YAKIMA – When W.F. West High School’s girls basketball coach Kyle Karnofski read off the box score, his star player didn’t believe it.
Because Julia Dalan was tunnel-visioned on other things that transpired Wednesday morning.
“I was focusing more on my misses and I felt like I was missing a lot,” Dalan said. “I just need to make one.”
It’s soaked in now. The case for Dalan to record one of the best games in the history of the Class 2A state tournament can officially start being made.
The 6-foot-3 junior forward posted 33 points and snared 25 rebounds, the most ever by an individual in a single tournament game, to lead the third-seeded Bearcats past West Valley Spokane 61-40 in a Round of 12 contest inside the Yakima Valley SunDome.
“If I’m being honest, I was pretty surprised to read my stats,” Dalan said. “I feel really blessed and happy to get (the record). We came in with the mindset that there was no doubt we weren’t going to win.”
It sets up a top-four seed showdown in the quarterfinals on Thursday morning at 9 a.m. between W.F. West (21-4) and fourth-seeded Prosser. It will be the third consecutive time these two programs meet in Yakima.
“There’s things about the state tournament: Defense travels, inside games travel, good guard play travels,” Karnofski stated. “That’s a good recipe and I think we had that for a majority of the game.”
Dalan’s staggering number of boards – 13 defensive and 12 offensive – breaks the previous record of 20 that five players share. Toryi Midland of Washougal was the last to do it in 2017 against Wapato.
Now, that record solely belongs to Dalan.
“When she gets going, she’s really good around the rim,” Karnofski said. “She put in the work, she did a lot for us. She probably could have had more (rebounds).”
That wasn’t the only statline that will go into the tournament history books.
Dalan became the sixth player in 2A to make 14 field goals and she broke the record for most field goals attempted with 32. The tallest player on the court also swatted away six shots.
Statistically, Dalan called it her best game of the season.
“Especially during league (games) when I’m not playing as much, you’re playing better competition and you have to work a lot harder,” she said. “It goes hand-in-hand.”
The eyes on the box score will point directly at Dalan, but this was far from a one-woman performance.
Freshman guard Dilyn Boeck settled W.F. West with a personal 6-0 run that put them up 11-7 six minutes into the game. Joy Cushman, another freshman, put the Bearcats up 12 in the second stanza with seven straight points.
“It was the boost that we needed,” Dalan said. “All the freshmen, they find the right times to score. That gave us that confidence we needed to go into the second half.”
West Valley’s Chloe DeHaro, the top scorer for the Eagles, finished with 20 points, but on just 4-of-20 from the field. She was 11-for-11 from the free throw line.
It was Lena Fragner that was given the assignment and she embraced it.
“That needs to be in the newspaper,” Karnofski said. “That girl played her butt off. I’m super proud of her.”
Even when West Valley cut the margin to 10 points midway through the third quarter, there was no panic by W.F. West.
Dalan scored five in a row, Cushman connected on a layup then Kaitlyn Chloupek buried a dagger 3-pointer that encompassed the majority of a 12-0 outburst to seize control of the game.
“There wasn’t any panic, we just needed to lock in,” Dalan said. “We’re at state, we’re playing good teams.”
Boeck finished with 11 points and Cushman chipped in nine. Carlie Deskins paced the Bearcats with four assists while Amanda Bennett came away with three steals.
The Bearcats are going to have a walkthrough practice Wednesday to scout and scheme against Prosser. Dalan stated the Mustangs play fast and a completely different style than they do.
Still, W.F. West doesn’t want to fall into the same trap Archbishop Murphy set last week. The Bearcats don’t plan on letting their opponent dictate them.
“It will be a bit of adjustment,” Dalan said. “It seems dumb, but it is a mindset thing. We’re not going to be up 20 in the first quarter, it will be a close game.”
