W.F. West’s dominance in the 2A Evergreen Conference continued on Thursday night, when the Bearcats completed the Swamp Cup season sweep with a convincing 84-30 victory over Centralia.
Like usual, it was a complete team effort for W.F. West.
The Bearcats stormed out to a 15-4 lead in the first two and a half minutes after forcing a flurry of turnovers, a trend that continued throughout the remainder of the first half. By halftime, W.F. West had tallied 23 takeaways, and it led 56-14.
That momentum carried over into the second half, where the Bearcats pushed their lead to as many as 56 points.
Ten different Bearcats got on the board in the win, including five who hit double-figures. Dilyn Boeck posted a game-high 17 points, Kaitlyn Chloupek scored 13, Joy Cushman scored 11, and Izzy Teeter scored eight.
Off the bench, Mallory Gaskill scored 13, Madi McManus added 10, and Madi Baine scored four.
“It’s cool when you can bring in three of the bench that can contribute like that,” Karnofski said. “Those three played their butts off and did a great job.”
Drees Cushman also scored three, while Hadley Hoffman and Amanda Linwood both added two.
The Bearcats are no stranger to the top of the EvCo standings. With a win last week over Aberdeen, they clinched their third straight outright league title, and with the win over the Tigers on Thursday, they finished unbeaten in league play for the third year in a row.
Dating back to the 2022-23 season, they have won 41 of their last 42 league games, including each of their last 34.
“You lose a lot from last year with a bunch of good seniors,” Karnofski said. “To come back and repeat that process, with not a whole different group, but a lot of different roles and personnel and situations, that was one of our goals. We took pride in doing that, and that was one of our main focuses this year.”
Karnofski added that while this group has been different from the last couple of years, it’s still a group that practiced against last year’s senior class every day for multiple seasons. It’s something that the staff knew would set up this core for success.
“The fact that these kids are going out, making plays, doing it night in and night out, that was what was expected because of who they are and how hard they work,” Karnofski said. “It’s great to see and I’m proud of them for it.”
Prior to the game, Centralia honored its three seniors: Makenzie Erickson, Ayana Saucedo, and Brooklyn Sprague.
Sprague missed the game with an injury, but Erickson and Saucedo combined for 15 points in their final home game. Erickson scored eight in the first and finished with a team-high 10, while Saucedo added five.
“We love having them here,” Centralia coach Austin Danielson said of her senior core. “They’re great kids who deserve to be in the spotlight at CHS, so we’re happy to honor them whenever we can.”
Estella Bussanich added eight points, Maddie Ahern scored three, and both Emma Ferch and Kendyl Guenther tallied two.
Despite the loss in their regular season finale, the Tigers (11-10, 2-8 2A EvCo) will be playing in the district tournament for the first time since the 2021-22 season. They will enter the tournament as the EvCo’s No. 4 seed, which will put them against either Ridgefield or Washougal in a pigtail game on Wednesday.
Danielson was an assistant coach on the Centralia bench when the Tigers last played a postseason game, but Wednesday’s matchup will be her first as Centralia’s head coach.
“We’re blessed to have the opportunity,” Danielson said. “It’ll be a good way to test our focus. No one here has ever played this late in the season, so we'll see how we can dig deep, come together as a team, and try to make it happen.”
As the No. 1 seed from the EvCo, W.F. West (17-4, 10-0 2A EvCo) will host either Ridgefield or Washougal (whichever does not face Centralia in the pigtail).
One year after making history by repeating as district champions for the first time in school history, this group of Bearcats will hope to do the same with a district three-peat.
“It’s one game at a time,” Karnofski said. “No one’s ever gonna roll over, so you gotta be ready for it. We’re gonna be ready for whoever we play. The goal is still the same; We want to be in that district title game. The goal is to win that game, go to state, and bring home a trophy. That’s always the goal, no matter the year. This group, that’s what they want as well.”
