Washougal girls, boys basketball earn back-to-back district play-in wins

WASHOUGAL — Wednesday was a night for winning in Washougal.

Playing back-to-back games, both the Panthers girls and boys basketball teams qualified for the Class 2A District 4 tournament by winning play-in games over Aberdeen.

The Washougal girls got it started with a second-half rally to beat the Bobcats 68-52.

The Washougal boys then kept the gym’s energy high, starting fast and pulling away for a 79-44 victory.

Both programs ended mini postseason droughts. The boys are back in the district tournament for the first time since 2020 while the girls are postseason-bound after a two-year absence.

“It feels so good because we’ve never played postseason basketball,” senior guard Alex Frost said.

The win had added significance for the boys team. Wednesday, players once again wore pink shirts to honor 2024 Washougal High graduate Mia Tanner Lockard, who was killed in a wrong-way crash by an alleged drunken driver on Jan. 23 near Tacoma.

One of Lockard’s eight siblings, Indiana Lockard, is a junior guard on the varsity team. By extending their season, the Panthers are grateful to continue to pay tribute to someone dear to the team.

“She was at every game,” Panthers senior Jackson Multanen said. “We just really wanted to put it on for her, especially with Indy on the team. It hurt us when we heard the news.”

The Washougal boys (7-13) ended the 2A Greater St. Helens League season by winning three of their last five games to place fifth. That put the Panthers in a play-in game against Aberdeen (7-14), which finished fifth in the 2A Evergreen Conference.

Frost set the tone, hitting three 3-pointers in the first quarter as Washougal jumped to a 23-13 lead. By halftime, that lead had increased to 40-22 and Frost had scored 21 of his game-high 26 points.

“I hit my first couple and I was like I’ve got to keep shooting,” Frost said. “My shot felt good, so I was going to keep on making them and helping my team get ahead.”

Multanen scored 15 points and Dylan Gibson added 14 points for Washougal, which faces 2A GSHL champ R.A. Long the first round of the double-elimination district tournament on Saturday.

The Washougal girls had a more stressful experience on Wednesday. The Panthers trailed 42-30 after going scoreless for the first 5:16 of the third quarter.

But Addi Gibbons broke the ice with a field goal and 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions. That sparked a 14-4 run that saw Washougal pull even 46-46 by the end of the third quarter.

“As a senior I didn’t want that to be my last game,” said Gibbons, who finished with eight points. “I knew in my head that I had to start making stuff. So I got confident in myself that I would get hot.”

Jenna Klopman finished with a game-high 25 points, including six of Washougal’s 11 3-pointers.

Klopman said the whole team’s confidence grew once Gibbons broke the third-quarter scoring drought. Klopman made two 3-pointers shortly thereafter.

“I makes us really hyped,” Klopman said. “It gets our energy up and we play as a team much better.”

Washougal continued that momentum in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Bobcats 22-6. That put Washougal (8-11) into a first-round district game Friday against 2A GSHL champ Columbia River.

Both the boys and girls teams enjoyed playing in the same gym on the same night, something that doesn’t happen during the 2A GSHL season.

“It was great energy,” Multanen said. “We hadn’t done it yet this season. We did it last season and it’s always great energy when everybody comes out and supports both teams.”

WASHOUGAL 79, ABERDEEN 44

ABERDEEN — Ryker Scott 5, Xanto Raya 7, Tarren Lewis 15, Patrick O’Brien 0, Legend Vessey 0, Justin Howard 0, Isaac Garcia 6, Gabe Matthews 0, Conan Kelly 4, Jhacob Quezada 6, Luke Martin 0, Jayden Gladson 1. Totals 17 (4) 6-12 44.

WASHOUGAL — Coleman Multanen 8, Dylan Gibson 14, Ciaran Bell 2, Kadin Gibbons 2, Casey Crosby 0, Luca DiGiacomo 1, Wyatt Taylor 0, Alex Frost 26, Jackson Multanen 15, Travis Lundberg 4, Indiana Lockard 0, Jay Vasquez 0, Sam McKee 5. Totals 31 (14) 3-5 79.

Aberdeen        13          9             10          12—44

Washougal                     23          17          19          20—79

WASHOUGAL 68, ABERDEEN 52

ABERDEEN — Sophia Knutson 5, Shay Dunlap 0, Abby Mainio 13, Kensie Ervin 5, Delaney Shoemaker 0, Alyvia Lamont 9, Sawyer Shoemaker 0, Kennedy Kolodzie0, Bentley Brown 18. Totals 18 (6) 10-22 52.

WASHOUGAL — Amelia Connolly 4, Jenna Klopman 25, Addi Gibbons 8, Teja Slyter 9, Nali Sathyaraj 5, Riley Vaughan 11, Catherine Dewey 6. Totals 26 (11) 5-23 68.

Aberdeen        16          17          12          6—52

Washougal     14          18          14          22—68