Mules edge Tigers for district crown

The Wahkiakum Mules girls basketball won the 2B District IV Championship on Saturday night, thrilling their fans with a last minute win against Napavine, 49-47, at W.F. West High School in Chehalis.

The Lady Mules spent much of the game trailing the Tigers, but with 2:45 left in the fourth quarter, Sam Boyce tied the game, 45-45, with a three point shot.

Napavine answered with two points and regained the lead, 45-47. Peyton Souvenir hit another from three point range with 43.9 seconds left in the game, giving the Mules a 48-47 edge.

Driving to the other end of the court, a Napavine player plowed into a Mule defender but the referee called a blocking foul, sending the Tiger to the line. She missed both shots, and Kaylee Bryant was fouled on the rebound. She missed two at the line.

With seven seconds left, Tori Wegdahl was fouled. She missed her first attempt and hit her second, increasing the Mule lead to two, 49-47.

Napavine drove the ball to their end of the court and sent up a desperation shot, but it did not connect, and with 0.1 seconds left in the game, Bryant was fouled again.

For the fifth time in the last six meetings with the Tigers, the Napavine coach got a technical foul. Bryant missed both her free throws, and Baylee Olsen went to the line for the technical and missed as well. However, the Mules got the ball out of bounds from the technical foul.

Suddenly the game was over, and the team and their fans exploded into celebration, flooding the gym floor.

Bryant led the team with a double double. She had 16 points, 11 rebounds, one assist and two blocks. Souvenir had 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Olsen added nine points, four rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block.

Sam Boyce had nine points, three rebounds, four assists and three steals. Wegdahl scored three points and had seven rebounds, one assist and one steal. Maddie Mace added two points. Jessica Thomas had one rebound. Savannah Burdick had four rebounds and one steal.

"That was a blast," Coach Rob Garrett said. "I was so humbled and proud and thankful to be in that game and to have such a close game and a good competitor. Napavine has a great team.

"Every time we come out we feel like we are going to walk off the court with a win. We held that mind set. We hit some huge shots. Kaylee Bryant played her best game all season. It was an all around team effort, I'm just super proud of the girls."

On Saturday, the Lady Mules travel to Chehalis again to face Pacific League champion Ilwaco at 2 p.m. at W.F West High School in a loser out regional game. The winner goes to the State 2B Basketball tournament in Spokane, scheduled for March 5,6 and 7.

Tigers 12 11 17 7 --47

Lady Mules 8 14 14 13 --49