CENTRALIA — Black Hills rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit and eliminated the Hockinson girls basketball team from the postseason Saturday at Centralia High School.
Meeri Gummerus’ put-back basket with 1.4 seconds left gave the Wolves a 45-43 victory in the third place game of the Class 2A District 4 girls basketball tournament.
Black Hills will advance to the Class 2A state tournament.
Gummerus, who scored 12 points, said the Wolves never worry about any deficit. They believe in themselves.
“We’re a second-half team,” Gummerus said. “We did what we could. We were all-in. We didn’t want to end our season this soon.”
Hockinson led 36-22 midway through the third quarter. Black Hills would score the next 11 points and outscored the Hawks 23-7 the rest of the game. The Hawks committed nine turnovers in the fourth quarter.
“It’s on us. We own it,” Hockinson coach Damon Roche. “We made more mistakes down the stretch than Black Hills did.”
Emma Duff was key in the comeback, making all six of her free throws. She finished with 11 points. Shayla Smothers led Black Hills with 15 points and nine rebounds.
Sydnie Cole-Vogler led the Hawks with 10 points and five steals. Hannah Neibauer had nine points and four steals. Payton Wangler scored all nine of her points in the second half. Her three-point play with 2:20 to play gave Hockinson a 42-41 lead. The Hawks would add another free throw, but Duff tied the game with two freebies with 1:00 to play.
Hockinson did not get a good shot off before the shot clock, then the Wolves killed most of the clock before a last-second chance. Smothers missed, but Gummerus was there for the rebound and lay-up for the win.
Roche said he got emotional during his post-game talk with the Hawks.
“We became a family this year. I told them to stick with that,” Roche said. “I’m just proud of them. They had no quit in them to the very end. They are the second-best team in school history, and they wanted more, which is awesome.”
Hockinson finished 14-10, one win shy of the ultimate goal.
“I’m sad for my seniors,” Roche said. “Super sad for my seniors. They wanted to get to state so bad.”
BLACK HILLS 45, HOCKINSON 43
BLACK HILLS — Shayla Smothers 15, Laura Furu 3, Lexi Tarrow 2, Lindsey Nurmi 2, Meeri Gummerus 12, Emma Duff 11, Sammi Payne 0. Totals 14-42 (1-10) 16-25 45.
HOCKINSON — Sydnie Cole-Vogler 10, Hannah Neibauer 9, Payton Wangler 9, Brittany McGuire 6, Elle Tilkin 2, Kaylee Harteloo 4, Keeley Nordberg 3, Lauren Ellensohn 0, Meghan VanderMaas 0. Totals 14-53 (4-21) 11-26 43.
Black Hills 6 12 11 16—45
Hockinson 10 20 6 7—43
