The Woodland girls basketball team survived a win-or-go home game against league opponent, Washougal, on Monday, Feb. 13.
In what was an all-out physical game, Woodland outlasted Washougal’s efforts to win 48-45 at Fort Vancouver High School. The Beavers will advance to play Mark Morris High School of Longview.
“Washougal competed. Chloe Johnson is a competitor,” Woodland Head Coach Glen Flanagan said. “She wasn’t going down without a fight.”
The first quarter against Washougal saw Woodland’s defense dominate the first seven minutes and ten seconds of the game. The Beavers kept stealing the ball from the Panthers with no real push back. A block by Ella Lindsay kept Washougal scoreless until the final 50 seconds of the quarter. The Panthers rallied with steals leading to fast break buckets to finish the quarter down by one with a score of 7-6 in favor of Woodland.
Woodland’s offense in the second quarter rocketed off to a fast start as their defense on the other end of the floor remained dominant. Woodland jumped to a 12-point lead of 20-8 with two minutes left in the half. A swish of a three-pointer by Woodland’s Kenzi Bunger extended the lead to 23-8 before another last minute rally by Washougal ended the half with Woodland ahead 23-15.
The third quarter got off to a fast start for both teams as Washougal trailed Woodland.
Almost every possession during the third quarter included loose balls and takedowns that were not called as fouls.
“There was some mystery stuff out there. We knew they’d play tough,” Flanagan said. “Both teams are playing for their lives, so we knew it was going to be somewhat physical, but I didn’t think it would be that physical.”
Woodland maintained a four-point lead with a score of 29-25 at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Washougal played sneaky defense and put the Beavers in a hard place with an aggressive full court press.
The Panthers evened out the score to 32-31 with Woodland in the lead after a huge three-pointer. After a lay-in by Woodland’s Riley Stading, the Beavers were up 37-33.
After more physical play, the score was tied 37-37 at the halfway point of the quarter. With 29 seconds left and no shot clock, the score was tied at 45-45.
Woodland survived the full court press and it was Stading again who came in clutch for the Beavers, converting an and-1 to put them ahead 48-45.
Washougal missed their tying attempt as they saw their season come to an end.
Woodland will advance to play another league opponent, Mark Morris, on Feb. 15 at Ridgefield High School at 6 p.m. in a high stakes game that sees the winner go to state.
“Mark Morris is the only team we didn’t beat, so we’re hoping that it’s hard to beat a team three times,” Flanagan said. “You saw that tonight.”
