One day after the hopes of a state title slipped through their fingers, the Montesano Bulldogs’ season came to a bittersweet end.

Montesano struggled to find much offense in suffering a 49-38 defeat to the Freeman Scotties in the 1A State Tournament consolation round on Friday in Yakima.

For the second-straight game of the tournament, the Bulldogs (22-6 overall) seemed out of sorts, committing 29 turnovers and never stringing enough plays together to contend against the 9th-seeded Scotties (21-6).

The Bulldogs took an early 3-0 lead when senior forward McKynnlie Dalan led off with a 3-pointer on the first possession of the contest.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano senior forward McKynnlie Dalan puts up a shot during the Bulldogs’ 49-68 loss to Freeman in a 49-38 loss in a 1A State consolation-round game on Friday at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

But as was the case for Montesano throughout the state tournament, points were hard to come by.

The Bulldogs failed to hit another shot from the floor through the remainder of the period to trail 12-7 after the first eight minutes of play.

Monte trailed 16-11 when Dalan picked up her third foul and had to go to the bench with 2:39 left in the first half.

A pair of free throws by senior guard Jaiden King cut the deficit to 16-12 with just over two minutes to go in the second quarter, but Freeman’s Taylor Denenny splashed in back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead back up to double-digits at 22-12 with under a minute to go in the half.

The two teams traded free throws as Freeman held a 24-14 lead at the break.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano senior Jaiden King (5) passes around Freeman’s JC Goldsmith during the Bulldogs’ 49-68 loss in a 49-38 loss in a 1A State consolation-round game on Friday at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

“There were times when we had a break and we just couldn’t connect on a pass and if you get those easy ones it just relaxes everybody,” Montesano head coach Mark Mansfield said. “They did a good job of bottling up the middle and for some reason our spacing wasn’t good the last couple of days. … When our offense was a little off, it also affected our defense. We played good defense, but there were some times when we were chasing a little bit more than we want to.”

After shooting 26.3% from the floor on 5-of-19 shooting in the first half, Montesano’s offensive issues continued through the third frame.

After a bucket in the paint from Monte freshman Evanjillie “Jillie” Dalan cut the Scotties’ lead to 26-16 with 5:52 to go in the third quarter, Freeman went on a 7-0 run capped by a JC Goldsmith three to put the Bulldogs in a 33-16 hole.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano freshman Jillie Dalan is fouled by Freeman’s Jaycee Goldsmith (23) during the Bulldogs’ 49-68 loss in a 49-38 loss in a 1A State consolation-round game on Friday at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

Monte didn’t break 20 points until a McKynnlie Dalan free throw made the score 35-20 with 31.1 seconds left in the period.

Montesano trailed by as much and 18 points in the fourth quarter when Goldsmith hit a turnaround jumper to extend Freeman’s lead to 43-25 with 5:45 to go.

Monte got the lead down to 11 at 47-16 on a McKynnlie Dalan steal and layup with 1:30 to go, but it was far too little, far too late as the 4th-seeded Bulldogs saw their season come to an end with the loss.

“We just seemed a little off all week here,” Mansfield said. “Our effort was there, we battled. … Our defense was good enough today to do the job, but we’ve got to score some points.”

McKynnlie Dalan and Jillie Dalan led Monte with 13 and 11 points, respectively, and Monte won the boards 25-21, with McKynnlie Dalan leading all players with nine rebounds.

The Bulldogs defense held Freeman to 36.2% from the floor on 12-of-58 shooting and allowed the Scotties no more than 12 points in each of the first three quarters.

But the Bulldogs offense managed just 20 points through the first three periods, went 16 for 47 from the field (34%) and had 29 turnovers that led to 31 Freeman points.

“We talk about the little things and that the details are big,” Mansfield said. “We always tell our girls, ‘We’re not going to be perfect, but if you make a mistake, they’ll take advantage.’ And they took advantage when we made a mistake today.”

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano junior Mikayla Stanfield (10) shoots against Freeman’s Taylor Denenny during the Bulldogs’ 49-68 loss in a 49-38 loss in a 1A State consolation-round game on Friday at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

The loss ends the season for a group of seniors that either won or tied for the 1A Evergreen League title each of the past four years, won three 1A District 4 championships and made it to Yakima the past two seasons.

Monte losses a senior-heavy group that include McKynnlie Dalan, King, Vanna Prom, Jordan Karr, Hannah Bruland, Maia Young and Addie Winter.

“What they’ve done is incredible. The effort they give on a daily basis, it’s a coaches dream,” Mansfield said. “It’s really fun when the group you are coaching, you don’t have to ask them to work hard, they always work hard. They play hard all the time. This group has put us on the map as far as being talked about as being one of the top teams at the state. We knew coming here that every team was going to be good and we saw that up close and personal. I think we also showed we can compete and played tough competition to get here. I just can’t say enough about how proud I am and what an honor it is to work with them every day.”

Montesano 7 7 6 18 – 38

Freeman 12 12 11 14 – 49

Scoring: Montesano – M. Dalan 13, E. Dalan 11, King 6, Stanfield 2, Prom 2, Young 2, Schrader 2. Freeman – Goldsmith 16, Denenny 11, Phelps 10, Chadduck 8, Phillips 2, Semprimoznik 2.