SPOKANE — Mossyrock girls basketball capped off its season with a sixth-place trophy after taking a 57-48 overtime loss to Pomery in the fourth/sixth-place game Saturday in Spokane.
Though the Vikings didn’t end the season with a win like they had hoped, coach Autumn Moorcroft said there was still a lot to be proud of for a team that clinched the program’s first state trophy since placing third in 2008.
“The ups and downs of this season have been crazy,” Moorcroft said. “These girls have persevered and just really played their hearts out today. They left everything they had out on the floor. We had a couple baskets not fall for us in overtime, but couldn’t be more proud of these girls.”
It was another fast start for the Vikings, their second in a row after a 46-12 pummeling of rival Naselle on Friday to secure their spot in the trophy round. On Saturday against Pomeroy, the Vikings vaulted out to a 7-0 start to stun the Pirates early.
But Pomeroy bounced back to pull within two at the half with Mossy leading 24-22, then kept the momentum in the second half putting the Vikings at a three-point deficit with 1:15 to play.
After multiple missed shots by the Vikings down the stretch, it was junior guard Caelyn Marshall who stepped up to keep Mossy alive. Marshall drilled a 3-pointer to tie the game up with 10 seconds left at 46-all and send the game into overtime.
But an exhausted Vikings team, with four of their five starters playing 36 minutes, eventually ran out of gas as Mossy was outscored 11-2 in the extra period.
Marshall finished with 16 points and six rebounds, Payton Torrey scored a team-high 21 points with a game-high 15 rebounds to go with five assists and three steals. Hailey Brooks added nine points and four boards.
Mossy’s lone senior, Teaguen Weise played her final game in a Vikings jersey. Moorcroft praised her defense for shutting down Naselle’s leading scorer on Friday and defending Pomeroy’s second-leading scorer Saturday.
“I’m really gonna miss Teaguen and just her willingness to always compete and give it her all every game,” Moorcroft said.
What Moorcroft will remember most when looking back on this group of girls and this season is their resiliency and perseverance.
“They just continue to battle one thing after the next, and I told them, ‘You know, this will translate into life,’” Moorcroft said. “‘Hard things will come and however you push through that is how you’ll be as a person.’ And I think they’ll be great people because of the adversity they continue to fight through.”
