Lady Mules top South Bend to go to district

The Wahkiakum Lady Mule basketball team rebounded from two Central League losses last week to win a district tournament qualifying game Monday.

The Mules defeated South Bend 47-38 in Winlock to claim a district berth. They faced the Pe Ell Trojans yesterday evening (Wednesday) in the first round.

The Mules took a 9-5 first quarter lead against South Bend and held on to win.

Shelby Felton had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Brieanna Olsen put in 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Brianne Helms also scored 13 points. Haylee Budd pulled down 10 rebounds, and Blaine Land had seven.

"Shelby and Brieanna both had a double double," commented Mule Coach Tiffany Niemeyer. "We made the game a lot closer than it should have been. We shot 37 free throws and only made 16 of them.

"The girls did do a good job of not forcing too many passes, and everyone contributed to the game."

The Mules lost their regular season finale 51-32 at Pe Ell last Friday.

The Trojans led 33-27 after three quarters and outscored the Mules 18-5 in the fourth.

Felton led the Mule scoring with 12 points. Land had seven, Budd six, Olsen four, and Helms three.

On February 2, the Mules lost a 53-49 game to the Morton/White Pass Timberwolves.

The Mules led 47-46 with two minutes to go, but the lead slipped away to good free throw shooting by the Timberwolves in the final minute.

Felton led the Mule scoring with 13 points; Land and Helms each had 10, Budd eight and Olsen and Maya Stanley four each. Olsen had 12 rebounds, Budd 11, Felton 10 and Land eight. Felton made four steals and five assists. Helms had six assists, and Land made five.

The Mules made seven of 21 free throws, 33 percent, and 19 of 56 shots, 34 percent. The visitors made 16 of 52 shots, 31 percent, and 13 of 21 free throws, 62 percent.

The Mules took on Pe Ell yesterday in Castle Rock.

The winner plays North Beach on Saturday, 2:30 p.m. at Montesano.

The loser plays Tuesday, 6:30 p.m., in Rochester against a team yet to be determined from games involving Pacific League champion Naselle, WillapaValley, and Adna.