Just a few short days ago, nobody expected standout Montesano forward McKynnlie Dalan to be available for Saturday’s 1A Regional game against No. 5 Zillah.

That included Dalan herself.

“I didn’t even know until yesterday,” said Dalan, who has been sidelined since suffering a freak knee injury during warm-ups of the Bulldogs’ regular-season finale against Tenino back on Feb. 4. “(The knee) felt good. Our trainer (Whitney Champlin) did an amazing job taping me up and I have a really good brace, so I felt pretty secure. But at that point, I wasn’t focused on the knee, I was focused on getting the win.”

Was she ever.

With the Bulldogs plagued by foul troubles throughout the game — most notably to two-time reigning 1A Evergreen League MVP Paige Lisherness — Dalan was outstanding in leading Montesano to a 59-52 win over the Leopards Saturday afternoon at WF West High School in Chehalis, sending Monte straight to the state quarterfinals in the process.

Dalan entered the game at 3:22 of the first quarter with Monte down 7-5 and immediately made her presence felt. She tied the game at 9-9 on a baseline drive and score to kick off an 8-1 Bulldogs run to close the first quarter.

Dalan put Monte (20-1 overall) up 17-10 with a long jump shot to open the second quarter, but the Bulldogs foul troubles began to take their toll.

Tied at 17-17, Lisherness — who had scored six points in the first quarter and already had two blocks in the game — was called for her third foul with 5:30 left in the second quarter and was forced to sit on the bench the remainder of the half.

With both Lisherness and Dalan on the bench midway through the quarter, the Bulldogs were able to regain the lead thanks to some key plays from their role players.

Sophomore guard Mikayla Stanfield scored on a baseline drive and followed that up with an impressive leaping steal of an inbound pass and layup to put Monte up 21-19 with 3:50 on the clock.

After a Zillah timeout, Montesano senior Olivia Young grabbed her own offensive rebound and scored to put the Bulldogs up 23-19 with 3:23 left.

Montesano closed out the first half when all-league junior guard Jaiden King scored just before the buzzer on a drive to the basket to take a 30-24 lead into halftime.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano guard Jaiden King, right, is fouled by Zillah’s Talani Oliver while driving to the basket during Montesano’s 59-52 win over Zillah in a 1A Regional game on Saturday at WF West High School in Chehalis.

With both Dalan and Lisherness back on the floor in the third quarter, Montesano opened up a 37-24 lead in the first minute of the third quarter. Dalan opened the second half with a three followed by a trademark Lisherness bucket in the paint off a quick feed from Stanfield. Dalan followed with a score of an offensive rebound to cap the 7-0 run.

Later in the quarter, the Bulldogs took their largest lead of the game when Stanfield buried a 3-pointer to put Monte up 43-28 with 2:36 left in the frame.

But Zillah (16-4) responded with a 6-0 run to end the quarter to close the gap to 43-34 entering the fourth.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, a Montesano team that has dealt its fair share of adversity this season was dealt some more as Lisherness — who just re-entered the game after picking up her fourth foul halfway through the third quarter – was called for her fifth foul on the first play of the final period, fouling out with eight points in the game.

The situation got worse for Montesano when Stanfield was hit with her fifth foul with the Bulldogs leading 50-44 halfway through the quarter.

The Leopards got to within a possession at 50-47 on a D’Ana Esquivel breakaway layup with 2:20 left in the game.

Time for another one of Montesano’s unsung role players to step up in a big way. Bulldogs junior guard Jordan Karr, who was in the game only for a few minutes, hit a jumpshot to put Monte back up by two scores at 52-47 with 2:15 to go, losing one of her shoes in the process.

Zillah rallied to get back to within a bucket on a Kassy Garza 3-pointer to cut Monte’s lead to 55-52 with 28.9 seconds left.

The Leopards then fouled Montesano guard Maia Young, who hit the back end of her two free throws and followed it up with a critical steal on the Leopards’ ensuing possession with 9.5 seconds left.

Young was fouled and went back to the line, hitting 1-of-2 foul shots for a 57-52 lead.

Monte’s defense wasn’t done. King then stole the ball at mid-court and was fouled. The junior guard — who was visibly shaken up after receiving a hard foul to the face earlier in the quarter — buried her two free throws to seal the win and send fourth-seeded Monte into the state quarterfinals.

“We’ve had to overcome so much adversity that I think we just trust in each other and we knew that if the free-throws weren’t falling that someone would step up and get a big stop or a big rebound,” Dalan said. “Other people were going to step up and we were going to get the win.”

Dalan led Monte with 21 points and 15 rebounds for a double-double in her first game in 24 days.

The Bulldogs struggled from the line, hitting just 10-of-30 (33%) free throws compared to Zillah’s efficient 17-for-24 (71%).

But Montesano’s height was too much for the smaller Leopards as the Bulldogs outrebounded Zillah 34-27.

Monte’s defense also forced 34 turnovers and recorded 15 steals, led by King (6 steals) and Maia Young (4 steals).

The Bulldogs committed 24 fouls in the game — 12 in each half — as Olivia Young and Vanna Prom were also in foul trouble with four fouls apiece.

“I couldn’t be prouder of these girls,” Montesano head coach Mark Mansfield said, noting the season-long discussions he and his coaching staff have had with the team about being mentally tough during times of strife. “Everyday it’s something new. Today, we get the emotional lift of McKynnlie coming back and then we’re in huge foul trouble, which is something we haven’t faced all year. … People had to step up and everybody just played hard.”

With the win, Montesano earns a first-round bye in the 1A State Tournament and will open its state run in a quarterfinal matchup scheduled for 3:45 p.m. on Thursday against the winner of No. 11 King’s/No. 6 Freeman.

“My dream since I came into this program was to win a state title,” Dalan said. “It’s been our goal this whole year and to be one step closer and kind of taste it a little bit is amazing. I think it’s huge for our team going into the state tournament.”

Zillah 10 14 10 16 — 52

Montesano 15 15 13 16 — 59

Scoring

Zillah (52) — Widner 14, Hicks 10, Garza 10, Esquivel 9, Oliver 5, Gonzales 2

Montesano (59) — Dalan 21, King 9, Lisherness 8, M. Young 8, Stanfield 7, Karr 2, Prom 2, O. Young 2

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano’s Maia Young (13) defends Zillah guard Mia Hicks during the Bulldogs’ 59-52 regional-round victory on Saturday at WF West High School in Chehalis.