MONTESANO — Superb defense didn’t translate into a major upset for Raymond’s boys.
The Seagull girls, meanwhile, saw their own upset hopes vanish early.
Heavily favored Life Christian Academy pulled away late for a 54-41 win over Raymond in the losers bracket of the District IV Class 2B Boys Basketball Tournament Monday night at Montesano’s Bo Griffith Memorial Gym.
Raymond’s girls had earlier seen their season also come to an end in a 62-30 drubbing at the hands of Mossyrock.
Mossyrock’s girls and Life Christian’s boys remain alive in the double-elimination tournament. Raymond’s girls finished with a 8-15 record, while the Gull boys wound up at 9-14.
BOYS: Eagles 54, Gulls 41
Raymond’s boys had dropped their two meetings with Pacific 2B League champion Life Christian by an average of 41 points, giving up 82 in each game.
This time, however, the Gulls fiercely contested every Life Christian shot, a lesson coach Mike Tully said he learned from Morton-White Pass’ 62-42 victory over the Eagles in Saturday’s district quarterfinals.
“Morton-White Pass was very physical with them and we felt if we got physical with them, we could disrupt their offense and get them frustrated,” Tully elaborated. “We were able to do that.”
Unfortunately for the Gulls, the quick and talented Eagles used their athleticism to do some disrupting of their own. Appearing to rush several of their shots (“We knew they were athletic and (we were) trying to get the shot off before it was blocked,” Tully said), the Gulls hit only 22 percent of their field-goal tries.
Never ahead, Raymond drew to within a single point (at 29-28) on Marcus Anderson’s two free throws with 4:20 remaining in the third quarter.
Life Christian’s sensational freshman guard Omari Maulana closed out the third quarter by driving for a layin, then feeding Noah Robinson for another easy hoop. That gave the Eagles from Tacoma a 40-32 lead entering the final period.
The Gulls missed their opening seven shots of the fourth quarter. Not even a pair of Kaci Phansisay 3-pointers from well beyond the arc at about the three-minute mark could close the deficit under eight in the final period.
The 6-foot-3 Anderson concluded his prep basketball career with 19 points, 14 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Phansisay wound up with 13 points.
Maulana had 18 points and Robinson 15 for Life Christian.
GIRLS: Vikings 62, Gulls 30
Offensively challenged for much of the season, the young Seagulls sealed their fate by committing 19 turnovers in the first half alone.
Mossyrock converted many of those miscues into layins and also moved displayed good ball movement in its half-court attack.
The Vikings scored the game’s opening nine points. Raymond briefly responded, cutting the deficit to 12-8 on Ana Silva’s baseline jumper in the final minute of the first quarter.
The Gulls, however, mustered only two field goals in the next 17 minutes as Mossyrock blew it open.
“Our whole season has been turnovers and poor shooting,” Raymond coach Jason Koski lamented. “It comes down to not having a lot of experience and having to learn on the fly.”
Six Vikings scored at least eight points, with senior point guard Stephanie Fried scoring a team-high 14.
Senior guard Makenna Williams again performed admirably for the Gulls, tallying 14 of her 16 points in the second half. Freshman post Hannah Miller finished with nine points.
While disappointed with his team’s first-half intensity, Koski has happy with the second-half effort.
GIRLS
Vikings 62, Gulls 30
Raymond 9 2 7 12 — 30
Mossyrock 14 12 23 13 — 62
Raymond (30) — Williams 16, Mora 2, Harland, Silva 3, Miller 9, Doyle, Quintana, Warnstadt, Stepp, Fleury. FG – 10-36 (.278). FT — 8-16.
Mossyrock (62) — Fried 14, Andee Nelson 5, Grose 8, Moorcroft 10, Ava Nelson 8, Hadaller 8, Edgar 8, Cournyer 1, Schultz, West, Lovan. FG — 27-62 (.435). FT — 4-15.
BOYS
Raymond 10 10 12 9 — 41
L. Christian 15 10 15 14 — 54
Raymond (41) — Phansisay 13, Anderson 19, Hubbard 5, Souvannavanh, Collins 2, Koski 2, Maden, Enslow, Sida, Curtis. FG – 13-58 (.224). FT — 12-22.
Life Christian (54) — Overgaard 7, Maulana 18, Robinson 15, Shamp 6, Bitow-Woods 1, Shaughnessy 7, Novotny, Hall. FG — 16-49 (.327). FT — 18-31.
