High School Girls Basketball: Toutle Lake downs Adna in OT to reach State trophy round
The 2B Tournament – Fighting Ducks learn to embrace early bird life at Spokane Arena
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2B Prep Girls Basketball / State Report
SPOKANE – The Toutle Lake girls basketball team features a trio of seniors who have been logging varsity minutes since their eighth grade season, so it may seem strange that on the penultimate day of their prep careers those Fighting Ducks were still finding ways to improve their game.
Well, that’s just what happens when a team plays three straight early bird games at the Spokane Arena and survives to tell the tale. The No. 6 ranked Ducks most recent 9 a.m. tipoff resulted in a 47-43 win over No. 7 Adna in overtime of their loser-out contest, Friday morning, advancing the East Cowlitz County hoopers to the trophy round of the girls state tournament for the first time since 2015.
And what is the Ducks’ reward for beating the rooster three straight days? That would be an even earlier start in their season finale, with Saturday’s fourth place trophy tilt set to start at 8 a.m.
Not that Toutle Lake is worried about another early wakeup call..
“We’re conditioned for it now,” asserted TL head coach Daren Dean.
But if the Ducks aren’t worried now, their fans certainly were early in the loser-out matchup with Adna when the Pirates scored the first eight points of the game. Toutle Lake and the Pirates split their two meetings prior to the rubber match in Spokane, with Adna winning the league contest in January and the Ducks taking their District affair in February. With their season on the line this time, it was an incredibly inopportune time for TL to endure an offensive drought.
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