By Mike Weber
For Columbia Gorge News
WHITE SALMON — The Columbia High Bruins extended their win streak to seven with a 45-40 come-from-behind win over the Fort Vancouver High Trappers Jan. 29 in WIAA Class 1A Trico League girls basketball.
The No. 12-ranked Bruins (9-2 Trico, 10-4 overall), guided by fourth-year Coach Justin Frazier, overcame an 11-point third quarter deficit against the Trappers (7-6 Trico, 9-8 overall).
“Fort Vancouver is a much improved team from a year ago and they’ll be in the district playoffs this year and they have a lot of talent, so it was a really tough game for us,” said Frazier. “We didn’t play our best, but I was happy with the way we fought back, to get the win.”
The victory solidified the Bruins’ third-place position in the eight-team league standings with two games left on the regular season schedule. The Trappers are in fourth place; the top four teams qualify for the district playoffs beginning Feb. 10.
Playing without one of their leading scorers, starter Halle Koch, the Bruins trailed most of the first half. The Trappers extended their lead to 11 points in the third quarter.
Led by junior Joella Posini (11 points, six rebounds, four blocks) and senior Claira Camacho (10 points, 11 rebounds, three assists), the Bruins outscored the Trappers 10-6 in the third, trimming the deficit to 33-29. The Bruins closed with a 16-7 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter.
“We didn’t play our best, but I was happy to see that the girls never gave up, even though they were tired and hurting from being sick,” said Frazier. “We shot 11-for-14 from the free throw line, so that was a key factor in helping us win the game.”
The Bruins play Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. in a Gorge rivalry road matchup versus the Stevenson High Bulldogs (0-12 Trico, 2-15 overall). They’ll conclude the regular season with a 7:30 p.m. road game against the No. 5-ranked defending league champion Seton Catholic High Cougars (11-0 Trico, 14-2 overall) in Vancouver. That contest was originally scheduled for Jan. 27, but it was postponed because the Bruins had only six players available after many of them were sidelined with the flu.
“They [Cougars] are fighting sickness as well, and so they were happy to reschedule the game, too,” Frazier said. “I think we’re doing a lot better now with nearly everyone recovering, and we should be okay for this week. Hopefully everyone will be healthy for the playoffs too.”
The Bruins are in third place in the Trico standings, behind the second place No. 13-ranked King’s Way Christian High Knights (10-2 Trico, 13-4 overall). The second-place team earns a first round home game in the district playoffs.
“We’re hoping that we’ll maintain our lead in the rankings over King’s Way,” said Frazier. “We really want to get second so that we can host a first round playoff game.”
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