MONTESANO – The Naselle Comettes, playing their first game in 10 days, shook the rust off as they rolled over the Cathlamet Mules 58-33 in the Comettes first game in the district tournament.

The Mules had earned the right to play Naselle by beating Wishkah Valley in their first district game. The Mules were playing shorthanded as two of their starters were benched due to disciplinary action.

It didn’t take the Comettes long to get rolling as Nora Darcher, with nine first quarter points and Tiffany Pauly, with four points, led the Comettes to a 13-6 first period lead.

Assistant coach Tim Wirkkala said, “We were a little concerned about getting the rust off after such a long layoff. The girls settled in and we were glad to see how they responded.

“It surprised us when the Mules didn’t put anyone on defense on Nora so she was able to score well early. Later, they went to a box and one defense on her but she still scored. When they did that, it opened it up for our other scorers”

Darcher led the Naselle scorers with 17 points. Lucy Rubio scored 14 points and had 11 steals for a double-double. Tiffany Pauly scored 13 points and had 10 rebounds for another double-double. Fritha Davern was just out of doubles territory with 8 points and 11 rebounds.

The Comettes extended their lead in the second period as Rubio uncorked three of her three-point “rainbows,” two on back to back shots. Rubio’s third trey built the lead to 30-16 and Davern ended the half with a fast break hoop to double the score on the Mules at the half. Rubio was to make three of seven threes in scoring her 14 points.

Naselle turned the third period into a defensive clinic as their press, led by Rubio and Smith, didn’t allow the Mules to bring the ball up the court in several tries during the middle minutes of the period. Naselle went on a 9-2 run during the last five minutes of the quarter and led 48-22 after three. The Mules lost the ball 13 times in the quarter, including four steals by Rubio, and they only made three of 15 shots in the quarter.

With Darcher, and Naselle’s two “tall timbers” Pauly, and Davern zeroing in their shots in the opening minutes of the fourth period. The Comettes lead stretched to 56-24 with over three minutes remaining when coach Rob Dalton went to his bench players to finish out the 58-33 win. The Comettes season record improved to 21-0 with the win.

The win put the Comettes into a semifinal round game with the Morton Huskies, the Central League’s number two team, this Saturday, Feb. 22, in a game tentatively scheduled for 4 p.m. in the Weatherwax High School gym in Aberdeen. There is a strong possibility that this game will be moved so that both of the Naselle vs Morton boys and girls games will be played at the same site as back to back games.

Cathlamet 6 10 6 11 – 33 Naselle 13 19 13 10 – 58

Cathlamet (33) – Kali Hendrickson 11, Beth Frink 10, Olsen 4, Magnuson 2, Riley 2, Bell 2, Cummins 2; FG – 15/45=.333, 3’s – 1/8, FT – 0/4; Turnovers (33)

Naselle (58) – Nora Darcher 17, Lucy Rubio 14, Tiffany Pauly 13, Davern 8, Smith 4, Klinger 2, Herman, Revis. Abbott, Herrold; FG – 27/52=.519, 3’s – 4/8, FT – 10/16; Rebounds (33): Davern 11, Pauly 10, Herman 5; Steals (18): Rubio 11, Assists: Rubio 3; Turnovers (25)