Montesano’s run in the state tournament came to an end with a 59-35 loss to Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) in a Round of 12 game on Wednesday at the 1A State Championships in Yakima.

The game got out of hand early for the No. 11 Bulldogs (16-10) as turnovers took a toll in the first quarter.

Monte kept the game close early by playing a strong 1-2-2 zone defense and trailed 6-2 after a layup from freshman point guard Tieander Olson at the 5:41 mark of the first period.

But Olson picked up her second foul on a charging call 30 seconds later and had to sit. With Monte’s best ball-handler on the bench for an extended amount of time, the Eagles (20-5) took advantage.

Lakeside’s full-court press created Bulldogs turnovers and led to a 15-2 lead after an Ayanna Tobeck jump shot at 2:45 of the frame, forcing Monte head coach Mark Mansfield to put Olson back in the game.

PHOTO BY HAILEY BLANCAS Montesano point guard Tieander Olson drives against Lakeside during the Bulldogs’ 59-35 loss in a 1A State Tournament Round of 12 game on Wednesday in Yakima.

“They turned up the heat on us and we had people out of position as far as our press-break,” Mansfield said of the aftermath of Olson’s short departure. “You get comfortable with (Olson) getting by most presses and getting us into what we want to run. It sort of changed they dynamic and they capitalized and dug that hole a little deeper.”

The Eagles continued to overwhelm Monte and took a 22-2 lead on a three from senior Avery Haff with just over a minute to play in the quarter.

At the end of the first eight minutes of play, Monte trailed by 20 points and committed 10 turnovers, six on its final seven possessions of the period.

“They sped us up and we had a lot of turnovers in that first quarter, which led to easy buckets for them,” Mansfield said. “It just started snowballing. It was like a punch in the stomach and we just couldn’t catch our breath. … Everything that kind of could go wrong did there.”

Monte scored the first two buckets of the second quarter when Olson assisted sophomore forward Jillie Dalan for basket in the paint followed by an Olson drive and layup to cut the lead to 16 points with 1:02 elapsed.

But Lakeside responded with a 10-0 run capped by an offensive rebound and putback from point guard Rylee Darnold to go up 32-6 with just over four minutes left in the first half.

Monte sophomore forward Lex Stanfield splashed in a three, but Tobeck followed with a three of her own to make it a 37-9 game.

Dalan then scored with just under two minutes left to make it a 37-11 game, but Tobeck hit another response 3-pointer and Eagles post Lacy Crabtree converted a pair of free throws with 34 seconds left to put Monte behind 42-11 at halftime.

With the outcome all but decided, Monte came out in the third quarter and put its best foot forward.

Still playing against Lakeside’s starters, the Bulldogs played even with the Eagles in the third quarter by attacking the boards and playing a more active and disruptive defense.

Olson opened the scoring in the second half when she took an inbound pass from junior Ava Schrader under the Lakeside basket and scored a back-to-the-baseline layup.

Down 53-18 later in the frame after another Haff three at 1:32, a Stanfield jumper followed by a bucket from junior Ali Parkin closed out the third quarter with the Bulldogs down 53-23.

“We talked at halftime that there is no 20-point play that we can make. We just have to try and win each possession,” Mansfield said. “We played like we are capable of and that was a positive. … There is no quit in this group. They just kept battling and battling.”

Monte would outscore Lakeside 13-6 in the fourth quarter as the Eagles rested their starters.

While the Bulldogs won the battle of the boards 42-33, points off turnovers and 3-point shooting ultimately spoiled any chances of victory.

Lakeside scored 24 points off 24 Monte turnovers and went 9 for 24 from the 3-point line (37.5%) – seven in the first half – and was led by Haff, who scored a game-high 18 points and hit 4-of-5 shots from beyond the arc.

“They capitalized on our turnovers, which have been a problem all season,” Mansfield said.

Monte allowed Lakeside to shoot 50% from the floor in the first half (16-32) compared to 19% in the second half (5-26).

“Watching them on film we had a pretty good sense of who they were, but its hard when you don’t actually see them to know just how physical and quick they are,” Mansfield said of Lakeside. “They weren’t overly quicker than we were, but they were just more aggressive.”

Dalan led Monte with another double-double performance, scoring 14 points while grabbing 10 rebounds.

Olson added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Bulldogs, which saw their season come to an end with the loss.

Despite the loss, the future looks mighty bright for the Bulldogs as – being one of the youngest 1A teams in Yakima – Monte expects to return nearly its entire roster next season.

“It’s a huge experience to get on the court and play at the state level and feel the energy of the building,” Mansfield said “The pain of losing a game like today’s is you hope is it lights another fire under them to work and get better. … They’re disappointed, but I think they now have a better idea of what it takes at this level and that can only help us.”

Mansfield also offered thanks to the effort put in by his coaching staff and players.

“I just appreciate how hard all those girls have worked all year and (assistant coach) Kellie (Dalan), all the work she does,” he said. “The nice thing about them is they play really hard and they’re just a really good bunch of girls. They are fun to be around. Wherever we go (on the road) or at home, we try to have fun and play hard and they always answer the bell. I couldn’t be prouder.”

Montesano 2 9 11 13 – 35

Lakeside 22 20 11 6 – 59

Scoring: Montesano – Dalan 14, Olson 11, Stanfield 5, Forster 2, Parkin 2, M. Taylor 1. Lakeside – Haff 18, A. Tobeck 14, Darnold 9, Crabtree 4, Madi Cummings 3, Edwards-Kevin 2, B. Tobeck 2, Boykin 2.

PHOTO BY HAILEY BLANCAS Montesano’s Izzie Taylor, left, looks to make a play against Lakeside’s Bella Tobeck during the Bulldogs’ 59-35 loss in a 1A State Tournament Round of 12 game on Wednesday in Yakima.