TOLEDO — For as youthful as the Adna High School girls basketball team is, they have been doused in praise and covered in good energy from their coaching staff this season.
Yet Chris Bannish experienced a first on Thursday night.
“I haven’t had to coach effort one time with this group until today and that bothers me,” the Pirates head coach said. “It wasn’t holistically our best game. Today, they didn't work and that was concerning to me.”
Combined with little energy and neither side shooting well from the field, it still was a one-possession game for a good portion of the second half. Until Ava Humphrey canned two triples in the fourth, part of an 8-0 run, that allowed the Pirates to scurry by the Riverhawks 38-29 on the road in a C2BL contest.
It led to Bannish to utter quite the statement once he exited the locker room.
“Everybody should get their money back from that game,” he said. “It was very lifeless. I understand there is mental fatigue… I like to see if they can respond and a couple did, a couple didn’t.”
Adna’s philosophy has always been built on effort and intensity. Neither qualities showed through 32 minutes of game action. Whether it was taking quick shots, missing defensive assignments or failing to crash the boards, no one in its locker room was visibly happy.
Which is the primary reason why the roster will lace up the running shoes in their next practice.
“If we want to be a team playing back-to-back-to-back in Spokane, then obviously we need to be in better shape,” Bannish said. “Tomorrow, we will just run.”
One silver lining?
The Pirates (14-2, 4-1 C2BL) still came out on top.
“We got to just learn to gut it out,” senior guard Rhylee Beebe said. “Any day anyone can win depending on effort and that failed us. You have to work hard and give 100 percent.”
Humphrey, one of the most consistent shot-takers from beyond the arc, struggled all night until Adna needed her the most. The senior buried two from the corner to turn a three-point cushion into 11. Alyssa Carroll made two free throws sandwiched between.
Beebe and Carroll scored the final four points from the line to hold on.
“I know if I kick the ball out to Ava, she'll hit those,” Beebe said. “I am proud of her.”
Toledo (10-4, 2-2) had plenty of looks, but never could get them to drop. From the second quarter on, it registered just six made field goals. It made five in the first stanza to jump out to a 12-6 advantage.
Guard/forward Ryah Stanley had seven of her game-high 13 points in the opening quarter, but was held in check afterwards. For the second straight game, she made a 3-pointer just before the buzzer that came too late to alter the outcome.
“Part of it was their defense,” Riverhawks head coach Brian Layton said. “I thought sometimes we had good looks and other times, we could have made one more pass for a better look. If you told me we (would) hold Adna to 30-some points, we could have won it.”
Adna’s secret weapon was unleashed in the second half – its 1-3-1 zone defense – and it flustered Toledo for a couple possessions. It came after the second quarter, where the Pirates outscored the Riverhawks 12-2, to lead by four entering the locker room.
Beebe’s layup, two of her 11 points, capped a 7-0 run to give the Pirates their first lead of the game with 5 minutes, 32 seconds left in the first half.
“Being the hardest workers is what makes (us good),” Beebe said.
Carroll also finished with 11 points and McKenna Torrey added eight. With wins already over Toutle Lake, Onalaska and now Toledo, Adna is in firm control for the No. 2 finish in the league and on track for a bye into the District 4 quarterfinals.
Still, both Bannish and Beebe know a similar performance will lead to an early exit not only within the district, but potentially in Spokane. Up next for the Pirates is a three-game week that begins with a non-league contest versus 1B Taholah on Monday.
“To be quite frank, all of it was a mess,” Bannish said. “To hold them to 29, I can’t be upset. It was a weird game and granted, it happens. I’d rather play bad and win.”
For Toledo, Kailea Lairson had six points and Sidney Kruger notched four. Post Ellie Fallon did play after taking a hard fall 48 hours prior to tip, but was held to two points off the bench.
The Riverhawks stretch to end the regular season doesn’t get easier with games against MWP, Napavine and Toutle Lake starting next Thursday.
“You have to show up every day,” Layton said. “Just take it one day at a time. Hopefully in two weeks, we are playing our best basketball. We feel like we can compete.”
