HS Girls Basketball: WF West Defends Home Court Against Shelton

1/17/25

WF West 70, Shelton 23

(Chehalis, WA) After three league games only two teams remained unbeaten in EvCo 2A girls basketball and they met in Chehalis on Friday night with first place up for grabs. For the Shelton Highclimbers, one year after finishing the season 2-17 and 1-11 in league play, things had changed drastically. Shelton entered Friday night 10-3 overall and a perfect 3-0 in league play. On the other end of the court, the WF West Bearcats entered the season with state title aspirations and have looked like a legit state title contender all year. However, the Bearcats first had to protect their EvCo 2A crown against a new challenger.

Right out of the gate the Bearcats were rolling and never looked back. Amanda Bennett and Grace Simpson each hit an early three as part of a 13-0 run to open up the ball game. As Janelle Krise and Olivia Swanson got going from beyond the arc in the first half for Shelton, Julia Dalan and Dilyn Boeck also got going for WF West. Dalan once again dominated in the paint but Boeck continued to receive long passes in transition from her teammates for some easy lay-ups on the other end. Everyone was finding their way into the scoring column for WF West as seven different Bearcats scored in the first half. While Shelton’s duo of Krise and Swanson hit four combine threes in the opening half, the Highclimbers had a big halftime deficit to overcome as they trailed 42-13 out of the break.

It was more of the same in the second half as the WF West defense continued to be impenetrable. Cedar Wily couldn’t get her offense going with Julia Dalan locking down the paint. Madi McManus ended up stealing the spotlight for the Bearcats in the second half as the sophomore tallied 11 points, all in the second half. Madi Baine also found herself points to give the Bearcats nine different scorers in the game. Shelton’s three-point shooting cooled down mightily in the second half and WF West ended up pulling away for the 70-23 win.

Our Thorbeckes MVP of the game was Dilyn Boeck for WF West. The sophomore had a tough night shooting but still put up 16 points with her sneaky transition offense. Boeck also put together a strong night defensively and had the play of the night with a behind the back pass to McManus who scored through contact to seal the deal. Boeck found what was working and stuck with it in this battle for first place.

The win moves WF West to 14-1 overall this season and a perfect 4-0 in EvCo 2A play. The Bearcats will look to keep that zero in the loss column in league play when they visit the Centralia Tigers on Tuesday at 7pm. Shelton drops to 10-4 on the season and 3-1 in league play. The Highclimbers have a huge week next week, beginning on Tuesday when they host Tumwater at 7pm with second place in the league on the line.

Scoring

Shelton: Janelle Krise 11, Olivia Swanson 9, Ani Bayley-Place 2, Ashlei Borden 1

WF West: Julia Dalan 17, Dilyn Boeck 16, Madi McManus 11, Grace Simpson 8, Izzy Teeter 7, Ellie Clinton 4, Amanda Bennett 3, Hadley Hoffman 2, Madi Baine 2

Link to watch full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required)

ESN Postgame Show