ROCHESTER — History was made on Saturday in Rochester.
The Onalaska Loggers and Mossyrock Vikings played the lowest-scoring game in 2B Girls District 4 Tournament History, combining for just 50 points in a 30-20 Onalaska win.
The previous record of 57, set in a game between Naselle and Raymond, had stood since 2007, and the new record of 50 is the lowest mark in the tournament’s 47-year history.
After combining for just 21 points in the first half, the two offenses scored 22 points in the third. The fourth reverted back, as the two teams combined for just seven points in the final frame.
The Loggers and Vikings finished a combined 17 for 87 (19.5 percent) from the floor, and they turned the ball over 43 times.
Onalaska coach Alana Olson wasn’t thrilled with the way her offense struggled, but she was extremely pleased with the defensive effort that carried the Loggers to a victory and a district quarterfinal berth.
“It was a battle the whole game,” Olson said. “That’s the kind of defensive game we wanted to come out and play. We played hard enough on defense to get the win tonight in spite of our rough offense.”
The Onalaska offense did just enough, specifically in the third, just as Mossyrock had its best quarter out of halftime.
The Loggers hit 5 of their 12 shots from the field in the frame, which was enough to outscore the Vikings 12-10 in the highest scoring quarter of the game.
“I was really proud in the second half that we were getting better looks at the basket,” Olson said. “I was proud of my girls for just pushing through.”
It was the second time this week that the Loggers and Vikings had met, as Mossyrock topped Onalaska on Tuesday in the final game of the regular season.
Olson acknowledged that that result gave Onalaska some extra inspiration heading into the last few practices, and she said it was nice to get the chance to put the loss behind them quickly.
“If you’re gonna lose a game, it’s nice to be able to face that same opponent right away and fix what you feel like you need to fix," Olson said. “And the girls responded.”
Emalie Jacoby was the only player in the game to hit double-figures with 12, while Kaiyah Sandridge scored seven. Renzy Marshall and Randi Haight both added four, and Leah Hamilton scored three.
Mossyrock coach Nick Rashoff was equally pleased with his team’s defensive effort, but he and the Vikings didn’t have a victory to lean on to cushion the offensive issues.
“That was definitely not our night,” Rashoff said. “You can’t score 20 points in a district game and expect to win off that … We couldn’t hit anything. We just got sped up with the press again.”
Chesney Schultz scored seven to lead the Vikings, while Adyson Barrows scored six and Brooke Schwartz tallied three. Calliope Schultz added two, and Kendall Cournyer and Taylor Schwartz both logged one.
Rashoff added that his team needs to adjust better to the physicality of postseason basketball moving forward, and they’ll need to make those adjustments quickly.
Mossyrock (9-10) will play an elimination game against the loser of the Toutle Lake-Adna quarterfinal on Thursday at Castle Rock. In order to grab a state berth, the Vikings will need to win three straight.
“Gotta be better all the way around,” Rashoff said. “Flush this one down and get tough. We got our backs against the wall now, but we’ll see how we come out on Thursday, see if we can get a win, and take it one game at a time.”
In the top half of the bracket, Onalaska (15-6) will take on Raymond-South Bend in a district quarterfinal on Tuesday at Rochester.
