The Loggers had their chances against Adna’s 1-3-1 zone, but the shooting woes that cost them their district quarterfinal returned. They missed all 13 of their three-point attempts in the first half, and they only connected on five shots from the floor.
“When a team is in a zone, you’ve gotta be able to knock down outside shots,” Onalaska coach Alana Olson said. “When we did get good looks inside, we missed those too … Adna converted, and we didn’t.”
The Loggers shot better in the second half, connecting on three three-pointers, and they scored 27 points after the break, but they never got closer than 12, and that was with just 92 seconds remaining.
“I am absolutely proud of the second half,” Olson said. “They played with heart, and they played with grit. That’s the kind of team we are. Unfortunately, we had a really rough first half because that second half, that’s who we are.”
Emalie Jacoby finished with 12 points, Randi Haight scored nine, and Kaiyah Sandridge added seven. Leighton Underhill and Renzy Marshall both added three, Greta Oien and Leah Hamilton both tallied two, and Mia Olson added one.
“I’m proud of where we ended as far as our mentality and our grit and our heart,” Alana Olson said. “I’m so disappointed for them to not get the opportunity to move on. I feel like they do deserve it. They’ve come together as a team, and it’s disappointing to see it end.”
Onalaska finishes its season 15-8 and will lose three seniors: Marshall, Haight, and Sandridge.
“They show the core values of our team every single day,” Alana Olson said. “I will miss them greatly.”
Torrey scored 24 points to lead the Pirates, while Alyssa Carroll added 15 and Rhylee Beebe scored 12.
“I’m happy to see that,” Bannish said. “That’s what they’re supposed to do.”
Ava Humphrey and Kamryn Freeman both added two.
Adna (19-4) will play Raymond-South Bend in the district third-place game on Saturday in Chehalis. If the Pirates can win that, Bannish is hopeful that they can earn a top-8 seed, which would guarantee a trip to Spokane regardless of their Regional Round result.
“This team can be special,” Bannish said. “I don’t care where we have to go. I just want a chance at that bye.”
