WOODLAND — Not much has gone according to plan for the Woodland girls basketball team over the past five days.
That includes Tuesday night, when the Beavers were outsized and overmatched in its much-delayed 2A district opener, a 73-50 loss to Black Hills at Woodland High School.
After snow forced the Beavers to cancel practice on Saturday and Sunday, they held an optional practice Monday, which six girls missed due to being snowed in. That forced coach Glen Flanagan to recruit his kids Tyler and Jessica — both decorated Beaver athletes — to practice in order to have enough players for drills.
Tyler is a three-sport standout who just completed playing his basketball season with the Woodland boys, while Jessica is a 2016 Woodland graduate who is playing softball at Portland State.
“It was odd, but (Black Hills) was in the same predicament,” Glen Flanagan said.
Lingering snow and ice forced Tumwater School District to cancel school again Tuesday, which left Black Hills scrambling for transportation down to Woodland for the game.
Enough parents received transportation waivers to replace buses, so the game went on.
Mia Flores scored a game-high 18 points on 5 of 7 shooting from 3-point range for the Wolves. Maisy Williams, who recently returned to Black Hills’ lineup after a hand injury, posted 14 points, eight boards and five blocks, serving as a towering force down low to help build an early lead over the Beavers.
Woodland has found success through balanced scoring this season, evident in its four players averaging eight or more points per game.
But on Tuesday night, as layups stubbornly wouldn’t drop, leading scorer Peyten Foster picked up three early fouls and the Wolves’ disruptive defense came into effect, the Beavers leaned heavily on senior Audrey Adams.
She had a team-high 10 first-half points and finished with 12. Kelly Sweyer had a team-high 13 points for the Beavers.
But Black Hills led by nine at half and its offense erupted in the second half.
“We knew we were getting good looks, we just had to value the possession more (and not) jack up shots,” Foster said. “We knew we could do it, we were getting the steals and were playing alright defense.”
Foster picked up her scoring in the second half, when she had all 12 of her points.
For a spell in the third, it appeared Woodland had life. The Beavers cut the deficit to 17 in the final minutes of the third quarter after a series of steals, made layups and a corner 3 by Foster.
Williams’ inside prowess, along with Flores’ 3-point shooting (each make didn’t sniff the rim) helped Black Hills pull away.
The Wolves began the fourth on a 6-0 run, to push the lead to 24 points, while the Beavers struggled to find a rhythm.
Regardless of the final score, Adams, one of two seniors on the team, made sure to soak up every moment of her last home game as a Beaver. She recalled the feeling of total surprise when she was put into her first varsity game as a freshman, and three years later, is determined to keep Woodland’s postseason run going.
The Beavers must win three loser-out games in a row to advance to regionals. Next they play Ridgefield, which lost to W.F. West Tuesday night, 6 p.m. Thursday at Hockinson High School.
The location doesn’t much matter to Adams. She’s just happy to still be playing with her teammates.
“We just like to play basketball together,” Adams said. “We’re all really different people so it’s nice to have once common thing to bring us together. Let’s keep fighting and working hard and have fun, kick butt.”
WOODLAND 73, BLACK HILLS 50
BLACK HILLS — Maisy Williams 14, Megan River 9, Jordyn Bender 4, Saleen Lee 4, Kaitlyn Carson 2, Addie Ainsworth 5, Michaela Lee 2, Mia Flores 18, Lauren Sayahod 3, Kennedy Greenfield 2, Riley Thoemmes 2, Alexa Bovenkamp 8. Totals 28 (7) 10-16 73.
WOODLAND — Aubrey Adams 12, Abby Huston 0, Madi Hill 0, Kaija Olson 0, Peyten Foster 12, Carleigh Sisley 2, Kali Christensen 2, Daisy Martinez 2, Braedyn Löfgren 0, Kelly Sweyer 13, Kennedy Huesties 0, Nicole Guthrie 7. Totals 21 (2) 16-21 50.
Black Hills 17 15 20 21 — 73
Woodland 10 11 13 16 — 50
