COOS BAY — Kalina Rojas didn’t do a lot in the first half – 0-for-2 shooting and five rebounds – and her Dayton High School girls basketball team trailed Coquille 18-16 at halftime.
Dayton’s Shawnie Spink (11) puts back a rebound against Coquille in the semifinals of the OSAA Class 3A state basketball tournament at Marshfield High School.
There was a direct correlation.
The 5-foot-11 sophomore post scored 16 points and had 15 rebounds as Dayton came back strong in the second half to beat Coquille 51-30 on Friday in the semifinals of the OSAA Class 3A state tournament.
“Just Kalina, she goes as hard as she can every single play,” said Dayton guard Shawnie Spink, who scored 17 points. “You don’t really have to tell her. She’s going to do it. It’s nice having a post player like Kalina.”
Last year’s state champion Dayton (26-3) advances to Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. state championship game at Marshfield High School and will play either West Valley League rival Amity or last year’s championship game opponent Salem Academy.
Being back in the state championship game for the second straight year is one thing, but winning it again will be another.
“We did expect it going into it,” Rojas said. “It’s going to be interesting either way. They’re both really good teams, and I think we’re ready to play either one of them.”
Coquille (23-5), which next plays in Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. third place game, played a tough pressure defense against the Pirates throughout the first half.
Spink scored 10 of Dayton’s first 11 points, and the Pirates led 14-7 on a 3-pointer by Jaden Moore with 4:32 left in the first half.
But the Red Devils’ physical, pressure defense took its toll.
Tara Edwards’ basket with two seconds left in the first half put Coquille up 18-16 at halftime.
“It’s hard not to get tight in these games, and we play so much better when we’re relaxed,” Dayton coach Scott Spink said. “We reemphasized that at halftime, and we just said defense wins championships. I think we held them to four points into the fourth quarter.
“It seemed like deep into the fourth quarter they still hadn’t scored a whole lot.”
Dayton went on a 12-0 run coming out of halftime – with eight of those points coming on fast break – and was up 34-21 after three quarters by holding Coquille to one field goal in the third quarter.
Any time in the second half when Coquille started to make progress, the Pirates went out and ran the ball.
“We’re definitely at our best when we’re transitioning and running the court, and I think we figured out how to do that in the second half,” Rojas said.
bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6701 or Twitter.com/bpoehler