Echo Cenci’s face paints a picture of disappointment as the clock runs down on the Comets’ basketball quarterfinal. Cenci hit the floor hard during Naselle’s first game but was back and started Thursday.

SPOKANE — The Hurricanes were a whirlwind.

Mount Vernon Christian walloped Naselle 47-26 to advance to the semifinals of the WIAA 1B championships Thursday.

The loss puts Naselle into double-elimination jeopardy in a consolation bracket game 12:15 p.m. Friday against Mossyrock, which just lost a close game to Garfield-Palouse. The winner of Friday’s consolation game will battle for the fourth- or sixth-place trophy.

Mount Vernon Christian enjoyed the state’s No. 1 ranking among 1B schools, beating Pomeroy in a close regional seeding game and enjoying a first-round bye. The Hurricanes’ standout player, 6-0 sophomore Allie Heino, proved her strength at both ends of the court. She was a formidable presence.

Mount Vernon pushed the halftime score to 27-7 and there were some forlorn faces when the Comets returned from their break.

The loss followed the joy of escaping the opening-round loser-out jinx that cross-county 1B rivals Willapa Valley suffered in the tournament Wednesday, as did Wahkiakum in the 2Bs. Junior Lauren Katyryniuk has scored 22 points for Naselle over Wellpinit from every corner of the court to advance the Comets into Thursday’s quarterfinals, but was unable to gain the same rhythm Thursday.

She did combine with co-captain Peyton Dalton on a pass that sent Dalton in to score. The bench rose as one to cheer the move and the celebration

was amplified shortly afterward when junior Kaylin Shrives hit a 3-pointer from way, way out.

Brynn Tarabochia zoomed into action from the bench and played a part in just about everything. At one point she intercepted a pass and raced across halfway, only to be called for bumping against a defender. Senior Echo Cenci played aggressively, earning applause from her teammates when finally subbed out. Dalton and Tarabochia combined well with a passing move in the fourth quarter but the clock showed only 4 minutes remaining.

Morgan Reitz, another senior, had a hand in many passing moves and subs Bella Dunagan, Courtney Paul and Grace Hunt had their moments.

Afterward, head coach Russ Hickman praised his opponents. “That’s a good team,” he said. “They have got all the pieces. You hope that they don’t bring their best game — but they did.”

The Hurricanes’ ability to score from far out was a key. “I don’t know what the shooting average was with their three-pointers but they were pretty danged deadly,” he said. “You play great defense for 28 seconds and they bury a three. Those are killers … those are deflators.”

But the second-half rally pleased the coach. “If we had played a little bit more aggressive at the start of the ball game we might have lost by 10 instead of 20, but I am proud of my kids, the way they fought today.”

• Some previously announced late-stage WIAA 1B/2B boys and girls tournament game times may change depending on the success of a boys’ team from Northwest Yeshiva School whose squad observes the Jewish sabbath.