When Onalaska hosted Mossyrock towards the end of the regular season, the Vikings handed the Loggers a four-point loss.
Onalaska coach Fred Sturza said that his group felt they let one get away from them, so when the two teams met in an elimination game on Wednesday in Castle Rock, they took nothing to chance.
“The intensity was there from the start,” Sturza said. “The guys really wanted this matchup.”
Onalaska built a lead in the second quarter and pulled away late, eliminating Mossyrock from the district tournament with a 67-51 win, one that puts the Loggers one victory away from a state tournament berth.
Onalaska led 18-15 after one, and it added 18 more points to push its lead to 10 entering the break.
“Defensively, we really started to find our groove at the end of the second quarter,” Sturza said. “We kept that intensity in the second half.”
The Loggers maintained their lead throughout the third, and added another 18-spot in the fourth to pull away for good.
Maddox McKinley played what Sturza called “his best game of the year on both ends,” posting 17 points, four rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Noland Brady added 16 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and three steals, and Haze Hamrick scored 12 points and brought down 11 rebounds. Austin Sturza added 11 points, including three three-pointers, Brodey Triana tallied seven points, six rebounds, three steals, and three steals, and Ethan Thayer scored four points to go with five boards.
“We moved the ball well and got everyone involved,” Fred Sturza said, while adding that the constant pressure forced Mossyrock to switch to zone. “We haven’t seen a lot of zone, so I was extremely proud with how we moved the ball and got some easy buckets.”
Colby Cournyer led Mossyrock with 20 points, and Shaun Fry scored 10 to also hit double-figures. Kevin Mitchell added nine, Aylan Bigbee tallied seven, and Ethan Johnson logged five.
Mossyrock finishes its season 10-13 and will graduate five seniors: Xavier Gomez, Carson Dewaele, Johnson, Fry, and Freddy Solis.
Onalaska (13-11) will now play Adna in a winner-to-state elimination game on Friday in Chehalis. If the Loggers win, they’ll advance to their first state tournament since the 2019-20 season.
