Mount Spokane handles surging Bethel girls team in regionals; Renton boys move on

The Bethel High School girls basketball team entered the Class 3A state regionals on quite a run.

Friday, the Braves ran into a buzzsaw.

No. 7 Bethel saw its 14-game win streak end in a 63-32 loss to No. 2 ranked Mount Spokane in a regional game at University High School.

Bethel was riding high after a 3A West Central/Southwest bidistrict championship run that included a victory over No. 1 Prairie in the semifinals.

Now, the Braves must bounce back for a loser-out game Wednesday at the Tacoma Dome. Bethel (20-4) will face the winner of Saturday’s game between No. 10 Gig Harbor and No. 15 Edmonds-Woodway.

“I hope we learn from this,” Bethel coach Tim Brown said. “Especially going into the Dome. No heads down.”

Mount Spokane (22-1) looked every bit a team gunning for its second state championship in three years.

Senior guard Aspyn Adams, a Loyola-Marymount signee, had a game-high 20 points including six 3-pointers. Jayda Noble, a junior who has committed to Washington, had 11 rebounds to key a dominant rebounding performance by the Wildcats.

“I think everyone was kind of rattled because we’re coming to play the No. 2 team all the way out in their hometown,” Brown said. “But, we’ve got to get over that.”

Noble had eight points in the first quarter as Mount Spokane leapt to a 16-6 lead. The Wildcats stretched the lead to 32-16 at halftime, then put the game away by outscoring Bethel 15-2 in the third quarter.

Esmeralda Morales led Bethel with 14 points, eight coming in the fourth quarter.

Now, Brown hopes Bethel gets back to the feisty defense and scrappy rebounding that had kept his team out of the loss column since Dec. 28.

“We had no identity today,” Brown said. “This was not Braves basketball from the beginning to the end.”

CLASS 2A BOYS

Renton 55, Mark Morris 53: The Indians avenged a state quarterfinals loss to the Monarchs a season ago with a narrow win in Tumwater.

Renton clinched a return trip the Yakima Valley SunDome with the win, and eliminated Mark Morris from state contention.

Damarco Williams led all scorers with 21 points for the Indians, while O’Shae Barqet pitched in 12. Reece Gibb led the Monarchs with 14.

Renton plays the loer of Saturday’s game between Pullman and Burlington-Edison in the opening round of the state tournament Wednesday.

Anacortes 44, Black Hills 38: The Seahawks (16-8) pulled away from a 38-38 tie in the final moments to end the Wolves’ season at Mount Vernon High School.

Zach Crumley led Black Hills with 15 points, while senior Jackson Bauer added 11 in what turned out to be his final high school game.

Black Hills (14-10) trailed by as many as eight in the second half before catching up late.

“We finally started to get aggressive,” Wolves coach Jeff Gallagher said. “In the first half we stood around on the perimeter a lot. We also go some great hustle plays from Zach Loveless during the second half.”

The Wolves scored 17 points in the third quarter, but only three in the fourth.

Bauer was Black Hills’ lone senior on the 2018-19 roster, meaning a strong core will return next season.

CLASS 2A GIRLS

Sequim 54, Foster 44: The season looked all but over for the Wolves three quarters through Friday’s 2A loser-out regional basketball game at Auburn Mountainview High School.

The Wolves trailed, 44-33, and the Bulldogs had controlled the game throughout. But, the fourth quarter couldn’t have played out any better for the Wolves.

Sequim scored all 21 points in the period, to turn an 11-point deficit into a victory, earning a trip to Yakima for a 2A state tournament loser-out game Wednesday.

“Our offense is inspired by our defense,” Sequim coach Lindsey Rapelje said. “We started to shut them down, and I think the girls started to gain confidence and we settled down a little bit on offense.

“It’s unbelievable. I’m so proud of them. It’s been a long time since Sequim has made it to state. “I have no words.”

Junionr Hope Glasser paced the Wolves with 15 points. Senior Precious Serafica led Foster, also with 15.. The Wolves will play the loser of Saturday’s regional game between Port Angeles and Clarkston at 3:45 p.m. Wednesday at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

CLASS 1A BOYS

Royal 57, Cascade Christian 45: The Knights ended Cascade Christian’s season by double digits in Ellensburg behind an 18-point opening quarter.

Staff writer Lauren Smith and contributing writers Aaron Lommers and Dave Weber contributed to this report.