Black Hills girls down Mark Morris, 53-30, clinch district title

Lindsey Nurmi dipped under a defender and initially looked to pass before finally noticing the shot clock.

Heck, even if she had a teammate open, there simply wasn’t enough time to make a pass. So, the Black Hills sophomore did the only thing she could — take an off-balance shot from the top of the arc and hope for the best.

The buzzer sounded a beat before Nurmi’s shot found the mark, igniting a Wolves run that turned a once-tight contest into a lopsided affair.

Emma Duff scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half, freshman Maisy Williams also scored 13 points and Black Hills hammered defending state champion Mark Morris, 53-30, to clinch the Class 2A Southwest Washington District 4 girls basketball championship Friday at Saint Martin’s University.

The Wolves, winners of seven consecutive games, improve to 20-3 on the season and claim the program’s first district title since 2009.

Both teams advance to the state regional round.

Mark Morris (15-8) had faced W.F. West in the previous four district championship games — winning three of those matchups — but it was the Wolves who looked right at home in the second half of the title contest as they opened the third quarter on an 11-0 run and held the Monarchs to just 11 second-half points, with six points coming in the final 2  1/2 minutes well after the outcome was decided.

“We had a lot of pregame jitters,” Duff said. “We’ve never been here before. Mark Morris is here every year, but once we calmed down and started playing defense the nerves were gone.”

Leading 23-19 at the half, Black Hills turned up the defensive pressure in the third quarter, turning Mark Morris turnovers into easy transition points.

“We talked at halftime that we wanted to get out and run more in the second half,” Black Hills coach Tanya Greenfield said. “We just wanted to apply as much pressure on them as possible.”

Nurmi, who scored 10 points, closed out the second quarter with five quick points to help the Wolves enjoy a slim four-point advantage at the intermission.

The gifted sophomore’s buzzer-beating 3 to open the second half helped swing the momentum completely to Black Hills for good.

“I was looking to pass, but everyone was turned away,” a grinning Nurmi said. “I’m just glad it went in.”

Even though the execution was somewhat altered, it was the end result Greenfield wanted out of her team during its first possession of the second half.

“We drew up a 3-point shot at the half to come out with,” Greenfield said. “That wasn’t the shot we came up with, but we will take it.”

The Wolves proceeded to drown the Monarchs in a wave of transition baskets following Nurmi’s clutch shot.

Duff connected on back-to-back layups off steals and Nurmi provided a pretty assist on a bucket by Williams, and the rout was on.

The Wolves’ advantage eventually ballooned to 47-24 with 2  1/2 minutes remaining in the contest before Greenfield emptied her bench.

Williams scored nine points in a first half that featured nine lead changes and three ties, and at times early on was the sole Black Hills player producing any offense.

“She was the only one scoring for us,” Greenfield said. “She played huge for us. She’s a freshman, but she showed exactly why she’s out there.”

BOYS

Tumwater 54, Mark Morris 43: The Thunderbirds won their second consecutive district crown by once again knocking off the Monarchs.

Weston VandenHazel led all scorers with 19 points, while sophomore teammate C.J. Geathers came off the bench to add 12 points.

Tumwater (16-6) also defeated Mark Morris (19-4) last year to secure the school’s first district championship.

Both teams advance to the state regional round.

Tumwater shook off a sluggish start by going on a 15-2 run of its own.

The T-Birds closed out the first half on a 12-0 run to post a 29-17 lead at the break.

A 3-pointer by Jacob Gibbons gave Tumwater its largest lead of the game at 44-26 in the closing moments of the third quarter.

This story was originally published February 19, 2016 at 9:49 PM with the headline "Black Hills girls down Mark Morris, 53-30, clinch district title."