Trout Lake-Glenwood didn’t want to be in the first game to take place Thursday in the SunDome.

Because the loser of this contest gets the unfortunate title “first team to go home” from the 1B girls state basketball tourney. But that's exactly what the Mustangs avoided, as their overall team speed and nose for rebounds carried them past Taholah 60-36 on Thursday morning.

“None of us wanted to go home,” said Dave’y Lumley, who led four TLG players in double figures with 15 points. “We’re staying in the hotel and having fun.”

What they'll celebrate in their hotel rooms will be the first state win for the Trout Lake part of the duo. Coach Roger Huffsmith said a trophy remains the program’s main goal, and that would be a Trout Lake first as well. Glenwood has hardware for all three of the school’s trips to state, and TLG must defeat Neah Bay at 9 a.m. Friday to reach Saturday's trophy round.

How much confidence the Mustangs (17-6 overall) gathered from watching the Red Devils dispatch fifth-ranked Lake Quinault 62-52 on Thursday might help things. Scouting the Chitwhins boosted the girls since they saw openings for their run-and-gun style.

And that's much-needed ego medicine after third-ranked Colton handed TLG a 64-30 loss to open the tournament. A team Lumley said she “would bet her money on,” to take the state title and bottled up the Mustangs’ speed.

“Once we see the other team and know we’re better, we know we can do it,” Huffsmith said. “I have a good group of girls who like to work hard.”

Taholah’s only lead came when Kailana Charley knocked down a 3-pointer for the game’s first basket, starting her 10-point game.

From there the Mustangs went to work rebounding and running up and down the floor. When the fast break or the putbacks weren’t falling, Kindra VanLaar knocked down two of three 3-pointers on her way to tie teammate Katie Yarnell’s 13-point total.

VanLaar hit both of her shots from behind the arc late in the second quarter as TLG strung together an 11-1 run to close the half. Taholah (13-10) managed only one field goal in the final three minutes of the second quarter, trailing 31-12 at the break.

“We just out hustled them,” VanLaar said. “We’re a pretty good running team, plus we like to push the ball more.”

The Mustangs rarely needed their full-court pressure on defense because of their rebounding. They grabbed 27 balls coming off the offensive glass and turned these into 23 second-chance points. Only four girls who played didn’t grab at least one rebound as the team tallied 53 for the game, and Liz Vogt secured 11 to go with 11 points for the double-double.

Taholah forced 19 TLG turnovers but never managed any offensive momentum with 25 miscues itself. Jessica Charley scored a team-high 14 points, but the Chitwhins exited before the trophy round for the second straight year.

The Mustangs avoided elimination in the team’s first state appearance since Glenwood took seventh in 1990. Now with first-time state jitters gone and Lumley describing morning games as “just like a morning practice,” TLG is one win away from continuing one half’s trophy streak and starting something new for the other.

“We were nervous (against Colton),” VanLaar said. “It was our first game at state and we weren’t used to the big gym. We’ve gotten over that.”

And their fears of being the first girls team to exit the SunDome.