It has been so long since Raymond has won a district championship in girls basketball that the last time the Seagulls hoisted the trophy their current coach was a student at the high school.

The current crop of Raymond hoopsters were not going to let the opportunity slip away.

Behind huge games from standouts Kyra Gardner and Karsyn Freeman, Raymond jumped out to a big lead and held off a late rally to defeat Chief Leschi 68-60 in the 2B District 4 championship game on Saturday at WF West High School in Chehalis.

It was evident from the get-go that Gardner was on her game, scoring 10 of her team’s 14 points in the first quarter, including two 3-pointers as Raymond took a 14-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“Kyra was awesome,” Raymond head coach Jason Koski said of the three-time Pacific League MVP, who also had 13 rebounds, five assists, four steals and eight blocks to her stat line. “When she hit her first three I said, ‘This is going to be good.’”

PHOTO BY KEVIN MILLER Raymond senior guard Kyra Gardner tied a season-high with 38 points in the Seagulls’ 68-60 victory over Chief Leschi in the 2B District 4 championship game on Saturday in Chehalis.

The Seagulls (18-1 overall) took a 34-24 lead at halftime as its offense erupted for 20 points in the second period, led by 12 points from the hard-charging freshman phenom Freeman.

Raymond held a 50-33 lead at the end of the third quarter and led by as much as 20 before the Warriors (14-4) rallied to cut the lead to seven late in the fourth quarter.

But Gardner hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final period to seal the deal as Raymond won its first district title since 1991 with the 68-60 victory.

“Anytime you set out to compete, you want to win,” Koski said. “You set out to try to make sure you are prepared, you plan and get the kids ready to go. … It’s pretty special. It s a nice group. They like to compete and they are fun to coach.”

Aside from the eye-catching games from Gardner and Freeman, Koski stated that he has a team full of student-athletes that take care of a lot of the “50/50 plays” and contributed to the championship in ways not seen on the stat sheet.

“When the ball is bouncing around, who is going to win it? … Who is going to step in and take a charge? … Who is going to keep the ball alive on a rebound?” Koski asked, rhetorically. “Those are important plays.”

PHOTO BY KEVIN MILLER Raymond freshman Karsyn Freeman scored 24 points in a 68-60 victory over Chief Leschi in the 2B District 4 championship game on Saturday in Chehalis.

One of those plays that mattered on Saturday was senior Grace Busenius taking a charge early in the contest on a play that Koski said “set the tone” for Raymond’s defense.

Koski also noted the play of sophomore Paige Williams, who was active on the glass with five rebounds and commended the high basketball IQ of senior guard Izzy Silvernail and sophomore guard Kyndal Koski.

“Izzy off the bench played great defensively and Kyndal really anticipates an upcoming play before it starts and because of it her reaction time is really quick to make a play on the ball,” he said. “Those are the kind of things that I look at that builds trust. Trust that they are going to do what they do that allows Kyra and Karsyn to do what they bring for us. It’s nice to have that mix.”

The victory will be a memorable one for Coach Koski, who wins his first district title in his 19th season as head coach.

“A lot of good things have to align to be in a game like this,” he said. “It’s cool to see it come to fruition.”

Raymond sits at the No. 1 spot in the latest WIAA RPI rankings, which should give the Seagulls a preferable seeding when the regional matchups are announced on Sunday.

Raymond 14 20 16 18 —68

Chief Leschi 12 12 9 27 — 60

Scoring

Raymond (68) — Gardner 38, Freeman 24, Koski 5, Busenius 1

Chief Leschi (60) — Mitchert 20, Gallegos 19, Pluff 14, Billie 3, Hudson 2, Mitchell 2