WASHOUGAL — The Washougal girls basketball team was able to overcome a slow start to defeat the visiting Woodland Beavers 42-30 Friday evening.
Led by freshman Beyonce Bea, Washougal outscored Woodland 26-13 in the second half. Bea finished with 11 points, four rebounds and five blocks while only sitting out the final minute and a half.
She was only 3-for-9 shooting, but scored five of the teams’ 13 points in the final quarter, including 3 of 4 from the free throw line.
Although she was in foul trouble most of the night, RaeAnn Allen added nine points in the victory. Lindsey Thomas and Alyssa Blankenship each scored eight points, while Alissa Lenczowski added six.
With Washougal facing an 11-4 deficit, Bea made back-to-back three pointers to bring the game within one as the first quarter came to a close.
The Panthers took a brief lead to start the second quarter, but the Woodland defense, led by Amber Malik, was too strong. Going into the half, Woodland held a 17-16 advantage.
“We struggled offensively. Seeing the ball going through the net relaxed them a bit,” Washougal coach Brian Oberg. “We need to play through that stuff. We don’t want to change how we play but we have to adjust.”
Immediately out of the gate to start the third, Washougal stole a pass and reclaimed the lead. The Panthers stole the inbounds pass and got another easy basket. From then on, it was all Washougal.
Woodland only scored 13 points over the final 16 minutes after Washougal initiated its full-court press. Even when Woodland had open looks, Bea and Allen were there to recover the rebounds and kick-start the offense.
“That’s our signature, that’s our fallback. Defense is number one,” Oberg said. “If we keep teams down like this, we’re going to be in every game.”
Woodland’s Kayla Fredricks led all scorers with 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting. She scored nine of the team’s 17 points in the first half.
WASHOUGAL 42, WOODLAND 30
WOODLAND — Audrey Adams 3, McKenna Flanagan 0, Katie Kern 0, Kayla Fredricks 11, Jessica Flanagan 4, Grace Adams 0, Julia Stepper 0, Cierra Daugherty 0, Dana Glovick 8, Amber Malik 4, Emily Dietrich 0. Totals 13 4-14 30.
WASHOUGAL — Maggie Hungerford 0, Beyonce Bea 11, Sarah Shilling 0, Lindsey Thomas 8, RaeAnn Allen 9, Kaitlyn Reijonen 0, Alissa Lenczowski 6, Sierra Carroll 0, Alyssa Blankenship 8. Totals 15 (4) 8-21 42.
Woodland 11 6 8 5—30
Washougal 10 6 13 13—42
JV — Washougal won; C — Washougal won.
