The Washougal girls basketball team traveled two hours, dug deep and emerged with its first postseason win in 32 years.
The Panthers beat Black Hills 60-57 in a 2A first round district tournament game Friday in Tumwater.
Washougal (14-11) will play top-ranked Mark Morris in a winner-to-state semifinal game Monday at Ridgefield High School.
The Panthers overcame deficits both early and late. Washougal fell behind by 11 in the first quarter.
“We were shell-shocked,” Panthers coach Brian Oberg said. “But we’ve been there before. We just needed to settle down defensively.”
That defense flexed its muscles in the second quarter, when Black Hills scored just three points.
But Washougal trailed by four points with three minutes to play. Again, the defense took over as Black Hills scored just three points for the rest of the game.
“We started wearing them out,” Oberg said. “I felt we could press and get them tired. Down the stretch, we started getting tipped balls and steals.”
RaeAnn Allen led the Panthers with 16 points along with five rebounds and three steals. Alyssa Blankenship had 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Oberg also credited the defense of Jolynn Wenick, who battled a much taller tandem of Black Hills post players.
WASHOUGAL 60, BLACK HILLS 57
WASHOUGAL — Crystal Chase 3, Haley Briggs 11, Mackenzie Kitchen 4, RaeAnn Allen 16, Jolynn Wenick 8, Alissa Lenczowski 0, Alyssa Blankenship 15, Lindsey Thomas 1, Anna Sharp 2, Alexis Maniscalco 0, Kayla Donahue , Maggie Hungerford . Totals 26 (3) 11-20 60.
BLACK HILLS — Smothers 14, Furu 8, Paine 0, Duff 16, Tarrow 0, Ward 0, Nurmi 5, Gummeruz 14, Maloney 0. Totals 27 (6) 9-16 57.
Washougal 14 9 20 17—60
Black Hills 22 3 17 15—57
