But the Wolves overcame their early struggles to score 17 fourth-quarter points and defeat Centralia 41-33 in a 3A District girls basketball game.
The victory moves the Wolves (19-4) into today's noon contest at Saint Martin's, where they will face Chehalis for the district's third and final state berth.
"We just came out really tight," Black Hills coach Paul Dretsch said. "I think we were almost afraid to go at them, playing like we were afraid of losing instead of playing to win.
"I think we were still thinking about that Mark Morris loss (on Tuesday), but the second half we came back to being our own selves."
The Wolves scuffled to deficits of 14-10 after one quarter and 19-17 at the half. They were still behind 25-24 entering the final period, but Dretsch said he saw signs of life.
"Then we got every loose ball in the fourth quarter," he said. "That was huge.
"Our kids played with a lot of heart. They weren't ready to quit yet."
Kyle Haag finally got Black Hills even at 27-27 with a 3-point shot, her only points of the evening.
Brie Adderley sank a pair of free throws to force another tie at 33, then Babe Prante took over.
Prante sank two free throws to put the Wolves ahead, then downed a 3-pointer and Centralia never scored again.
"It started in the third quarter when Amy Kolcz, Whitney Scott and Samantha Swanson came off the bench in the third quarter and raised our offensive game," Dretsch said.
"But mostly it was a defensive battle."
Adderley led Black Hills with 11 points, followed by Prante with 10 and Scott with eight, including a 3-pointer in the final eight minutes.
Prante also had 7 steals, and Haag -- normally a high-scoring guard -- concentrated on defense and held Centralia's high-scoring Danielle McKinney to 5 points.
Finally, Markisha Shattuck sparked the Wolves' rebounding game with 14.
Class 4A girls
OLYMPIA 53, GIG HARBOR 33
At Puyallup, Olympia bounced back after a 50-point loss on Wednesday to stay alive in the 4A district tournament.
The Bears jumped out to an early 14-9 lead in the first quarter and stayed in control throughout the game, steadily increasing their lead each quarter.
The Bears' defense let no Tides player score in double digits, and held them to 27 percent shooting from the floor.
Olympia was led by Whitney Golob, who led all scorers with 20 points, pulled down 12 boards and had five steals. Megan Putnam added 11 points, and Whitney Champlin had 10 rebounds and four steals.
Class 3A boys
COLUMBIA RIVER 55,
CENTRALIA 41
No other information was reported.
Class 2A boys
ILWACO 57, ELMA 42
At Montesano, the Elma Eagles fought back from an early deficit to take a 37-36 lead in the third quarter but shot only 17 percent in the final period.
Ilwaco jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first quarter, but Elma battled back in the second to give Ilwaco just a six-point lead going into halftime.
In the third quarter, the Eagles' defense held the Fishermen to just nine points as the Eagles fought back and gained a 37-36 lead at one point.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Eagles were shooting 59 percent from the floor, then they turned cold. They managed only 2 of 12 shooting in the last period and were outscored by Ilwaco 19-5 to give the Fishermen the victory.
"We didn't make our shots," Elma coach Ron Ferrier said. "We had a lot of missed opportunities."
Danny Hill led Elma with 14 points and Larry Raynes added 13 points and six rebounds.
"Rebounding was a big factor," Ferrier said. "We only had 18 and they doubled that."
"We battled and the kids played hard, we just have to shoot the ball better."
Elma travels to Montesano on Tuesday to play Forks at 6 p.m.
LA CENTER 71, TENINO 58
No other information was reported.
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