No welcome mat. Not tonight.

The Quilcene Rangers kept Northwest Christian well outside the paint with a dominating defense that took away the Wolverines’ inside game.

Left outside, the Wolverines shooting stayed stone cold as Quilcene beat Northwest Christian 26-12 late last week at home in girls varsity basketball.

Quilcene Coach Mark Thompson said the strategy was simple.

“They played physical tonight,” Thompson said of his Rangers. “And that’s what we’ve been talking about. We knew our opponent wanted to put the ball down in the post, and our girls played physical.”

With it being Senior Night in Quilcene, the Rangers recognized their own but also presented the Wolverines’ 12th-graders with colorful balloons tied around a neon-colored sports drink bottle.

Hospitality aside, the air quickly leaked out of any lofty dreams of a Northwest Christian victory on the road.

The squeeze came on both ends of the court. 

The first half was a low-scoring affair, with the Rangers driving with a cinder block on the gas pedal while being mercilessly miserly on the defensive end, limiting the Wolverines to just one basket in the first quarter, and one in the second.

On the offensive end, Kaetyn Riley, Savannah McBride, and Charlotte Fay paced the Rangers, with Quilcene never trailing in the first two quarters and going into the halftime break with a 10-4 advantage.

The Rangers picked up the pace in the third, with Riley and McBride getting help on the scoring side with baskets by Ashley Jones and Fay.

The Quilcene clampdown continued in the second half, with the Rangers restricting the Wolverines to just three points in the third, and five in the fourth.

The Rangers led 21-7 at the close of the third quarter, and tacked on another seven points in the fourth, with five points from Riley and another two from the line from McBride.

Quilcene played tough but tidy, with just three team fouls in the first half and seven in the second; ditto Northwest Christian.

After the game, there were a few tears and plenty of hugs for the seniors who had played their last regular season at home.

Thompson praised the play of seniors McBride and Jones.

“Savannah and Ashley, first of all, without them — we don’t have girls basketball,” he said. 

The Ranger roster this season included two other seniors: Rhiannon Chapman and Kaydence Yeoman.

“Rhiannon, she just wants to take advantage of her high school opportunities and if she wants to come out and experience as much as she can — I think that’s awesome that she plays basketball,” the coach said.

“Kaydence: She’s been a member of the team for four years. Simply one of my favorites. Kaydence is awesome; she’s been a captain,” Thompson said.

“I’m going to miss all of them,” he said. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for all four of those young ladies.”

Riley had 11 points for Quilcene, who led the Rangers in scoring.

McBride had 10 points. Ashley Jones added three points, and Fay tossed in two.

The Rangers hit 8-of-22 during 11 trips to the free-throw line.

The Wolverines made it to the charity stripe six times, sinking four of nine attempts.

While Northwest Christian found it inhospitable in the paint, the Rangers found themselves right at home.

“They played physical tonight. And that’s what we’ve been talking about,” Thompson said. “We knew our opponent wanted to put the ball down in the post, and our girls played physical.”

It’s been a tough season for the Rangers, with the win over the Wolverines snapping a seven-game losing streak that stretched back to
Dec. 29. 

“We haven’t won a lot of games in the last few years,” Thompson said. “But they’re an improving basketball team, and the seniors are a big reason for it. Not only in their play, but in their guidance of all of the younger players.”

“We’ve got a team that plays significant minutes, four eighth-graders — they need that guidance,” he added. “They are playing in a varsity basketball game after just one year of middle school [basketball]. None of those four girls had ever picked up a basketball before, ever. It’s just a testament to the leadership of my seniors, that they are able to do as well as they are.”