For nearly the entire first half, it appeared as if the Raymond Seagulls dreams of a district title would end in the semifinal round.
But the Seagulls responded to emerge victorious, defeating Onalaska 51-45 in a 2B District 4 semifinal game on Tuesday at Kelso High School.
The Seagulls (17-1 overall) trailed the Loggers (16-5) after falling behind 14-6 after one quarter and faced as much as a 13-point deficit before Raymond head coach Jason Koski called a timeout with 2:00 left in the first half and challenged his team.
“I thought that was the turning point,” Koski said. “After a challenging timeout talk our kids changed their mindset and made a few key steals and buckets to get the deficit down to seven at the half.”
Trailing 26-19 at the break, Raymond carried the momentum into the second half, holding Onalaska to just 10 points in the third quarter while Raymond’s offense began to find its rhythm.
Led by 10 points from freshman guard Karsyn Freeman and eight points from senior guard Kyra Gardner, Raymond scored 20 points in the third quarter to take a 39-36 lead into the final period.
PHOTO BY KEVIN MILLER Raymond freshman guard Karsyn Freeman (24) drives past an Onalaska player during the Seagulls’ 51-45 win in a 2B District 4 semifinal game on Tuesday at Kelso High School. Freeman scored 16 points in the contest.
The Seagulls held the Loggers to just nine points over the final eight minutes of the game while hitting 6-of-9 free throws down the stretch to earn a 51-45 win.
Gardner scored a game high 24 points on 10-of-22 shooting (45%) to go along with 11 rebounds and three assists.
Freeman scored 16 points and added five rebounds for a Raymond team that outrebounded Onalaska 31-25.
With the victory the Seagulls advance to the district championship game for the first time in over 30 years.
“Great for our kids to be the first Raymond girls team since 1991 to play in the district championship game,” Koski said. “But the challenge of competing at a high consistent level for 32 minutes is ahead of us.”
Raymond will face Chief Leschi at 6 p.m. Saturday for the 2B District 4 title at WF West High School.
The Seagulls defeated the Warriors twice in 2B Pacific League play this season by an average margin of victory of 14 points.
Onalaska 14 12 10 9 — 45
Raymond 6 13 20 12 — 51
Scoring
Onalaska (45) — Lawrence 14, Sandridge 10, M. Hamilton 9, Cleveland 8, D. Hamilton 4
Raymond (51) — Gardner 24, Freeman 16, Koski 6, Enlow 3, Swogger 2
Seton Catholic 57, Elma 52
Elma’s season came to an end in the elimination round of the 1A District 4 Tournament with a 57-52 overtime loss to Seton Catholic on Tuesday as Seton Catholic High School.
Elma sophomore guard Emmie Spencer got the Eagles off to a great start, scoring 11 of her team’s 15 first-quarter points.
The Eagles (4-13) held a 31-30 lead at the half and — despite scoring just six points in the third quarter — led 37-33 entering the fourth quarter.
But Seton Catholic (8-13) tied the game at 47-all at the end of the fourth quarter and hit 7-of-10 (70%) free throws in overtime to pick up the victory and hand Elma the season-ending loss.
Janessa Sample and Spencer led Elma with 13 points apiece.
Aaleigha Weld also scored in double digits for Elma with 11 points.
Elma 15 16 6 10 5 — 52
Seton Catholic 15 15 3 14 10 — 57
Scoring
Elma (52) — Sample 13, Spencer 13, Weld 11, E. Sibbett 6, DeMoss 5, Waren 5, M. Sibbett 3
Seton Catholic (57) — Willis 16, J. Hammerstrom 15, Price 8, Bowyer 7, Clifton 6, Wall 3
SUBMITTED PHOTO The Aberdeen girls wrestling team dominated the competition in winning the 2A Region 3 championship on Saturday in Aberdeen. Nine Bobcats qualified the Mat Classic state tournament this weekend in Yakima.
PREP GIRLS WRESTLING
Gakin leads Aberdeen to regional title
Led by a convincing performance from Katie Gakin, Aberdeen’s girls wrestling team smashed the competition in winning the WIAA Region 3 girls wrestling meet on Saturday in Aberdeen.
Gakin breezed through her three tournament matches, pinning each of her opponents via pinfall in the first round.
“Gakes” as she is affectionately known to her teammates, pinned Tenino’s Trinity Tafoya at the 1:24 mark to claim the 190-pound regional championship.
“The Gakes has dominated her opponents all season long, remaining undefeated on the year with all stoppages via fall,” Aberdeen head coach Craig Yakovich said of his regional champion. “She just does it so easy it almost seems effortless.”
SUBMITTED PHOTO Aberdeen Katie “Gakes” Gakin, center, stands atop the podium after winning the 190-pound weight class at the 2A Region 3 Tournament on Saturday in Aberdeen.
Though Gakin was Aberdeen’s lone regional title winner on Saturday, it was the Bobcats depth that lead to the overall team championship.
Gakin was one of nine Bobcats that placed fifth or better in their respective weight classes, earning them a spot in the Mat Classic State Championships beginning Friday at the Tacoma Dome .
Bobcats Madelynn Machowek (100 pounds, 3rd), Emmersyn Yakovich (110, 5th), Rylie Waltee (115, 5th), Hailey Wilson (120, 4th), Felicia Bell (125, 5th), Raegan Portmann (140, 3rd), Aman Cheema (155, 5th) and Kya Roundtree (170, 4th) also advanced to the state meet.
Aberdeen scored 153 points to take the team title.
Curtis and WF West tied for second with 94 points apiece followed by Prairie (92, 4th) and Bethel (90) rounding out the top five.
“Another awesome performance by a bunch of wonderful young ladies,” Coach Yakovich said. “Now I have to get an extra van or bring a bus which is a good problem to have. These girls have worked so hard to get to go this trip to the Tacoma Dome and I’m just happy to be going along for the ride.”
For full tournament results, visit tinyurl.com/ycksv94c.
