In a rematch of a matchup at state a year ago — featuring vastly different situations for both teams — the No. 3 W.F. West girls basketball team fell to No. 2 Lynden on the road Wednesday night, 52-42.
The Bearcats were fresh off a disappointing loss to No. 9 Sehome the night before, and played much more like themselves despite the 10-point loss.
“We played really well,” Bearcats coach Kyle Karnofski said. “We were tough and we were gritty. They’re deep and used their depth all night against us. We challenged the girls from yesterday to play more Chehalis basketball, and we definitely did that. It was a good game for us.”
W.F. West hung around with the Lions for a quarter, tied at 9-9, but were on the wrong end of a 33-23 run in the second and third quarters that ultimately spelled doom for the visiting Bearcats.
Julia Dalan led W.F. West with 14 points, and Karnofski praised Morgan Rogerson and Amanda Bennett for stepping in and playing well inside and out.
Though the Bearcats lost both of their games in Lynden, the back-to-back contests in a tough environment against state contenders will only help them down the road, per Karnofski.
“If we play like we did tonight we like where we can be come March and the end of the year,” he said. “It was good for us to come up here and see other teams, and we learned a lot about ourselves.”
The Bearcats will rest and recover over the New Year before returning to league play against Aberdeen on the road January 4.
