With the roster Chris Bannish has in front of him, there won’t be any shortcuts this summer.
The Adna High School girls basketball head coach is throwing his group into the fire and to this point, it has come out unscathed.
Behind some clutch buckets from guard Danika Hallom, the Pirates secured the 1B-4A Open Division with a 42-39 overtime victory over White River in the first place game at the 25th edition of the Hub City Classic on Sunday night.
“We’re playing who we feel is the best of the best,” Bannish said. “We’re going to continue to challenge this group because we believe we have a special group. I’m very proud of them.”
Adna had a chance to win the game in regulation, but a half-court heave from Gaby Guard was a half-second late despite it hitting nothing but nylon. Defensively, the Pirates stifled the Hornets in the two-minute extra period.
They donned their black championship t-shirts and posed for a photo afterwards.
“It is good to be able to compete with those bigger teams,” Hallom said. “We’re all trying to bust our butt and not wait around. We have to take this (seriously).”
Adna only played on Sunday due to graduation on Saturday. It breezed by C2BL rival Toutle Lake in the quarters and trounced W.F. West by 20 in the semis.
Leading scorer Karsyn Freeman played those first two contests, but did not play in the final game of the day. Still, the Pirates more than held their own.
“We executed many plays out of timeouts,” Bannish said. “I thought we grew up.”
For the first time, Bannish signed his squad up for the Curtis Summer League. Adna will routinely play bigger schools two times a week and get tested each time.
The reaction? One of readiness.
“(Being) 6-0 right now is really good for us,” Hallom said. “We know it is always for the better to play those bigger schools.”
Spokane ended up being a sour note for the Pirates, going 1-2 and falling short of their goals. With Margarite Humphrey the lone piece missing, there’s internal belief the 2024-25 season can be one to remember.
“It hit hard for a couple weeks,” Hallom said. “It brings the fire to want it even more. We want to finish on top.”
Napavine retools in first year of title defense
It wasn’t long ago when the Tigers were hoisting the Class 2B state championship trophy in Spokane, their first in program history.
Yet head coach Shane Schutz has already turned the page.
“Now is the time to get better at the little things,” Schutz said. “We’re getting to learn different roles. Hopefully by the end of February, we’ve gotten better and will play for (a state title) again.”
There will be some elevated roles for most of the Napavine roster, mainly in the rebounding department following the graduations of Keira O’Neill and Dakota Hamilton.
Hayden Kaut, the hero for the Tigers in March, is one Schutz wants to get on the glass at a higher rate.
“She’s got to do that along with her other cards,” he said. “It is going to take the summer and three-quarters of the season to get out of our hold habits and develop new habits.”
Napavine coasted past Mark Morris before falling to White River. The Tigers did not play a third game against W.F. West, having played them the day before.
The summer will be filled with basketball as they will travel throughout the west coast for tournaments, finishing up in California in a couple months.
“I love our team,” Schutz said. “They’re learning how to play a little differently and I like it.”
Key players gain experience for W.F. West
Without the court time of Division I recruit Julia Dalan and point guard Amanda Bennett, the Bearcats relied on a lot of their role players from last season on Sunday.
The quartet of Joy Cushman, Grace Simpson, Dilyn Boeck and Kaitlyn Chloupek all were constantly on the court in the two games that finished with a 1-1 record.
“Grace has had a really great start to the summer, I’m proud of her,” W.F. West head coach Kyle Karnofski said. “They’re all smart, they’re all very versatile and they’ve done well.”
Add in Tumwater transfer Rylee Beebe and there’s potential for depth in needing to replace two stalwarts in the lineup.
Cushman was aggressive in finding her shot from mid-range and behind the arc. Boeck drove the lane and Simpson showcased some corner 3-point shooting and some slashing to the bucket.
Karnofski is aiming for the depth to be developed over the summer.
“Summer basketball is all about building chemistry,” he said. “We had a pretty good weekend. We played tough teams so we can continue to get better.”
Young Loggers group building off postseason berth
Just two seniors departed Onalaska and after snaring one of the last spots in the Class 2B District 4 tournament, head coach Alana Olson is attempting to keep the momentum forward.
In doing so, her primary goal is to close the gap with the elite teams in the C2BL.
“As everyone knows, our league is an extremely challenging league,” Olson said. “Already from two weeks ago to now, I’ve already seen a lot of improvement.”
The Loggers ended up with two wins over the two days, beating River Ridge by five and squeaking by Mark Morris 33-31 in their final game of the event.
Both of those wins came against larger classification programs.
“Wins don’t matter this summer, we have to get better,” Olson said. “We have to play these tough games every single game.”
