Prep Girls Basketball Roundup: Scores and Reports from The Blast Zone
One Step Back — Woodland, Mark Morris drop season-openers on the road
Jordan Nailon / blastzonenew@gmail.com
W.F. West leaves Woodland in the dust
The opening night of the 2024-25 girls basketball season left a lot to be desired for Woodland. Despite hanging tight with a highly touted W.F. West side through the first half, the Beavers were unable to keep up in the second half of a 63-31 loss to the Bearcats in Chehalis on Monday.
“We played great early,” Woodland coach Glen Flanagan noted.
Kennedy Bockert, now a sophomore, hit the ground running after an impressive performance at a preseason jamboree at Lower Columbia College last week. She led Woodland with nine points and 11 rebounds. Addi Christensen added seven points for the visitors and the Beavers trailed just 22-14 at the half.
However, that wasn’t enough to keep pace with a loaded W.F. West lineup. Dilyn Boeck led the Bearcats with a game-high 22 points. She scored 14 of those in the third quarter to help the hosts pull away.
Julia Dalan added 18 points for the Bearcats and now sits just 13 points shy of breaking Drea Brumfield’s career scoring record at W.F. West, set all the way back in 2022. Dalan will get her next shot at that mark when the Bearcats (1-0) play at Montesano on Tuesday.
Lainey Haden chipped in five points for Woodland in the loss, while Addi Stading tallied two points and six rebounds in the loss. Emma Barrow added two points and seven rebounds for the Beavers.
“It’s great to play a team like that,” Flanagan added. “We had them off balance and struggling, we just couldn’t make any baskets.
Woodland (0-1) will host Kalama for the 8-Mile War on Wednesday at 6:45 p.m.
Monarchs crash into Mountain in season-opener
A sour second quarter spoiled an otherwise auspicious start for the Mark Morris girls basketball team, Monday, in a 59-34 loss at 3A Mountain View.
Paisley Fraidenberg, a transfer from Toutle Lake, was the co-leader on offense for Mark Morris with nine points. Kiki Makaiwi also tallied nine points in the loss.
The Monarchs worked up a nine point lead in the first quarter but were outscored 24-6 in the second frame and were never able to fully recover. That effort was further hindered by the simultaneous arrival of cold and flu season, which forced starting wing Reese Johnston to sit out with an illness.
On the other end, Sveva Bernasconi impressed in her debut for the Thunder by scoring a game-high 21 points.
“Mountain View was pretty dang good,” MM coach Sean Atkins noted. “No. 14 (Bernasconi) on their roster is a foreign exchange student that we were not prepared for. (She was) was a stud.”
Mylee Thompson added 11 points for the hosts and Jadlyn Senderson scored nine points in the win.
“Their athleticism gave us problems throughout the game,” Atkins added. “Even when it seemed like we ran a good set they would find a way to cut something off and make it challenging.”
Kamrie Guizzotti scored seven points for Mark Morris, and Kadence Gorans added five points in the loss.
Pair those efforts with what Fraidenberg brought to the table in her first effort, and chip in the known offensive and defensive attributes of Johnston, and the Monarchs shouldn’t be down for long. After all, they set a high bar during a preseason jamboree at Lower Columbia College, and they intend to clear it sooner than later.
“Paisley Fraidenberg and Kadence Gorans both played well in the game,” Atkins pointed out. “Paisley was extra aggressive and got to the foul line, while Kadence did a nice job around the basket and rebounded well.”
Mark Morris (0-1) will have one full week to get right before playing at Woodland next Monday at 7:30 p.m.
Mountain View (1-0) was set to play at Rainier (Washington) on Tuesday.
Editor’s Note: Welcome to the winter sports season. Please enjoy this free content and consider becoming a paid subscriber today to make sure you don’t miss out on any local sports action and updates.