Naselle 8th-grade forward Aubrey Katyryniuk (23) drives to the hoop for a layup against Taholah.

MONTESANO — Lauren Katyryniuk, Kaylin Shrives and Bella Colombo.

In the biggest game of the season — potentially their last — the Naselle senior trio played their best basketball of the year, leading the Comets to a third-place finish and securing a spot in the 1B WIAA state tournament with a convincing 71-50 win over Taholah last Saturday in the district playoffs in Montesano.

Naselle finished with the game’s top three scorers, including Katyryniuk, with a game-high 29 points, followed by Colombo with 17 and Shrives with 15 points.

The Comets (15-9) had two big quarters, in the second and fourth, where they separated from the Lady Chitwins (14-7), who struggled to match Naselle’s speed and height.

“We started off a little slow and then really turned the heat on in the second quarter,” said Naselle head coach Marie Green.

“We had big quarters in the second and fourth. We needed that. The girls played so well tonight. I was so proud of them. At halftime I told the girls that even though we had a 17-point lead, we needed to treat the game as a reset and that it was 0-0. We ended up taking care of business and I couldn’t ask for more than that.”

After taking a 10-6 lead in a defensive first quarter, senior guard Bella Colombo came alive in the second, scoring six points and forcing several turnovers, allowing Naselle to take a 37-20 lead into the half.

“Bella had her best game of the season. She was hitting her shots and playing super-smart all around,” Green said.

In the third quarter, Kaylin Shrives and Lauren Katyryniuk alternated buckets along with Brooke Davis and Brianna Johnson, closing on a 6-0 Comet run to keep the score at a 17-point advantage (50-33) heading in to the final quarter.

“Kaylin had another big game, she has really been turning it on the last couple of weeks,” Green said regarding the senior 5’8” power forward, who tallied 12 rebounds and seven steals to go with 15 points.

In the final period, Lauren Katyryniuk added nine points, part of her game-high 29, as the Comets closed out the Lady Chitwins 71-50.

“Lauren had another fantastic game,” Green summed up.

Up next: No. 14-seed Naselle Comets (15-9) will face No. 9-seed Odessa Tigers (12-9) in a loser-out matchup in the opening round of the WIAA 1B state tournament Saturday, Feb. 15 at 10 a.m. at Cheney High School.