The White Swan boys and girls teams both have had very successful seasons heading into district play with only one team to state in both.  The boys were able to down Riverside Christian 53-48 on Thursday, Feb. 25 in West Valley and secure a state berth while the White Swan girls fell short and lost to the top-ranked La Salle Lightning 69-61.  The loss ended the White Swan girls’ season.
The Cougars (18-4) will be at the 2B state tournament at Spokane Arena today and play at 9 a.m. against Soap Lake.  The winner of this game will play the winner of Pe Ell-Bear Creek on Thursday.

WHITE SWAN 53,
RIVERSIDE CHRIST. 48
In the winner-to-state, loser-out district game against Riverside Christian, the Cougars had all they could handle in a very intense match against the Crusaders.  Tournament jitters seemed the norm for White Swan since at the beginning of the game they kept missing critical inside shots against the shorter Crusaders.
White Swan led 21-14 at the intermission, but Riverside Christian came out strong in the third quarter to cut into the Cougar lead. 
Riverside Christian tied the game at 42-42 with only 1:30 left in the game and it seemed like White Swan’s chance at state was slipping.  However, the Cougars responded quickly and with vengeance with a 7-0 scoring burst to preserve their lead and the win.

LA SALLE 69,
WHITE SWAN 61
The White Swan girls’ bid for state fell short as they fell to the La Salle Lightning 69-61 at West Valley gym.  The disappointed Cougars were unable to overcome La Salle with league MVP Savannah Bonny scoring 23 points against the Cougars. 
White Swan finished the season with a 16-6 record.  They had four players in double figures led by Kassie Espindola and Amber Jones with 13 points each.  Josephine Wallahee had 12 points and Evelyn Hawk 10.