The Raymond Segulls began the defense of their district crown with a 60-41 victory over Morton-White Pass in the first round of the district tournament on Saturday in Montesano.

Both teams started off slow as the Seagulls (16-4 overall) and Timberwolves (6-11) combined for 10 points over the first four minutes of the game.

The Seagulls took a 15-9 lead at the end of the first period on a Karsyn Freeman jump shot with 41 seconds on the clock.

Leading 21-16 with just over two minutes left in the second quarter, Raymond went on a quick 7-0 run on a three by freshman Kassie Koski, a steal and layup from Freeman and a Koski offensive rebound and putback to take a 28-16 lead with 1:39 on the clock.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Raymond’s Kassie Koski is locked in on defense during the 60-41 victory over Morton-White Pass in the 2B District 4 Tournament on Saturday at Montesano High School.

The Timberwolves cut the deficit to within 10 at 28-20 on a layup by Malia Armstrong with 45 seconds left in the first half, but Raymond freshman guard Megan Kongbouakhay scored on a drive 20 seconds later to stake the Gulls to a 30-20 halftime lead.

“The first couple of minutes, that was not the team that we had been,” Raymond head coach Jason Koski said of the first quarter. “We discussed how you have to play 32 minutes and you can’t just choose when you want to play. You have to bring it, especially at the district tournament.”

The second half belonged to Raymond, namely Freeman. The 5-foot-6 sophomore guard notorious for her fearless, aggressive attack of the basket, did just that over the final 16 minutes of the game. Freeman drove to the bucket time and again, scoring 12 points in the third and 13 points in the fourth quarter to account for 25 of the Seagulls’ 30 points in the half.

Freeman ended the game with 31 points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists to lead Raymond.

The all-state candidate – who is only in her sophomore season – needs just 11 points to hit 1,000 in her prep career, which began as an eighth-grade starter and second scoring option to last season’s Gatorade State Player of the Year, Kyra Gardner.

Kyndal Koski added eight points, seven rebounds, four steals and two assists while younger sister Kassie Koski scored seven points wiht three assists, a pair of steals and a team-best 10 rebounds.

Both Koski sisters had scary moments in the game, with Kassie falling hard to the floor and hitting the back of her head in the first half and Kyndal downed by a sprained ankle in the second half. Both were able to return and remain in the game.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Raymond junior Kyndal Koski (12) makes a pass against Morton-White Pass’ Malia Armstrong during the Seagulls’ 60-41 first-round victory in the 2B District 4 Tournament on Saturday at Montesano High School.

Raymond had 60 rebounds as a team to 41 for MWP and committed 12 turnovers in the game, a number Coach Koski was not pleased with.

“I do think that as the game went on, we worked a little bit harder, but not as hard as we could or as hard as we’ve shown,” he said. “We had too many turnovers. You can’t turn the ball over. I don’t care what pace you play, you can’t turn it over and we have to be smarter than that.”

Koski added that his young team, which features four freshman and just a pair of seniors, will be tested at the tournament.

“We’re going to get a great challenge in the next game and I just talked to them that we have the basketball acumen, now do we have the mental part of the game to be able to play at that level for 32 minutes?’ … Every step to the right of the bracket is harder and harder,” he said.

The win puts Raymond into a quarterfinal matchup against Adna at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Rochester High School.

Morton-White Pass 9 11 11 10 – 41

Raymond 15 15 15 15 – 60

Scoring: MWP – Miller 20, Mays 8, M. Armstrong 7, N. Armstrong 4, Gilstrap 2.

Raymond – Freeman 31, Kyndal Koski 8, Kassie Koski 7, Kongbouakhay 4, Glazier 4, Williams 4, Baugher 2.

Other scores

2B District Girls Basketball Tournament

Rainier 62, Kalama 26

Wahkiakum 54, Chief Leschi 38

Toutle Lake 58, South Bend 16