Prep Girls Basketball Roundup: Scores and Reports from The Blast Zone
From Distance — Oregon schools and Ilwaco get their seasons started
Jordan Nailon / blastzonenews@gmail.com
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Rainier hot from the jump at Catlin Gabel
The Columbians put up 26 points in the first quarter on the way to a 53-25 win at Catlin Gabel, Wednesday, in a non-league girls basketball contest to open the new season.
Lilli Dean put up 10 points in the first quarter and Cordi Biddix knocked down a pair of three pointers to help warm up the nets.
Dean finished with a game-high 26 points to go with nine rebounds, seven steals, three assists and one block. Meanwhile, Biddix added seven assists and three steals over the course of the game to go with her long range connections in the opening frame.
Taylor Johns added six points in the win and Nevaeh Owen chipped in five points with four rebounds.
There were big contributors for the Columbians who didn’t make a big splash in the scoring column, too. Miley Cook pulled down eight rebounds, swiped two steals and dished two assists, while Destiny McCay finished with a half dozen steals and assists in the road victory.
Rainier (1-) will host Portland Adventist on Thursday at 6 p.m.
Clatskanie marks return of ‘Dawn’ with win
The Tigers loaded up the bus with a new coach who was already familiar to Clatskanie basketball fans and picked up a 44-30 win at Warrenton, Wednesday, in non-league girls basketball action.
The contest was the first back at the helm for Dawn Warren, who returns to the bench for Clatskanie after nearly a decade away. Joey Sizemore did her best to ease the transition by posting a finely garnished double-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and four steals.
The teams wound up tied after one quarter at 11-11. Emma Stevens led the Warriors with 10 points.
However, Clatskanie’s offense got going in the second quarter to take a 31-27 lead into the intermission. With that momentum in hand, the Tigers continued to pull away throughout the second half.
Lacey Willis added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Tigers, while Olivia George just missed a double-double with nine points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
Clatskanie (1-0) will play at Gervais at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
Fishermen let lead slip away against Mossyrock
The Ilwaco girls basketball team jumped out to an eight point lead in their season-opener at home against Mossyrock, Wednesday, but could only watch it wash away like some castle made of sand in a 42-39 loss.
Sophia Bittner led Ilwaco with 14 points.
Despite the defeat, it was a night of pleasant surprises for the Fishermen. After several defections from the roster over the offseason, Ilwaco nearly had to scrap the entire season. Instead, they’re preparing to play this season with just 10 players overall and an alarming dearth of experience in the team photo.
“For the first time in 13 practices we went full five-on-five tonight,” Ilwaco coach Ned Bittner said. “I think we surprised ourselves a little and played pretty good for the first game out.”
After their hot start, the Fishermen led 21-20 at the intermission. However, the score continued to trend in the wrong direction, with the hosts trailing by one point entering the final frame and ultimately unable to draw even again before the final horn.
Maci Rashoff led the Vikings with a game-high 18 points. Chesney Schultz added 11 points for the visitors in their reintroduction to the 2B District IV party after spending the last classification cycle as a 1B school.
“The last four minutes of the game was lots of situational basketball and Mossy beat us in that area,” Coach Bittner said. “The responsibility goes to myself as a coach but we haven’t worked on much besides fundamentals.”
Taylor Morrison added 11 points for Ilwaco, and Ana Petry tallied six points. Nora Soule chipped in three points to go with a team-high 11 rebounds in the loss.
Ilwaco (0-1) will play at Naselle on Monday in the South Pacific County Showdown.
Just The Score
*Woodland 64, Kalama 29
*As previously reported by Blast Zone Media, here.
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