Lady Mules head to regional playoff

The Wahkiakum Lady Mules travel to Bothell on Saturday to face the Bear Creek School Grizzlies out of Redmond in regional 2B basketball tournament play.

The winner will move on to state play in Spokane, and the loser will face an end to their 2013-2014 season.

The assistant coach for Bear Creek is a graduate of Wahkiakum High School and a member of the 1980 State Basketball Championship team, Shelley (Merriman) Englestone Thomas. Her daughter is a senior on the Bear Creek team.

The Lady Mules went 1-1 in their last two district games. Their win continued their season but their loss put them in fourth place, setting up regional play against Bear Creek, who won first place in the Bi-District 1/2 tournament.

“We are really excited for the opportunity to go to Spokane,” Coach Rob Garrett said, “and we think we have a great chance to win. If we play as a team and work hard at the little things, we will extend the season one more week. Three victories mean we are playing for a state title. Anyone can win three games in a row at this point. Why not us?”

In last Thursday’s 54-35 win against the Pe Ell Trojans, Tori Wegdahl had a double double with 17 points and 13 rebounds. She also had three assists and one steal.

Baylee Olsen had 15 points, five rebounds, two assists, three steals and two blocks. Sam Boyce scored 12 points, pulled down four rebounds, had three assists, five steals and one block. Kaylee Bryant added 10 points, four rebounds and three blocks. Maya Stanley had one rebound, four assists and one steal. Peyton Souvenir had two assists, Tyra Elliott had one rebound and Jessica Thomas added one rebound and one steal.

On Saturday, the team traveled to Centralia to face the Napavine Tigers and lost 58-46. The Napavine team was hot from the floor, making half of their three point shots.

Olsen scored 22 points for the Lady Mules and pulled down nine rebounds. She also had three assists and two blocks.

Boyce added nine points, seven rebounds, two assists and one steal. Wegdahl had six points, four rebounds and two blocks. Stanley had five points, eight rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. Bryant added four points, six rebounds, one assist and one block. Thomas had one assist, Elliott had two rebounds and one assist and Souvenir had one rebound.