The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

The Wahkiakum Mules girls basketball returned to regular season play this week after Christmas break with a win and a loss.

Last Wednesday, the Lady Mules lost 44-41 in a close game with Toutle Lake.

"We struggled as a team," Coach Rob Garrett said, "but both Amirah [Abdul-Kariem] and Bailey [McKinley] really stepped it up offensively which gave us an opportunity to keep the game within reach. Amirah played great on both sides of the ball. In the end, unfortunately, we had too many mental breakdowns that led to easy buckets for them. Hopefully we can learn from that game and get better moving forward."

Reigha Niemeyer scored 16 points and had five assists and four steals. McKinley added 14 points and seven rebounds. Abdul-Kariem scored eight points and had nine rebounds. Jessie LaFever finished with three points.

Toutle Lake 8 15 13 8 44

Lady Mules 13 11 8 9 41

On Friday, the Lady Mules came back with a 51-40 win against Morton/White Pass.

Ian Brandon

Lady Mule Amirah Abdul-Kariem puts up a shot from three-point range versus Toutle Lake.

"The girls made a goal to have more fun and most of us were able to do that," Coach Garrett said. "When we play to have fun the game comes easier and good things tend to happen. Both Reigha and Miya [Kerstetter] led the way offensively. Defensively we took a big step forward as a team and learned our rotation a little better, making it tough for MWP to score in the half court."

Niemeyer scored 29 points, pulled down 10 boards, and had five assists. Kerstetter had 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals. McKinley scored four points and had six rebounds. Abdul-Kariem had one point, seven rebounds, and three steals. Genevieve Fleming had two points and Brienna Cothren had one.

MWP 9 11 8 12 40

Lady Mules 10 16 16 9 51

The Lady Mules traveled to Rainier on Wednesday, but a score was not available by press time.

The team heads to Adna on Friday and hosts Toledo on Tuesday.