Redsides win Big Sky district girls basketball title

Bailey Udey added 13 points for South Wasco, and teammates Jayden Chiccino and Macy Bell each had nine. Trout Lake senior Violette Anderson led all scorers with 23 points; Avila finished with 12.

South Wasco led 28-19 early in the third quarter before Anderson and Avila fueled a Trout Lake comeback. They combined to score their team’s next 14 points, with Avila’s basket tying the game, 33-33.

In the fourth quarter, Bell hit back-to-back baskets, the second of which gave South Wasco a 46-38 lead. Anderson scored six of Trout Lake’s next seven points to pull her team within 48-45, but she fouled out with 2:27 remaining and the Mustangs would not score again.

Key to the South Wasco win was the defensive play of Bailey Udey and Jayda Iverson on Trout Lake guard Emma Patterson. They helped hold Patterson, her team’s second-leading scorer, to a first quarter 3-pointer. Offensively, Pechanec was her consistent self, dispersing her 20 points almost evenly throughout the game while controlling the boards.

Both teams, who split two conference games this past season, qualified for the 2025 Class 1A state playoffs (see related story).

South Wasco advanced to the final by winning its semifinal playoff game, 51-36, on Feb. 20 against Wheeler County in Fossil. Trout Lake won in the semifinals as well, 42-36, over Ione/Arlington. To do so, the Mustangs had to survive an offensive onslaught by Najiah Knight. She scored 17 of her team’s first 19 points — including five 3-pointers — before cooling off in the second half.

The district title was the second straight for the Redsides under the guise of Coach Carly Johnson, and assistant coaches Codey Johnson and Heather Carter. South Wasco was runner-up in the 2022-23 season.