Davenport Gorilla girls' season ends

SPOKANE – The Davenport Gorillas girls basketball team's season came to a close after falling to St. George's 44-41 in the consolation bracket semifinals of the Northeast 2B basketball tournament at West Valley High School in Spokane.

The Gorillas were playing in the loser-out game after falling to 58-37 in the semifinals two nights earlier.

Davenport started strong and finished strong against St. George's. It was the middle that was the problem for the Gorillas.

Davenport opened the game with a swarming defense that challenged just about every shot that St. George's attempted. The Gorilla offense, led by Darby Soliday, also had a hot start and Davenport jumped out to a 15-6 lead to end the quarter.

Things went south in the second quarter. St. George's offense started making baskets and the ball stopped falling for Davenport. Lydia Bergquist led St. George's attack as the Dragons outscored Davenport 14-6 in the second quarter to go into halftime down by just one.

Things got worse for Davenport in the third quarter as the Gorillas managed only two field goals and were outscored 13-4. It was one of the lowest scoring quarters for Davenport all season.

Soliday got hot again in the fourth quarter and Ellie Telford had some key baskets as well as Davenport came roaring back. The Gorillas managed to pull within three with under a minute remaining, but that's the closest they would get.

Soliday finished with 14 points and Telford added 11. No other Davenport player managed double digits.

Annika Bergquist and Lydia Bergquist each finished with double-doubles for St. George's. Annika had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Lydia had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Davenport finished the season 16-6, including preseason.