Montesano has no answers for Seton Catholic in district-title loss

Published 7:15 am Monday, February 23, 2026

Montesano played pretty evenly with Seton Catholic for three quarters.

The one quarter they didn’t turned out to be the difference.

The Bulldogs saw the Cougars pull away in the second quarter and never recovered en route to a 53-36 loss in the 1A District 4 championship game on Saturday at Centralia High School.

The Bulldogs (15-8) and Cougars (20-2) played even through the first eight minutes of the game and Montesano led 15-10 on a basket by junior Makena Blancas with two minutes gone in the second quarter.

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But Seton Catholic’s size became too much over the final six minutes of the first half. Led by 13 consecutive points from 6-foot senior forward Riley Seymer, the Cougars closed out the half on a 18-0 run to take a 28-15 lead into halftime.

“I fell like we kind of got a little tired defensively and our offense slowed down as well,” Monte head coach Mark Mansfield said. “We did a fine job against their pressure (defense), but because we quit moving and cutting like we were in the first quarter, we weren’t getting any open looks and second chances. They kept us off the offensive glass. … We took a few shots early that we didn’t need too.”

Monte trailed by as much as 22 points in the second half before cutting into the lead thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers from Blancas and senior forward Jillie Dalan late in the third quarter.

Blancas hit two free throws followed by a baseline jumper to pull Monte to within 15 at 45-30 at the end of three quarters of play.

“We did a better job and hit some shots,” Mansfield said. “We just never could quite get a little run going in the second half.”

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Monte would get no closer in the fourth quarter as the Bulldogs would suffer their second straight district-title game defeat at the hands of the Cougars.

“They’re very good,” Mansfield said of Seton Catholic. “When we made mistakes they took advantage of it. … We battled and if you throw out that second quarter, it’s a very even game.”

Monte was led by Dalan with 13 points and nine rebounds despite fouling out with more than five minutes to play in the fourth quarter.

Blancas had 12 points, including 5 of 6 from the charity stripe (83%), and four steals for Montesano.

The Bulldogs shot 29% from the field on 12-of-41 shooting and made 9-of-12 free throws (75%).

Seton Catholic held a 30-21 rebounding advantage, including 14-5 on the offensive glass, and had 14 turnovers to 21 for Montesano.

The Bulldogs are the No. 13 team heading into the 1A State Tournament and will face No. 12 Cedar Park Christian in an elimination game at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Bellevue College (subject to change).

Seton Catholic 10 18 17 8 – 53

Montesano 10 5 15 6 – 36

Scoring: SC – Seymer 24, Figueroa 10, Jackson 8, E. Whitehouse 8. Montesano – Dalan 13, Blancas 12, Perry 4, Busz 4, Kaivo-Houlton 2, Wintrip 1.