Willapa Valley will have to battle through the elimination rounds to reach the state tournament after a 35-28 loss to Mossyrock in a 1B District 4 semifinal game on Monday at Mossyrock High School.

The Vikings (13-12 overall) couldn’t find much offense against top-seeded Mossyrock (15-6). While Valley shot a respectable 37.5% from the field, it took far too few shots, hitting 12 for 32 in the game.

Mossyrock actually shot far worse based on percentages, hitting on just 19% from the field, but took 62 shots in the game and converted 12.

Valley’s defense held Mossyrock to 5 of 33 from 3-point range (15%) and allowed just one player – junior post Delaney Marshall – to score in double figures with 13 points.

But 22 turnovers and the sheer volume of Mossyrock’s offense turned out to be too much for Valley to overcome.

“They just took a lot more shots than us and that will win you the game,” Valley head coach Dawn Keeton said. “They are a very fast team. … They only made five (threes), but when you take 33 of them, you’re going to make more.”

Valley went 4 of 9 from beyond the arc (44%).

Willapa Valley senior post Hadlee Russell had a game-high 16 points and “played a really good game inside,” according to Coach Keeton.

“We just couldn’t convert enough possessions into points,” Coach Keeton added.

With the loss, Valley takes on Naselle in an elimination game at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Hoquiam High School.

Willapa Valley 7 7 8 6 – 28

Mossyrock 12 9 6 8 – 35

Scoring: Willapa Valley – Russell 16, Fluke 6, Keeton 6. Mossyrock – Marshall 13.

Other games

1B District 4 Tournament semifinal

Taholah 52, Pe Ell 43