Naselle junior William Anderson (33) and senior Jacob Pakenen (12) battle for a rebound against Mossyrock.

MONTESANO — The Naselle boys basketball team came up short in the district championship game against Mossyrock last weekend, where the Comets fell 79-35 to the Vikings.

Despite the loss, Naselle still qualified for the upcoming WIAA 1B State Tournament, where the eighth-seeded Comets (19-3) will take on top-seeded Lummi Nation (21-1) in the second round on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 2:00 p.m. at Mount Vernon High School.

Comets to face top-seeded Blackhawks

The district championship setback was the first loss Naselle has had since December, when they narrowly lost to Morton/White Pass 66-63.

The team they will take on this weekend however has been on their own run of success.

The Belllingham-based Blackhawks, who finished first in the 1B Northwest Division, haven’t lost since their first game of the season, when they fell 62-58 to La Conner on Dec. 2 — a streak of 19 straight games.

While there have been no common opponents between Naselle and Lummi Nation this season — who are roughly five hours and 270 miles apart — both appear evenly matched on paper, with Lummi Nation averaging 68 points per game to Naselle’s 65.

The Blackhawks’ recent success has included four straight trips to the state tournament with a pair of top-five finishes.

In their last meeting in the state tournament in March 2020, Naselle’s Kolby Glenn scored 17 points to lead the Comets to a 70-41 victory over Lummi Nation, earning third place in the state tournament while the Blackhawks took fifth.