Facing a non-league matchup against Mark Morris out of the 2A Greater St. Helens League for its final home game of the calendar year, the W.F. West girls basketball team knew it was getting a possible early-season prologue to the district tournament.
“It was one of our keys,” W.F. West coach Kyle Karnofski said. “This was going to be a potential district matchup, whatever seed it might be or what the placing situation is. We talked about how this shows us what the other league looks like, and it shows them who we are as well.”
Four quarters and a 65-36 blowout by the Bearcats later, and the Monarchs possibly learned a bit more than they may have liked.
In particular, they probably were less than thrilled with their introduction to sophomore Julia Dalan, who did mostly as she pleased en route to a career-high 30 points.
“She did a good job finishing, she had a lot of girls around her,” Karnofksi said. “She did a good job of being patient at times, and not forcing and fading. She really took control of it when she caught it, and made sure she was balanced.”
Dalan finished 12 for 16 from the field and 4 for 4 from the free-throw line. She hit her first five shots of the night and nearly matched the Monarchs by herself in the first half, even burying a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired in the second quarter.
That second period saw the Monarchs dedicate just about all of their defensive attention to the 6-foot-3 post, and while she only scored five points in the quarter, it opened the shooting lanes for her teammates, like sophomore Amanda Bennett, who hit a pair of pull-up jumpers off screens and finished with eight points in the game.
“That’s about the most aggressive she’s been in a long time for us,” Karnofski said. “She did a good job.”
Lena Fragner added 10 points of her own and Grace Simpson had nine. With the jumpers falling and the guards finding the bucket, soon Mark Morris had to switch its defense again, and come the third quarter, Dalan was getting just about everything she wanted down low.
On the other end, W.F. West’s adjustments went a bit better. The Bearcats forced five turnovers in the first quarter, but the Monarchs stayed in it thanks to senior sharpshooter Isabella Merzoian, who hit three nearly-identical 3-pointers from the corner and scored all of her team’s 11 points in the first eight minutes.
Starting in the second, Morgan Rogerson stepped up against her, and she only made three field goals the rest of the evening.
“I’m really proud of Morgan Rogerson defensively,”Karnofski said. “She normally scores a little bit more, but defensively we kind of leaned on her to make that adjustment and make that switch, and she really did a good job.”
Rogerson also came down with four offensive rebounds, and just about the entire Monarch defense swarmed to Dalan to box her out as one. Bennett added five rebounds on the defensive side of the ball, while Dalan still finished with a team-high seven.
W.F. West is slated to end its year up north at a tournament hosted by Lynden next week. The Bearcats will take on Sehome next Tuesday, then face the Lions — who they beat in a loser-out game at the 2A state tournament last year — on Wednesday.
