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McClure, Tenino’s 6-foot sophomore post, had a dominating performance against Montesano, posting a game-high 29 points, 11 rebounds and five block shots in the Beavers’ 50-32 Southwest Washington 1A Evergreen Division victory over the Bulldogs on Thursday night at Tenino High School’s Brock Court.
“We thought about our seniors,” McClure said, “and we wanted to win for them. That’s what really got us going.”
In the varsity boys game, Montesano defeated Tenino, 56-51. The two teams are now tied for fifth place at 6-7 in the SWW 1A Evergreen boys standings.
McClure, normally a starter, sat the majority of the first quarter since all five seniors were in the starting lineup on Senior Night. She entered late in the first quarter and immediately began making an impact. The scoring total set a career-high, but her best all-around game of the season came last Saturday when she had 23 points, 26 rebounds and 18 blocks against Rochester.
“She’s huge for us – literally,” Tenino coach Wanda Blanksma said. “She’s come a long ways. There’s been a dramatic improvement just from the first half of the season as far as her touches inside.”
Tied at 22-all at halftime, Tenino stepped up its defensive pressure – with McClure controlling the paint – in the second half. Tenino held Montesano to just four second-half field goals, 10 points overall.
The Beavers (15-4 overall, 10-3 SWW 1A) went on an 18-0 run that began early in the third quarter on a putback by McClure and continued until Montesano guard Bobbi Fry nailed a jumper with 4:50 remaining in the game. Her bucket ended the Bulldogs’ (8-11, 5-8) scoring drought as Tenino’s lead bloomed to 20 at 44-24. Fry finished with 10 points.
In addition to McClure’s 29 points on an effective 14-of-19 shooting, senior Kaitlin Forest chipped in with 10 points – all in the first half.
With Onalaska’s 52-39 upset win over Elma, which already clinched the league title Wednesday, Tenino and Onalaska are now tied for second place at 10-3. Since Tenino has swept both games this season against Onalaska, including Tuesday’s 39-36 victory, the Beavers hold the head-to-head tiebreaker should they remain tied. Each has one game remaining; Tenino plays at Hoquiam Saturday and Onalaska plays Montesano tonight. A win Saturday gives Tenino the second seed. The top six teams advance to the 1A District IV tournament.
At 14-5 overall, this is Tenino’s best season since 2003, which was the last time the program made the state tournament.
Tenino got a late-season surge in the postseason last year and was one victory away from making the regional round of the state tournament. McClure said that experience will be a big advantage for this year’s team as the district tournament begins Feb. 9.
“We know what to expect now out of all the teams,” McClure said. “We know a lot of other teams out there have improved a lot, but so have we.”
CLASS 2A BOYS
River Ridge 67, North Thurston 63: The Hawks are in position to win their fifth consecutive 2A Evergreen Conference title after defeating the Rams. The two teams are now tied atop the EvCo standings at 8-3 with one game remaining. Should River Ridge and North Thurston remain tied, they will share the league title. Seeding in the district tournament will be determined by how the teams fared against the league’s third-place team.
River Ridge had a 22-point lead at 39-17 before North Thurston made a third-quarter comeback. The Rams cut the deficit to three in the final minute of the third quarter. The Hawks led by three, 66-63, with 2.4 seconds remaining before Tre Petty’s free throws sealed the victory.
Brad Wallace led all scorers with a game-high 20 points, followed by Micah Hardeman’s 19 and Howie Harper’s 14. Ben Broeker led the Rams with 18 points.
Meg Wochnick: 360-754-5473 mwochnick@theolympian.com
