HS Girls Basketball: WF West Survives Early Season Showdown with White River

12/13/22

WF West 48, White River 40

(Chehalis, WA) Early season high school basketball is always a feeling out process for teams as they prepare for league play. It is rare to see two non-league teams square off with one another with both having legitimate state title aspirations. That made the Tuesday night showdown between the White River Hornets and WF West Bearcats so much more special as both teams are consensus top 10 squads in the 2A classification.

Both teams rolled into the December matchup undefeated and utilizing aggressive and tenacious defense to keep their loss columns unscathed. The defenses cause plenty of havoc and chaos in the game, but it would be WF West’s balanced offense that made the difference as they knocked off White River 48-40.

The 1st quarter was very back and forth with both teams committing a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes. Full court press was the norm for both sides in the opening quarter and the difference make in 6’3 Julia Dalan for WF West picked up two fouls in the first quarter which caused her to miss a chunk of the opening quarter. Josie Jacobs and Vivian Kingston led the way offensively for White River, but a late three pointer by Lena Fragner gave WF West a 13-10 lead after one quarter.

The 2nd quarter saw White River continue to cause trouble for WF West while the Hornets also got things going on offense. Ava Bright got going inside the arc knocking down three straight jumpers to put the Hornets out in front. Morgan and Ally Green also added in some points while the Bearcats could not get anything going on their offensive end. WF West managed just two points in the 2nd and both came from the free throw line. Dalan cleaned things up on defense without picking up another foul but adding four blocked shots to keep it close but White River took a 22-15 lead into halftime.

Whatever head coach Kyle Karnofski told the Bearcats at halftime seemed to wake up the young squad. Julia Dalan lit up the scoreboard after only scoring two first half points. In the blink of an eye she had seven in the first minute and change of the 3rd quarter alone. Bright and Kingston both kept things going on offense for the Hornets, but they had no answer for Dalan on defense until she picked up her fourth foul with a couple minutes left in the 3rd. While Carlie Deskins stayed as consistent as always, it would be Lena Fragner coming up with the big play for the Bearcats. Fragner hits a deep two while drawing the foul and hitting the free throw for a three-point play to fire up the Chehalis crowd. That gave WF West a 38-36 lead heading into the final quarter.

Neither team got much of anything going from the field in the final quarter, but the Bearcats found a bit more success. It would be the lone senior for WF West in Morgan Rogerson catching fire from the free throw line as she hit her final five free throws while the Bearcat defense held White River to just four 4th quarter points to put a bow on a big early season win for WF West 48-40.

This was an incredible early season game and there was nothing but heart and fight from all players on the court for both sides. It was a state caliber game in December. Our Thorbeckes MVP was WF West’s Morgan Rogerson who had 11 points and was great from the free throw line going 7-10. Rogerson also did a great job playing in the post with Dalan in foul trouble and she did a great job of minimizing White River’s offensive rebounds and limiting their points in the paint. To win games like this, a team needs their senior to step up and Rogerson did just that.

With the win, WF West moves to 5-0 and will get back to league play on Thursday when they take on Black Hills. White River drops to 3-1 and will look to bounce back on Wednesday when they host Foss.