Mossyrock’s Comeback Bid Falls Short in State Quarterfinals

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CLIPPED: The Vikings Nearly Completed an Impressive Comeback but Couldn’t Close Out in Loss to Garfield-Palouse

SPOKANE — Mossyrock cut a 16-point deficit to one in the final minutes but was never able to take the lead in a 40-35 defeat at the hands of Garfield-Palouse in the 1B state quarterfinals Thursday in Spokane.

It was a valiant comeback attempt for a Mossy team that looked like it might get run out of the building in the first half as G-P reeled off a 9-0 run to start the game.

As G-P kept knocking down shots, Mossy was struggling to get consistent buckets of its own as they trailed 13-4 after one quarter and 27-14 at the half.

The Vikings from Lewis County came out of the locker room after the half a completely different team, ripping off a 14-5 run to start the second half and cut its deficit to 32-28 entering the final quarter.

It was all part of a halftime adjustment by Mossyrock coach Autumn Moorcroft, who switched up the Vikings’ defense, which shut down G-P’s star player Kenzi Pedersen, who scored just four points in the second half after knocking in 20 in the first half.

“We did our job executing and keeping her from scoring in the second half,” Moorcroft said. “We just got some defensive stops and some momentum going, and that spilled over to our offense from there.”

Hailey Brooks — who finished with 10 points and six rebounds — hit a 3-pointer to trim Mossy’s deficit to one at 34-33 with 4:16 to play.

In a physical battle down the stretch, Mossyrock still trailed by one — 36-35 — with just under minute to go but couldn’t get any of their shots to fall in the final 25 seconds as they were forced to send G-P to the foul line.

G-P converted all four free throw attempts in the final 17 seconds to secure the win.

Caelyn Marshall led Mossy’s offense with a team-high 11 points, while Payton Torrey tacked on nine points, a team-high 11 rebounds and four steals. Delaney Marshall hauled down four rebounds off the bench.

It was a disappointing loss for a Mossyrock team that had hopes of having a shot at a state title. But they still have a shot at leaving Spokane with either a fourth- or sixth-place finish if they can win one more game.

“We’re still in it and we can still bring some hardware home,” Moorcroft siad. “The girls are pretty excited for the opportunity after last year with COVID and not being able to come compete; because we couldn’t build from 2020 when state was shut down. So they really want to build from this and they’re pretty motivated.”

Mossyrock now moves to the consolation bracket where it will face the loser of No. 10 Naselle/No. 1 Mount Vernon Christian at 12:15 p.m. Friday. The loser of that is out while the winner plays for fourth/sixth on Saturday.