HS Basketball: Dalan Dominance Leads WF West Girls & Boys Passed Mark Morris, Washougal

12/20/22

(Chehalis, WA) It was a great night for a double header in Chehalis on Tuesday night as both the boys and girls took the court to take on GSHL 2A foes. The girls rekindled their epic rivalry with Mark Morris while the boys took on fellow district contender in Washougal. It turned out to be a family affair as Julia Dalan and Soren Dalan dominated for the Bearcats as the Bearcats owned the night taking both games to build some momentum as 2022 winds down.

(Girls) WF West 65, Mark Morris 36

Game one of the double header was the girls matchup between two teams that met in three straight state championship games back in 2013-2015. While much is different about these two teams now, they both came in to the season with their eyes on Yakima come March for the state tournament.

The younger WF West squad came out and established their superstar sophomore in Julia Dalan in the paint. Dalan dominated in the first quarter and was closing in on a double-double after just eight minutes. However, WF West couldn’t pull away because of Isabella Merzoian of Mark Morris. The senior was on fire from beyond the arc as she scored all 11 Monarch points in the opening quarter. The Bearcats had a little bit more balance early and had a 17-11 lead after the first quarter.

The 2nd quarter saw WF West make a change on defense and it paid off immediately. The Bearcats put their senior Morgan Rogerson on Merzoian and Rogerson was able to slow her down as the Bearcats forced turnovers and mistakes by Mark Morris. On the other end of the court, Mark Morris put way more attention on Julia Dalan but the sophomore played unselfish basketball and started finding her teammates as Lena Fragner, Amanda Bennett, and Grace Simpson all started knocking down shots to keep the Bearcat offense rolling. At halftime, WF West grew their lead to 36-16.

Mark Morris got more of a balanced offense in the second half as other players started finding open shots and knocked down those shots. Natalie Mejia and Charlie Blain had more success in the paint which gave Merzoian some more open looks on the outside. Mo Harris came off the bench and while she didn’t score she played tough defense down low and did a great job on the boards for the Monarchs.

It was too much Dalan for Mark Morris to overcome as Julia came close to a triple double with points, rebounds, and blocks as she was swatting away everything in sight from the 2nd quarter on. Dalan also played a clean game only picking up two fouls on her way to a 30-point performance for the Bearcats. WF West solidified themselves as potentially the team to beat in District 4 as they finished strong to knock off Mark Morris 65-36.

Our Thorbeckes MVP of the game was Julia Dalan who just dominated on both ends of the court in perhaps her best game of her young high school career. The sophomore has already tallied more points this season than she did last year and is quickly rising up the ranks in career blocks for the Bearcats as she chases the Parker sisters in Jamika and Tiana.

WF West moves to 7-0 with the win as the Bearcats head to Lynden next week where they will take on the Sehome Mariners and Lynden Lions next Tuesday and Wednesday. Mark Morris drops to 4-3 and will be off for the rest of the year. The Monarchs return to the court on January 6th when they visit a league foe in Hockinson.

Stats

Mark Morris: Merzoian 21, Blain 4, Mejia 4, Noel 3, Garons 2

WF West: Dalan 30, Fragner 10, Simpson 9, Bennett 8, Rogerson 4, Deskins 4

(Boys) WF West 73, Washougal 53

With his sister already setting the bar pretty high, it was Soren Dalan’s turn as the WF West boys took the court to take on a GSHL 2A opponent in the Washougal Panthers. Both teams entered after back-to-back losses as the Bearcats lost by 2 to Battle Ground and then turnovers plagued them in a league loss to Black Hills. Washougal had two league losses as they fell by six points against Ridgefield and had a one point loss to Columbia River. The Panthers were without star forward in Holden Bea which was big as the Bearcats had a severe height advantage.

WF West had their Christmas sweaters on during warmups and they came out plenty warm on offense. In the first quarter, it was the Tyler Klatush show as he led WF West to a fast start. The Rochester transfer hit four three-pointers in the opening quarter while Washougal struggled to find their rhythm on offense. Parker Eiswald also got off to a hot start while Soren Dalan sat back and dominated the boards in the opening quarter with the Bearcats building a 21-11 lead.

After that opening quarter, Soren Dalan took over as the 6’11 senior started to find his groove on offense. Dalan cleaned up the few misses from his teammates and was then being fed the ball in the post on almost every possession. He would outscore Washougal by himself in the 2nd quarter when he put up 10 points and the WF West defense stayed aggressive and forced plenty of Washougal turnovers. While players like Sam Evers and Jack Dolan stepped up, the Panthers were just missing that leader on offense with Bea missing the game. WF West took a 36-19 lead into the half.

Half number two didn’t see much change from the Bearcat offense. Dalan stayed hot while Klatush and Lucas Hoff kept the perimeter shooting rolling for the Bearcats. They also cleaned up the turnover problem that proved costly in the loss to Black Hills the week prior. Dalan would finish with a double double with 23 points and 12 rebounds for the Bearcats.

The 2nd half did get better for Washougal however. Both Mather Minnis and Mason Darling found their groove on offense but it was senior Nolan Johnson coming off the bench and having an incredible half for the Panthers. Johnson was knocking down threes and attacked the glass as he scored 13 second half points to finish with 16 for the team high. Washougal also cleaned up their turnovers a bit but could not overcome the red hot WF West offense. The Bearcats would hold on for a 73-53 victory.

Our Thorbeckes MVP for WF West was Tyler Klatush as he knocked down six three pointers on his way to a 22-point game. The guard got the Bearcats off to a tremendous start and managed the game very well throughout the 32 minutes. Our MVP for Washougal was Nolan Johnson who was a spark plug for the Panthers with a 16 point performance off the bench.

With the win WF West moves to 4-2 on the season. The Bearcats will be back in action next Tuesday and Wednesday when they visit Sequim and Sedro-Woolley. The Panthers drop to 2-5 on the season and they will be off until January 3rd when they visit Woodland.

Stats

Washougal: Johnson 16, Evers 10, Minnis 9, Darling 8, Dolan 5, Frost 3, Sidwell 2

WF West: Dalan 23, Klatush 22, Hoff 10, Eiswald 6, Brumfield 4, Kelley 4, Lutman 2, Westlund 2