There will be at bare minimum one more home game for the W.F. West High School girls basketball team. If all things play out to its favor, the total number will be three.
Yet Thursday night was the chance to recognize a core group of seniors that may go down as the winningest group in school history.
Amanda Bennett, Ellie Clinton, Julia Dalan and Grace Simpson picked up win No. 281 of their prep careers in a blowout 89-24 triumph over arch rival Centralia in the second Swamp Cup battle that put the finishing touches on another banner regular season.
For the second straight season, the Bearcats (20-1, 10-0 EvCo) ran through the league slate with a perfect record. It’s their third consecutive league title – second outright – and the 20 wins is a new school record for the regular season.
“That was our baseline,” senior forward Julia Dalan said. “We are holding ourselves to a higher standard. It is really special what we have and to be able to rack up some more wins.”
The four seniors got the start alongside Dilyn Boeck and each of them contributed in their areas of expertise.
Bennett not only won the tip, but delivered dimes to her teammates in the half-court. Dalan notched a 19-point, 14-rebound double-double. Simpson scored 11 on three 3-pointers. Clinton got on the board and played stifling defense.
It was the build up of a timeline that goes back to seventh grade when Kyle Karnofski first got to coach those four. He’s been able to be their teacher and three of them were TA’s under him.
The emotions were evident.
“I’ve seen these girls go from being 12-year olds running around and giggling to 17-year olds running around and giggling,” Karnofski, the W.F. West head coach said while sporting a tie with funny faces of his seniors on it. “I can’t put it into words. They are awesome.
“They’re like family.”
What remains to be seen is if the Bearcats can ride the season-long momentum again. They were able to claim the Class 2A District 4 title last fall and went 1-3 in the state tournament.
If a repeat is in store, they’ll have to likely get by potentially three GSHL teams or fellow league rival Black Hills. As the EvCo’s top seed, W.F. West will face Ridgefield in the quarterfinals next week.
Back in early December, it was a 66-32 verdict for the Bearcats.
“They’re hungry,” Karnofski said. “They want to prove that they can earn it again.”
Even though it was senior night, Boeck stole the show.
The sophomore guard erupted for a game-high 31 points on six 3-pointers. She poured in 16 of W.F. West’s 30 first quarter points and 23 for the opening half.
“She is just starting to realize what she can accomplish,” Dalan said.
The game itself was a route from the jump. The Bearcats scored the first 22 points and reached 50 by halftime. The running clock ran throughout the second half and the 89 points marked a season-high.
Rhylee Beebe recorded 12 points for W.F. West and Kaitlyn Chloupek chipped in 10, both coming off the bench.
“I wanted to see us share the ball and we did a really good job of that,” Karnofski said.
Centralia (5-15, 0-10) saw a two-win improvement in Austin Danielson’s third year at the helm. Gone are seniors Chloe Bonomi and Payton Baumel, but much of the roster is expected to be back for 2025.
Which gives Danielson confidence the next step of improvement can be made.
“We did have some areas of growth and you want to start looking forward to next year as soon as possible,” she said. “The thing we really need to do is play a whole game consistently.”
The third quarter, despite the deficit, was a bright spot for the Tigers. They hauled in some offensive rebounds to extend possessions and made more field goals (four) than the first half (three) combined.
Baumel led Centralia with seven points.
“It is easy to give up in a game like that, but they didn’t,” Danielson said. “That’s the spirit you want to see.”
