State 1B girls: Neah Bay uses strong defensive effort to top Mount Vernon Christian for second-straight title

Neah Bay senior Amber Swan knew the only thing that would take away the sting of losing the State 1B girls title game two years ago was getting another shot at team that beat the Red Devils.

On Saturday night, Swan took advantage of that opportunity as she scored 13 points to lead top-ranked Neah Bay past second-seeded Mount Vernon Christian 39-28 at the Arena to claim the Red Devils second title in as many years.

“It was definitely something that was on our mind to get another shot at them,” Swan said. “It makes it so much sweeter.”

After dropping the 2022 title tilt to the Hurricanes 37-33, Neah Bay (22-2) bounced back last year with a hard-fought two-point victory over Mossyrock to collect the program’s first title.

The success on the biggest stage continued into this year as Neah Bay won its quarterfinal and semifinal contests by a combined 50 points.

“It was our defense that did it for us,” Swan said. “And we just stayed together and played like we know how.”

The victory was also Neah Bay’s third of the season over the Hurricanes (25-6), including a 61-30 win less than a month ago in the Tri-District championship game.

Neah Bay coach Cherish Moss credited her team’s suffocating defense for the success down the stretch. MVC didn’t score its first point until an Allie Heino free throw 7:25 into the game and its first made field goal didn’t come until early in the second quarter.

“To be honest we don’t focus a ton on offense, because we know how important defense is,” Moss said. “We don’t play defense individually, there is no finger pointing if someone gets beat. We play as a team and we swarm to the ball.”

Seniors Ezrah Ray and Ryana Moss added seven points apiece for the Red Devils.

Ruthie Rozema paced the Hurricanes with nine points, while Heino added seven.

Earlier Saturday, Waterville-Mansfield topped Crosspoint 67-38 in the 3rd-5th place game, while Oakesdale edged Sunnyside Christian 36-35 in the 4th-6th place contest.