Lakeside Humbles 2a No. 1 Petticrew’s 20 Points Lift Eagles Past Elma

So much for 100-point games and 50-point margins of victory.

Elma ran into true competition Thursday and left crying and grumbling after Lakeside put the hurt to it, 71-63, at the girls State 2A basketball tournament.

Lakeside (23-1) trailed just once against an Elma team that entered 23-1, with 23 consecutive wins, most of them lopsided beyond comprehension. Elma even defeated Southwest League neighbor Forks 128-32.

“Defense is the key, and it was proven tonight,” said coach Lisa Schultz of the Eagles, who won their 22nd consecutive game. “They were supposedly the best offense in the state.”

“I think we’ve played better teams than the one we played right there,” said Elma coach Greg Hardie as his tear-stained players filed past.

The Eagles of Nine Mile Falls play in tonight’s first semifinal in the Tacoma Dome, at 7, against Cascade-Leavenworth (19-6). The 8:30 p.m. semifinal pits Connell (22-3) against East Valley-Yakima (18-9).

Cascade defeated Riverside 60-35 in the day’s final quarterfinal. Girls games were running an hour behind, so a full report wasn’t available by press time. Riverside (18-6) plays Elma at 3:30 p.m. today in a loser-out, winner-trophy game.

Pullman (13-14) opened the day at 9 a.m. with a 65-38 pasting of Montesano in a loser-out game. The Greyhounds play Eatonville (12-15) at 11 a.m. today in a loser-out. The winner plays Saturday for fifth and eighth places. Elma, also the Eagles, had scored in triple figures eight times this season. Lakeside held Elma to its second-lowest production of the year.

Lakeside did so with junior Nikki Petticrew (10.4 ppg) outscoring University of Oregon-bound Jamie Craighead (21.3 ppg) 20-18 and by holding guard Janna Smith (10.4 ppg) scoreless.

Throw in Brianne Jolley’s 16 points and 14 rebounds, and sophomore guard Julia Vojtech’s career-high 16 points, and Lakeside had every answer for spectators expecting an Elma title.

“I don’t think it’s an upset,” Schultz said, “but that’s a great team we played. This is probably the most talented team we’ve ever played. They’re just deeper.” Lakeside jumped ahead 5-0 and relinquished the lead once, on Kendra Seaberg’s 3-pointer for a 14-12 edge with 2 minutes left in the first quarter.

Lakeside’s 9-0 run that started late in the first quarter pushed the advantage to 26-18. The rest of the game, Elma struggled to catch up and figure out Lakeside’s pressure defense and fastbreak.

“There was no panic after halftime,” Hardie said. “We thought we would get it going after halftime, but it just took too long.”

Elma pulled within five points twice in the final minute, after Jolley fouled out, but Petticrew responded with free throws and rebounds.

“Nikki played just about a phenomenal game,” Schultz said. “Defense, rebounding, she put the package together.”

Craighead finished 7 of 21 from the floor. Six-foot post Kathy Kartikova was a bigger problem for Lakeside, totaling 21 points and 19 rebounds.

Vojtech hit 8 of 11 free throws to lead a 25-for-40 effort. Elma shot 30 less free throws and finished with 25 turnovers.

Elma 16 13 14 20 - 63

Lakeside 20 17 22 12 - 71

ELMA - Colard 3, Stewart 0, Seaberg 11, Craighead 18, Sutten 4, Matthews 6, Smith 0, Kartikova 21.

LAKESIDE - Vojtech 16, Heebink 8, Petticrew 20, Ryan 0, Jolley 16, Grubbs 7, Long 4.

Pullman 65, Montesano 38

Sophomore Christa Brossman scored 17 of her 27 in the first half, including 11 during a 26-2 run that allowed the Greyhounds to blitz the Bulldogs (15-11).

Brossman, 10 of 19 from the floor and 6 of 7 from the line, scored 24 during Wednesday’s loss to Connell. “If you haven’t figured it out yet, she’s our offense,” said coach and father Jack Brossman.

Brossman played less than two-thirds of the game and tied Bulldogs forward Jessica Scherer with a game-high eight rebounds.

The Greyhounds confused Montesano with a 3-2 zone, although coach Brossman worried about the defensive strategy.

“We talked about whether to do that because (Wednesday) they worked the ball around so well until they got it inside,” he said.

Bulldogs leading scorer Laura Mattson (17.1 ppg), a 5-9 wing, hit a basket 1:14 into the game then went silent for more than 25 minutes. Mattson finished 2 of 13 from the field.

Montesano led 11-7 late in the first quarter when Ali Johnston started a 15-0 run with a short basket. The Greyhounds added an 11-0 run late in the second half, for a 57-24 lead.

Pullman had appeared at one previous state tourney, in 1994, without winning a game.

Pullman 12 23 17 13 - 65

Montesano 11 4 9 14 - 38

PULLMAN - Brossman 27, Umbreit 2, Mirkovich 0, Keck 2, Pedersen 7, Paulson 0, Rydbom 2, Couch 4, Neil 3, Curry 8, Johnston 8, Pollastro 2.

MONTESANO - S.Tierney 0, B.Tierney 0, Spoon 0, Tyndell 0, Scherer 7, Hanner 3, Fournier 2, Mattson 5, Becker 0, Ridout 2, Kiser 13, Brittell 6.

Looking back

Basketball fans in the Kingdome were still raving about last week’s 3A tournament.

The boys tournament featured O’Dea, Mercer Island and Mt. Vernon, none of which reached the title game. O’Dea won the AA title last year, MI beat Mt. Vernon for the AAA crown.

Rainier Beach, with 6-5 Jamal Crawford, won the title over Olympia. Those teams beat MI and Mt. Vernon in the semifinals, which drew 12,000 fans.

Crawford, who transferred from California and the probable state player of the year, is considering UW, WSU, Florida, Clemson and Southern Cal but he has to pass his SAT next month.

The 3A tournament had four other players sign early. The Huskies got Doug Wrenn of O’Dean and Grant Leep of Mt. Vernon, with Kevin Burleson of O’Dea going to Minnesota and Mark Bigelow of Olympia headed for Brigham Young.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo