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Less than three minutes into a district quarterfinal against Morton-White Pass, Adna’s Rhylee Beebe was forced to leave the floor.
She had just popped up after a hard fall on a foul, and she was ready to take her free throws, but bleeding from a laceration above her right eye needed attention.
That instance minutes in wasn’t the only time the gash gave her trouble, but Beebe battled through the injury to lead Adna to a 67-43 victory and send the Pirates to the district semifinals.
“I’m always going to play,” Beebe said after the game with dried blood around her eye. “It’ll hurt after, but I’ll be good.”
The senior guard took over in the second half, scoring 15 points after the break to help Adna pull away from a Morton-White Pass team that was again giving the Pirates trouble.
Just last week against the Timberwolves, the Pirates trailed by nine entering the fourth and needed a comeback victory to avoid the upset.
Despite scoring the first 12 points of the game in the rematch in Centralia, the vibes were similar at halftime, as MWP had outscored Adna 29-16 over the final 12:24 of the first half to take a lead into the locker room.
Layna Sams hit a pair of threes during that stretch, Malia Armstrong tallied nine points, Ryelin Wiedenmann added seven, and Chevy Fuller pitched in six.
“They got fired up and they played hard,” Morton-White Pass coach Tim McCoy said. “They didn’t want to give up.”
Beebe scored Adna’s first bucket of the second half, and after a pair of threes from McKenna Torrey, she hit a three of her own to push the Pirates’ lead to five. After a timeout, she scored 10 of Adna’s next 12 points to push the lead to 15.
She missed some more time in the second half because of some more blood, but she popped back in moments later with a different jersey and a second butterfly bandage above her eye.
“I took it upon me,” Beebe said. “We’re not losing. It’s my senior year, and we’re not going home yet.”
The other Adna bucket in that stretch came from Taylor Johnson, who also added a three in the fourth quarter.
“I’m so proud of Taylor,” Adna coach Chris Bannish said. “Kudos to her. In a big moment at the district tournament, as a freshman, hit a three and a two out of the corner and changed the game.”
The Timberwolves hit four threes and went 7 for 8 from the line in the first half to build their halftime lead, but points were much harder to come by in the second half. They scored just 14 points in the second half, including just three in the final 10-plus minutes of the game.
Beebe finished with a game-high 24 points, a welcome sign for Bannish and his staff heading into the most important stretch of the season.
“She’s the one in the gym every morning at six,” Bannish said. “She’s the one every weekend training somewhere trying to get better. When you see a kid that wants it that bad, and it just won’t go, you feel for that kid. And then to see it, to see her shine on a night where she’s dinged up and she does all that. I’m super, super proud of Rhylee today. Without her, we probably don’t win that game today.”
Torrey finished with 21 points, including four threes, and Ava Humphrey added nine points. Alyssa Carroll scored six points, Johnson finished with five, and Kamryn Freeman added two.
Armstrong finished with 16 to lead the Timberwolves, including a pair of three-pointers. Fuller finished with 11. Wiedenmann ended the night with eight, Sams finished with seven, and Samantha Lougee tallied one.
MWP (12-10) will now face Mossyrock in Centralia on Thursday in the first of up to three elimination games. The winner of that matchup will face either Ilwaco and Raymond-South Bend, and one of those teams will play the loser of the Napavine-Forks semifinal for a state berth.
“I’m just happy with the girls to be competing with Adna,” McCoy said. “But Mossy has always been a tough team. They’re gonna be ready to play us.”
Adna (18-3) will play in the district semifinals against Toutle Lake in Kelso next Tuesday, Feb. 17. It’s the Pirates’ fourth straight appearance in the district semis, and a win would put them through to their sixth straight state tournament.
“I’m proud of us,” Beebe said. “I just love playing. I love my girls. We’re all family. We’re just ready to get back in the gym and work, and another game is just another time to play together.”
