1/23/24
With just a week and a half left of the regular season, the Evergreen 2A girls basketball conference has taken shape and while there are still a few spots to be determined, the picture became more clear after six of the seven teams in the league were in action on Tuesday night.
Game Scores:
WF West 78, Black Hills 33
Tumwater 56, Centralia 22
Aberdeen 43, Rochester 30
W F West
Black Hills
Tumwater
Aberdeen
Rochester
Shelton
Centralia
Featured Game Story
Black Hills 8 15 23 33
WF West 26 41 56 78
(Chehalis, WA) For the second time this season, the Black Hills Wolves and WF West Bearcats met in EvCo 2A girls basketball action and the Wolves were looking for a bit of revenge. Back on December 14th, WF West made the trip up north to meet Black Hills and were not good guests as the Bearcats grabbed the 59-38 win.
Things have gone good for both teams since that meeting as the Bearcats came into Tuesday’s showdown undefeated in league play and just two wins away from locking up the league title with a 13-3 overall record and 8-0 in EvCo 2A play. For Black Hills, they have surprised some in the state this season with a strong record of 14-2 going into Tuesday’s game and a league record of 7-1 with that lone loss coming to the Bearcats. A win for Black Hills would really shake things up down the stretch in the race for the league title.
However, WF West would quickly look to extinguish the upset bid as the Bearcats got off to a scorching hot start. It was really a two player show in the first half for WF West with Julia Dalan dominating in the paint like she has for the second consecutive season. The 6’3 junior has a variety of moves on the offensive end in the paint which makes her nearly impossible to defend which was the case for most of the game on Tuesday. While everyone in the 2A realm know of Julia Dalan, WF West saw a handful of freshmen join the team this year and they have all contributed mightily to the team’s success. One continues to standout and that is Dilyn Boeck. The freshman guard was the Robin to Dalan’s Batman on Tuesday and actually became the star of the show in the second quarter. A couple of big threes for Boeck lit up the crowd and really put the game in WF West’s control. Those threes also earned Boeck the Better Homes and Gardens Takin’ it to the House Play of the Game. Boeck and Dalan combined for 37 points in the first half alone to put the Bearcats in a very good spot.
For Black Hills, it was a slow start for the Wolves that put them behind the eight ball very early in the game. It’s never easy to stop Dalan and with Boeck having a tremendous first half, Black Hills needed their offense to keep up and while they eventually got in a groove, the deficit was already getting out of hand. Nat Buchanan did make a nice living at the free throw line as she knocked down her first three attempts and that seemed to wake up the Wolves a little bit. Tyler Venable then knocked down a three while Ashley Harris hit a couple of mid-range jumpers. The offense was starting to wake up as we went to halftime with WF West leading 41-15.
Unfortunately, Ashley Harris would go down with an injury in the opening half which left some big shoes to fill for Black Hills. That’s where Carmen Williams stepped in. The 5’11 senior actually did a solid job opening up the second half against Dalan. While Dalan was still going to score her points, Williams made it difficult and actually began to frustrate Dalan a little bit. Now Dalan made the adjustments to get her offense back in a groove again, but then Williams began to score some baskets on the offensive end. In the blink of an eye, Williams was up to eight points, which led the game for Black Hills. Claire Johnson also played well despite only having three points. She really shined on the boards, using her long wingspan to limit the Bearcats offensive rebounds. Kiley McMahon also helped Black Hills shake off the WF West press for the most part.
WF West was just to dialed in on Tuesday night. After only having three players score in the opening half, eight scored in the second half of the game. While Boeck slowed down in the second half, Lena Fragner continued to be a threat for the Bearcats while Joy Cushman added seven quick points. At one point, senior Carlie Deskins took the game over for the Bearcats, scoring six points as she constantly attacked the basket. In the 4th quarter, both teams emptied their benches as everyone got in the game for both teams. When the final horn sounded, the WF West Bearcats cut their magic number to a league title down to 1 with a 78-33 win over Black Hills.
Our Thorbeckes MVP of the game went to Julia Dalan. She was the most dominant player on the floor for either side and dominated both halves of the game. On offense, Dalan powered her way to 32 points and added 22 rebounds for a monstrous double-double while adding six blocks as well for the Bearcats. Dalan just continues to improve week-by-week which is a terrifying sign for other 2A teams as she still has one more year as she enters her senior year next season.
Dilyn Boeck finished with 21 points as well for the Bearcats while Joy Cushman had seven and Lena Fragner and Carlie Deskins each tallied six. Kaitlyn Chloupek, Grace Simpson, and MaKenzie Dotson rounded out the scoring with two points apiece.
For Black Hills, it was Carmen Williams leading the way with eight points, all scored in the second half. Nat Buchanan scored seven while Tyler Venable had five and Ashley Harris had four. Both Claire Johnson and Kiley McMahone added three while Lilly Kincaid scored two and Kayla Patti added one.
The win moves WF West to 14-3 and 9-0 in EvCo 2A play with a chance to lock up the league title on Thursday when they visit the Tumwater Thunderbirds in a game you can see right here on ESN. Black Hills drops to 14-3 and 7-2 in league play but still control their own destiny to get the #2 seed out of the EvCo in the district tournament and host a playoff game. The Wolves will look to rebound from the loss on Thursday when they host the Centralia Tigers. Both of those games will tip-off at 7pm.
To see the full replay of last night’s game, you can CLICK HERE. (Subscription required)
Postgame Show
BHG Takin’ it to the House Play of the Game
Dalan Dominates the Paint
Williams Hits on Tough Angle
elisportsnetwork.com
