Wolves battle through first-half woes to top Clarkston, 52-46

In the first half, the Black Hills Wolves were slower in transition, slower to the ball and slower to tap in to the flow of the game than their opponents from the extreme edge of Washington.

In the second half, they looked like a team in a hurry to make some noise in Yakima.

The Wolves pocketed a 52-46 regional victory against Clarkson on Saturday at Centralia High School and advanced to the Yakima Valley SunDome on March 3-5 for the final-eight championship rounds of the Class 2A girls basketball state tournament

If it’s wilder over there than this one, it will be wild indeed.

“They’re a gut-check team,” Black Hills coach Tanya Greenfield said of her mostly young Wolves (21-3), who trailed by nine points at the half — the same deficit they faced against Washougal before coming back to win in a recent Southwest District game.

Junior Emma Duff scored 18 of her game-high 23 points in the second half, and freshman Maisy Williams had 10 of her 12 points after the break as the Wolves caught, passed and built a 12-point, fourth-quarter lead over the Bantams.

Even then, the Wolves couldn’t breathe. Seniors Jaclyn Meyers and Sequoia Swan led a 10-0 Clarkston run to narrow the gap to 44-42.

Senior Sammi Payne capped a subsequent 6-0 Black Hills run with a steal and a basket to push the lead back to eight points with 1:17 to play.

That was enough, despite an inability to shut the door at the free-throw line — between them, Duff and Lindsey Nurmi missed five straight from the line in the final minute before Duff made two for the game’s final points.

In the first 16 minutes, the Bantams of the Great Northern League seemed to get every loose ball, every close call and their hands on nearly every shot in congestion. They led 11-5 after one quarter and 24-15 at the half.

“It was definitely a physical game,” said Payne, who scored only four points but was at the heart of the Wolves’ stepped-up pressure defense in the second half.

“We had to figure out how to play through it and not get frustrated.”

The Wolves, led by the unflappable Duff and the 5-11 Williams, came out with fierceness after intermission. Duff scored nine points, Williams four and Nurmi (11 points) nailed a 3-pointer (one of her three in the game) as Black Hills went up 33-31 after three quarters.

Duff had six points in a 10-0 run to open the fourth quarter.

“I don’t overlook the fact that we’re lucky to have a player like her,” Greenfield said of Duff.

On Sunday, the Wolves will learn their bracket and first-round opponent.

Meyers led Clarkston (16-9) with 18 points.

2A Girls

No. 4 Ellensburg 65, River Ridge 32: River Ridge trailed 21-4 after one quarter and 36-15 at halftime on the way to a season-ending loss. The Hawks finish with a 19-11 record.

1B Girls

No. 3 Tulalip Heritage 54, Mary M. Knight 42: With only six players — including five underclassmen — on the roster, it was a shock that the Owls made it as far as the 1B state regionals at Everett Community College.

“To be quite honest, I did not think we’d be here,” coach Lance Valley said. “One senior, three eighth-graders? I’m just ecstatic for them to get here. That’s what I told them — you have a lot to build on.”

Valley’s daughter, Jaycee — who scored seven points — is the lone senior. Two freshmen and three eighth-graders round out the group.

The Owls put up 12 points early in the first quarter — all on 3-pointers — before the Hawks went on a 22-7 run to end the half.

Freshman Kaylee Sowle ended an Owls’ scoring drought that lasted nearly 10 1/2 minutes when she converted a steal into a layup at the other end with 2:01 to go in the half.

Sowle scored 12 points for Mary M. Knight and added eight steals. Freshman Mary Koonrad had a team-high 17 points.

But the Owls would never get within single digits after the break.

Adiya Jones scored a game-high 26 points for the Hawks — including Tulalip Heritage’s final basket with 30 seconds to play — to secure a trip to the state quarterfinals in Spokane.

This story was originally published February 27, 2016 at 7:59 PM with the headline "Wolves battle through first-half woes to top Clarkston, 52-46."