Pirates Stifle Seagulls, Advance to District Semis

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ROCHESTER — After a back-and-forth first quarter that featured a frenetic start and plenty of buckets, the Adna girls basketball team stopped anything and everything Raymond wanted to do for the final three quarters of a 59-21 win in the 2B District 4 quarterfinals Tuesday night in Rochester. 

The Pirates allowed nine points to the Seagulls in the opening minutes, and proceeded to allow just four in the second quarter, and zero in the third to build up an insurmountable lead. Adna will advance to play the winner of Toutle Lake and Ilwaco in the district semifinals next Tuesday at Kelso. 

When Adna’s guards weren’t disrupting passes and creating turnovers, Raymond just couldn’t get many shots to fall with Pirate post Karlee VonMoos, and sixth-man Natalie Loose patrolling the paint. 

“You can’t win them in the first quarter but you also can’t get buried in the first quarter,” Adna coach Chris Bannish said. “What you saw was a gameplan put together with multiple looks based on our personnel. Natalie is our best defender, what you saw today from her was unbelievable and she deserves all the credit in the world.”

Loose didn’t score, but had five rebounds and created a lot of havoc for a Raymond squad that just couldn’t get going. VonMoos, meanwhile, did things she normally does, hauling in 19 rebounds and scoring 18 points, mostly in the second half.  

Brooklyn Loose added 14 points, carrying the load offensively in the first half, and Danika Hallom had 15 points and six rebounds. 

In a dominant team-showing on the glass, Kendall Humphrey also hauled in six rebounds. 

“We’re a team,” Bannish said. “Brooklyn had it going in the first half and she carried us, and then Karlee took over in the second half. I’m so proud of our staff and our team, everyone has a role.”

The Pirates will now get another week off — after just spending a week off with a first-round bye in the tournament — before taking on Toutle Lake or Ilwaco in Kelso with a spot at state and in the district title on the line. 

“It gets harder and harder,” Bannish said. “It’s been a month or more since we’ve seen either Ilwaco or Toutle Lake. I like and don’t like that we have a week off, but it’s really not a week off for this group, it’s a week on. This group is as good as we’ve had, they’re smart and you can see it on the basketball floor.”