New Naselle head coach Marie Green, left, shows freshman Mylee Dunagan some defensive skills as the Comets prepare for the basketball season opener. Behind them are seniors Lauren Katyryniuk (11) and Bella Dunagan (12).

“Come prepared and work hard.”

That is the invitation from new Naselle girls basketball coach Marie Green.

Naselle Girls Basketball

Nov. 30 Knappa (h) 6 p.m.

Dec. 2 Wahkiakum (a)

Dec. 5 Raymond (h)

Dec. 6 Washington School for the Deaf 5.30 p.m.

Dec. 9 Mary M. Knight 6 p.m.

Dec. 10 Knappa (a) 1:30 p.m.

Dec. 12 Mossyrock (a)

Dec. 15 Columbia Adventist Academy (a) 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 16 Knappa (h) 6 p.m.

Dec. 17 Toledo (h) 3 p.m.

Dec. 19 Yakima Tribal (a) 2 p.m.

2023

Jan. 2 Valley (a)

Jan. 5 Pe Ell (a)

Jan. 7 Ilwaco (h)

Jan. 10 Three Rivers Christian (a) 5:30 p.m.

Jan. 12 Wash. Sch. for the Deaf (h) 5:30 p.m.

Jan. 14 Knappa (h) 2 p.m.

Jan. 20 Mossyrock (h)

Jan. 24 CAA (h) 6 p.m.

Jan. 25 Valley (h)

Jan. 28 Winlock (a) 1:30 p.m.

Jan. 30 Pe Ell (h)

Feb. 2 Three Rivers (h) senior night 6 p.m.

She is a familiar face in Pacific County sports circles as a 2002 graduate of Ilwaco High School, where she was a notable three-sport athlete.

She graduated from Pacific Lutheran University four years later, having been on the Lutes’ basketball and track squads in her freshman year.

Regionally, she served as the JV basketball coach in Warrenton between 2007 and 2012, then spent five rewarding years as the varsity coach at Knappa. “I had a great group of girls,” she said.

Four of the five senior starters who spearheaded Naselle’s third-place trophy win at the WIAA volleyball championships in November will switch into basketball uniforms, adding another classmate, Bella Dunagan.

Their goal will be playing again at the state 1B basketball tournament in Spokane in March.

“We are going in optimistic,” Green said. “We have a good core group of seniors. They are hungry for more, having felt what it was like to win third at state in volleyball.”

Pull Quote

‘We are going in optimistic.’

Marie Green

NHS basketball coach

Returning will be Lauren Katyryniuk, Kaylin Shrives and Brynn Tarabochia, plus Bella Colombo, who suffered a serious leg injury last year that curtailed many of her sports activities. “She’s ready!” enthused Green.

Joining them will be lone junior Gladys Wilson and three sophomores, Ava Myers-Marshall, Jessah Watson and Evelyn Normand. Four freshman will add enthusiasm. They are Brooke Davis, who proved an important player during volleyball, Haylee Rose, Jessica Underhill and Mylee Dunagan.

With coaches Rob Dalton and Blake Updike concluding the middle school season shortly, Green expects to recruit some eighth-graders to help form a JV squad. “That will get more kids having playing time and help them gain confidence,” she said.

Last year, Russ Hickman returned for a one-year stint as Naselle’s head coach. The Comets qualified for state, defeated Wellpinit and then lost to eventual champions Mount Vermon Christian and league rivals Mossyrock, which placed sixth.

“Getting to state is always a target, and to place well in district, and being champions would be fantastic!” Green said.

Green said Mossyrock, whose roster is heavy with seniors, will be the main league rivals, along with Willapa Valley. Naselle plays Mossyrock Dec. 12 and Jan. 20 (home) and Valley Jan. 2 and Jan. 25 (home).

The season tips off at home 6 p.m. Nov. 30 against Knappa, a school Green coached from 2014 to 2019.

• Green, who qualified recently as an EMT through Naselle Fire Department, was hired as the district’s athletic director at the beginning of the school year when A.J. Smith left to take the vacated athletic director job at Ilwaco. Among duties are drawing up game, practice and travel schedules — then almost inevitably changing them. “I love scheduling and stuff like that,” Green said. “It’s a puzzle and I like that. I really enjoy it, but it will be a challenge during basketball season.”