The two girls basketball programs along the Lewis Rivers are young, but the La Center Wildcats still have a long way to go after a 60-13 non-league loss to the Woodland Beavers on Friday, Dec. 8.
La Center’s 6-foot junior, Billie Ross, led in scoring with just four points. While the Wildcats didn’t struggle to create open shots, they struggled at getting them to fall during a tough night in Woodland.
Woodland’s junior-year floor general Addi Stading led the night in scoring with 15 points during the win. Sophomore Madison Walker also added 10 points for the Beavers.
La Center’s Mekenzie Shockelt drew the attention of Woodland players and head coach Glen Flanagan during pregame warm-ups by making a lot of shots, particularly beyond the three-point arc.
“We knew that [Shockelt] was a stud and could put up the points,” Flanagan said. “So, that was our goal, to focus on her, and so they did a good job. We kind of ran her off the three-point line because we saw her hit threes and we have some bigs inside to meet her at the rim.”
Because of the Beavers’ defensive emphasis, Shockelt only scored two points in the game.
Chris Heath, La Center’s new head coach, said he realizes there’s a lot to learn with such a young team.
“[We have to] Keep working. We have a young team. We have a lot to learn,” Heath said. “But we’re making progress. It was a matter of honing in on some of the little things. But I’m confident in what we can do when we fix things and we get going. I think we’ll be all right.”
The Wildcats, still fresh into the season, have racked up three wins to three losses. They lack experience, with a roster of two seniors, three juniors and the rest sophomores and freshmen.
The Woodland Beavers’ roster is quite similar, with only two seniors, four juniors and the rest sophomores and freshmen.
“We’re pretty young. We haven’t played a lot together,” Flanagan said of his squad. “We only have two seniors. So again, we’re just trying to find ourselves, find our identity. Tonight was good because we played a little better, but man, we have to play a lot better.”
In a tough 2A Greater St. Helens League, Flanagan knows his team has to improve at rebounding as he felt the 60-13 win over the Wildcats still exposed struggles at boxing out and giving up too many rebounds.
“There’s a lot of teams that can compete, you know. We don’t even know our identity yet, so we don’t know where we’re going to stand,” Flanagan said of the league. “There’s a lot of teams that are going to get after it. I think Hockinson might surprise some people. … Every night, I think the league is going to be a tough one.”
Up next, the Beavers have a busy week. They hosted the Fort Vancouver Trappers on Tuesday, Dec. 12, but results were unavailable at press time. Woodland travels to Longview for a matchup against Mark Morris High School at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 14 and finishes the week at Hockinson High School for a 6 p.m. matchup on Friday, Dec. 15.
The 1A Trico League La Center Wildcats look to bounce back against a 3A Greater St. Helens League opponent. The Wildcats travel to Heritage High School for a 7 p.m. matchup on Wednesday, Dec. 13.
