D-W Offense fizzles in final game before districts

WALLA WALLA—Dayton-Waitsburg’s girls basketball team got off to a great start against league foe DeSales Irish last Tuesday in its final league game of the 2019-20 season but a quiet third quarter led to an Irish victory of 40-24 heading into the post season.

Neither team played well in the first quarter that ended in an 8-8 tie. Junior MacKenna Culley looked like she was going to get D-W going with a three-pointer to take the lead 11-10 with five minutes left in the first half. But DeSales put out that fire with a bucket by Morgan Thomas who was left all alone under the basket and a couple of free throws.

Senior Kira Boggs came out of the locker room at half and hit a three-pointer after two Irish missed a couple of attempts to make it 19-16. But nobody scored in double figures or took charge offensively for D-W as its two offensive leaders combined for just 10 points total. Junior Sadie Seney led the team with seven points and freshman Claudia Benavides finished with three points, all from the free throw line.

On a positive note, Dayton-Waitsburg played excellent defense and held the Irish to 40 points. DeSales was led by Maddie Wahl’s 14 points.

D-W will need to get its groove back when they take on Tri-Cities Prep in a double-elimination game as a part of the Eastern Washington Athletic Conference’s district tournament.

Flooding and other extenuating weather conditions led to the decision by both Superintendents to postpone the District playoff game between Dayton-Waitsburg and Tri-Cities Prep scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 8. The game was moved to Monday, Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. at Columbia-Burbank high school. Win or lose D-W will play a second contest Tuesday in Granger.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final

D-W 8 5 5 6 24

DeSales 8 11 14 7 40

Dayton-Waitsburg (24): Seney 7, Culley 6, Laughery 3, Boggs 3, Benavides 3, Larson 2. 3-pts: 5, Culley 2, Seney, Boggs, Laughery. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: N. Morgan. Turnovers: 21. Rebounds 31.

DeSales (40): Wahl 14, Thomas 9, Buratto 8, Arceo 7, Skaarup 2. 3-pts: 3, Wahl 2, Thomas. Fouls: 12. Turnovers: 10. Rebounds 47.