SWC girls finish third at Big Sky district playoffs

The Redsides faced the No. 27-ranked Adrian High Antelopes (12-14) in Tuesday’s first round playoff game at home (result was after the printed edition deadline). The winner advances to the second round Feb. 24 to play against the winner of a first-round game between Ione/Arlington (14-10) and Jordan Valley (17-6).

The Redsides, guided by sixth-year Coach Carly Johnson, appeared to regain momentum after their semifinal loss with their 62-38 win in the third-place contest.

“I’m always so proud of the girls and they’re so fun to watch, especially when they get things done well like they did today,” said Johnson. “They have such fun team chemistry, and they play as a whole all five together very well. Anyone who comes off the bench just fits right in with whoever is out there. I think this win will provide us with momentum going into the state playoffs and we’re really looking forward to our next game. … Our goal is to go to the state tournament in Baker (March 1-4). I have high expectations and I think we can make it if we focus and play well in the two playoff games.”

Redsides senior guard Sadie McCoy (career-high 18 points) ignited the offense with a fast break layup for 2-0 lead and she followed by firing in a three-point field goal, putting South Wasco up 8-4.

“It’s exciting to be in the state playoffs and have another game and we’re ready for it,” said McCoy.

Another three-pointer by Big Sky League Player-of-the-Year Kylie Iverson (14 points) helped lift the Redsides in front, 13-4. Iverson’s jumper in the lane helped extend the Redsides lead to 17-7 at the end of the first quarter. Iverson’s 14 put her career total over 1,000 points.

“I wasn’t really paying attention during the game too much but after the game, we talked about it and I knew that it was coming, so that’s exciting,” said Iverson. “I feel pretty confident that we’ll have an opportunity to go to Baker and I’m very excited about that. I like where we are in the rankings. We should hopefully not have any challenging type of games, because we’ll probably face easier opponents than what we’ve had in the past, since we’re highly ranked.”

The Redsides continued to display their potent offense (55 points per game average) in the second period, as McCoy, Iverson, Julie Hull (eight points) and Anabell Udey (season-high 17 points) sank jumpers and layups to help propel South Wasco in front 35-14 at halftime.

Three days prior to the Ione/Arlington bounce-back game, South Wasco lost at home, 49-44, to the No. 23-ranked Sherman County High Huskies (17-9), snapping a 17-game Redsides’ win streak.

“It was a tough loss in a big rivalry game and it was definitely an upset win for Sherman,” said Johnson. “We just missed lots of layins; we couldn’t buy a basket and our shots were just off all night, but they played a great game. We didn’t shoot any free throws in the second half. We were having a hard time creating any contact do draw fouls, so that made it tough.”

In the close, see-saw battle between the two area rivals, the Redsides appeared to be in control with a 38-31 lead after three quarters. The Huskies then made an impressive comeback, outscoring the Redsides 18-6 in the fourth to pull out the victory. Hull led the Redsides in scoring with 23 points.

Morgan Geary led Sherman in scoring with 11 points and senior Natalie Martin had 10 points.