[ t o u r n e y t o w n . c o m -- 2007 Class 1A state tournament ]

White Salmon -- Connolly 0-0 0-0 0, Stevenson 0-0 0-0 0, Weiler 2-4 0-0 4, DeLay 1-2 0-0 3, Kruse 0-2 0-2 0, Ziegler 3-14 2-4 8, Shrum 0-0 0-0 0, Clevidence 1-2 0-0 2, McMillen 1-1 0-0 2, Pulido 3-11 0-2 6, McNallan 6-11 0-0 12, Kidd 1-6 2-6 4. Totals 18-53 4-14 41.

Naches Valley -- Mortimer 8-11 2-3 22, Wickenhagen 3-6 0-0 8, Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Root 1-3 0-0 2, Pierson 2-4 1-2 5, Schmidt 2-6 0-1 6, Risley 1-5 1-2 3, Powers 4-9 3-6 11, Huck 5-12 0-3 10, Elston 0-3 2-4 2. Totals 26-59 9-21 69.

White Salmon

Naches Valley

3-point goals--WS 1-3 (DeLay 1-2, McNallan 0-1), NV 8-20 (Mortimer 4-5, Wickenhagen 2-3, Schmidt 2-5, Root 0-1, Risley 0-1, Elston 0-1, Huck 0-4). Rebounds--WS 51 (Ziegler 15), NV 32 (Powers 9). Assists--WS 9 (Weiler 3), NV 11 (Mortimer 3). Steals--WS 4 (Ziegler 2, Pulido 2), NV 9 (Mortimer 3). Blocked shots--WS 3 (Kidd 2), NV 1. Fouled out--None. Total fouls--WS 16, NV 13. Technical fouls--None. Turnovers--WS 23, NV 6.

So much for first-game jitters.

Or looking past an opponent. Or any number of other traps Naches Valley’s girls could have fallen into Wednesday.

The Rangers walked into the SunDome like they owned it, began making 3-pointers as if they were layups and progressed unimpeded to a 69-41 rout of White Salmon in the first-round of the Class 1A state tournament.

NV scored the first 10 points and led by 31 during the second quarter.

Megan Mortimer scored all 22 of her points in a first half so dominated by the Rangers that their season scoring leader, Monique Wickenhagen, didn’t even attempt a shot.

As a result of the victory, No. 5 Naches Valley (21-3) will oppose three-time defending champion Colfax (No. 3 and 26-2) in a quarterfinal matchup tonight at 7:30.

“They’re the gold standard,” Rangers coach Cris Willmarth said of the Bulldogs, who beat Seattle Christian 71-50 on Wednesday. “They’re what we all aspire to be.”

Any of the tournament’s teams would have done well to aspire to reach the Rangers level of play against White Salmon.

Their full-court presses produced the desired result — multiple turnovers which resulted in multiple Naches Valley layups.

So effective was the Rangers’ pressure, half-court as well as full, that White Salmon didn’t even get a shot until the 6:16 mark of the first quarter, and didn’t make one until 4:53.

Seconds later Mortimer hit her first three — one of four she would make in five attempts before intermission. The 5-foot-7 guard added six rebounds, three assists and three steals while playing a little more than half the game.

She and Wickenhagen, two of four NV seniors, seemed to take it all in stride.

Saying she’d never before scored 22 in a half, Mortimer shrugged and added, “Everyone was just on tonight. I guess we’re just getting used to this gym.”

Wickenhagen, meanwhile, said her injured left (non-shooting) wrist was none the worse for wear. She scored eight second-half points in support of Mortimer, Stephanie Powers (11 points and nine rebounds) and Jordan Huck (10 points).

“Everyone on our team has the ability to step up and score,” said Wickenhagen, who nailed 2 of 3 second-half threes. “That’s what’s so good about us.”

The first half, which concluded with the Bruins (13-11) staging a 6-1 run, saw Naches Valley shoot 55 percent from the field (17 for 31), 50 percent from long distance (4 for 8) and force 16 turnovers while committing only four.

Although Willmarth substituted liberally thereafter (all NV players saw at least 7:20 of action), the Rangers finished with only six turnovers.

Their only negative statistics were a 51-32 rebounding deficit — White Salmon played hard if not especially well — and 43 percent free throw shooting (9 for 21).

Shannon McNallan led the Bruins with 12 points and Ericka Ziegler grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds.

“The girls shot the ball so well, especially Megan,” said Willmarth, whose Rangers didn’t place in last year’s Class 2A tournament. “It was a great first game. We got to play everybody, we got to rest some kids and we came out of it healthy. The game had a nice flow. We’ll try to continue that.”