State B girls: Rainier comes from behind to beat Upper Columbia Academy, end Lions’ first trip to state

One by one, members of the Upper Columbia Academy girls basketball team filed out of their locker room at the Arena on Wednesday night shortly after their first appearance at the State 2B tournament ended in disappointment.

For a half, it looked as if the 15th-seeded Lions would continue their improbable late-season surge into the quarterfinals.

But the Rainier Mountaineers turned the tide.

Sophomore Bryn Beckman scored 15 of her game-high 24 points after halftime, and the seventh-seeded Mountaineers erased a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat the Lions 54-50. They will play No. 1 seed Colfax at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

“(In the first half) we were moving the ball, people were getting excited, there was energy. You could just feel it,” UCA senior Mia Pierce said. “In the second half, you could feel the momentum shift slowly.”

Pierce finished with a team-high 21 points, making 12 of 13 free-throw attempts and 3 of 8 3-point shots. Inside, senior Sidney Folkenberg finished with 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds for the Lions (13-12).

But the Mountaineers (21-5) hung around.

Down 26-10 midway through the second quarter, Beckman hit a pair of 3s to cut the deficit to 10. It stayed about that close through the end of the third quarter, when the Lions led 44-34.

With four starters managing foul trouble, Rainier turned to a full-court press in the second half.

“We haven’t had too much trouble with presses all year, so we really weren’t that worried about it,” UCA coach Trent Pierce said. “But it definitely disrupted our rhythm enough. We just couldn’t get into an offense and get some plays going and get good shots. And then they started hitting shots, so it made the press even harder.”

Rainier made 13 of 22 shots in the second half as UCA went cold (3 for 19). The Lions made their free throws – they finished the game 24 of 28 at the line – but made just 11 of 39 shots from the field.

With 2 minutes left in the fourth, sophomore Janess Blackburn’s basket gave Rainier a 49-48 lead. Next time down, sophomore Angelica Askey drove for a layup, capping a 12-0 run.

Pierce made a pair of free throws on UCA’s next possession to make it 51-50, and then Beckman missed a 3 – the only blemish on a 6-for-7 night from that range.

But Rainier’s Acacia Murphy grabbed the offensive rebound, drew a foul and made 1 of 2 free throws.

Pierce missed a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left. On the Rainiers’ last possession, Askey got loose for a layup before the buzzer before UCA could foul. Askey finished with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor.

Despite the loss, Folkenberg said she was proud of how far the program has come. This was only the fourth season for the UCA girls basketball team.

“We’ve grown so much as a team, and as individuals,” said the senior Folkenberg, who joined the team as a sophomore. “I would never have thought my first year when I came that we would be here, and look at us now. I’m so proud of everyone.”

2B

La Conner 60, Northwest Christian 44: Josie Harper scored 20 points and the sixth-seeded Braves eliminated the 11th-seeded Crusaders.

La Conner advances to the quarterfinals to play fourth-seeded Warden on Thursday at 3:45 p.m. Kaitlyn Waters led Northwest Christian with 11 points. Ellie Marble added 17 points with 14 rebounds. Makayla Herrera had 12 points with 18 rebounds.

1B

Odessa 55, Mount Vernon Christian 50: Ashlyn Neilsen scored 21 points, making 10 of 11 from the free-throw line, and the 11th-seeded Tigers eliminated the sixth-seeded Lions.

Odessa advances to play fourth-seeded Mount Vernon Christian on Thursday at 9 a.m. in a quarterfinal . Makiya Kast led Moses Lake with 22 points. Odessa entered the fourth quarter down two, but outscored the Lions by seven to win.

Oakesdale 46, Wellpinit 41: Jessie Reed scored 20 points with 12 rebounds and the seventh-seeded Nighthawks eliminated 10th-seeded Wellpinit.

Oakesdale advances to play top-seeded Neah Bay in a quarterfinal at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. Rayah Hill led Wellpinit with 13 points. The Nighthawks used a big third quarter, outscoring Wellpinit 18-11 to stretch their lead to six going into the final quarter.

Inchelium 51, Willapa Valley 43: AnnMarie Simpson scored 12 points and the fifth-seeded Hornets eliminated the 12th-seeded Vikings.

Inchelium advances to play third-seeded Colton in a quarterfinal on Thursday at 12:15 p.m. Grace Huber led Willapa Valley with 12 points. The Hornets used a balanced scoring attack as Zalissa Finley and Hailey Peone added 10 points apiece and Isabella Finley had eight.

Waterville-Mansfield 53, Yakama Nation 36: Delainey Nelson and Jasmine Garcia scored 14 points apiece and the eighth-seeded Shockers eliminated the ninth-seeded Eagles.

Waterville-Mansfield advances to a quarterfinal matchup against No. 2 Mossyrock on Thursday at 2 p.m. Gwen Dawes led Yakama Nation with 13 points. The Shockers feasted on turnovers, outscoring the Eagles 20-7 off turnovers.

Justin Reed contributed to this report