COULEE CITY — A strong defensive effort carried the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors to their Northeast 1B District Tournament win over Northport Tuesday night, holding the Mustangs to under 30 points in a 54-24 win.

After going up 14-10 through the first quarter, the Warriors held Northport to just two points in the second quarter to take a 28-12 lead into halftime.

“We just kept on playing the defense,” ACH head coach Matt Elder said. “(It) Wears teams down. You start making one mistake, it usually compounds into a second one. That’s what we hope for — get on a little roll where a team makes three, four mistakes. Didn’t feel like we got those tonight, but that’s the mindset we try to have.”

ACH held the Mustangs scoreless until midway through the third quarter, only giving up 12 second-half points in the quarterfinal win.

“Once we communicated on defense we all knew where we were supposed to be, and we clicked into place,” ACH senior Beth Okamoto said.

Both the Mustangs and Warriors traded baskets early in Tuesday’s playoff game, with Northport later closing the gap to just four points by the end of the first quarter. Elder noted that adapting to the Mustang lineup gave the Warriors some issues at the start of the game.

“Credit to Northport, they do have some tall girls; lengthy, and they play intense and strong,” he said. “They created a combination we really hadn’t seen this year. You can attribute that for some of our weirdness in the game, but our girls played great defense.”

While contesting the lengthy Mustang players in the paint was challenging at times Tuesday night, the Warriors demonstrated their ability to connect on five 3-pointers and a variety of shots from the perimeter against Northport.

“It felt like we were just passing it around and they were leaving us open out there,” Elder said. “We got those open looks, and our girls do like to shoot. They were able to get those shots off, and when they fall that’s a win for us.”

By finishing as the No. 1 seed in the Northeast 1B North division, ACH earned a bye in the district tournament; with that came some rust early against Northport.

“It helps — you want to be rested, you don’t want to possibly get injuries coming into the playoffs — but it also kind of hurts because you start off not playing for a long time and trying to get back into rhythm,” Elder said. “You saw a little bit of those nerves, or just not used to playing.”

Once ACH broke out its full-court press and began trapping Mustang players, the Warriors were able to build their lead by capitalizing off of Northport miscues.

“I think a lot of the girls were hungry to get this game action,” Okamoto said. “You could tell people were a little tired coming into the game, but once it got started we just took off.”

Northport’s lone second-quarter basket came with just 45 seconds left on the clock before halftime.

“For our girls, I don’t even know if they recognized it, but I can see it in the other team,” Elder said. “I know when it’s happened to us and we don’t score, we just get slower and you don’t execute well. It feels like the end of the world.”

With a chance to advance to the 1B Girls Basketball State Tournament on the line, the Warriors will travel to Deer Park High School to take on Wilbur-Creston-Keller in the semifinals Saturday afternoon. ACH advanced to last year’s Northeast 1B semifinal game before falling to Wellpinit, and then again to WCK in the consolation bracket. Elder said it’s important to focus on the game at hand, not the idea of qualifying for state.

“This year, we’ve just got to focus on the game; play it to the best of our ability, play hard and determined and let it fall where it falls,” Elder said. 

Before player introductions before Tuesday’s game, sophomore Naomi Molitor and Okamoto were recognized for their all-league honors; Molitor received a first-team all-league nod, while Okamoto was named the league MVP.

“I was really shocked,” Okamoto said. “I see myself as more of a team player, but I guess other coaches noticed that too. I’m super grateful and blessed to have been voted MVP. I think any girl on that list could have been MVP.”

Elder was named the Northeast 1B Coach of the Year.

“I feel it’s a whole coaching staff (award), and parents that support us that contributes to that,” Elder said. 

Molitor led the Warriors with 13 points, followed by Okamoto and junior Emma Whitaker, who both scored 10 points. Freshman Grace Okamoto scored eight points, and sophomore Emma Brummett scored six points in the win.

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Box score

ACH: 14-14-13-13 54
NPRT: 10-2-7-5 24

    ACH senior Beth Okamoto (20) looks for a teammate to pass the ball to in the second quarter of the Warrior’s district tournament win over Northport.
  

    ACH sophomore Emma Whitaker, left, attempts a three-pointer in Tuesday’s win over Northport.