Moody too much for the Dragons

The St. George’s girls basketball team knew if it was to defeat White Pass in the quarterfinals of the State 2B tournament Thursday, then Breanna Moody would need to be controlled.

Moody proved to be uncontrollable, scoring 30 points and pulling down 12 rebounds to lead the Cougars to a 49-29 victory at the Spokane Arena, ending the Dragons’ state title hopes.

Moody scored seven points in the first minute, 15 seconds to give White Pass a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. She finished with 13 points in the quarter and the Cougars led 19-8 heading into the second.

St. George’s fought back in the second quarter, closing the gap to within three points, 21-18, after Chessey Thomas nailed a 3-pointer with five minutes to play before halftime. But White Pass finished the quarter on a 7-3 run and led 28-21 at the half.

The Cougars, who beat St. George’s 72-48 in a consolation game at last year’s tournament, put the game away in the third quarter, outscoring the Dragons 14-3 to take a 42-24 lead into the final eight minutes.

Moody shot 13 of 28 from the floor, including 4 of 11 from beyond the arc. She also had seven steals.

St. George’s coach Allie Bailey knew her team was in for a long night if they couldn’t contain Moody.

“We knew she’s a good shooter and could shoot from anywhere,” said Bailey. “We didn’t do a good job game-plan-wise defending her.”

Chessey Thomas scored a team-high 12 points and Lena Leverett-Standal added eight points and five rebounds for the Dragons. No other player from White Pass was in double figures.

The Cougars advanced the quarterfinals with a 54-45 win over Pomeroy on Wednesday, but Moody wasn’t pleased with the way her team played in that one.

“I just came out aggressive,” she said. “After the last game, we knew we had to pick it up.”

White Pass shot 21 of 53 from the floor as a team, including 4 of 12 from the 3-point line. The Cougars forced the Dragons into 19 turnovers and outrebounded St. George’s 24-21.

White Pass held St. George’s to just eight second-half points. Moody said she was pleased with the way they played defensively.

“We worked well as a team and played great on the defensive end of the floor,” she said.

White Pass coach Tom Kelly agreed.

“I loved how we played defensively, especially with our 2-3 zone,” he said.

St. George’s will play King’s West in a consolation game today at 2:30 p.m. The winner will play in Saturday’s consolation round for fourth and seventh places.

Bailey expects a similar kind of game against King’s West.

“They have the same kind of makeup (as White Pass). They have a really, really good player (Megan Spence) who can shoot from anywhere,” said Bailey. “She’s a very good option inside and outside for them.

“(Today’s) one of those games where we need to focus on taking care of the basketball,” she added, “and if we don’t rebound, it’s going to be another long night.”

White Pass will play last year’s State 2B runner-up, LaSalle, in a semifinal game tonight at 6, with the winner advancing to the state championship game Saturday.

“I think we match up really with them,” said Kelly. “We lost to them over the summer but we’ve come a long ways since then.”

Kelly said his team is confident but he didn’t want to look too far into the future.

“We’re just taking it one game at a time right now,” he said. “But I can tell you that we’re feeling pretty good right now.”