Lady Mules start district tourney with win

Photos by Ian Brandon

The Lady Mules won their final two league games last week and inched closer to a trip to Spokane with wins in the first two rounds of the District 4 tournament this week.

On Tuesday, the Lady Mules took on Napavine in the second round of the district tournament, and they did it without one of their starters, Miya Kerstetter, who sprained an ankle in open gym over the weekend.

The Lady Mules were behind for much of the game but pulled ahead when Amirah Abdul-Kariem hit a three to end the third quarter. They never looked back, beating the Tigers 40-31.

"I knew we could do it the whole game, Coach Rob Garrett said. "It was a super fun game, and I thought we learned a lot as the game went on. We had more and more composure as the game got further along, which was great to see. There were huge performances by many people on our team tonight, but I want to point out just how big of games that Amirah [Abdul-Kariem] and Bailey [McKinley] had tonight."

"They had to play huge minutes and they stepped up big time, really anchoring down the defense. Amirah hit a huge three to end the third and that was a big momentum shift for us. Bailey not only played great defense but her rebounding was absolutely awesome. No chance we win that game without both of them stepping up and crushing their role."

Emmie Niemela scored14 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Reigha Niemeyer added 13 points, four assists, and four steals. Courtney Carlson had six points and six rebounds. Abdul-Kariem scored four points. Megan Leitz had three points and five assists. McKinley had eight rebounds.

Napavine 8 9 10 4 --31

Lady Mules 6 7 15 12 --40

The Lady Mules will take on Chief Leschi next Tuesday in the district semifinals at Kelso High School at 7:30 p.m.

Last Wednesday, the Lady Mules beat Morton/White Pass at home in a league game, 67-32.

Niemela had a double double with 18 points and 24 rebounds. Niemeyer added 18 points, seven rebounds, and five steals. Leitz scored 14 points and had six rebounds, and five assists. Carlson had eight points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Miya Kerstetter had seven points and five rebounds. Jessie LaFever had two points.

MWP 5 8 8 11 --32

Lady Mules 27 12 12 16 --67

On Thursday, the Lady Mules hosted Stevenson and beat them easily in their final league game of the season 63-12.

Niemeyer scored 16 points, and had six assists and five steals. Kerstetter added 16 more points. Niemela had another double double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Leitz had nine points, nine rebounds, and five steals. McKinley added four points, Carlson had three points, and Abdul-Kariem had two points.

Stevenson 5 2 0 5 --12

Lady Mules 26 16 17 4 --63

On Saturday, in the first round of the District 4 tournament, the Lady Mules hosted Stevenson again. It was a similar outcome to their last meeting with the Lady Mules winning 75-13.

Niemeyer had a career high 30 points. She also had seven rebounds, six steals, and five assists. Carlson added 14 points. Kerstetter had 13 points and five steals. Niemela had yet another double double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Leitz had four points and six assists. LaFever added two points. McKinley had seven rebounds.

Stevenson 9 1 1 2 --13

Lady Mules 18 20 20 17 --75