YAKIMA — Facing the defending state champions is never an easy task. Taking on the champs when they are shooting the lights out is an even stiffer challenge.

The No. 11 seed Wapato girls learned that lesson the hard way Wednesday against sixth-seeded Bellevue Christian, which made 12 of 22 long-range attempts (54.5%) on the way to a 68-51 victory over the Wolves at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

The Vikings went 9 of 16 from beyond the arc in the first half alone, building a 45-25 lead going into the locker room.

“We’re obviously disappointed, but we feel like we gave our best effort,” said senior Faith Kenoras, who led Wapato with 18 points. “We just didn’t expect them to make all of those threes. That really surprised us.”

Sophomore Callie Strong added 14 points, making 3 of 5 from behind the arc, and sophomore Jordyn Bobb scored 10, including a pair of 3-pointers.

After falling behind by seven points in the first quarter, the Wolves cut the lead to three with 1:25 left on a 3-pointer by Jocelynn Bibles. That’s when Bellevue Christian came alive from the outside, knocking down five consecutive treys to extend its lead to 31-14 midway through the second period.

The Wolves absorbed the 15-1 run and clawed back to within eight points by producing their own 9-0 run, highlighted by two 3-pointers by Strong. But BC didn’t stay down for long, finishing the quarter with a 14-2 burst, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Olivia Reynolds.

“The first half was back and forth, and we both went on a couple good runs,” Wapato coach Shae Schimmel said. “I think the girls did a good job of executing what I was asking them to do, but (Bellevue Christian) just kept making shots and we couldn’t match their pace. They’re a really good team.”

When asked if the Wolves were intimidated facing the defending 1A champions, Kenoras conceded that her younger teammates may have felt a little overwhelmed. But she believes the program will find a way to build on this experience next season.

“For me, it was just another game, but I could tell that some of the girls were surprised at how good they were,” said Kenoras, who went 8 of 9 from the free throw line. “That kind of messed us up, and hopefully the younger players will learn from it.”

Kenoras and her senior teammates will pass the torch to a young core that features Bobb, a first-team all-SCAC selection, sophomore second-teamer Brook Alvarado and junior third-team pick Erilynn Greybull.

Despite feeling disappointed about the season coming to an end, Schimmel believes the future is bright.

“We’re still pretty young, and I hope the underclassmen can take something away from this loss,” he said. “We want to get back here next year, and now they see it’s going to take a lot of hard work in the offseason.”