State 1B: Wellpinit boys surge past Neah Bay 72-57 into championship game

Throughout the season, the Wellpinit boys basketball team got used to doing a lot of running.

Even as recently as Monday, coach Billy Flett Sr. ran the team through its full conditioning routine in preparation for the State 1B tournament.

In the semifinals on Friday, it certainly paid off.

After trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half, second-seeded Wellpinit rode separate runs of 17-2 and 18-1 to beat fifth-seeded Neah Bay 72-57 at the Arena.

“I always tell the boys at the beginning of the season, we’re going to be the most conditioned team in the state of Washington at the high school level,” Flett said. “They come in and work hard every day at practice.”

Wellpinit’s victory gives the program a chance to win its second consecutive title in the 1B championship game, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday. The game will be a rematch with seventh-seeded Mossyrock, which Wellpinit defeated 58-47 in a regional game on Feb. 24.

“We beat them in regionals, (but) that doesn’t mean anything,” Flett said. “That doesn’t give us an edge at all. Mossyrock’s playing tough right now.”

Against Neah Bay (19-6), Wellpinit (23-2) shot 47.5% from the field overall and 8 of 21 from 3-point range, and it also played strong defense – especially during the big scoring runs during the second and third quarter.

“(We had to) keep playing defense as hard as we have all season, and that’s what brought us back,” Wellpinit junior Franky Wynne said. “Defense is what won (state) for us last year, and I think it’s going to win it for us this year.”

Wellpinit also relied on quick transition offense as it built a lead of as many as 17 points late in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.

“Our play style is to push it, push it, push it,” Wynne said.

Senior Grant Denison III followed up a 31-point performance in a quarterfinal win over Columbia Adventist with 26 points against Neah Bay. He made 11 of 17 shots from the floor and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.

“Grant’s everything to this team,” Wynne said, “not even just on the court but off the court. He keeps everyone together.”

Wynne added 13 points and also had seven rebounds to go with four assists. He also had two steals, one with 4 seconds left in the first half when he stole an inbound pass and scored on a layup to tie the game at 30.

Junior Andrew Moyer had 14 points and senior Eli Leyva scored nine for Wellpinit.

Neah Bay junior Makyah Chambers scored a team-high 18 points, and sophomore Tyler Swan added 12 points and six rebounds.

Mossyrock 58, DeSales 54: Sophomore Tyce Vigre scored 20 points and made a key 3-pointer with 1:20 left to lead the Vikings past the Irish in the other semifinal.

The Vikings (19-7) also got 16 points and 11 rebounds from senior Zach Munoz, who made 3 of 4 free throws in the final minute.

Mossyrock led by 14 at half, but the fourth-seeded Irish used a 15-4 run to close the gap to 42-39 in the third quarter. DeSales (23-5) drew within a point with 2:03 left but never led in the second half.

Sophomore guard Spencer Green scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Irish,. Senior teammate Daniel Balof had 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Irish will play for third place at 11:15 a.m. Saturday.

Girls

Neah Bay 67, Crosspoint 34: Senior Amber Swan scored 22 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had six assists to lead the Red Devils (21-2) past the Warriors and back to the State 1B title game.

Seniors Ezra Ray (15 points) and Ryana Moss (eight) helped pace Neah Bay, which scored 27 points in the fourth quarter to close out the Warriors (24-4). Neah Bay outrebounded Crosspoint 48-26 and forced 24 turnovers.

Mount Vernon Christian 43, Waterville-Mansfield 28: The second-seeded Hurricanes (25-5) shut out the Shockers (19-5) in the fourth quarter in a come-from-behind victory in the other semifinal.

MVC won the state title in 2022 and will face last year’s champion, Neah Bay, at 9 p.m. Saturday in the championship game .

Senior Allie Heino made 10 of 14 shots from the floor and led MVC in points (22) and rebounds (eight).

Freshman Delainey Nelson scored a team-high 11 points for the Shockers.

Waterville-Mansfield will play Crosspoint for third place at 1 p.m. Saturday.